Swissperform generated tariff revenue of CHF 62.8 million in 2024. This corresponds to a decrease of CHF 300,000 or 4 per thousand compared to the previous year. According to the press release, radio and TV subscriptions decreased during retransmission, there was a delay in sending out invoices to users for performances and private radio stations recorded a fall in advertising income for broadcasts.

At its Delegates' Meeting, the company explained that its costs and therefore also the administrative cost rate increased. As a percentage of revenue, costs amounted to 11.22% net (previous year: 9.86%) and 14.91% gross (including the collection costs of sister companies) (previous year: 13.70%). The main reason for this development is the increase in Swissperform's costs as a result of ongoing restructuring work.

At the end of 2024, 26,134 members and clients belonged to the association. The increase in 2024 amounted to 1,147 rights holders (4.59%). The largest increase in terms of both numbers and share was recorded by phonographic performers (1,050 / 5.28%). Around CHF 6.3 million was invested in the promotion of cultural and social projects via the affiliated foundations.

Schoch studied Film and Media Music at the Hogeschool van de Kunsten in Arnhem after a preliminary course in film music in Bonn, before completing a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Composition for Film, Theater and Media (FTM) at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). During his studies, he wrote music for ensembles of various sizes, scored several games, wrote a children's musical and composed a 3D radio play.

Andreas Wyss is a music producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist from Olten. He was the bass player in the band Stiller Has and teaches music at a school in Olten.

Zoë Lena Guldimann released her first EP under the artist name Zoey 2024 and is currently studying pop guitar in the Bachelor of Music program at the Zurich University of Music, where she leads her own band.

Sylvie Courvoisier, born in Lausanne in 1968, is "one of the most important pianists and composers on the contemporary jazz scene", writes the Federal Office of Culture (FOC). She has lived in New York since 1998. Courvoisier has created a hybrid world of jazz, contemporary music and improvisation and regularly collaborates with greats such as John Zorn, Mark Feldman, Yusef Lateef, Ikue Mori, Joey Baron and Evan Parker. Her playing style is inspired by Cecil Taylor and Thelonious Monk as well as the composers György Ligeti and Olivier Messiaen. Following the release of her second solo album To Be Other-Wise (Intakt Records, 2024) and the atmospheric album Chimaera (Intakt Records, 2023) will release the album Angel Falls with Wadada Leo Smith (Intakt Records, 2025).

Swiss Music Prizes, each worth CHF 40,000, go to harpist Julie Campiche, cellist Thomas Demenga, conductor Titus Engel, composer Jannik Giger, experimental musician Charlotte Hug Raschèr, music poet Silvio Brunner and the two music groups Vox Blenii and Vent Negru. Special prizes (CHF 25,000 each) were awarded to the Facciamo la Corte! festival in the Ticino village of Muzzano, the Insub Meta Orchestra and the global network Norient.

The Swiss Music Awards have been in existence since 2014, recognizing outstanding works or individual achievements and reflecting musical creation in Switzerland. On behalf of the Federal Office of Culture, around ten experts from all parts of the country and from various musical disciplines recommend around sixty nominees for the Swiss Music Awards each year. At the beginning of the following year, the seven members of the Federal Jury for Music select eleven prizewinners from the recommendations.

Born in 1973, Jörg Widmann studied clarinet and composition in Munich and at the Juilliard School in New York. He taught clarinet and composition in Freiburg from 2001 to 2015 and has taught composition at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin since 2017. In the 2023/24 season, he was composer-in-residence with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Several contemporary works have been dedicated to him, including clarinet concertos by Wolfgang Rihm, Aribert Reimann and Mark Andre. In 2009, Widmann was composer-in-residence at the Lucerne Festival in the summer. Most recently, a work commissioned by the festival for viola and chamber orchestra was premiered in summer 2023.

The Lucerne Festival Academy was founded in 2004 by Pierre Boulez and Festival Director Michael Haefliger for the field of contemporary music. Composer Wolfgang Rihm has been the artistic director since 2016. Every summer, over 100 young musicians from around 30 countries devote three weeks to the repertoire of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Marketing researchers from the University of Hamburg Business School conducted a representative study of 1518 people in Germany to find out about their listening habits. The result: while users without smart speakers listen to music for an average of around 16 hours per week, people with smart speakers listen for more than 20 hours.

There are also differences in the use of streaming services and paid subscriptions: the proportion of paid services among users of smart speakers is 73 percent and only 39 percent among those who do not own a smart speaker.

