Association being founded · as at 31 October 2026

So the music stays, even when everything else changes.

Herdecke is a small town in the Ruhr area, and live music has happened here for years — many nights, small line-ups, in front of people who came by chance and stayed. All of it hung on one venue and one person. We are founding a non-profit association to put on those nights itself: its own funds, its own statutes, and a members' meeting that decides.

If you play, read this first Where we stand
Seven founding members required (§ 56 BGB) Charitable status intended Herdecke, Germany
Founding assembly 6 pm

Founding members receive the venue and the papers by email. Anyone who still wants to be a founder: get in touch by 1 November.

7 / 7founding membersGerman law requires seven
193documented music nightson record since 2013
354acts in the archiveheld by the venue, not yet by the association
0 €dues until registrationthe members' meeting resolves the schedule
The idea

Five things the association is for

Not a manifesto. These are the five jobs we want to be judged on after a year.

Putting on the concerts itself

The association is not an audience and not a sponsor. It is the promoter: it picks the acts, sends the invitation, carries the risk of the night and has its name on the poster. That distinction is what everything else rests on — including the tax treatment.

Where we play is secondary and deliberately left open: bar room, hall, courtyard, church, outdoor stage. An association that only works in one room is not an association, it's a residency.

  • The association signs with the act, not the venue
  • The association files with GEMA and keeps the set list
  • The association pays the fee and issues the receipt
  • The association carries its own public liability cover

Fair terms, the same for everyone, in writing

The association pays a fixed fee — the same for everyone, not haggled over night by night. On top of that comes the hat, and the hat belongs to the musicians: it never passes through the association's accounts and it is never set off against the fee. If you play, you know beforehand where you stand.

The amount is resolved, not negotiated, and it is written down rather than passed on by word of mouth. What the association cannot pay is said in the same breath. That is the less pleasant half of the same honesty.

  • Fixed fee per night, set by resolution — the same for all
  • The hat is the act's income, not the association's
  • Two hat rounds per night, announced from the stage
  • No offsetting of the hat against the fee
  • If we cancel: notice, and a reason

Young musicians and bands — actively supported

Not every night has to be a band with a PA. Open singing, session nights, first-ever appearances by people who have never played to a room: it costs little, it fills the calendar, and it is exactly the kind of work a non-profit association exists for.

And it does not stop at the stage. The association actively supports and accompanies young musicians and bands: advice before a first gig, help with sound, set list and organisation, rehearsal time, contacts to experienced musicians and to rooms that will give a night. That is why it is written into the stated purpose — getting someone to a microphone for the first time is more than putting on a concert.

  • Open formats with no admission charge, open to all
  • Slots for people at the very beginning
  • Mentoring: advice, gig preparation, sound, stagecraft
  • Rehearsal time and introductions to suitable rooms
  • Work with local schools and music groups — intended
  • Nobody excluded by the ticket price

Keeping the memory

Who played when, with which line-up, with which songs: that has grown over years and sits today as an archive held by the venue — 354 acts, 193 documented nights, set lists going back to the early years. A promoter needs that memory, because without it every royalties filing and every enquiry starts from zero.

Said plainly: the archive does not belong to the association today. Whether it is handed over, shared or rebuilt is a decision that falls before the founding, not after it. Under data protection law that is not a detail.

  • Date, line-up and number of people on stage, per night
  • Set lists for the GEMA filing
  • Receipts with sequential numbers, never amended
  • Written consent from acts for text and photographs

A body that outlives the buildings

This is the real point. A business can be sold, a lease can run out, a person can stop. A registered association continues as long as its members do. It can change rooms without the series ending.

That is why the association deliberately carries no name tied to a particular venue. It is named after the town and after the thing itself.

  • Its own legal form, own bank account, own books
  • The board is elected and can be voted out
  • No venue, no business and no person in the name
  • On dissolution, assets pass to another charitable purpose
Why an association — instead of simply carrying on

Three reasons, none of them romantic

An association is work: statutes, assemblies, minutes, audited accounts. Nobody does that for the pleasure of the form. There are three reasons, and all three are sober.

Reason 1

What matters is who pays

Two allowances in German income tax law make a real difference to people who stand on a stage alongside another job: the instructor's allowance under § 3 no. 26 EStG and the volunteers' allowance under § 3 no. 26a EStG. Both require that the payer is a charitable body. A commercial business cannot create that, whatever the receipt says. A charitable association can.

