Audio Poverty

The musical world is undergoing radical change. The spread and duplication of music via the Internet has led to unexpected opportunities, which in turn has necessitated new forms of marketing and music criticism. These fundamental changes have impacted the music business and its significance in all areas - from production conditions and profit margins to the behaviour of consumers and listeners of music. Although music has never been so ubiquitous and so often listened to as it is today, the entire industry finds itself in a remarkable crisis that is not only reflected by decreasing sales of audio recordings and financial losses. Critics of the music scene also warn that our musical culture is becoming less and less diverse and the quality of music journalism is on the decline. The three-day conference Audio Poverty addressed the current issues facing the music industry, the reception of music and its production. Specifically it explored how the new production conditions are affecting music, how new distribution channels can be used, how the artists' relationship to the audience can be improved and how music can preserve its social relevance under these changing conditions. Current problems of pop culture and art music were the focus of lectures, podium discussions and interviews with artists. Concerts and DJ sets presented a wide spectrum of music, including Bricolage hip hop, TV operas, Musica povera and improvisation.

Participants: Achim Bergmann, Ekkehard Ehlers, Manon-Liu Winter (AUS), Diedrich Diederichsen, Alan Hilario (RP), Thomas Meadowcroft (AUS), Helga de la Motte-Haber, Marc Chung, Dieter Gorny, Chris Bohn (UK), Max Dax, Awesometapesfromafrica (US), Josephine Foster (US), Jonathan Fischer, Goodiepal (DK), Hair Police (USA), Quarta 330 (JAP), David Keenan (SCO), Björn Gottstein, Alvin Curran (USA), Enno Poppe, Ensemble Mosaik, Ensemble Zwischentöne, Ensemble Asamisimasa (NO), Eva Reiter (AUS), Barbara Romen (AUS) and others

Venue and schedule:
House of World Cultures, Berlin: 6-8 Feb. 2009