About us

It is a duty of the state to protect the freedom of artistic expression and to create the conditions required for cultural life to flourish. Germany’s Federal Government supports cultural institutions and projects that are of national importance and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), Minister of State Claudia Roth, is responsible for promoting culture for the government. The BKM has been promoting institutions and projects within the framework of cultural federalism since 1999 and has been the main sponsor of Initiative Musik since 2007. The BKM has also assumed a portion of the costs for Initiative Musik’s administrative offices, which are co-financed by the GVL and GEMA.

Initiative Musik has been coordinating the German joint presentation at the South by Southwest (SXSW) creative conference in Austin, Texas, for the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs since 2010. The joint presentation at GERMAN HAUS – with participation of numerous German federal states and private-sector partners – and the trade show stand is the largest presentation of the German cultural and creative industries abroad.

Since 2011, Initiative Musik has been regularly putting together musically-themed tours for the Federal Republic of Germany’s Visitors Programme with the financial support of the Federal Foreign Office. International music journalists and other experts are invited to Germany to experience a wide variety of pop-cultural events on these tours. These programmes convey an authentic, up-to-date and differentiated picture of Germany and thereby contribute to improving the image of the German music industry abroad.

Anyone who performs something artistic or creates the economic basis for this must receive money for the exploitation of their performances. GVL, the society for the administration of neighbouring rights, captures and manages such exploitations of music and film productions. GVL records this use and forwards the money collected in trust for example from radio and television stations and public reproduction (e.g. in restaurants or cafés) as remuneration to its rights holders. More than 170,000 performers, producers of sound recordings and audiovisual recordings, music and music video clip producers as well as event organisers place their trust in GVL – and thus make GVL one of the biggest collective management organisations and music licensing companies for neighbouring rights in the world.

GVL has been an Initiative Musik partner since 2007 and has been helping finance Initiative Musik’s administrative offices from the very start

Composers and lyricists, the authors of musical works and music publishers are all united under GEMA’s umbrella. GEMA, a collective management organisation, manages remuneration claims and entitlements for its members globally wherever their copyright-protected musical works are used. It also campaigns on behalf of its members in the political arena to ensure copyright is appreciated in future. The organisation is also active in numerous funding projects for a diverse musical culture. GEMA has been helping finance the Initiative Musik administrative offices since 2007.

We believe that Germany must become a knowledge-based and creative society and that education and culture play a decisive role in this development. That is why the German Music Council and its partners are involved in all areas of social life related to music and are committed to making Germany a vibrant country for it. With its member associations and the State Music Councils, the German Music Council sees itself as an advisor and centre of excellence for politics and civil society. Along with the GVL, the German Music Council has been an Initiative Musik partner since 2008.