Program Description PlugIn, 3rd Round

Live music venues are an indispensable part of Germany’s diverse music scene. From established clubs to concert halls, they provide essential local musical infrastructure across metropolitan, urban, and rural areas. They serve as platforms for artistic experimentation, nurture talent, and set trends. Live music venues provide a stage for (up-and-coming) artists to try out their craft and perform in front of an audience. They form an essential part of the infrastructure that enables musicians’ work and artistic development. In addition to their importance for cultural participation among diverse population groups, they foster social exchange. In that sense, functional, modern, and sustainable technical equipment is crucial to ensuring the competitiveness of live music venues both nationally and internationally, and ultimately to enabling them to effectively support emerging musicians in their artistic development, as well as to guarantee culturally diverse, publicly accessible live music.  

For that reason, Initiative Musik supports small to medium-sized live music venues in modernizing and improving their concert sound systems through its “PlugIn” program. The program also aims to promote resource-efficient use and sustainable procurement. 

Funding is available for the purchase of new and used equipment, as well as the installation of performance-related elements to improve the acoustic and visual conditions of concert performances at live music venues. Performance-related elements are defined as all technical components used on or near the stage during a live music event or essential to setting up a live music event. Eligible components fall into the following three categories: sound engineering, visual performance technology, and stage technology. A detailed list of eligible items can be found in the FAQs (in German). 

Furthermore, funding is available for:  

• Personnel expenses, exclusively for the technical and organizational implementation of the funded purchases. These expenses may not exceed 10% of the total cost. Funding does not cover general or other personnel expenses of the live music venue, such as planning, advertising, and assessment. 
• External services directly related to the project’s technical implementation (e.g., renovation work). Their share may not exceed 20% of total expenses. 
• Refurbished as well as second-hand technical equipment and musical instruments: The purchase must be made from a specialized retailer and documented by a proper invoice.
• Repair of stage and sound equipment and musical instruments: Repair costs may not exceed 50% of the purchase price of the item, and they must not be—or must no longer be—covered by a manufacturer’s warranty or insurance. In exceptional cases, repair costs may exceed said amount. All repairs must be performed by specialized workshops and documented with a proper invoice.

Eligible applicants are natural persons, legal entities with legal capacity, or partnerships based in Germany. These include 

• operators of live music venues with a maximum visitor capacity of 2,000 standing places; 
• that are permanent and fixed in location, 
• that have been operating the music venue for at least 12 months, 
• that predominantly use the venue for live music events in all genres except classical. Live music events, in this sense, are curated performances by musicians (including events featuring artistic DJs) that generally take place on a stage in front of an audience. The concerts are specifically advertised. The audience attends because of the musical performance. One or more artists or bands perform 100% live. At least 50% of the repertoire performed is original material.  
• in which at least 
  • 12 (in rural areas with up to 20,000 residents),  
  • 18 (in small towns and independent cities, 20,001 to 50,000 residents) 
  • 24 (in cities with 50,001 or more residents) 
    live music events by various artists on different days between April 2025 and April 2026 can be documented. 

• who have been primarily responsible, both in terms of content and funding, for at least half of these live music events. 

Not eligible to apply are:  

• Venues that have already received funding in the first or second round of this program.
• Legal entities governed by public law, as well as legal entities and partnerships in which legal entities governed by public law hold a majority stake.
• Operators who received 40% or more of their basic operating funding from public sources. The relevant reference year is 2025. 
• So-called temporary structures (e.g., tents/mobile stages) and open-air stages, conference and event centers/halls, recording studios, and community halls.
• Music venues that broadcast anti-constitutional, unlawful, or criminal content; focus their programming on content that glorifies violence or harms minors; or that violate the guidelines of the Initiative Musik through their activities.
• Music venues that promote content that is degrading to human dignity or ideologies of inequality, or that provide a platform for such content. 

A maximum of one application for the “PlugIn” program may be submitted per music club/license, business name, or individual. 

Duplicate funding by the federal government is not permitted. However, state or municipal funding may be used to supplement the applicant’s share. 

Only projects compatible with EU state aid law are eligible for funding. This program is not subject to this provision. Under this guideline, funding may not be granted to companies that have failed to repay a recovery order of previous state aid. 

The funding is provided as a non-repayable grant in the form of a fixed-amount payment as part of a project funding program. The relevant terms and conditions are included in the funding agreements.

The funding share is degressive and depends on the total amount of expenses. As total expenses increase, the funding share decreases. 

• Project expenses must amount to at least 2,500 EUR—in this case, the maximum possible funding covers up to 75 percent of total funding-eligible expenses. The required contribution from the applicant (including any third-party funding) must be at least 25 percent in this case, i.e., 625 EUR. 
• For project expenses of 30,000 EUR or more, the maximum possible grant amount of 15,000 EUR is reached—in this case, the maximum possible grant percentage is therefore 50 percent of the total eligible expenses. Accordingly, the required self-contribution (including any third-party funding) amounts to at least 50 percent.
• The maximum amount of funding possible is always 15,000 EUR. 

The funding application must be submitted to Initiative Musik in digital form. The provided application form must be completed on the online application portal and submitted exclusively online. Details regarding type and scope must be taken from the form. If submitting the application online is a barrier for individual applicants, an application may also be submitted by post after prior consultation. The documents specified in the application form must be uploaded with the application. 

The online application period runs from May 18, 2026, 1:00 p.m. to June 5, 2026, 1:00 p.m. 

Only complete and formally correct applications are considered. Applications will be reviewed for accuracy and completeness in the order in which they are received (by submission date) and decisions will be made based on a 60:40 distribution between urban and non-urban areas. The “non-urban area” category includes places with fewer than 100,000 residents; places with 100,000 or more residents fall into the “urban area” category. 

Applications are considered formally submitted only once all supporting documents have been received for review. If the application is successfully reviewed, a funding commitment can be made, provided that the funding allocation for urban or non-urban areas has not yet been exhausted. 

Applications that are submitted on time, that are complete, and that meet all formal requirements will be placed on a waiting list, if they have been successfully reviewed and the funding allocation from the respective funding pool (urban or non-urban) has already been exhausted. After the application deadline has passed, any remaining funds may be allocated to applicants on the waiting list in the order in which they submitted their applications. 

If the applicant has filed for bankruptcy or is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, funding generally cannot be granted. However, in justified individual cases, Initiative Musik may still offer the prospect of funding following a review. 

Funding is granted through the digital execution of a private-law funding agreement exclusively on a case-by-case basis. It is a one-time grant and does not entitle the recipient to further funding or an increase in the amount of funding. 

The project period starts with the completion of the funding contract and ends no later than March 31, 2027. Funding is not granted for activities that take place outside the specified project period. However, the funding application may be combined with a justified request for an early start of the project, provided that it does not affect its eligibility for funding. The requested start date of the proposed project may not be earlier than the date of application. 

Upon completion of the funding agreement, funds for the supported project can be accessed. 

Further details are specified in the General Funding Conditions and the Funding Principles of Initiative Musik.  

After project’s implementation, Initiative Musik reviews a report on the use of funds, which must be submitted at latest by April 30, 2027, to verify that the project was carried out and that the funds were used in accordance with the proposal and contract. 

The terms and conditions of the funding program described here come into effect on the date of their publication and apply until December 31, 2027.