Allocation of Funding: Scholarships & Residencies 2024

Musicboard Berlin is awarding 28 project scholarships to pop musicians and bands who live and work in Berlin. Furthermore, the recipients of the co-creation residencies Accra / Berlin and Kampala / Berlin as well as the residency in Salvador de Bahia have been chosen. The co-creation residency Tel Aviv / Berlin was not open to applications this year, but will take place in Berlin in a modified form.

PROJECT SCHOLARSHIPS AND MUSICIAN AND BAND COACHING

Musicboard’s scholarships support Berlin pop musicians and bands aiming for artistic or professional development with a music project within a given timeframe. The funding is intended to acknowledge up-and-coming talents and the innovative strength of Berlin musicians in the pop music sector.

This year, 714 applications with a total amount of 6,501,628.57 euros were submitted for the project scholarships. Of these, Musicboard supports 28 musicians and bands with a total amount of 160,000.00 euros. In addition, seven of the scholarship holders will receive individual coaching.

The following artists receive a Musicboard project scholarship in 2024:

INTERNATIONAL AND CO-CREATION RESIDENCIES

Musicboard’s residency programme gives Berlin pop musicians the opportunity to work creatively in a new setting, whether in Germany or abroad. With co-creation residencies, Musicboard also welcomes international musicians to stay in Berlin. These residencies promote interdisciplinary exchange and artistic experimentation, serve to further the internationalisation of Berlin’s pop music scene and establish long-term, transnational co-production.

In the first funding round of the Musicboard residencies in 2024, 50 applications were submitted. One Berlin artist receives an international residency at Goethe-Institut’s Vila Sul in Salvador de Bahia, Brasil. Additionally, two co-creation residencies in Kampala / Berlin and Accra / Berlin are awarded to one international and one Berlin artist each. Due to the security situation in Israel and the current state of war, the co-creation residency Tel Aviv / Berlin cannot take place in its usual form in 2024 and was not advertised. Instead, Musicboard, in cooperation with Jonathan Lipitz, owner of the Kuli Alma Club in Tel Aviv, continues to facilitate artistic exchange by inviting two musicians from Tel Aviv to Berlin to collaborate with a Berlin-based artist. The co-creation partner from Berlin is currently being selected.

In this funding round, the following artists receive a Musicboard residency:

JURY HIGHLIGHTS THE VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS

The scholarships and residencies were recommended by a jury of Berlin pop experts, consisting of Aida Baghernejad (cultural journalist), Ebru »Ebow« Düzgün (artist, label owner, manager, event organiser), Ji-Hun Kim (Editor-in-chief Das Filter, freelance lecturer, DJ and music producer), Misla Tesfamariam (artist manager, label owner), Thien Nguyen (label owner, DJ, music and film producer), and Yeşim Duman (curator, moderator, DJ).

The jury was impressed by the variety of the applications submitted: »Berlin has once again proven why it remains one of the most exciting cities in the world of pop culture, despite all the challenges. The diversity of the music scene(s), which ranges from experimental electronic to postmodern punk to contemporary pop destined for the world’s major stages, is also evident in this excellent year. Congratulations to all the scholarship holders. We look forward to everything we will hear from them in the coming months and years!«

FURTHER FUNDING FOR ARTISTS IN 2024

The Musicboard residencies in Los Angeles, Ris-Orangis/Paris, HELLERAU, and Sternhagen Gut are currently open for applications, as well as the co-creation residency Detroit / Berlin and the Hinterhalt Commission. The application deadline is 1 June 2024 at 6:00 p.m.