Users of smart speakers also appear to prefer the services of their respective speaker manufacturers: for example, 29.3% of people who own an Amazon smart speaker use the company's own paid platform Amazon Music Unlimited. For people without a smart speaker, this figure is just 11.0%. The situation is similar for Google Smart Speaker owners: they use YouTube Music significantly more often than users without a smart speaker (17.3% more).

Original publication:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08997764.2025.2494994

Fiona Stevens studied musicology at Cambridge University, violin in Düsseldorf and historical performance practice in Frankfurt am Main and The Hague. She completed her doctorate at the University of Southampton in 2017. For two years, she experimented with cultural crossover with an agency that organized concerts in unusual places and circumstances for classical music. From October 2021 to September 2024, she was Managing Director of the baroque orchestra Concerto Köln. She is currently a fellow at the DeVos Institute of Arts Management, specializing in sustainability and strategic planning for cultural enterprises.

The Basel Sinfonietta is a symphonic orchestra specializing in contemporary music. It has commissioned numerous works and has presented more than 220 world premieres and national premieres since its foundation.

The form of co-management "ideally corresponds to today's management requirements and expectations as well as the culture of cooperation in the field of jazz". The co-management team brings "a wealth of experience within structures in education and culture with its diverse skills in artistic, pedagogical and organizational matters", writes the university.

Michael Beck, internationally active pianist and composer, lecturer in piano and theory at the FHNW Jazz Institute with broad pedagogical experience, curator of event series with many years of cultural-political commitment, Sarah Chaksad saxophonist, bandleader and composer with international concert activities is responsible for educational programs, founder of a label and a concert agency. Drummer Patrik Zosso is an internationally active producer and sound engineer, head of a studio and label, professor of jazz producing and head of the Producing/Performance course at the FHNW Jazz Institute.

If the City Council agrees, the city writes, "long-term continuity will be created in this central position in Leipzig as a city of music". At the same time, the city would like to "appreciate the outstanding work of the Thomaskantor since he took office in September 2021".

The long term of the new contract is intended to give both the Thomaskantor and the Thomaner planning security. The extension of eight years corresponds to the cycle of a choir member from the first admission to the choir in the 5th grade up to and including the 12th grade. The first class, which will then have worked entirely under Andreas Reize, will graduate in 2029.

Andreas Reize was born in Solothurn in 1975. He studied in Bern, Winterthur and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and in Lucerne. Most recently, he conducted the Cantus Firmus Vocal Ensemble and the Cantus Firmus Consort Orchestra. He was previously music director of the Waldegg Opera, director of the boys' choir Singknaben of St. Ursenkathedrale Solothurn, director of the Gabrielichor Bern and choir director of the Zurich Bach Choir as well as principal guest conductor at the Theater Biel-Solothurn for early music.

Anik Casutt aka ANIKK is a singer from Sagogn who makes modern and electronic pop. She has performed at Open Air Lumnezia and Moon and Stars in Locarno, among others.

The canton of Graubünden organizes two competitions each year to provide targeted support for cultural achievements. Professionally working artists from all cultural sectors are invited to apply. The aim of the competition is to facilitate the development and realization of cultural projects.

The competition for professional cultural creation (major projects) is announced each January. The closing date for entries is the beginning of March. In this competition, work grants or free scholarships of up to CHF 20,000 are awarded. This year, five projects from a total of 39 applications were awarded a work grant. The competition for professional cultural creation (small projects) is announced in July each year. The closing date for entries is the end of August. In this competition, work grants or free scholarships of up to CHF 10,000 are awarded.

The Swiss soprano Nora Bertogg completed her studies at the Zurich University of the Arts and at the Bern University of the Arts in the Swiss Opera Studio. In summer 2022, she also completed a Master of Arts in Music Pedagogy with Sarah Maria Sun and Sandra Trattnigg at the Lucerne University of Music with distinction.

Happy for Real is an indie pop band from the city of Chur, consisting of Olivia Virgolin and Marcus Petendi. Their new album "Solar Storm" will be released in June. The prizes are endowed with CHF 4000 each. Writer Gion Mathias Cavelty, production manager Iris Peng and visual artist Miguela Tamò will be awarded this year's recognition prize. A further prize goes to the actress Annina Hunziker.

Swissperform writes that this decision was made against the backdrop of ongoing strategic development and digitalization. Olivier Gremaud is a managing director, entrepreneur, motivator and former top athlete with an Olympic diploma. As a business economist and certified expert in accounting and controlling, he is also ideally equipped to lead the organization into a successful future, Swissperform continues. Michael Egli will continue to serve as Deputy CEO and Head of Legal Services.

