GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The Highest Body of the German Music Council
The General Assembly is the highest body of the German Music Council. All members of the legal association (e.V.) - regular, advisory, supporting, and honorary members - belong to it. The General Assembly meets regularly once a year in October in Berlin. The public part of the General Assembly is dedicated to a music policy main topic and places this in a social context. In the internal portion of the meeting, the General Assembly performs the tasks assigned to it by the statutes.
Further information
as well as the minutes of the General Assemblies can be viewed by members here:
to the Members’ Section
General Assembly 2023: "Artificial Intelligence and Music"
The German Music Council held a full-day symposium on "Artificial Intelligence and Music" in Berlin on October 20, 2023. In ten modules, topics such as the future perspectives of cultural and economic policy as well as copyright were highlighted. There were also field reports and practical examples from the areas of pop and classical music. As part of the module "Looking Beyond the Horizon" there were, for example, an introduction to the philosophy of AI, discussions about the effects of AI on music education, and an "Open Space" for experimentation. The conference was rounded off by a plenary discussion.
The symposium was held as a public part of the German Music Council’s General Assembly in Berlin.
"Can AI create art? Artificial intelligence has long since begun to shape many areas of life, including musical life. With its almost inexhaustible development potential, AI is already permeating many aspects of our daily existence. It opens up completely new possibilities for artistic activity – while at the same time raising many questions: Does AI mean the end of the creative individual, or does the use of AI create the opportunity for everyone to become an artist? Can AI set creative processes in motion? And if so, does the concept of authorship need to be redefined? How does AI create new job profiles, and how does its curation of artistic offerings influence the responses of listeners and viewers? People are at the center of artistic processes. The German Music Council sees itself as a driving force in the effort to engage AI as a companion in a humane society of the future.
Secretary General of the German Music Council
Topics of previous General Assemblies
2022
Church Music: Opportunity for Society, Culture, and the Church
The 2022 General Assembly was held in Berlin on October 21 and 22, 2022. It was held in conjunction with the Church Music Congress. Under the theme "Church Music: Opportunity for Society, Culture, and the Church," there were lectures and panel discussions as well as working groups on various topics. Further information as well as the minutes of the General Assembly meetings can be found here.
2020
The 2020 General Assembly was held in digital form for the first time due to the measures taken to contain the Corona virus. It was limited to internal association legal issues. The members adopted the 6th Berlin Appeal, "Securing Cultural Life Now", as well as an overall concept for youth participation in the German Music Council.
2018
City. Country, Music: Home is Where I Understand and am Understood
The 2018 General Assembly focused on the theme "City. Country. Music: Home is Where I Understand and am Understood". On the one hand, it addressed the question of what role musical life can play in social cohesion and, on the other, how the obvious gaps in the educational-cultural infrastructure, especially in some rural areas, can be closed. To introduce the main topic, Prof. Dr. Dr. Matthias Theodor Vogt, Managing Director of the Institute for Cultural Infrastructure Saxony, gave a keynote speech, which you can read here
2021
New Start in Music: Successful Cultural Policy for the Years 2022 - 2025
In 2021, the General Assembly in Berlin, with the German Music Council’s "Ice Age" study as a point of departure, focused on the challenges of the coming years. In a panel discussion with Gerhart Baum (Chairman of the Board of the Kulturrat NRW), the musician Christina Lux, and Ilona Schmiel (Artistic Director of the Tonhalle-Gesellschaft Zürich AG), the topics discussed included the lack of appreciation for music professions (particularly as a means of earning a living), the need to support musical life less bureaucratically, and the potential for stronger cooperation between the independent scene and established institutions. In addition, the 7th Berlin Appeal was unanimously adopted. In the portion of the meeting devoted to internal association issues, the DMR Executive Committee was newly elected for a period of four years.
2019
Making Music - Showing Attitude
The 2019 General Assembly took place under the motto "Making Music - Showing Attitude" and was opened with a speech by Professor Martin Maria Krüger. On the basis of a draft of the council’s Executive Committee on the 5th Berlin Appeal, "Making Music - Showing Attitude", the approximately 100 representatives of the council’s member associations present discussed the future thematic focal points of the DMR in a time of great socio-political changes. In the internal portion of the meeting, the members adopted the 5th Berlin Appeal and the resolution "Protecting Jewish Life", thus for the first time expressing their views on current socio-political challenges as a civil society umbrella organization for musical life.
