Amex 'Unsigned' Powerfully Backing the Next Generation of UK Music

Client: American Express

American Express has long supported UK music to bring its brand promise of “Powerful Backing” to life. Through partnerships with some of the UK’s biggest live music properties, Amex established strong cultural credibility. But as the UK’s grassroots music ecosystem faced increasing pressure, and emerging artists struggled to be discovered, an opportunity emerged to create deeper relevance with a valuable growth audience: New Trend Lovers.

Research revealed that while this audience remained passionate about discovering new music and live experiences, their expectations of brands had evolved. They wanted brands not only to enable access to culture, but to actively support and protect it. For Amex, this presented an opportunity to move beyond traditional sponsorship and demonstrate meaningful action in an area that mattered to consumers. The result was Amex Unsigned, a first-of-its-kind long-term platform designed to provide powerful backing to emerging artists. Built around talent discovery, development, showcasing and career creation, the programme combined industry mentorship, major festival opportunities, commercial partnerships, content creation and investment in grassroots music infrastructure. Since launch, Amex has brought together a coalition of influential partners including NME, Mixmag, BIMM, the Featured Artists Coalition, AEG Presents, TikTok SoundOn and the Music Venues Trust to create a sustainable ecosystem that supports artists at every stage of their journey. By transforming music from a sponsorship asset into a living demonstration of the Amex brand promise, Unsigned created shared value for artists, venues, audiences and the wider music industry, establishing a scalable platform capable of delivering lasting cultural impact.