The German Music Authors' Prize () is a German music prize that has been awarded since 2009 by German collective rights association GEMA. It is awarded to composers and lyricists for their outstanding achievements. Under the motto "Authors honor authors" ('), the winners are chosen by an independent jury of composers, lyricists and producers from all genres. Amongst the ten categories awarded, only the ''Young Talents'' category comes with a monetary prize of 10,000 Euro.

Recipients

2009

The ceremony took place on 28 May 2009 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, at the "axica" conference center. * Composition Film music:

Martin Böttcher Martin Böttcher (17 June 1927 – 20 April 2019) was a German composer, arrangement, arranger and conducting, conductor. The beginning Böttcher (on foreign records and articles often written "Bottcher" or "Boettcher", the latter being the corre ...

* Composition Pop/Rock: Peter Fox * Lyrics Pop/Rock:

Judith Holofernes Judith Holfelder-Roy (''née'' Holfelder-von der Tann; born 12 November 1976), known by her stage name Judith Holofernes (), is a German singer, guitarist, songwriter and author. She was the lead singer of Wir sind Helden, the German pop rock b ...

* Composition Independent: * Lyrics Hip-Hop:

Die Fantastischen Vier Die Fantastischen Vier (, "The Fantastic Four"), often shortened to Fanta 4, is a German hip hop band from Stuttgart. The members are Michael Schmidt (Smudo), Andreas Rieke, Thomas Dürr, and Michi Beck. They were, together with Advanced Chemi ...

* Composition Music Theatre:

Detlev Glanert Detlev Glanert (born 6 September 1960) is a Opera in German, German opera composer, who has also composed numerous works for chamber and full orchestra, including three symphonies. Biography Detlev Glanert was born in Hamburg in 1960. He came ...

* Composition Symphonic: Manfred Trojahn * Most Successful Work of the Year:

Annette Humpe Annette Humpe (born 28 October 1950) is a German singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her band Ideal was one of the most important and seminal representatives of the Neue Deutsche Welle. In 2004, she returned as a singer with the project Ic ...

* Young Talent Award: Kai-Uwe Kolkhorst * Lifetime achievement: Peter Thomas

2010

The ceremony took place on 22 April 2010 in

, at the "axica" conference center. * Composition Dance:

Alex Christensen Alex Christensen (born 7 April 1967), also known by his stage names Jasper Forks or Alex C., is a German dance music producer, songwriter, and DJ generally known as the face and one of the founding members of U96. Since 2002, he has been coll ...

* Lyrics Schlager: Joachim Horn-Bernges * Composition Pop/Rock:

David Jost David Jost (born August 12, 1972) is a German music producer, singer-songwriter, and DJ born in Hamburg. His career has a track record of 74 platinum, 108 gold records, and 14 No. 1 hits. He's worked with artists like Lady Gaga, Chris Brown, T ...

, Dave Roth, Pat Benzner * Lyrics Pop/Rock:

Jan Delay Jan Phillip Eißfeldt (born 25 August 1976), known professionally as Jan Delay, is a German rapper and singer whose stylistic range includes mainly hip hop, reggae, dub and funk. An accomplished solo artist, he became known to the public as ...

* Composition Jazz:

Nils Wogram Nils Wogram (born 7 November 1972) is a jazz trombonist, composer and bandleader. He began classical study at the age of fifteen. He was a member in the National German Youth Big Band, participated in classical competitions and formed his own ...

* Composition Instrumental music:

Rebecca Saunders Rebecca Saunders (born 19 December 1967) is a London-born composer who lives and works freelance in Berlin. In a 2017 ''Classic Voice'' poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000, Saunders' compositions received the third highest total ...

* Composition Experimental music: Carola Bauckholt * Most Successful Work of the Year: Silbermond * Young Talent Award: * Lifetime achievement:

Michael Kunze Michael Rolf Kunze (born 9 November 1943, in Prague) is a foremost German musical theater lyricist and librettist. He is best known for the hit musicals ''Elisabeth (musical), Elisabeth'' (1992), ''Tanz der Vampire'' (1996), ''Mozart!'' (1999), ...

2011

The ceremony took place on 14 April 2011 in

, at the . * Composition Instrumental music:

York Höller York Höller (; born 11 January 1944) is a German composer and professor of composition at the Hochschule für Musik Köln. Biography Höller was born in Leverkusen. Between 1963 and 1970 he studied at the Cologne Musikhochschule: composition with ...

* Composition Opera/Song:

Aribert Reimann Aribert Reimann (, 4 March 1936 – 13 March 2024) was a German composer, pianist, and accompanist, known especially for his literary operas. His version of Shakespeare's ''King Lear'', the opera '' Lear'', was written at the suggestion of Dietr ...

* Composition Film music: * Composition Pop:

Adel Tawil Adel Salah Mahmoud Eid El-Tawil (born 15 August 1978) is a German singer, songwriter and producer. Besides his solo career, he is part of the popular German duo Ich + Ich and a former member of the boy band The Boyz (German band), The Boyz. Ear ...