Reason 2

Something that does not hang on one person

Until now the nights existed because somebody took care of them. That is a fine thing and a poor construction. An association spreads the load across a board, an audit and an assembly that decides. It can continue when people move on — and it can still book when the original room is no longer available.

Reason 3

On the record, not by word of mouth

An association has to write down what it does: resolutions, receipts, annual accounts, an auditors' report. That sounds like a burden and is in fact protection — for the musicians, who know where they stand; for the members, who can see where their dues go; and for the board, which can produce a document instead of a recollection.

What an association is expressly not: a trick. The German artists' social insurance levy attaches to the fee actually paid and does not disappear because the payment is given another name. Whether and when the allowances apply in an individual case is decided by the tax office and our tax adviser, not by this page. What we write here is what we intend — not what we are permitted.
Progress · as at 31 October 2026

Eight stages to the first night

We keep the status public, including the stages that have not started. Anyone thinking about becoming a founding member should see what they are signing up to before the meeting, not during it.

  1. Purpose and name

    done · 8 Aug 2026
    Why the name

    It began with a simple question: how do you set up live music in Herdecke so that it does not rise and fall with one building? The answer was a separate, charitable body.

    The name was the first real argument, and it is settled. “Livemusik Herdecke e.V.” — town and subject, nothing else. Anything carrying the name of an existing business was rejected: a charitable association must act selflessly, and a name that reads like advertising for a company puts exactly that in doubt. The German word Förderverein (“supporters' association”) was rejected too. A Förderverein raises funds for a named third party; here the association is the promoter itself.

    Why this is more than taste: § 55 AO (selflessness) and § 58 no. 1 AO (fundraising bodies) describe two different types of association. Choose the wrong name and you have described yourself as the wrong type — then explain it at every audit.

  2. Seven founding members

    done · 7 of 7
    Who the circle is

    A registered association needs at least seven members to be founded. That is not a recommendation but a condition of entry in the register. Those seven sit in the founding assembly, adopt the statutes and elect the first board.

    The circle is complete: people who can keep accounts, handle sound, know musicians — and a few who are simply there often and want it to continue. Anyone who still wants to join should say so before 2 November: after that you can become a member, but no longer a founding member.

    § 56 BGB: registration should only take place if the association has at least seven members. Dropping below that later threatens its continued existence — which is why seven is the floor, not the target.

  3. Drafting the statutes

    draft ready · vote on 2 Nov
    Where the draft comes from

    The statutes are built on the official model statutes (Annex 1 to § 60 AO) — not on somebody else's association statutes found online. The official model contains the wording the tax office needs to see for charitable status, word for word.

    For comparison we went through an existing arts-association constitution from Dortmund. As a checklist it was useful; as a template it was not — wrong purpose, old law, and the single clause that matters most in our case was missing from it entirely.

    Three clauses decide everything else — conflict of interest, authority to pay the board, and the wording of the purpose. They have their own section below.

  4. Fixing the four spheres

    open
    Why it cannot be caught up later

    A German charitable association must separate its figures into four spheres: non-material activity, asset management, purpose-related operations, and commercial trading. For every format — open singing, ticketed concert, free concert, anything sold on the side — it must be settled in advance which bucket it belongs to.

    This is the least conspicuous stage and the only one that cannot be caught up later. Do the allocation after a year of trading and you are reconstructing it from memory and bank statements — and charitable status depends on it.

    As of 31 October: the tax adviser's allocation is still outstanding. We are founding on 2 November regardless — and will complete this stage before the association takes or spends its first euro. That departs from our own order of play, and it is written here rather than hidden.

  5. Asking the tax office (§ 60a AO)

    application after founding
    What the tax office checks

    The tax office checks whether the statutes meet the requirements for charitable status and confirms this separately — § 60a AO. It costs nothing but time, and at worst it saves a second members' meeting to amend statutes that were only just adopted.

    Our order of play was: draft → pre-clearance → incorporate the response → then the founding assembly. As of 31 October: the draft has not yet gone to the tax office. The application goes out immediately after the founding assembly. Formal changes demanded by the tax office or the registry court can be made by the board under § 14 of the statutes without a second meeting; anything substantive is for the members' meeting.

