Spotlight on popular music in North-Rhine-Westphalia: Highlights, Networks and Newcomers

The theme trip "Spotlight on Popular Music in North Rhine-Westphalia: Highlights, Networks and Newcomers" designed by the International Visitors Programme offered ten international festival organisers, music journalists and stakeholders from the music industry and music promotion a wide range of insights into the pop music scene in Düsseldorf, Cologne and the Ruhr region from 1 to 6 November and provided contacts with organisers, musicians and networks.

The theme trip kicked off with an exclusive discussion at the Weltkunstzimmer in Düsseldorf with composer and musician Volker Bertelmann, aka Hauschka, who won the Oscar in the Best Original Score category in 2023.

The guests from Brazil, France, Italy, Canada, Kenya, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom had the opportunity to exchange ideas with funding initiatives, public pop music funding networks and artists at a networking event at the NRW-Forum and a subsequent joint concert visit to the New Fall Festival 2023. The networking event was attended by: Marc Debie (Kulturbüro Dortmund), Dr Christian Esch (NRW KULTURsekretariat), Antje Grajetzky (Kulturamt Düsseldorf), Till Kniola (Kulturamt Köln), Linn Meissner (pop NRW) and Simone Sohn (1Live/WDR) as well as bands and musicians from the popNRW network.

In Cologne, the group met with lecturers and alumni of the Institute for Pop Music at the Folkwang University of the Arts and the HfMT - Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in the o_ton Studios and were then welcomed to a discussion by cologne on pop (c/o pop Festival & Convention) in Cologne Ehrenfeld. The guests also attended the concert programme of the Week-End Fest in Cologne's Stadtgarten.

At the meeting with Frank Kühl, Chairman of VUT West, at Floor6 Studios in Düsseldorf and subsequent participation in the "VUT West Meet & Greet" in cooperation with the New Fall Festival 2023, the guests were able to make further contacts with industry representatives and networks. During an excursion to Essen in the Ruhr region, the participants visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site Zeche Zollverein and talked to the partners and organisers of the Stone Techno Festival: The Third Room, Stiftung Zollverein and Ruhrmuseum.