CTM Festival

What CTM Festival does

CTM Festival is a Berlin-based non-profit annual festival and year-round platform for adventurous music and art, founded in 1999 and operated by the registered association DISK – Initiative Bild & Ton e.V. It produces a 10-day festival each January spanning 20+ Berlin venues including Berghain, Radialsystem, HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Volksbühne, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, RSO.Berlin, and Haus der Visionäre, with a programme that integrates concerts, club nights, exhibitions, a discourse programme, workshops, and artist labs. The organisation serves four primary segments: music and art enthusiasts (festival attendees), international artists and musicians seeking commissions and exposure, graduate/postgraduate researchers in audio and media disciplines, and cultural institutions seeking collaboration with experimental music culture. Its international footprint spans 15+ countries through partnerships with MUTEK (Canada), Nyege Nyege (Uganda), WeSA (South Korea), ∆ (Ukraine), Oroko Radio (Ghana), Novas Frequências (Brazil), and others, plus co-founding the ICAS/ECAS international music networks.

The core technology is a digital platform comprising a year-round website (ctm-festival.de) providing festival information, programme schedules, artist profiles, ticket purchasing, press resources, and CTM Magazine content. The festival has no mobile app and no public API; distribution is via website, email newsletter, and social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, X, Telegram, SoundCloud, YouTube, Bandcamp, Vimeo, Flickr). Website programming is outsourced to 'featureladen, e-fork' and graphic design to 'Vojd'. Content properties include CTM Magazine (online publication with commissioned essays, interviews, and reflections on sound and society), CTM Editions (record label releasing archived and commissioned recordings via Bandcamp), and the CTM Radio Lab (transitioning to a new 'In Listening' format from 2027).

Revenue is generated through ticket sales (€15-35 per event, with free daytime programming and select broadcasts), multi-year structural funding from the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion secured in 2019, institutional sponsorships (Goethe-Institut, transmediale, Creative Europe via tekhnē, DAAD), and DISK Agency artist representation (commercial subsidiary). The organisation operates with a core team of approximately 15 staff across artistic direction, programme curation, communications, production, finance, social media, graphic design, and web programming, supported by an extended network of project co-curators and production managers for each festival edition.

Name

CTM Festival

Legal name

DISK – Initiative Bild & Ton e.V.

Website

https://ctm-festival.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CTM Festival is a Berlin-based non-profit founded in 1999 that operates an annual 10-day festival for adventurous music and art, plus year-round programming, serving experimental music audiences, international artists, researchers, and cultural institutions through concerts, exhibitions, publications, and a record label.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music and Arts Festival

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (711310), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Professional & Association Conferences (MPAGAGAB), Virtual Concerts & Music Festivals (Livestreamed Performances) (MPAGAOAD)

Keywords

• Experimental music festival
• Electronic music events
• Sound art curation
• Contemporary music festival
• Arts and culture programming

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Festival passes and individual event tickets for concerts, club nights, workshops, and exhibitions. Ticket prices range from free events to €25-35 for major performances.
2. Sponsorships and Partnerships: Funding and support from institutional sponsors including transmediale, Goethe-Institut, Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, and corporate sponsors for specific programmes and technical equipment.
3. DISK Agency Artist Representation: DISK Agency, CTM's sister organisation, supports and represents artists, extending connections to the professional music landscape.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CTM Festival operates an annual 10-day Berlin festival for adventurous music and art, featuring concerts, club nights, exhibitions, workshops, and a discourse programme across 20+ venues. The festival is paired with year-round outputs including CTM Magazine (online publication), CTM Editions (record label), and CTM Radio Lab / "In Listening" (radio commissions), supported by multi-year public funding and institutional sponsorships.

Product overview

CTM Festival is a Berlin-based annual festival for adventurous music and art that operates as a single unified offering with multiple interconnected programme components. The core festival runs for 10 days each January across various Berlin venues, featuring concerts, club nights, and performances. Supporting the live events are CTM Magazine (online publication with essays and interviews), CTM Editions (record label for releases), and the Radio Lab/In Listening format (radio commissions and broadcasts). The festival also runs year-round programming including Research Networking Day for academic exchange, A2A Transmission workshops for artists, and thematic strands like Resynthesising the Traditional and The Fifth Ear (spatial audio). These components work together to deliver a comprehensive festival experience combining artistic programming, discourse, and community engagement around electronic music and digital culture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CTM Festival Annual 10-day Berlin festival for adventurous music and art, featuring concerts, club nights, exhibitions, discourse programmes, workshops, and artistic labs across 20+ venues (Berghain, Radialsystem, HAU, Volksbühne, etc.), held in late January/early February each year.
• CTM Magazine Year-round online publication featuring commissioned interviews, essays, and reflections on sound, music, and society, with archived articles exploring festival themes and artist projects.
• CTM Editions

