Quota for German-language music: 1Live not good enough

Statements are hailing right and left. The producer duo Kitschkrieg rails against the largest German youth broadcaster “1Live” and demands a quota for German-language music on the radio. The background is the station's upcoming awards ceremony at the beginning of December. On Instagram, Kitschkrieg criticized the lack of representation of German-speaking artists on the radio in a statement with "1Live Krone? No, thank you."

The accusation is that public radio stations like “1Live” play too little German music, mostly at night and only the really big hits. That's why the DJ duo suggests that the broadcaster consider a quota like in France. And asks the question: Why do German artists come to the awards ceremony at all if their own music isn't played otherwise?

Kitschkrieg is nominated for the “1Live Krone” music award with the viral summer hit “Good Enough”. In addition to Blumengarten, Shirin David also contributed to the song, and she joins the DJ duo in her criticism: “Who is actually honoring who here and who benefits from whose reach?” she asks in the comments on Instagram. The artists see the award ceremony more as a promotion for the station and less as support for the music.

Would a quota for German-language music be a good idea to give local artists more airtime and visibility? The idea does not come from Kitschkrieg itself, but has been floating around in the music scene for decades, often with a rather conservative flavor: as early as 1996, the singer Heinz Rudolf Kunze was “disgusted” by a quota in Spiegel, but “the flood of foreign music and also foreign trash” ensured that it was necessary.

In 2004, Udo Lindenberg and the “Musicians in Their Own Cause” initiative called for more space on public radio, and in 2015 there was talk about the “Helene quota” when a politician from the Junge Union advocated for German songs and more hits (yes, he likes listening to Helene Fischer). But as with Kitschkrieg, it often remains with well-known but individual people who advocate for the German language on the radio.

In addition to a lot of support from the industry, there was also criticism of Kitschkrieg. The rapper PA Sports accuses the duo of only using the whole campaign as marketing and of not wanting to seriously support German artists.

Because Kitschkrieg is actually the best example of being successful independent of the radio. Her song “Good Enough” screwed its way into the brains of all German young people via Tiktok. The hype even reached across the Atlantic, where Americans only understood “Doobie Scoot Canoe,” but the meme was born. And at the end of the success, the German radio stations took pity on playing the song. Sure, a viral hit and streams on Spotify etc. may make artists successful, but not immediately rich. But the radio?

Not really. In Germany, Gema is responsible for musical copyrights in Germany. On Deutschlandfunk, former Gema spokeswoman Ursula Goebel gave a rough estimate of how much is left over at the end: For every 3-minute song on a mainstream station, you earn 84 euros for the song that is broadcast 100 times. These are divided between the music publisher who manages the copyright, the person who wrote the text and the composer. A good deal looks different.

In their post, Kitschkrieg pointed out that on a randomly selected day they evaluated all the songs played on “1Live” and only less than 10 percent of them were German. So a quota after all?

But what should it look like? And who would she prefer? Only German-language music, maybe even only German-language pop music? Or, as many conservative voices in the debate would actually like, just many German musicians?

Instead of a quota, pressure is needed to expand the variety of programs. In addition, programs that explicitly promote newcomers from the region should not only be sent in the evening hours. It takes openness to also play other genres, not to turn up one's nose at German rap and not just push hip-hop onto the new youth station (who remembers “1Live Street”?).

Instead, already successful artists criticize the fact that they don't appear on the radio often enough, but should be on the big stage for the award ceremony. But how would it help young talent in Germany if Nina Chuba, Mark Forster and Ski Aggu, who were often nominated in recent years, were now played even more often on the radio? Wouldn't a quota simply push the ten most relevant pop musicians of the past few years?

Kitschkrieg could perhaps be one of them, even if they apparently don't need the support of “1Live”. Earlier this month they released “Good Enough” with a feature from British rap star Skepta. Of course he raps in English. It's good that there is no quota yet.