Swissperform is the collecting society for ancillary copyrights (related rights) in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein and is subject to state supervision. It represents the holders of neighbouring rights (rightholders) vis-à-vis users (e.g. music use by broadcasting companies), negotiates tariffs with users and their associations and ensures that the corresponding monies are collected and distributed to the rightholders.

The award for outstanding interpretation of early music is endowed with 1500 euros and was presented at St. Florian Abbey (near Linz, Austria) as part of the 9th International H.I.F. Beaver Competition. The prize is awarded every two years to outstanding young musicians who are particularly committed to historically informed performance practice.

Lea Suter studied historical keyboard instruments in Germany and the Netherlands and is active internationally as a soloist and in various ensembles. Juan Martínez González studied in Spain, Bremen and The Hague. He is one of the most versatile young trombonists of historical performance practice in Europe and plays with renowned early music ensembles.

The prize is endowed with 50,000 francs. Simone Keller is a multidimensional pianist and mediator who is mainly at home in contemporary and classical music. However, she also transcends the boundaries to other musical styles and seeks to unite them, writes the City of Zurich. Through "her intensive national and international concert activities and the tireless initiation of musical and cultural mediation projects", she manages to bring music to the most remote and unusual places.

The Swiss pianist Simone Keller completed her training in Hans-Jürg Strub's concert class at the Zurich University of the Arts and was awarded 1st prize at the Landolt Competition, 2nd prize at the Hans Ninck Competition and the EMCY Chamber Music Prize at the European Classical Music Festival Ruhr, among others. As a soloist and chamber musician, she cultivates a very broad repertoire ranging from classical and modern music to experimental and interdisciplinary formats, her own concepts and educational projects, and performs extensively in Switzerland and many other countries in Europe, the USA and Asia.

According to a press release issued by the City of Lucerne, the task of providing compulsory instrumental and vocal lessons for students at grammar schools and technical secondary schools was transferred to the municipal music schools as part of the Canton of Lucerne's Task and Finance Reform 18 (AFR18). In this context, the cantonal legal basis was also amended with regard to personnel legislation. Since then, only the cantonal employment and salary regulations have applied to music school teachers. The partial revision of the municipal music school regulations now brings them into line with the cantonal requirements.

The music school of the city of Lucerne has already put into practice the fulfillment of the task of teaching high school and technical secondary school students and has concluded a service agreement with the canton of Lucerne in this regard. This also includes the cantonal contributions in favor of the City of Lucerne, which cover the additional tasks. The City Council proposes that the Grand City Council approve the amendment to the regulations for the Music School of the City of Lucerne dated June 25, 2009 with effect from October 1, 2025. The City Council is expected to discuss this report and proposal on June 26, 2025. No special credit is required for the project described therein.

The French cellist and composer Hortense Airault, the Italian percussionist Antonio Gaggiano and the Chinese percussionist Hedi Yang will each receive prize money of CHF 10,000. In addition, the Foundation will enable the three to take part in the Lucerne Festival Academy 2025, also worth CHF 10,000 each.

Hortense Airault, born in Paris in 1999, completed her musical training in Paris and Geneva and is currently studying for a Master's degree in Music Composition at the Bern University of the Arts under Job Ter Haar, among others. Antonio Gaggiano, born in Italy in 1999, studied percussion and composition in Foggia, Ghent and at the Hochschule für Musik Basel, where he completed a master's degree in music performance with Christian Dierstein. He is currently deepening his education in the Master's program in Music Pedagogy. Hedi Yang was born in China in 2003. At the age of 16, she became the youngest ever admitted bachelor's student to major in percussion at the Zurich University of the Arts, where she studied with Klaus Schwärzler, Raphael Christen and Benjamin Forster. She is currently completing her master's degree in Zurich.

The Fritz Gerber Award is aimed at talents up to the age of 28 who either have Swiss citizenship or have lived in Switzerland for at least three years. A jury consisting of Michael Haefliger, Director of the Lucerne Festival, Mark Sattler, dramaturge of the Lucerne Festival, and the composer and conductor Heinz Holliger decided on the award.

The Fritz Gerber Foundation for Gifted Young People has been supporting talented young people in the fields of culture, crafts and sport since 1999. Over the past 26 years, around 2830 young people have been supported with more than 35 million francs. The award has been presented in collaboration with Lucerne Festival since 2015.