The BBC fund that helped singer Adele to get her big break is to close, as its funding source of phone vote revenue from hit shows including The Voice and Strictly Come Dancing dries up.

The BBC Performing Arts Fund has distributed £5m in grants to help emerging talent with beneficiaries including global chart-topper Adele, soprano Kathyrn Rudge and composer Mark Simpson.

The trustees of the fund said that the charity has been forced to close because the source of its funds to make grants, revenue from viewers of the BBC’s hit shows voting by phone, is declining in popularity.

“In recent years, new forms of technology have changed the pattern of audience voting,” the BBC said. “These industry-wide technical developments enabling audiences to vote online, via smartphones and social media have meant that the amount of residual revenue available from BBC audience telephone voting for the fund has decreased and it is clear that this trend will continue.”

Since its inception the fund has supported more than 1,200 individuals in the performing arts, commissioned more than 60 pieces of music and supported more than 200 community groups.

Irish actor Fra Fee, who starred in the big screen adaptation of Les Miserables, tweeted that fund’s closure would be a massive loss for emerging talent in the performing arts.

The fund, which was set up in 2003 following the success of talent show Fame Academy, receives revenue from phone voting on BBC entertainment programmes including Strictly Come Dancing and The Voice, as well as a percentage of the proceeds of downloads from songs released by contestants on the singing show.

The BBC, which stressed it makes no profit from phone voting, said that following the closure of the fund the continued “residual residue” revenues from shows such as Strictly Come Dancing will go to Children in Need and Comic Relief.

The fund will make final grants totalling £156,100 to 17 individuals before it is closed next March.

“We are delighted that the talent we supported through the BBC PAF Fellowship schemes has enabled the development of individuals with truly inspiring ambition,” said Dorothy Wilson, chair of the BBC Performing Arts Fund. “We look forward to further stellar work from these alumni we have been able to support through these final fund awards.”