Cultural Policy in Germany – Chance for Change?

Abstract

The Corona pandemic is still ongoing and has changed almost all areas of economic, social and cultural life—perhaps even lastingly, it is not yet possible to say. The music sector, in all its diversity, also suffers from the current restrictions. In this statement dealing with cultural policy in Germany, I discuss the need to distribute public funding for culture differently. In the last few months, it has become clear that it is above all the non-publicly financed free popular culture scene that suffers most from the restrictive effects (for example, bans on appearances). The publicly funded (music-)cultural sector, on the other hand, can continue to plan the future—without any guarantee as to how it will run. The Corona pandemic should have been a time to bring institutional and independent scenes closer together in order to create something new both artistically and organizationally.