Connecting Music Ecosystems, Cities and Innovation

On February 24 and 25, representatives from six European regions gathered in Hamburg as part of the SONIC project to explore how public policies can better support innovation and growth in the music and creative industries.

MESO team joined the meeting representing the Athens music ecosystem together with Technopolis City of Athens, the policy framework addressed by the project in Greece.

SONIC (Strategic Opportunities for New Innovative Changes in Music Policies) is a European cooperation project supported by the Interreg Europe programme.

It brings together policymakers, cultural organisations and music ecosystem stakeholders to exchange experiences and improve the public programmes that support music, entrepreneurship and innovation.

The partnership includes Hamburg Music Business (Germany), Municipality of Groningen (Netherlands), City of Tampere (Finland), Centre Val de Loire Region (France), Territorial Collectivity of Martinique (France), Creative Innovative Center Ložionica Belgrade (Serbia) and MESO Events Hub (Greece).

Across these regions, the project also collaborates with a network of associated stakeholders including public authorities, ministries, industry organisations and cultural institutions.
In Greece, the project is connected to the Athens ecosystem through Technopolis City of Athens and local music sector stakeholders.
For artists, freelancers, startups and music companies, this dialogue matters because many programmes supporting training, innovation and international mobility are designed at the regional level, and SONIC helps regions learn from each other and develop better tools for the creative industries.

Learning from Hamburg’s music ecosystem
The meeting offered partners the opportunity to explore Hamburg’s dynamic music environment. During the study visits, the group met representatives from the Ministry for Culture and Media Hamburg, Clubkombinat Hamburg which represents the city’s music venues and clubs, and RockCity Hamburg, an organisation supporting artists and music professionals.

These exchanges highlighted how cooperation between public authorities and sector organisations strengthen an entire music ecosystem. The numbers shared during the presentations also illustrated the economic importance of music for cities and regions.

In Hamburg alone, the music sector generates more than €1 billion in added value, supports over 16,000 jobs, and contributes around €591 million in tax revenues.

Music tourism is also a major factor, generating more than €900 million annually. These figures show that music is not only cultural expression but also a driver of local economies, tourism, employment and innovation.

Another focus of the meeting was how public funding programmes can better support the sector and partners exchanged experiences and best practices on how regional development funds can encourage experimentation, new business models and innovation driven music companies.

At the same time, strengthening networks, training programmes and cross-sector collaboration was identified as essential for helping artists, freelancers and creative businesses grow.

From Hamburg to Athens
The ideas discussed during the meeting will contribute to improving policy instruments across participating regions. For MESO, the SONIC project connects European policy discussions with the everyday reality of the music community.

Through initiatives such as Athens Music Week and the Music Tech Europe Academy, MESO already works with artists, startups, stakeholders from the live and recorded music sectors and technology companies across Europe.

The next step will be to continue these discussions with the wider industry. Several of the themes explored in Hamburg will be further developed during Athens Music Week 2026, where policymakers, creative professionals and entrepreneurs will meet to discuss the future of music ecosystems, innovation and cultural entrepreneurship.

By connecting regional policies with the creative community, SONIC aims to ensure that future support programmes better reflect the needs of artists and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) across the wider music sector.

Discover more about SONIC