, , Sebastian Kirchner ''(

Ich + Ich Ich, ich or ICH may refer to: Places * Ich, Semnan, a village in Semnan Province, Iran * Ich, Zanjan, a village in Zanjan Province, Iran * Ich, alternative name of Ij, Zanjan, a village in Zanjan Province, Iran Medicine * The ego (German: ''Ic ...

)'' * Composition Rock:

Klaus Meine Klaus Meine (; born 25 May 1948) is a German singer, best known as the longtime frontman and primary lyricist of the hard rock band Scorpions. Meine and guitarist Rudolf Schenker are the only two members of the group to appear on every Scorpio ...

Rudolf Schenker Rudolf Schenker (born 31 August 1948) is a German guitarist, founder and leader of the hard rock band Scorpions. He is the rhythm and lead guitarist, primary songwriter and the sole constant member of the band. He is also the CEO/owner-manager ...

Matthias Jabs Matthias Jabs (born 25 October 1955) is a German musician, best known as the lead/rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Scorpions. He has played on all but the first five Scorpions studio albums, starting with '' Lovedrive'' (1979). He owns a ...

''(

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

)'' * Lyrics Singer-songwriter/song:

Reinhard Mey Reinhard Friedrich Michael Mey (born 21 December 1942) is a German ''Liedermacher'' (, a German-style singer-songwriter). In France he is known as ''Frédérik Mey''. By 2009, Mey had released 27 German albums, and generally releases a new al ...

* Lyrics Schlager/Volkstümliche Musik: Jutta Staudenmayer * Most Successful Work of the Year: , ''(

Unheilig Unheilig (German for "Unholy") is a German band that draws from a variety of influences, including various Pop music, pop and Electronic music, electronic styles as well as heavier, Nihilism, nihilistic hard rock. The band was founded in Aache ...

)'' * Young Talent Award: * Lifetime achievement:

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large List of compositions by Hans Werner Henze, oeuvre is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Igor Stravinsky, Stravinsky, Mu ...

2012

The ceremony took place on 24 May 2012 in

, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. * Composition Film music: * Lyrics Children's song: * Composition Jazz: Tied & Tickled Trio (

Markus Acher The Notwist are a German indie rock band. Formed in 1989, the band moved through several musical incarnations, despite maintaining a relatively stable line-up. While their early records moved through heavy metal into dark indie rock, their re ...

, Micha Acher, ) * Composition Experimental music: Georg Katzer * Composition Religious music:

Dieter Schnebel Dieter Schnebel (14 March 1930 – 20 May 2018) was a German composer, theologian and musicologist. He composed orchestral music, chamber music, vocal music and stage works. From 1976 until his retirement in 1995, Schnebel served as professor of e ...

* Lyrics Pop: * Composition Rock: (Catharina Sieland) * Young Talent Award: Sarah Nemtsov * Most Successful Work of the Year:

Dieter Bohlen Dieter Bohlen (; born Dieter Günter Bohlen on 7 February 1954) is a German songwriter, producer, singer and television personality. He first achieved fame as a member of the pop duo Modern Talking in the 1980s, and has since produced numerous G ...

* Lifetime achievement:

James Last James Last (, ; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015) was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist, his trademark "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and ...

2013

The ceremony took place on 25 April 2013 in

, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. * Composition Rock/Pop:

Die Toten Hosen Die Toten Hosen are a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf. The name is taken from the German slang idiom ''tote Hose'' (literally "dead trousers"), which means "nothing happening"; "boring". The band has had an important success through th ...

* Composition Film music: Annette Focks * Lyrics Pop: * Lyrics Hip-Hop:

Deichkind Deichkind (, literally '' Dyke Child'') is a German electropunk band formed in Hamburg in 1997. Current members are “Kryptik Joe” alias Philipp Grütering (rapper/songwriter), Henning “DJ Phono” Besser (DJ), Sebastian “Porky” Dürre ...

* Composition Symphonic:

Jörg Widmann Jörg Widmann (; born 19 June 1973) is a German composer, conductor and clarinetist. In 2023, Widmann was the third most performed living contemporary composer in the world. Formerly a clarinet and composition professor at the University of ...

* Composition Art song: * Composition Dance/Elektro:

Yann Peifer Yann Peifer (born 6 March 1974), known professionally as Yanou, is a German trance and Eurodance musician and producer. He is most famous for collaborating on DJ Sammy's hit "Heaven" with vocalist Do and for being a member of the popular German ...

Manuel Reuter Manuel Reuter (born 6 December 1961) is a German former racing driver. He has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice: *in 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans for Sauber-Mercedes *in 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans for Joest Racing He also won the Interserie in 19 ...

* Young Talent Award: & Jan Miserre * Most Successful Work of the Year: Die Toten Hosen – ''Tage wie diese'' * Lifetime achievement:

Klaus Huber Klaus Huber (30 November 1924 – 2 October 2017) was a Swiss composer and academic based in Basel and Freiburg. Among his students were Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Jarrell, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Toshio Hosokawa, Wolfgang Rihm, and Kaija Saaria ...

