Some of Scotland’s biggest selling musicians have demanded John Swinney takes action to avert a ‘cultural catastrophe’.

The Proclaimers, Paolo Nutini, Biffy Clyro and Franz Ferdinand are among more than 170 artists and organisations to warn the First Minister he is overseeing the ‘worst crisis that Scotland’s music and wider arts sector has ever faced’.

Their desperate plea to reverse cuts to arts funding comes as Creative Scotland is set to shut a key fund for creatives this week and has delayed opening another two as Mr Swinney’s government has been ‘unable to confirm release’ of vital funds.

The open letter, which is to be sent to Mr Swinney tomorrow (FRI), comes as Holyrood’s finance watchdog told the SNP government its policies have left it ‘facing a challenge in balancing its budget’ and there would be ‘persistent’ problems’ doing do for years to come.

High profile artists have been left outraged at the moves to close one fund for creatives and delay the opening of another two, which comes as ministers were ordered to constrain all but essential spending to pay for public sector pay deals.

Alex Kapranos, frontman for Franz Ferdinand, said: ‘This is a disappointingly short-sighted cut which will cost exponentially more than what is saved in the short term financially.

‘The arts are how a nation knows who they are. Without them we have an identity as two dimensional as the bottom line of a balanced account.’

Within the letter, organised by the Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), Mr Swinney is told of the ‘deep concern’ the closure of one fund and delay to two others were causing.

The three-page document warned: ‘These decisions, resulting from the Scottish Government’s inability to confirm the release of previously allocated Grant-in-Aid funding have ignited the worst crisis that Scotland’s music and wider arts sector has ever faced.

‘A cultural catastrophe is in process. It will lead to both direct and consequential job losses across an already underfunded sector, one which was disproportionately crippled by the pandemic and has yet to fully recover.

‘These funds need to be urgently reinstated or the sector is at an immediate risk of collapse. Culture funding must be deemed essential.

‘The explanation that these decisions stem from emergency spending controls may reflect broader financial pressures, but they are devastating for Scottish culture, the economy and society.’

Creative Scotland’s website said its Open Fund for Individuals would close to new applications tomorrow (FRI) at 2pm, blaming the Scottish Government for being ‘unable to confirm release of £6.6m in Grant-in-Aid budget in the current financial year’.

Meanwhile, the troubled organisation said it had to make ‘the difficult decision to delay opening applications’ for its Access to Music Making and Strengthening Youth Music Funds because the SNP government was ‘unable to confirm release of £1.8m’ in funding this financial year.

Robert Kilpatrick, chief executive and creative director of the SMIA, said: ‘This is a cultural emergency of unprecedented scale, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

‘We are facing the loss of vital jobs, creative careers and our diverse cultural identity.’

The music industry is huge in Scotland. It generated an estimated £195m for Scotland economy in 2018, SMIA said, and contributed £406m through music tourism.

It also supports thousands of jobs, many dependant on cultural funding to sustain their careers.

Creative Scotland funding has been branded vital for starting the careers of many, with Stina Tweeddale, of band Honeyblood, crediting it as vital to hers.

She said: ‘There is no doubt that a lack of this support will have a colossal impact on the arts sector. We are more than just entertainment.’

And Rod Jones, of Edinburgh band Idlewild, said: ‘Art in all forms is crucial to growth, wellbeing and joy and life.

‘To be truly artistic, relevant and unimpaired art is not always commercial so government support and funding is crucial to growing a healthy arts scene, nurturing and developing new and existing talents to showcase what incredible artists Scotland can and has produced.’

The open letter urges the First Minister to confirm previously committed cultural spend of £10.7m, which would allow Creative Scotland to re-open the three programmes.

It also demands the Scottish Government ensures the planned £25m increase in cultural funding for next financial year is secure by April 1 and to speed up the distribution of as much of the pledged £100m annual cultural funding increase by 2028-29 as early as possible.

Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: ‘I understand the concerns of many people within the artistic community, and I want to reassure those individuals that the Scottish Government is listening very carefully to the representations they are making.

‘We are dealing with very significant challenges in the public finances, which are exacerbated by the UK Government’s recent announcements.

‘We are investing significantly already in cultural activities, with over £55 million of investment in Creative Scotland this financial year. The government will set out in due course what further steps we can take to address the challenges that we facing and to make sure that we address the issues that have been drawn to our attention by the artistic community.’