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Are you also at Reeperbahn Festival 2025? 👀


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Dear MCN Friends and Supporters,


We’re excited to share the highlights of this year’s presence of our network

at the Reeperbahn Festival 2025 in Hamburg (17–20 September). 

MCN Reception & Showcase - Thu 18th - 15:00 - 20:00


We’ll kick things off with our MCN Reception on Thursday afternoon, the perfect moment for you and your colleagues, partners, and friends of the network to meet, reconnect, and raise a glass together.


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After last year’s super energetic and successful showcase, we are more than excited to then bring you the next edition of that with a new and wonderful line up of artists from 4 of our cities again! And big thanks goes out to our partner and founding organization Hamburg Music for having us once again as part of their Hamburg Haus Programme @ RBF25.

This year, we are lucky to have: 


Reception: 15:00 – 16:00

16:00 – 17:30 Rasha Nahas from Berlin, Germany

17:00 - 16:30 Abekejser from Aarhus, Denmark

18:00 – 18:30 Adja from Brussels, Belgium

19:00 - 19:30 Inspector Spacetime from Reykjavik, Iceland

See you at Häkken, Hamburg!


🎙️ Panel Talk: Re-Centering Music Cities Around People and Purpose


On the question of how music can serve as infrastructure for societal change (a cause we strongly stand for as you know!), we invite you to join our panel Re-Centering Music Cities Around People and Purpose on Friday 19th 10.30-11.30. Our Managing Director, Lena Ingwersen, will be in conversation with, among others, our dear colleague Paula Simó from Valencia, moderated by Shain Shapiro from the Center for Music Ecosystem.


“For music policy to succeed in cities, it must connect to broader social and cultural challenges. From mental health and loneliness to diversity and cross-cultural understanding, music can strengthen communities and act as infrastructure for social change — building empathy, inclusion, and systemic transformation alongside economic growth. Yet in a world of disinformation and competing priorities, meaningful change is more complex than ever. How can we redefine value through purpose and learn from best practices? When music addresses real human needs, it creates value not just financially, but emotionally, socially, and democratically. Join us to explore how music can help tackle the biggest challenges of our time.”


📅 19 September 2025

🕒 10.30 CET  - 11.30 CET

📍 ARCOTEL Onyx, East Ground Floor Amber


Together with:

  • Sandra Schembri (CEONordoff Robbins – music therapy & mental health)

  • Paula Simó (University of Valencia, Vice Chair MCN Board)

  • Lena Ingwersen (Managing Director, Music Cities Network)

  • Shain Shapiro (Center for Music Ecosystems)


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🎙️ Panel Talk: Pollstar Venue Check - New strategies and ideas for the operation of venues


This session with our dear colleague Daniela from D.Live Düsseldorf explores how venues can balance local identity with the evolving expectations of artists and promoters. It looks at how adopting and even setting new trends can enhance audience and artist satisfaction - whether through innovation, inspiration, or low-cost creative ideas. 


📅 Thursday,  18 SEPT

🕒 14.45 CET - 15.45 CET

📍 East Hotel / Cinema 2

Together with:

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Hamburg Haus @ RBF25


For five years, Hamburg Haus has been a hub for Hamburg’s music companies at RBF. Beyond our showcase, we spotlight these events:


Matchmaking: Estonia X Ukraine X GermanyNow joined by Ukraine: on Thursday, 12:00, pros from all three countries meet in quick sessions. Register here

Matchmaking: France X Germany Thursday, 14:00, in partnership with CNM & Berlin Music Commission. Apply by 9 Sept here


Keynote: AI in the Music Industry Wednesday, 18:00–20:00: David Stammer (Popakademie) on AI in live music—benefits & limits—plus Q&A and networking. Part of MI-RAP (Interreg Baltic Sea Region). Register here


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👉 We can’t wait to see many of you in Hamburg - whether at the Reception & Showcase, the Panel Talk, or both! Let us know when you are around!

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And if you can’t make it yourself, feel free to send someone from your team. Always happy to meet new faces!


Looking forward to seeing many of you there!


Warm regards,


your MCN Headquarters



Inquiries


For more information about the Music Cities Network, please contact:


Aneta Gaidamovic

Communication Manager, Music Cities Network



About the

Music Cities Network


The Music Cities Network (MCN) is a transnational non-profit association uniting music cities and policy makers around the globe. The network is dedicated to improving communication collaboration, business, arts & policies for all music city stakeholders: artists, music entrepreneurs, city marketing strategists and music policy makers. The actions aiming towards MCNs vision to get decision makers and politicians to sustainably acknowledge music as an integrated part of city development. Founding members are  Aalborg (DK), Aarhus (DK), Bergen (NO), Berlin (DE), Brussels (BE), Düsseldorf (DE), Edinburgh (UK), Gothenburg (SWE), Groningen (NL), Hamburg (de), Manchester (UK), Reykjavik (IS), Sunderland (UK), Sydney (AUS), Valencia (ES), and Vilnius (LT). The non-profit association is based in Hamburg but acts transnationally.




 
 
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