At the invitation of the Hamburg Ministry of Culture, the Permanent Representation of the State of Hamburg in Berlin, and the Reeperbahn Festival, spokespeople from three political parties represented in the German Bundestag met today to discuss future policy relating to the German music industry. The occasion was the “Reeperbahn Festival – Echo Edition”, which, as in previous years, took place ahead of the ECHO Music Awards ceremony and was held at the offices of Hamburg’s Permanent Representation in Berlin. This was the sixth Echo Edition.

Under the headline "Wahlkreis Musikwirtschaft” (Music Industry Constituency) it happened to be a very livelily and constructive discussion between the audience and the political panel. Regarding the live entertainment sector
key issues and major points of debate were the need for new administrational regulations for temporary work contracts and regulation of the secondary and black market for tickets. Value Gap and options for regulating online platforms were the central issues the panel discussed with regards to the recorded music industry.

Approximately 100 invited guests – including representatives from the music industry, politicians, public administrators, and members of the media – attended the network meeting in Berlin’s Mitte district. Dr Carsten Brosda, Hamburg’s senator for cultural affairs, delivered the opening remarks.

The following members of the German Bundestag participated in the panel discussion: Lars Klingbeil (Social Democratic Party, internet policy spokesperson), Harald Petzold (The Left, media policy spokesperson), and Marco Wanderwitz (Christian Democratic Union, cultural and media policy spokesperson). They sought to highlight the ways in which the individual parties would address the music industry’s concerns in the future and, in the run-up to the German federal election, aimed to score points with the assembled members of the industry.