Recommendations of the Editorial team
The financially well-funded “Academy for Popular Music” has existed since its founding in 2021. At that time, Monika Grütters (CDU) was still in office; Her successor Claudia Roth was responsible for the first organization of the Polyton pop award in November 2023 – an honor that has gone down in the annals as a “prize that no one understood”.
Between echo legacy and award demands
Wolfram Weimer is now in office. The Polyton was canceled last year, was postponed until spring 2026 and took place yesterday evening (March 25th) on the round stage in a film studio on the edge of Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin.
This brings the gala closer to the legendary Echo, which was awarded by the German music industry for many years – an award that, despite all the criticism, at least had relevance in the music scene.
The polytone, which comes as an industry price with cheap claims, still has conspicuous voids. In a sober setting with elaborate LED lighting, “the Academy” – including Herbert Grönemeyer, Popkomm and “Viva” forefather Dieter Gorny, Shirin David and “creative director” Balbina – deliberately stages the Polyton as an alternative to international awards such as the Grammy, Brit Awards or the Amadeus in Austria. Instead of sales figures, “diversity, relevance and quality” should count – a claim that also resonates in all sorts of political statements about streaming remuneration and industry structures.
Prize winners are conspicuous by their absence
But the presence of the award winners reveals a striking weakness in the show: numerous award-winning acts were missing. Even in smaller genre categories like PUNK, gaps remained. The Flensburg rocker group Turbostaat, which won a trophy in this category, did not appear; The visibly stunned producer Moses Schneider came onto the stage and was handed the trophy without saying a word.
Nina Chuba wasn’t there either, although her collaborative song “Rage Girl” won the pop category. The person who picked me up said into the microphone: “I send my best wishes to the rest. There are still seven others missing.”
SSIO, a successful Bonn rapper with Afghan roots, apparently had better things to do – and thus even missed a short eulogy from hip-hop Grönemeyer.
Dramaturgy without tension
The Polyton speechwriters also didn’t master the basics of laudatory dramaturgy. In the very short contributions, the honoree was named right at the beginning – this immediately destroyed any tension.
If you consider the international star line-up at the recent Brit Awards or the Grammys, the Polyton remains stuck in the third to fourth award league for the third year. Especially since the music industry had already organized its own gala, the “Artist Celebration Night” (BVMI), at the beginning of 2026 – without subsidies. The collecting society GEMA has also been awarding the “German Music Authors Prize” (DMAP) for years. Three German awards within three months show how fragmented the pop award system is in the Federal Republic.
Bright spots in the shadow of weaknesses
Other fairly well-known names were honored – from Ellen Allien (EDM) to Kadavar (Rock) to Giovanni Zarrella (Schlager), whose recognition by TV celebrity Bruce Darnell was one of the few lively moments of the evening. The moderation, on the other hand, remained wooden and even embarrassing; it was moderated away where international flair would have been required. One wonders who is responsible for curating something like this. It cannot be due to a lack of financial resources.
Political statements instead of pop production
In terms of content, the evening had the usual calf-biting accents. Domiziana Helga Gibbels, alias Domiziana, used her speech to clearly criticize power structures in the industry – criticism that she should perhaps also present to her label Four Music. Herbert Grönemeyer sharply attacked the streaming platforms.
The recently omnipresent Minister of State for Culture, Wolfram Weimer, was photographed by dozens of cameras on the pink carpet, but his announced speech was canceled at short notice – another blank space on a strange evening.
Only the after-show party was somewhat forgiving: lots of people dancing to fair beats from the female DJ.
A prize with educational demands, but without charisma
The Polyton remains a prize with pedagogical demands and intense debates that have so far come to nothing. This conglomerate seems to understand little about pop and its staging. Those who receive awards are often not even there – and that is exactly what undermines the appeal of a format that aims to create closeness and exchange within the music scene.
