Musicboard Berlin — Label Funding (3rd round 2026)

Berlin money for independent labels to promote one of their artists properly. It covers individual promotional measures inside a bigger release plan — a press kit, a music video, a release event — for one Berlin-based pop artist or band at a time. A complete marketing package for establishing an artist is not fundable, and neither are recording, mixing and mastering; artists apply for production costs separately through Musicboard's scholarships. "Pop" here means all popular music, including cross-genre and experimental work that isn't clearly jazz or classical.

To apply you need a label registered or with premises in Berlin, proprietor- or artist-run, with no more than a five percent market share, a GVL label code (no exceptions made), evidence of a working business and management structure, and at least two professional releases already out. The artist must live in Berlin and be contractually signed to you.

The ceiling is €5,000 per measure and €5,000 per label per year, spread across at most two applications for different artists. No cash contribution of your own is required, which is unusual for public funding. Payment follows a signed contract, with a written and numerical report plus original receipts due within three months of the project ending.

Applications go through Musicboard's online tool in German or English: project description, proof of two releases, proof of managerial professionalism, the signing contract, the artist's Berlin residence, a bio, mp3s and a cost breakdown. A four-person independent jury of Berlin pop professionals decides, and you hear back roughly four to six weeks after the deadline.