The PopBoard NRW and its shareholders welcome the 2025 reform project of the GEMA. Culture is more than tradition, culture is constantly changing. Remuneration models and funding must react to social and cultural developments, which makes ongoing adjustments absolutely necessary.

In the run-up to GEMA’s General Assembly in May this year, one motion in particular is at the center of public debate: the planned reform of cultural funding. GEMA’s Executive Board and Supervisory Board intend to reorganize the allocation of available subsidies in order to enable a distribution across all music genres. At the heart of the proposed changes is the abolition of the previous distinction between “serious music” (serious music) and “light music” (light music), which the PopBoard NRW expressly welcomes. This distinction is no longer in keeping with the times and does not adequately reflect today’s musical reality or the diversity of music creators. At the same time, the PopBoard NRW calls on GEMA to ensure the greatest possible transparency both in the design of the planned “dynamic focus cultural promotion” and within the framework of the so-called “lighthouse promotion”. It will be crucial that both funding lines are open and accessible to all music creators and genres in practice.

A lack of income from traditional revenue models for music creators, rising costs in the event sector, changes in audience behavior and the loss of important funding affect pop music just as much as all other genres and musical genres. There is no doubt that some artistic projects are more dependent on funding than others. However, this dividing line no longer runs along the traditional distinction between “serious and popular music”. Accordingly, pop music must be consistently and naturally considered and taken into account in all funding structures, as will be explained below:

Pop is culturelture.

Pop music is far more than just pleasing entertainment. It can be unwieldy, experimental, artistically sophisticated and technically complex. Artists with visionary aspirations work in pop, breaking new aesthetic ground, searching for innovative forms of expression and consciously breaking away from the primacy of commercial exploitation logic. Their motivation is often purely artistic.

Pop is democracy.

As a phenomenon for society as a whole, pop takes account of the increasing diversity of our society. It offers a creative space for people of different origins, identities and perspectives to express themselves, negotiate social realities and initiate debates. Pop music creates platforms for democratic participation, cultural exchange and collective identification – and thus makes an indispensable contribution to cultural diversity. Pop gives people a voice that is otherwise neglected in public dialog.

Pop is not automatically commerce.

Due to the heterogeneous nature and structural and aesthetic diversity of pop music, it cannot be exploited commercially across the board. Its experimental and innovative approaches, the work of young artists and non-commercial formats and events require targeted support. Contemporary funding structures must take this reality into account – because pop music can only develop its potential as a cultural and social force under appropriate framework conditions.

For queries or further information, please contact:
PopBoard NRW
c/o Till Skoruppa
E-Mail: till.skoruppa@popboard.nrw
Web: www.popboard.nrw

► The statement can be downloaded as a PDF from our press page: https://www.popboard.nrw/presse/