Initiative Pop is a digital & analog education program in the Greater Region for young business professionals, young artists, fresh music market players & beginning entrepreneurs, which focuses on increasing its participants entrepreneur skillset & helps them to establish a successful brand in the modern music industry.

According to the motto “Learn to DIY!” Initiative Pop helps its 40 participants to acquire important and contemporary skills, in the fields of Content-Creation, Business Development, Networking, Marketing & Communication, to develop their fresh music business ideas into a long-term successful business.

Are you a young business professional, young artist, fresh music market player or beginning entrepreneur? Do you want to work permanently in the music industry and possibly establish a successful brand yourself? Then Initiative Pop is here to help!

Organized by pop rlp (Germany) & L'Autre Canal (France) and supported by established partners of the Greater Region, Initiative Pop aims at providing its 40 participants with an up-to-date and efficient toolkit for the independent realization of own projects in the fields of music management, booking, promotion, distribution and many more. A leading team of five docents/mentors, assisted by several successful guest lecturers, providing webinars, workshops, panels and individual consulting possibilities, will help you to unleash your full potential and show up the endless opportunities of the contemporary popular music market.

From April 2021 to March 2022, you will have the opportunity to follow a unique program split into two parts:

Part I • Knowledge Transfer, Consulting & Networking via Workshops, Panels, Lectures, Webinars in the fields of Marketing, Booking, Distribution, Creation, Finances, Business Development and Organization.

Part II • Realization of a project: In small groups and under the supervision of experienced mentors, the participants carry out their own projects in the Greater Region. E.g., Mini-Festival, Mini-Tour, release of a product, setup of a brand, start of an agency, or others.

Who is it for?

The target group of Initiative Pop is all Young Business Professional, young artists, fresh music market players & beginning entrepreneurs of the Greater Region, who are willing to take part in a 12-month long education program and will participate on a regular basis (digital/analog). The focus lies on popular music culture, in which bands and artists from any music genre are located, as well as all other players in the music market (bookers, organizers, promoters, publishers, label operators, etc.).

What is expected from its participants?

• High motivation and interest for several aspects of the music industry

• Attendance to the full online training program

• Attendance to all physical meetings

• Creative ideas & active participation

• Regular calls with the docents & guest lecturers to work on detailed questions, challenges, & next steps

• Willing to work in a team with other like-minded people on a regular basis

• Independent work on supplied content of Part I & the final project of Part II

• Being open-minded, committed, able to cooperate and to take criticism

• Light reporting of the individual learning progress & important milestones on a regular basis

Application procedure

All potential candidates can submit their application via the Initiative Pop application form on the website (initiative-pop.eu/apply-now). After the official deadline for application on the 28th February 2021, all candidates will be sighted by the team (supervisors, docents & project managers) of Initiative Pop. Out of all applications, 40 transmittals will be considered for the short list. These candidates will be contacted and interviewed via the internet to establish a first meet-up and gain further knowledge about individual interests and skillsets. Afterwards, the team of Initiative Pop will arrange a learning group and contact all participants about their selection for the 12-month long education program.

Requirements for a successful application

• You’re a Young Business Professional, young artist, fresh music market player, beginning entrepreneur

• You want work in the music business (long term) and have already made first steps

• You are from the Greater Region (GER/FR/BEL/LUX). More on the Greater Region on initiative-pop.eu

• You want to take part in a 12-month long education program and will participate on a regular basis (digital/analog).

• You aim at being successful in your field of interest.

• You are open-minded, committed, able to cooperate and to take criticism

• You want to establish a business in the music business

• You’ve already made first experiences on the music market and maybe already finished your first qualification in this field