Is the German Grammy coming? Monika Grütters announces the German Pop Academy and a new prize

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Herbert Grönemeyer with the Echo Music Prize (archive picture): Should also award the new prize »free of commercial aspects«

Photo: Britta Pedersen / picture alliance / dpa

A new award for pop music is planned in Germany.

This was announced by Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters (CDU) in the »Rheinische Post«.

It was time for a prize that "honors only artistic achievement free of commercial aspects," she told the newspaper.

"At the same time, we are founding a new academy for pop music based on the example of the German Film Academy, which is supposed to make itself strong for the industry," Grütters is quoted as saying.

The 25 founding members are said to include the singers Herbert Grönemeyer, Roland Kaiser and Johannes Oerding, the rappers Shirin David, Ebow and Nura and the producers Lex Barkey, Sarah Farina and Moses Schneider.

The academy is to start work in September, as a Grütters spokesman for the German press agency confirmed.

The new award is to be presented for the first time in 2022.

The project is part of the Initiative Musik, a federal funding agency based in Berlin.

The academy is an amalgamation of different artists, said a spokesman for the funding initiative. This included musicians, for example, as well as producers, sound engineers and songwriters. Together with the Initiative Musik, the academy should consider how the new prize could be awarded.

From 1992 to 2018 the Echo was the most prominent German music award.

It was awarded by the German Phono Academy, which was affiliated with the Federal Association of the Music Industry.

Accordingly, most of the Echo awards were given for commercially successful music titles.

The echo was abolished in connection with anti-Semitism allegations against the excellent rappers Kollegah and Farid Bang.

An alternative jury prize, the “Prize for Pop Culture”, has been awarded since 2016.

It is to be awarded on October 6th - after a one-year corona break - in the Berlin Tempodrom.

feb / dpa