Twitch has added The Collective, a livestreaming incubator program, to assist, teach, and support musicians on the site. With support from Twitch staff and industry partners, such as Amazon Music, United Masters, DistroKid, and TuneCore, the program will gather musicians into invite-only groups, called collectives, to help artists learn how to use and leverage the platform.

In their statement, the company shared:

“Twitch is powering up creators at the forefront of a new paradigm in music. This one’s for the innovators. The musicians who seek out the frontier because it’s the frontier. Through workshops and hands-on support from our Music team, you’ll learn how musicians are building communities and earning money directly from their fans on Twitch. We curate and match creators from complementary backgrounds, genres, and career stages. If you’re selected, you’ll have a crew of peers by your side through the process.”

Members will be guided by Twitch staff and mentors on how to grow and monetize their followings and improve their strategies, through a series of workshops and direct support. Collectives will be curated to group musicians by backgrounds, genres, and career stages, according to Twitch. A collective will have “dozens” of artists, according to Twitch and numerous collectives will be launched over the following year.

DistroKid, UnitedMasters, and TuneCore will collaborate with Twitch to find and invite musicians from their respective platforms to apply—the application process is open to everyone—and select artists will be featured on Amazon Music and Rolling Stone’s Twitch channels.

The move follows Twitch’s efforts to normalize its relationship with the music business, following a tumultuous 2020, marked by takedown notices from labels and publishers. Twitch and the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) established an agreement in September 2021 to bring artist channels and original music programming to Twitch, as well as a partnership with Warner Music Group, to bring artist channels and original music programming to Twitch.

The artists that would benefit from this program are the ones excited about engaging with fans, and are motivated to grow their Twitch channel. Basically, it’s for artists who care about their communities and want to learn from other artists. The program is not limited to certain types of artists, and instead it is targeting music makers across genres and scenes.

If this interests you, head over to Twitch’s The Collective platform to learn more and apply. For more music news, check out these 15 emerging NYC rappers and hip-hop artists.

Photo via Twitch