An alliance that extends from the rehearsal room to the main stage: In Germany’s most populous federal state, the PopBoard NRW is a pop music interest group that was formed from the bottom up!

The PopBoard NRW is a child of the corona pandemic, a serious crisis for pop as well as for all those who are self-employed. And crises bring people together, including those who would otherwise rather enjoy artistic freedom than get lost in statutes. But in this exceptional situation, everyone focused on the common interest and, despite the different perspectives, found the common ground: the amateurs and professionals among the musicians, the promoters, labels and distributors, the clubs and stages, especially the women in pop, especially the children and young people in pop, the socio-cultural centres, the pop funding projects and the music festivals in North Rhine-Westphalia. Nine stakeholders make up the PopBoard NRW and have accepted a challenge that extends far beyond the limits of the emergency situation. The PopBoard’s tasks can be summarised as follows:

► The PopBoard examines the problems and interests of pop in NRW and raises awareness for them.

► The PopBoard acts as an ambassador and contact person for politics, business and administration.

► The PopBoard seeks and maintains contact with other interest groups and finds common ground.

► The PopBoard wants to achieve participation in pop and firmly anchor pop in the official concept of culture.

► The PopBoard questions the current framework conditions for creative individuals and advocates for meaningful improvements.

► The PopBoard informs creative individuals about funding opportunities and funding providers about funding gaps that need to be closed.

In this mission, the PopBoard gets its ideas and tasks from a diverse advisory board anchored firmly in the grassroots of pop and, on the other hand, has already successfully established connections to the highest levels of the state government. In ongoing projects, the PopBoard is taking care of aspects of sustainability, diversity, digitality, more dialogue and better funding opportunities. It is also financing surveys on the situation in NRW as a pop culture location with a special focus on pop music, and looking for better export opportunities, as well as continuing the dialogue with the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Economics of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The nine stakeholders who founded the PopBoard continue to exchange ideas closely, have commissioned a management team with additional employees, have given themselves working principles and a code of conduct, argue, get along, grate each other, inspire each other, and help each other. A social crisis for pop in North Rhine-Westphalia couldn’t have turned out better. It’s not an end, it’s a beginning.