BERLIN — The German collection society GEMA has postponed its annual award ceremony for the German Music Author’s Prize, scheduled for Thursday (March 12), citing recommendations from health authorities over coronavirus concerns. The organization said that a replacement date will announced soon. The meeting of the Academy of German Music Authors on March 13 will also be rescheduled.
GEMA CEO Dr. Harald Hecker said a crisis team was formed last week to follow developments of the fast-spreading virus, which has led Italy to impose an unprecedented lockdown of the entire country. “Based on the risk assessment of the Robert Koch Institute, the WHO and the Berlin health authorities, we have decided to cancel the event planned for Thursday,” Hecker said.
The Deutscher Musikautorenpreis (German music authors prize) was launched by GEMA in 2009 in order to honor composers and lyricists from the German music sector for their achievements. It operates under the slogan of “Authors Honour Authors.”
Trending on Billboard
The prize is under the patronage of Prof. Monika Grütter‘s MdB, Minister of State for Culture and Media. All winners and nominees are accepted as members of the Akademie Deutscher Musikautoren (Academy of German Music Authors).
This year’s nominees include Charlotte Brandi, Hardy Krech, Thees Uhlmann, Ebow, Sookee and Enno Bunger, among others.