  6. Founding assembly

    Monday, 2 November 2026 · 6 pm
    What happens that evening

    One evening, one set of minutes, four resolutions: adopt the statutes, elect the board, appoint the auditors, resolve the schedule of dues. All founding members sign the statutes. The minutes are signed and kept, because the registry court will want to see them.

    Founding members receive the venue and the papers by email. Anyone who still wants to be a founder should get in touch by 1 November.

    Two things that are reliably forgotten: the auditors must not be members of the board, or the board audits itself. And the assembly must be able to pass resolutions regardless of how many people turn up.

  7. Entry in the register

    after that
    Notary, court, bank account

    The board files with the competent registry court; the signatures are notarised. With registration the association becomes a registered association: it can enter into contracts, hold a bank account, and is liable with its own assets — not the members with theirs.

    The competent court is expected to be the Local court (Amtsgericht) Hagen — to be filed after the founding assembly. Two checks run alongside: whether the name is already taken in the register, and whether a registered trade mark stands against it.

    Only after registration can the association open its own bank account. Until then there is no treasury — and therefore no collection of dues.

  8. The first night as an association

    the goal
    What the night then looks like

    From then on the association is the promoter: its own contract with the act, its own royalties filing, its own liability cover, its own receipt. From the outside the night looks the same as before — somebody plays, somebody listens, the hat goes round twice. From the inside everything is different.

    And from then on the dullest, most important sentence of the whole undertaking applies: every night gets booked before it gets forgotten.

The statutes

Three clauses you will not find in a template

Almost every model constitution covers purpose, membership, board and dissolution. The three points below appear in almost none — and without them this association would have no point.

§ 4 · Conflict of interest

Arm's length and a bar on voting

The association will put on nights in rooms that belong to somebody — possibly to a member or their company. That is permitted, but only on terms a stranger would also get, and only without the affected person taking part in the decision. Anyone who commercially runs a venue cannot sit on the board.

Hence: written contracts, market terms, annual disclosure to the members' meeting and an express bar on voting for those affected (§ 55 (1) nos. 1 and 3 AO).

§ 11 · Remuneration

Authority to pay the board

Without an express provision in the statutes, the board serves unpaid (§ 27 (3) BGB). Any payment, including a volunteers' allowance, would then breach the statutes.

So the statutes must permit remuneration or an expenses allowance, and the amount belongs in a resolution of the members' meeting — not in the hands of the board itself. And: fees paid to musicians are fees, and are called that.

§ 2 · Purpose

Own concerts and young music as fulfilment of purpose

The stated purpose cannot read merely “promotion of art and culture”. It must say expressly that the association fulfils it by putting on its own events — concerts, open music formats — and by actively supporting and accompanying young musicians and bands.

Otherwise the question arises later whether the concert is purpose-related activity at all, or simply commercial trading. One sentence in the statutes decides the answer.

What we take from other constitutions

  • Two classes of member — active and supporting — with a waiting period before voting rights
  • Schedule of dues outside the statutes, so changes need no registry filing
  • A ceiling up to which one board member may act alone
  • Quorum independent of how many members attend
  • Accounts audited by people outside the board
  • Expulsion of a member appealable to the members' meeting

What we deliberately leave out

  • Quarterly members' meetings — too much rhythm for too little business
  • Advisory board and ombudsman — bodies without a job do not get filled
  • Assets tied to one named company: what happens when it no longer exists?
  • Wording taken from superseded versions of the tax code

The outline and status of the draft is on the statutes page.

Transparency

How a charitable association has to account

Four buckets, strictly separated. The same night can fall into two of them — the concert into one, anything sold alongside it into another. We write it down here so that nobody is later surprised by the way we book.

Bucket 1

Non-material activity

Dues, donations, grants. Everything that comes in without a service being given in return. Tax free — and the actual core of the association.

Bucket 2

Asset management

Interest, letting, leasing. For a music association probably the emptiest bucket — but it still has to be kept, so that it is clear it is empty.

Bucket 3

Purpose-related operations

The concerts themselves: the association charges admission in order to fulfil its purpose, not to make a profit. Favourably taxed — if the statutes describe the purpose correctly.

Bucket 4

Commercial trading

Anything sold alongside that has nothing to do with the purpose. Fully taxable. Let this bucket grow too large and charitable status is at risk overall.

Membership

Two ways to be part of it

Both have the same aim and a different level of commitment. The dues are not yet fixed — they are resolved at the founding assembly, and we are not inventing a figure here that later turns out to be wrong.

