Starting this year, Reeperbahn Festival as an international platform of the music industry will extend its "Wunderkinder – German Music Talent" programme by cooperating with the c/o pop Festival. This will raise public awareness for the programme on promoting the international careers of ambitious German artists and will position itself even more clearly within the national music scene and business during the c/o pop Festival.

One good thing about globalisation is that German bands and artists are increasingly successful abroad. On the other hand, the amount of music has never been more abundant, and it is correspondingly difficult to be heard and to find the right partners who are crucial when it comes to international careers. This is precisely the reason why in 2013 the "Wunderkinder – German Music Talent" programme was initiated by Reeperbahn Festival to bring together young bands and artists with international industry representatives from the areas of publishing, management, sales, label or booking, during Reeperbahn Festival. This way, a network of over 150 international talent buyers has been established, which has already provided substantial support for the international careers of more than 60 German acts such as Gurr, Ace Tee, ROOSEVELT, Giant Rooks or Leoniden. To raise public awareness of the programme, above all in the domestic scene, the network will extend towards Cologne this year, where "Wunderkinder" will become part of the c/o pop Festival for the first time.

The focus here is clearly on the national music market: During the Cologne "Wunderkinder – German Music Talent" programme at the c/o pop Festival, participating acts will present themselves in ten concerts. In addition, the participants will meet national delegates from the fields of live entertainment and publishing as well as label representatives at special networking events. At least two of these acts will then have the opportunity to perform to the network of international industry representatives and to the audience at Reeperbahn Festival in September.

Apart from customised contacts for all bands and artists, participation in the "Wunderkinder – German Music Talent" programme will also offer the opportunity to perform at the international Reeperbahn Festival spin-offs in New York, Beijing, Accra or Los Angeles to collect first show experiences with an international audience.