You'd be surprised. There's a reason there's a band called UB40. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/dole-queue-blues-that-gav...

(not "government funded" in the grant sense, but the old UK unemployment benefit worked a lot more like a basic income)

I wouldn't call that government funding of art. They were not given money in exchange for producing art. They were just given money.

I haven't got the slightest clue, nor do I care.

And more importantly what do you mean by funded? If the local council offer free or subsidized rehearsal space to local up and coming bands, is the album they created there "government funded"?

I'd say no. But some people would say that the road the band used to drive around was government funded, therefore their music is. I don't agree with them.

I'd say government funding is when the government pays money to a specific artist to produce art. Like when a record company decides to pay a band to produce an album, or a publisher decides to give an advance to an author to write a book.

Australian here - I just discovered today that our current right/conservative government has a program where artists can receive a $15,000 grant to record their album [1], and the left/progressive opposition has pledged to double the number of grant recipients if elected [2]. I can't say I've heard of any of the 2017 grant recipients.

[1] http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/news/media-centre/media-r...

[2] https://www.theindustryobserver.com.au/labor-promises-28m-fo...

Don't know about the US, but in the EU I know there are grants you can apply for to help cover the cost of recording an album.