Initiative Musik

The Initiative Musik is the central funding institution of the German government and the music industry for the German music industry. It strengthens the presentation and distribution of music from Germany and abroad. In order to give artists and music companies better access to the funding opportunities, the international tour funding, the expansion of streaming and the artist funding will be presented. 

Leandra Preissler from Pennywine Entertainment and the musician Sofia Portanet, who have already received funding, will talk about their own experiences with the funding programs and give tips on how to apply for funding in a discussion with the project managers Julia Waldmann and Simon Theßeling from the Initiative Musik. 
The event is aimed at professional artists and music companies from the fields of pop, rock, jazz and electronic music. After both talks there will be enough time for a Q&A.

For more information on International Tour Funding, click here.

You can find more information about the artist funding here.

Templates for both funding programs can be found here.

Julia Waldmann joined the Initiative Musik's Export Team in 2019. With its export programs and projects, the team supports both musicians and music companies in spreading their repertoire abroad. As project manager, Julia is mainly responsible for advising and supporting the International Tour Promotion program.

The International Tour Funding (formerly Short Tour Funding) supports musicians and bands with a residence in Germany in special performances abroad. The aim is to make it easier for artists to enter a foreign music market or to help them establish themselves there. For a maximum of 15 performances, support shows, appearances at music festivals, showcases or in TV and radio broadcasts, a financial subsidy for travel and marketing costs can be granted.

Simon Theßeling works for the Initiative Musik as a project manager in the artist support and structural projects team. He studied communication management at the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück and already organized concerts and parties at Gleis22 in Münster during his studies. After his studies, he first worked in tour booking (Prime Tours & Landstreicher Konzerte, among others) and then spent several years as a key account manager for the optimal media pressing plant. Since June 2020, Simon has been supporting music creators at the Initiative Musik in the application and processing of their funding projects in the area of artist funding.

The Initiative Musik's support for artists is aimed at solo artists and bands living in Germany. A broad spectrum of genres is supported: rock, pop, jazz, hip-hop, metal, experimental and electronic music. With this support program, the Initiative Musik helps newcomers in particular to gain a foothold on the German and international markets. Together with their commercial partners, musicians can apply for financial support for album productions and releases as well as concert tours. Decisive for funding are originality, musical language and music business potential. In principle, there are four funding rounds per year.