From the industry for the industry! The Music Business Summer School is a German-language further education and professionalization programme for the four main areas of the music industry – Music Publishing, Live Entertainment, Recorded Music and Artist Management. In four parallel seminar blocks, between September 11 to 16, it offers practitioners in the music industry a practical combination of theory, insights and networking – curated by experienced industry experts. Register by June 30, 2025!
Music Business Summer School
The MBSS takes place annually in Hamburg in the week before the Reeperbahn Festival and becomes an important meeting place for the entire music industry over several days. In 2025, it will run from September 11 to 16 – six days full of program from morning to night.
The aim of the program is to impart comprehensive knowledge within the four main branches of the music industry: Music Publishing, Recorded Music, Live Entertainment and Artist Management. In addition to teaching theoretical knowledge, great importance is attached to practical relevance and the mutual exchange of experience. Previous experience in the respective field is therefore an explicit criterion for participation.
The group size is deliberately kept low to ensure not only a pleasant learning atmosphere and good support from the speakers, but also to enable cross-industry exchange and sustainable networking.
The program is aimed at employees from all sub-sectors of the music industry, graduates with previous professional experience in media, culture and music management as well as self-employed creative professionals with close professional ties to the music industry.
Hamburg Music Business e.V. is responsible for the organization in cooperation with the Forum Musikwirtschaft. The content of the four seminar areas is designed by specialized curators in cooperation with industry associations and speakers.
Project partners are the main associations and interest groups in the music industry:
Music Publishing Summer School: DMV – Deutscher Musikverleger-Verband e.V.
Live Entertainment Summer School: BDKV – Bundesverband der Konzert- und Veranstaltungswirtschaft e. V.
Recorded Music Summer School: BVMI – Bundesverband Musikindustrie e.V., VUT – Verband unabhängiger Musikunternehmerinnen e.V., GVL – Gesellschaft für Leistungsschutzrechte Artist Management Summer School: IMUC – Interessenverband Musikmanagerinnen & Consultants. , GVL – Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten
Artist Management Summer School: IMUC – Interessenverband Musikmanager*innen & Consultants
The Reeperbahn Festival is also a long-standing partner, while the Hamburg Media School is the venue and educational partner.
The alumni program Inspiration Information – loosely based on Shuggie Otis – is aimed at former MBSS participants and other professionals in the music industry who would like to learn more about current topics free of charge. New (online) sessions with inspiring inputs, expert panels and peer-to-peer exchange on relevant developments in the industry await you throughout the year.
The Summer School is a project of Hamburg Music Business e.V. in cooperation with the Forum Musikwirtschaft and is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. The Artist Management Summer School is supported by Initiative Musik gemeinnützige Projektgesellschaft mbH with project funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of an infrastructure grant.