Practical Knowledge
Professionalization and Career
Social Media Guide for Musicians
“Without TikTok, you can’t achieve anything as an artist today”—statements like this are circulating everywhere on the internet, in workshops, and at industry events. This guide addresses questions about which social media channels are currently important for musicians, what role the algorithm plays, and how musicians can identify their target audiences and develop individual strategies.
Knowledge Collection
In addition to our handbooks and guides, we want to provide you with a knowledge collection that offers links to external know-how material from the pop culture cosmos. A knowledge collection thrives on the participation of its users, so feel free to send us an email at mail@popboard.nrw if you have further ideas for entries or your own projects that we should publish here.
PRO Musik Starterkit & Artist Elevator
The Self-Employment Starter Kit from PRO MUSIK offers freelance music professionals valuable tips and information to help them successfully navigate self-employment.
The goal is to make all important information for career starters visible and available at a glance, to prevent newcomers from making the same mistakes today that were made 20 years ago.
Artist Navigator by Rockcity Hamburg
Track ready, plan missing? From now on: Ask the ARTIST NAVIGATOR!
The new AI tool from Rockcity Hamburg for your digital release planning. Whether track, EP, or album—free and available 24/7, here you get excellent guidance, valuable tips & tricks from industry experts—and plenty of know-how on topics such as: budget planning & funding, studio search & production, GEMA, digital distributors, playlist marketing, release strategies, cover art, photos, reels and video production, PR and social media marketing, merchandising, streaming, MPN, and much more.
Funding and Financing
Handbook of Funding Opportunities for Pop Music in NRW
The Handbook of Funding Opportunities for Pop Music in NRW is a research guide through the world of federal, state, and municipal funding and offers to sort through this jungle. Clearly structured and in short texts, it becomes apparent what is directed at whom and where to find further information and applications.
Knowledge Collection
Know-How for Associations and the Nonprofit Sector
With its broad range of information for associations, Vereinsknowhow.de is a unique project in the German-speaking world and provides information on topics such as bookkeeping, donation law, or tax returns.
LiveKulturWissen
Whether you dream of intimate club concerts, want to rock stadium shows, or plan sustainable festivals, LiveKulturWissen is your platform for everything related to live culture.
Whether intimate concerts, stadium shows, or multi-day festivals—here you’ll find a growing collection of knowledge, experiences, and practical reports from experts, organizers, researchers, and artists.
How To Festival, How To Third Places
The two handbooks published by Verband Impuls Brandenburg help, on the one hand, to strengthen the festival scene in all its concerns and needs and, on the other hand, to support initiatives with a cultural focus in rural regions that are interested in creating “third places.”
Music Production and Digitality
Music Production Guide
Progressive digitalization in the areas of music production, distribution, and marketing has created a multitude of new possibilities. On the other hand, many things have also become more confusing and even more complicated. This guide is therefore intended to provide you with guidance on what needs to be considered in connection with an audio release in the current situation.
Handbook on Digitality
The Handbook on Digitality is the result of research on the status quo of digital work in the cultural life of NRW. Tools and platforms were researched in the areas of marketing/promotion, recording, networking, (work) organization, presentation, and last but not least: “making money in the digital space.”
AI Handbook
Since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, events have been unfolding at a rapid pace: more and more offerings, tools, and software are flooding the market.
With this AI Handbook, PopBoard NRW offers assistance to provide interested parties with an overview, shed light on the jungle of offerings, and encourage further engagement.
Community and Network
Contacts NRW
Collection of advisory and contact points in NRW and beyond.
Knowledge Collection
Democratic Cultural Work
Democratic cultural work is more important than ever these days. Many actors in (socio-)culture are engaged with it, and the need for information is enormous.
This link list from Soziokultur NRW on democratic cultural work is intended to facilitate access to this complex subject area and reduce individual research work. Share it, use it, copy it, and extract what seems useful and helpful to you!
House of Resources
The MIGRApolis House of Resources Bonn advises, supports, and funds locally and/or regionally active migrant self-organizations as well as community-oriented associations, integrative projects, and initiatives that are committed to an open, inclusive, and culturally diverse society.
Sustainability and Resilience
Handbook on Sustainability in Pop Music
With the Handbook on Sustainability in Pop Music, PopBoard NRW provides a compact reference work for all cultural professionals who want to approach the topic and are looking for practical tips. With a focus on aspects of ecological sustainability, the handbook offers a collection with references to definitions, contact points, tools, and guides, among other things. The document is rounded off with good practice examples from the cultural landscape of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Knowledge Collection
Mental Health in Clubs
The handbook “Mental Health in Clubs,” organized by Clubcommission e.V., is aimed at everyone in club culture—from management to bar staff—and invites them to work together to create a healthy and safe working environment. Finally, the handbook shows how a mental health mission statement can be developed and implemented in clubs. Topics covered include self-care, organizational resilience, dealing with discrimination, emergencies and boundary violations, as well as support services such as peer support and supervision.
BDKV Awareness Guide
What does awareness actually mean? How is it connected to diversity? And why is this relevant for the events industry? The BDKV Awareness Guide contains a selection of examples and explanations for practice.
Conversation Strategies for Dealing with Right-Wing Populism
This free brochure in plain language offers practical support to recognize and actively counter disinformation and inflammatory narratives. It empowers readers to recognize manipulation, stand up against discrimination, and confidently defend their rights. Publishers are the Bundesvereinigung Lebenshilfe and the association Tadel Verpflichtet.
Recognizing Nuances
Amateur music does not take place in a vacuum, but is part of a changing society. Therefore, music associations and ensembles can also face challenges in dealing with radical, exclusionary, or derogatory attitudes. The brochure “Recognizing Nuances—Confidence in Action Against Extremist Tendencies” from the Bundesmusikverband Chor & Orchester e.V. is intended to support volunteers and professionals in associations and federations: with legally reviewed answers to the most pressing questions, sample formulations, and guidance.