Connecting the live music industry
Germany launches nationwide Club Euro ticket levy pilot
September1
Germany’s live music sector is expanding the Club Euro funding model nationwide, with participating clubs and venues adding €1 to each ticket to help support smaller operators.
Germany’s live music sector is expanding the Club Euro funding model nationwide, with participating clubs and venues adding €1 to each ticket to help support smaller operators.
Bundesstiftung LiveKultur has received project funding from Initiative Musik to establish Club Euro nationally following an earlier regional model in Cologne. The pilot will operate across several metropolitan regions, with clubs and venues invited to join immediately.
Zora Brändle takes over as project manager for the initiative from 1 September 2026.
How Club Euro works
Participating clubs will charge an additional €1 for every ticket sold, with the money paid into a shared fund. Funds will then be redistributed according to a capacity-based formula designed so that larger venues contribute towards supporting smaller clubs and stages.
The pilot will examine participation levels, possible incentive structures and whether venues are willing to share responsibility for the governance of the scheme. Bundesstiftung LiveKultur also plans to develop a communications model explaining the system to venues and audiences.
Pressure on German grassroots venues
The initiative comes amid concerns about the financial sustainability of Germany’s club and grassroots live music sector.
Bundesstiftung LiveKultur cited a recent assessment from the Research Service of the German Bundestag which concluded that the difficulties facing clubs and emerging-artist venues are structural rather than cyclical. The assessment also found that Germany’s federal government has legislative competence to introduce a levy within the live music sector, comparable with the country’s existing film funding levy.
Research from Berlin’s Clubcommission was also highlighted, showing that only 61% of surveyed clubs are currently operating at break-even despite continued audience demand.
“If venues in Berlin can no longer sustain themselves even at maximum demand, then the problem does not lie with the audience. The funding model for live culture is no longer viable,” said Felix Grädler, board member of Bundesstiftung LiveKultur and initiator of the Live Music Fund.
Building from the club sector
The Club Euro initiative forms part of wider efforts to establish a Live Music Fund Germany, a solidarity-based financing system intended to strengthen clubs, emerging artists, independent promoters and festivals.
Rather than waiting for a potential statutory ticket levy, the current pilot is intended to test whether the live music sector can establish a functioning redistribution mechanism itself.
“We cannot wait until politicians have made all the necessary decisions. That is why the clubs are now organising their solidarity themselves – and inviting all venues to join in,” Grädler said.
Clubs, music venues and promoters interested in participating in Club Euro can contact project manager Zora Brändle through the Live Music Fund.
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