Annual Reviews

Pop and Electronic Music 2021
 Where’s the booster?

2021 was supposed to be the post- pandemic year for pop music. Such was the prevailing hope as Germany’s Covid-stricken music and event industry embarked on a summer of culture in which, at least for a brief spell, everything seemed almost normal again. But then came the fourth wave and made one thing clear: optimism and creativity won’t keep anyone afloat if the money and strategy are running short.

Pop and Electronic Music 2020
 The figures aren’t everything

2020 was a year of great upheavals, a turning point. The pop and electronic music sectors had to grapple with the basic question of how to make a living amid a pandemic, ensuing crisis and concrete policy decisions.

Electronic Music 2019
 Global Issues Enter Local Scenes

In 2019, global problems found their way into the German scene: Climate crisis, displacement from inner cities, Israeli-Palestinian conflict – it seemed as if the club culture was no longer the hedonistic playground it was meant to be. However, the year’s musical trends put a stop to that.

Electronic Music 2018
 Nostalgia and Visions of the Future

Almost 30 years of Techno – and even this year the historical processing of club culture seems to have swamped the scene totally. In 2018, however, the Techno community also inspired people to take to the streets for political protest and took a clear committed stance on tolerance and more awareness of the spirit of the times. Nevertheless, having to say goodbye to some old acquaintances was painful.

Electronic Music 2017
Difficult Times and Free Sounds

Tropical drums, Berlin hedonism and plaintive pleas – in 2017 electronic music in Germany showed itself once more to be pleasantly multifaceted - and the community to be politically aware and socially involved. Thomas Venker looks back over the year.

Electronic Music2016
 Get out of your sound bubble !

All those people who wanted to cling to their security were disappointed in 2016. There were political surprises and global upheavals by the dozen. When it came to club culture, however, there was no comparable aesthetic subversion. The scene, however, still functions as a sensitive seismograph for any new boundaries that might be coming about.

Electronic music 2015
 A generational project

The German electronic music scene, solely sustained by the passion of its movers and shakers, was particularly multi-layered in 2015.

Electronic Music 2014
 Improv Berlin!

In 2014 free jazz and electronic music continued to grow closer. A key factor in that ongoing development is Berlin’s international appeal. A review by Max Dax.

Electronic Music 2013
 Romantics in the Bass Drum Cycle

Electronic music came full circle in more ways than one in 2013. It was also the year club culture learned to laugh at itself.

Electronic music 2012
 Bad news for Berghain & Co.

In 2012 Germany became a major hub of electronic club music again – even as GEMA, the German music copyright watchdog, announced a rate reform that set off a wave of protest.

Electronic Music 2011
 “Prosper in this Fortune’s Glory”

For Tobias Thomas the electronic music year in Germany was dominated by politics and business. This is a review of the ambivalent developments on the “Island of Good Fortune”

Electronic Music 2010
 Forward Ever, Backward Ever

When forward motion is slowing down, one can finally look back: for Finn Johannsen, 2010 was basically a year of consolidation.