About us

The mission of initiative neue musik berlin e. V. (inm) is to give a collective voice to the independent New Music scene in Berlin. The inm is an association of musicians, ensembles, composers, musicologists, cultural managers, and organizers who are active in the field of contemporary music. An aesthetically and structurally open institution, its main effort is to secure and improve the working and production conditions for New Music.

Goals and Tasks of inm 

inm – initiative neue musik berlin e. V. represents the interests of self-employed people in Berlin's independent contemporary music scene. Since its foundation in 1991, it has been working to secure and improve the working and production conditions of freelance professionals, including musicians, artists, organisers and groups. Based on its expertise, it annually awards the State of Berlin's project funds in the field of New Music and Sound Art on behalf of the Senate Department for Culture and Europe. As the sponsor of the field notes programme, it also helps strengthen the presence and professionalisation of the contemporary music scene. Throughout its activities, inm aims to take social diversity into account and to dismantle (structural) discrimination.

Cultural Policy Work

inm – initiative neue musik berlin e. V. unites and represents the interests of independent professional artists and groups in the field of contemporary music. In constant exchange with players in the scene, it identifies needs, formulates demands and brings them into the discourse on cultural policy. With its overarching professional expertise, it advises politicians and administrators.

inm pays particular attention to the ever-increasing number of self-employed artists and freelance producers who work in independent communities without collective wage agreements and fixed institutions. inm puts the structural inequalities and the associated personal risks of the players onto the agenda of cultural policy. It demands that the public authorities review and adjust the currently outdated relationship between fixed and available funds (institutional funding and project funding). It advocates the State of Berlin to implement a funding system that takes into account the changing conditions in music and allows the organisers and producers of contemporary music, who are governed by private law, a necessary degree of creative freedom. Continuous support for outstanding, established ensembles and projects must be guaranteed, as must access for younger and international artists.

inm's cultural policy work focuses on the following goals:

  • Creating fair working and living conditions for freelance musicians (e.g. fee minimums)
  • Securing venues and rehearsal rooms, supporting them and identifying new venues (in cooperation with Kulturraum Berlin gGmbH)
  • Evaluation and adaptation of funding systems to changing production conditions (relationship between institutions and the independent scene; continuity and planning horizons)
  • Increasing the budget for the independent contemporary music scene 
  • Networking and close consultation with interest groups representing other genres and sectors (DACH, KdfS – Sprecher*innenkreis, Landesmusikrat, ZMB, etc.)
  • Expansion of national and international networks
  • Raising awareness among politicians and administrators for the work of independent artists and their artistic practice
  • Close exchange with existing members and acquisition of new ones 
  • Continuous lobbying of politics and administration

At the General Assemblies and other regularly scheduled events, players in the scene have the opportunity to be informed and contribute important topics, requests and suggestions. Become a member of inm and support the board in its cultural policy work.