Live Music Funding

In the current tense economic situation, many live music venues and promoters are increasingly focusing on established musicians. Concert formats with newcomers, less popular or experimental genres run the risk of being pushed to the sidelines. The Live 500 funding programme focuses precisely on these low-threshold live music formats. It is intended to ensure the continued existence of the cultural diversity of live music programmes. It also aims to support music venues and promoters in planning more diverse programmes and improving fees for artists (including newcomers), thereby enabling greater cultural participation for artists and audiences alike. Another funding objective is to strengthen rural and culturally weaker regions through the Live 500 programme.

Important documents and templates

We provide templates on the German subpage. All documents for the 3rd round (2025/2026) and 4th round (2026/2027) can also be found on our general Downloads page.

Small and medium-sized music clubs are not always in a position to cover their investment requirements from their own financial resources due to a lower return on sales. PlugIn aims to address this and support the improvement of their technical equipment in various areas.

The most important facts about the funding programme:

• Eligible applicants are music clubs with a maximum visitor capacity of 2,000 unseated places.
• The programme supports the purchase of new or used technical equipment and the installation of performance-related elements. Repair measures are also eligible for the first time through this programme.
• The maximum funding amount is EUR 15,000.
• The own contribution is degressive and depends on the total expenditure. The higher the total expenditure, the higher the own contribution.
• Funding is awarded on a first come, first served basis.
• Funds are allocated in a 60/40 ratio between urban and non-urban areas to ensure that structurally weaker regions are not disadvantaged in the process. Non-urban areas are defined as those with a population of up to 100,000. The allocation is flexible: if one quota is exhausted and budget is still available in the other quota, the remaining budget is transferred to the other quota.
• The funds are distributed to the various federal states according to a regional quota so that structurally weaker regions are not disadvantaged in the process.
• Funding projects can be implemented until 31 March 2027.
• Venues that have already received funding from PlugIn are not eligible for additional funding.

Templates (application):

• Application template (in German)
• Template financing plan (in German)
• Step-by-Step Guide to the Funding Portal (in German)
• How-to-Video (in German) – Financing plan in the application tool

Templates & information (project implementation):

• Instructions for Requesting Funds (in German)
• Instructions for the Statement of Use (in German)
• Template time sheets (for personnel expenses) (in German) – xlsx
• Inventory Label Template (Master Document) (in German) – pdf
• Inventory Label Template (single) (in German) – jpg

Relevant information:

• Fact sheet on subsidy-relevant facts (in German)

Noise emissions from music venues and festivals are a particularly sensitive issue in urban areas. They can be perceived as a burden and classified as an offence – often a cause of conflict.

The Schallschutzfonds, initiated as a nationwide pilot programme, addresses precisely this issue: It supports particularly affected venues and festivals in implementing targeted measures to reduce noise emissions. This minimises existing conflicts and creates viable long-term solutions.

Our aim is to ensure the continued existence of these important cultural venues – for a lively programme of music and events without avoidable restrictions.

The Schallschutzfonds is implemented by the Initiative Musik with the expertise of the LivemusikKommission. The allocation of EUR 3 million is subject to the availability and approval of funding by the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB).

In the pilot round, music clubs with up to 2,000 visitors as well as music festivals that are already in contact with one of the associations LivemusikKommission, BDKV, BK Jazz or the Bundesverband Sozio-Kultur due to massive noise complaints and whose performance operations are impaired by the conflict situation or are already threatened with closure are considered. The aim is for those clubs and festivals in participating in the pilot round to serve as a model for future rounds if the measures are successfully implemented and this threat is averted.

The final selection of the funded projects is made in several stages: The Livemusikkommission, in consultation with the Initiative Musik, makes a pre-selection based on subject matter criteria. An external noise protection expert then examines and evaluates the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed measures. An independent, diverse panel of experts evaluates the projects and makes a recommendation. The final decision on the allocation of funding is made by the Advisory Board of the Initiative Musik on the basis of this recommendation.