€80M For Live Music In Germany: A ‘Considerable Sum’ But ‘Far From Sufficient’

A picture of normal times.
Uli Deck/picture alliance via Getty Images
– A picture of normal times.
Max Giesinger performing at the open-air festival Das Fest 2019 in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Germany’s Ministry of State for Culture and the Media announced a €80 million  ($94 million) funding package for the country’s music concert and festival organizers.
The funds are part of the federal government’s stimulus package, which has provided the culture minister Monika Grütters with some €1 billion ($1.18 billion), of which €150 million has been earmarked to help restart music.
The country’s music associations, including BDKV (promoters), BVMI (recorded music), DMV (publishers), LiveKomm (clubs), SOMM (merchants) and VUT (indies), regard the €80 million funding as an “important sign for the preservation of the diversity of the German music industry, which has been threatened by the ban on events since March,” according to a joint statement.
As BDKV president Jens Michow emphasized, however, the money is “far from being sufficient to fill the financial holes that the organizers have incurred in the last six months and which unfortunately will only increase in the coming months.”
As early as April, the representatives of the associations had calculated what it would realistically cost to keep the German music industry afloat until the end of September. They had called for an aid program of around €582 million ($687 million), of which around €410 million was earmarked for the events industry, which has been affected by the crisis to the greatest extent.
While the €80 million are a fraction of that figure, “it will at least ensure a certain basic guarantee of the industry’s ongoing attempts to get back to normal,” according to Michow.
For events from October 2020 to the end of August 2021, the current program provides event organizers with funding between €75,000 and €800,000 of future event costs. 
Festival organizers are eligible for up to €250,000. “The maximum amount depends on the average number of events and visitors in the years 2017 – 2019, as well as the average turnover from cultural events within Germany,” according to the joint statement.
The program starts Sept. 7. Applications will be processed through Germany’s artist support organization Initiative Musik, which has hired eight members of staff for application processing. 
BDKV has set up a team that will advise and assist in the event of problematic applications.