Active member

For anyone who wants to decide and to help.

not yet setthe schedule of dues is resolved at the founding assembly

  • Vote at the members' meeting
  • Eligible for the board and the audit
  • Involved in choosing acts, setting up, running nights
  • As a founding member: a vote on the first statutes
Join as active

Supporting member

For anyone who wants to carry the thing without taking on dates.

not yet setexpected to be a lower annual amount

  • Invited to every event and to the assembly
  • Annual report and accounts
  • No vote
  • No duty to help out
Join as supporting
What happens if you get in touch: we record your name and email address and come back to you. The founding assembly is on Monday, 2 November 2026, at 6 pm — if you want to be in the room, write to us beforehand. Nothing is debited, no obligation to pay arises, and leaving this list is one informal email.
Scope

What this association deliberately does not do

A list as important as the list of intentions. Want everything and you finish nothing.

No business, no catering

The association puts on concerts. It does not run a bar, does not sell things on the side and does not compete with the venues it plays in. Where drinks are served, the venue does that on its own account.

Not an arm of a company

The association is not a marketing instrument and not an extension of a business. That is not merely an attitude but the condition of selflessness. Where there are points of contact, they are disclosed and put in writing.

No festival, no big stage

We start with what works: small line-ups, manageable rooms, predictable costs. An association that tries to carry a festival in year one has no treasury in year two.

No promises about fees we cannot keep

That there will be a fixed fee is settled. How high it is, is not yet settled — that depends on dues, donations and admission, and it belongs in the first budget. We will name a figure once it has been resolved. Then it will be binding, in writing, and the same for everyone.

Frequently asked

What people have asked us so far

Does the association already exist?

Not yet. There is an idea, a name, a finished draft of the statutes, seven founding members and a date: Monday, 2 November 2026, 6 pm. There are as yet no adopted statutes, no board, no bank account and no registration. That is precisely why we keep the status public rather than waiting until it looks finished.

I'm on tour. Can I play for you?

Later, gladly — once the association can act as promoter, which is after stage 6. Get in touch now anyway: we are collecting enquiries and will come back to you when the first calendar exists. What we will not do is promise dates we have no legal capacity to give.

On the fee: there will be a fixed one, the same for everyone, plus the hat with no offsetting. We will name a figure once it is resolved. Practical details — room, stage, sound, how to enquire — are on the for musicians page.

I'm young, I have a band and we have never played to a room. Is this for us?

Yes, expressly. The association does not just want to put young musicians and bands on a stage, it wants to walk them there: a conversation beforehand, help with sound and set list, a rehearsal, a first audience that is on your side. Write and tell us what you do and what you are missing — and write even if you are not yet sure you dare.

What does membership cost?

Not yet decided. The amount is resolved at the founding assembly and then sits in a schedule of dues, not in the statutes. Anyone getting in touch today takes on no payment obligation.

Is this a tax dodge?

No, and that deserves a clear answer. The two allowances in question (§ 3 nos. 26 and 26a EStG) are not a loophole but a deliberate decision by the legislator to relieve voluntary and part-time work in charitable bodies. They apply only if the association really is charitable, really is the promoter and really does keep clean books. Anyone imagining a short cut will be disappointed: it is the longer road.

Why isn't the association named after the venue it plays in?

Three reasons. Selflessness: an association name that sounds like advertising for a company is vulnerable on charitable status. Name rights: you cannot simply use somebody else's names and marks. Durability: the name should still make sense when we play somewhere else.

Who decides who plays?

After founding, the board — within the annual plan and budget resolved by the members' meeting. Any member may propose. Where a board member is affected themselves — own band, own company, own room — the bar on voting from the statutes applies.

What happens to the money if the association is wound up?

It passes to another charitable body for a comparable purpose. That is mandatory and stands in the statutes. Nothing is distributed to members — not even to founding members.

Which language version counts?

This English version exists so that touring musicians and visitors from outside Germany can read what we are doing. For anything with legal effect — statutes, imprint, privacy notice, dues — the German version is the authoritative one. Where the two ever diverge, the German text wins.

Next step

Seven people. One Monday. Then it stands.

The circle is complete and the date is set: Monday, 2 November 2026, 6 pm. If you want to be a founding member, say so by 1 November — after that you can join as a member, but no longer as a founder.

Become a founding member I play — what should I know?