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 25 years of continuous festival operation with 27+ editions delivered
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• transmedialecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMain partner and sister festival. Media art festival transmediale creates a space for critical reflection on cultural transformation from a post-digital perspective. Each year, transmediale and CTM converge to present one of the most relevant contemporary events for digital culture. CTM was originally created as an extension adjacent to transmediale.
• tekhnēcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean collaborative network exploring emancipatory potential of technology in music and sound art. Six partner organisations across Europe. Co-founded by CTM and supported by Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
• Goethe-InstitutmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerGermany's international cultural institute promotes cultural collaboration worldwide, initiating projects and partnerships that focus on shared artistic production and reflection, fostering worldwide mobility of people working in arts and culture.
• DLF Kultur – KlangkunstmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeutschlandfunk Kultur is Germany's national public radio station dedicated to culture. The weekly Klangkunst (sound art) broadcast extends formal possibilities of radio play and introduces listeners to international sound art. Long-standing collaboration with CTM Radio Lab.
• VorspielmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCity-wide programme of events taking place before and during CTM and transmediale festivals. Many Berlin-based projects, spaces, collectives, and institutions come together to explore digital art and culture.
• DISK AgencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCTM's partner organisation dedicated to supporting new, relevant artists. With an expansive roster of groundbreaking contemporary artists, DISK is a pillar of local and international music scenes. Founded 2005.
• DAAD Artists-in-Berlin ProgrammajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on CTM 2026 Exhibition 'Echoes of Tumult'. Supports artists through residencies and programmes. Institutionally funded by German Federal Foreign Office and Senate of Berlin.
• iii – instrument inventors initiativemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on CTM 2026 Exhibition. Active in exploring intersection of sound and art with socio-political contexts, technologies, and histories. Supported by Creative Industries Fund NL and City of The Hague.
• Resident AdvisormajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on 'Rethinking Music Ecosystems' conference at CTM 2026. Co-curated by Resident Advisor and CTM Festival, examining emerging practices for sustaining independent electronic music cultures.
• WeSA FestivalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSeoul's WeSA Festival collaboration for Berlin-Seoul exchange of experimental sound. Combines concerts, workshops, and talks into cross-continental shared invention. Co-curated at CTM 2026.
• Refuge WorldwidemajorGTM or Marketing PartnerBerlin radio station partnership hosting live broadcasts and workshops during festival. Features DJ broadcasts with Guedra Guedra, Ophélie, Miss Tacacá, Roni, and others.
• Oroko RadiomajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGhana's not-for-profit radio project operating as platform for collaboration and community building. Co-curates RSO.Berlin club night at CTM 2026, broadcasting Accra scenes with global diasporic flows.
• No_StonemajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEgyptian underground music collective and Berlin/Barcelona-based curation. Curates RSO.Berlin club night featuring artists Jehia, Nunguja, Nexus, Container, Assyouti, OKO DJ.
• d&b audiotechnikminorOthersProvides Soundscape system for spatial audio experiences and workshops. Powers spatial audio concert programme and venue sound systems.
• AbletonminorOthersCollaboration on Spatial Mixer 101 workshop. Participants use Ableton Live with Ambrio Sound SPM Spatial Mixer integration.
• Kunstraum Kreuzberg/BethanienmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenue partner for CTM 2026 Exhibition 'Echoes of Tumult'. Important artistic focal point in Berlin, hosting exhibition alongside daadgalerie.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Berlin Atonal: Berlin experimental music festival using Kraftwerk as its primary venue. Most direct Berlin peer with overlapping audience, curatorial sensibility around experimental/avant-garde electronic music, and comparable venue-based infrastructure.
• transmediale: Berlin-based festival for art and digital culture, the original sister festival of CTM. Co-presents an annual 'most relevant contemporary event for digital culture' with CTM, sharing curatorial overlap and audience.
• Donaufestival: Krems an der Donau (Austria) annual festival for contemporary music, performance, and visual arts. Similar multi-venue structure, comparable scale, and parallel curatorial approach mixing adventurous music with installation and discourse.
• MUTEK: Montreal-originated international festival for digital arts and electronic music. Active in multiple cities worldwide; CTM has partnered with MUTEK since 2001, indicating deeply aligned curatorial vision around experimental electronic music.
• Club To Club: Turin-based electronic music and crossover arts festival. Comparable in combining club culture with experimental programming and international artist lineups spanning electronic, hip-hop, and contemporary composition.
• Unsound: Kraków-based annual festival of experimental and avant-garde music. Closely aligned with CTM in artistic positioning, scale, and emphasis on discourse/conference programming alongside performances.
• MIRA Festival: Barcelona festival pairing electronic music with visual arts and immersive technologies. Closely aligned in curatorial focus on the intersection of sound, image, and digital innovation at a comparable scale to CTM.
• Le Guess Who?: Utrecht-based multidisciplinary music festival focused on avant-garde, experimental, and boundary-pushing music. Comparable in commissioning new work, hosting international artists, and pairing live music with discourse.

Broad incumbents

• Sónar: Barcelona-based pioneering electronic music and creative technology festival. The largest and most internationally recognised event in the space; comparable in combining music, art, and conference programming but operating at significantly greater scale.
• Ars Electronica: Linz-based long-running festival for art, technology, and society. Broader than CTM in scope but overlapping in the digital culture/electronic music intersection, with comparable discourse/conference programming and institutional partnerships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CTMFestival
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/DISKCTM
• Facebookfacebook.com/CTMFestival
• Instagraminstagram.com/ctmfestival
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ctm-festival

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CTM Festival