Red Bull Music Academy will host the next edition of its month-long music workshop and festival series in Berlin from September 8 to October 12, 2018. After touching down in cities across the globe, including Tokyo, New York, Melbourne, Cape Town, Paris, São Paulo and Montréal, the Academy returns to the place where it all began back in 1998 to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Music-makers from all over the world are invited to apply for the Red Bull Music Academy 2018 between June 15 and September 4, 2017.

Every Academy is a world of its own, offering new insights and perspectives on sound as artists representing different genres, countries and eras come together. 60 up-and-coming musicians are selected for each edition and flown to that year’s host city, embarking on a creative journey that many describe as life-changing. At the Academy, they hear lectures from artists who have shaped music history, exchange knowledge in all-night sessions in our custom-built studios and collaborate with their peers from opposite corners of the globe, while the Academy simultaneously programs a month-long series of public concerts and club nights all across the city. It all makes for a place where influential musicians meet a new generation, in a setting where both sides can learn from the other and celebrate music’s past, present and future.

The musical styles represented at the Academy are just as diverse as the countries their protagonists hail from – in fact, the mix of sounds, skill sets and cultural backgrounds that make up each Academy is never quite the same. It’s this unique combination of people, perspectives and environment that sees new musical ideas take root, and flourish long after the Academy ends. Therefore, we invite instrumentalists, producers, DJs, engineers and vocalists of all levels of experience to apply. All that’s required is an openness to collaboration and an interest in where music is heading.

In past years, Indian musicians such as Oceantied, The Sine Painte and Jivraj Singh have been selected for, and attended the Academy.

WHY BERLIN?

When Jeff Mills became the first artist to ever take a seat on a Red Bull Music Academy lecture couch, in a Berlin warehouse in 1998, his selection was no coincidence. The Detroit techno legend’s symbiotic relationship with Berlin embodies the city’s open attitude towards cultural exchange and creative innovation – the ways in which Berlin enables artists to grow like few other places can, and becomes ever more exciting through their contributions.

Much has happened in Berlin and the world in the 20 years since Mills’ lecture jump-started what would become a globetrotting tradition. Even though the Academy has touched down in many different cities since then, we always carried a piece of Berlin with us on this journey. Whether in the form of lecturers and studio team members like Modeselektor, Moritz von Oswald, Dixon, Mo and Carsten Nicolai; or alumni that would leave their mark on Berlin’s music scene (Nina Kraviz, Objekt, Robot Koch and Xosar, to name but a few); or as an attitude that refuses to recognize walls of any kind – Berlin is part of the Academy’s DNA.

While the Red Bull Music Academy 2018 is a homecoming of sorts, we never truly left. The extensive network of musicians, artists, label owners, club promoters and studio specialists we’ve worked with over the years have, in their own way, helped shape the city into what it is today: a place of creative experimentation, exchange and personal freedom. From day one, these have been core elements of the Red Bull Music Academy program, and we’re excited to return to a Berlin that has evolved without ever really changing.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Starting June 15, music-makers from across the globe are invited to apply for the Red Bull Music Academy 2018 in Berlin. The application form can be downloaded from the Academy website, and must be submitted by September 4. Each applicant must also submit a musical demo, no longer than 30 minutes. This can be uploaded at redbullmusicacademy.com/apply or mailed to us on a CD. The Red Bull Music Academy jury will announce the selected applicants in early 2018.

VARIOUS ASSETS – NOT FOR SALE

In keeping with the tradition of releasing a selection of tracks recorded at each Academy, the latest edition of ‘Various Assets – Not For Sale’ is out now to celebrate the launch of the application phase. Get a taste of the kind of magic that unfolds in the Academy studios by diving into 48 tracks recorded at Red Bull Music Academy Montréal 2016 – featuring studio team members Thundercat, Just Blaze, ‘Mad’ Mike Banks, Deradoorian, Matías Aguayo, Dorian Concept, Lucrecia Dalt, Mathew Jonson, Ango, Branko, Marco Passarani and the Class of 2016.