2014

The ceremony took place on 8 May 2014 in

, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. * Composition Jazz: * Composition Film music:

Martin Todsharow Martin Todsharow (born 6 September 1967) is a German composer, producer, and lecturer on music, since 2004 a professor at the Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg. He has won the German Film Critics' Best Music Award and the German Music Aut ...

* Composition Elektro:

Robot Koch Robert Koch (born 7 October 1977), best known by the stage name Robot Koch, is a German, Los Angeles–based artist, composer, and record producer. Koch made a name for himself as a member of the band Jahcoozi before launching as a solo artist. ...

* Composition Solo concert:

Isabel Mundry Isabel Mundry (born 20 April 1963) is a German composer. Life and work Isabel Mundry was born in Schlüchtern, Hesse in 1963 and studied composition at the Berlin University of the Arts, Hochschule der Künste and electronic music, musicology and ...

* Lyrics Vernacular: * Composition Contemporary choir music: Charlotte Seither * Lyrics Pop/Rock: Bosse * Young Talent Award: Marko Nikodijević * Most Successful Work of the Year:

Sportfreunde Stiller Sportfreunde Stiller () is a German indie rock band from Germering near Munich, Bavaria. History The band was founded by Peter Brugger (guitar, vocals), Florian "Flo" Weber (drums), and Andi Erhard (bass). They initially wanted to name themse ...

– ''Applaus, Applaus'' * Lifetime achievement:

Udo Jürgens Jürgen Udo Bockelmann (30 September 1934 – 21 December 2014), generally known as Udo Jürgens, was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, ...

2015

The ceremony took place on 21 May 2015 in

, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. * Composition Pop:

Tobias Kuhn Tobias Kuhn is a German songwriter, producer and film composer living in Berlin. Career In 1992, Kuhn co-founded German indie band Miles with his high school friends and signed to V2 Records shortly after. After releasing four albums, he starte ...

* Composition Hip-Hop: Farhot * Composition Music Theatre:

Helmut Oehring Helmut Oehring (born 1961) is a German composer. He was born in East-Berlin, the son of deaf parents. After training as a construction worker, Oehring worked as a cemetery gardener, forest worker, geriatric nurse and stoker. He is self-taught as g ...

* Composition Orchestra:

Adriana Hölszky Adriana Hölszky (born 30 June 1953) is a Romanian-born German music educator, composer and pianist who has been living in Germany since 1976. Biography Hölszky was born in Bucharest. In the years 1959–1969 she studied piano with Olga Rosca- ...

* Composition Audiovisual media: * Lyrics Pop/Rock:

Wolfgang Niedecken Wolfgang Niedecken (, ; born 30 March 1951) is a German singer and musician. He founded the Kölsch-speaking rock group BAP at the end of the 1970s and soon became famous with BAP all over Germany. He is the lead singer and only remaining found ...

* Lyrics Schlager: * Young Talent Award: (, Eleni Zafiriadou) * Most Successful Work of the Year: Mark Forster, Sido, ,

Daniel Nitt Daniel Nitt is a German recording artist, songwriter, music producer, and composer. Daniel Nitt was born in Pegnitz, Germany and currently resides in Berlin, Germany. Songwriting and film composing career Daniel Nitt co-wrote "不只有緣 (Lucky ...

und

Philipp Steinke Philipp Steinke is a German songwriter, film composer, record producer and musician. Steinke is a member of the band Asher Lane. Philipp Steinke was born and resides in Berlin, Germany. Songwriting and film composing career Steinke scored the s ...

– ''Au revoir'' * Lifetime achievement:

Helmut Lachenmann Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (; born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. Associated with the "instrumental musique concrète" style, Lachenmann is alongside Wolfgang Rihm as among the leading Germa ...

2016

The ceremony took place on 12 May 2016 in

, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. * Composition Pop/Rock:

Sonja Glass Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* Sonia ...

* Composition Jazz/Crossover: Tini Thomsen * Lyrics Hip-Hop: Marten Laciny ( Marteria/Marsimoto) * Composition Ensemble Music:

Enno Poppe Enno Poppe (born 30 December 1969 in Hemer, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German composer and conductor of classical music, and an academic teacher. Career Enno Poppe studied composition and conducting at the Universität der Künste Berlin, Ho ...

* Composition Music with voice: * Composition Audiovisual media: * Lyrics Singer-songwriter:

Sven Regener Sven Regener (born 1 January 1961) is a German musician and writer living in Berlin. In 1982 he recorded his first LP with the band ''Zatopek'' and in 1984 he joined ''Neue Liebe''. In 1985 he founded the Berlin band Element of Crime together ...

( Element of Crime) * Young Talent award:

Jagoda Szmytka Jagoda Marta Szmytka (born 15 January 1982, Legnica) is a Polish composer. She has attracted attention for her style of music, which uses elements not only of sound, but also of the sense of space and visual arts, and also for her opera, ''Dla g� ...

* Most Successful Work of the Year:

Andreas Bourani Andreas Bourani (born Stiegelmair; 2 November 1983) is a German pop singer and songwriter. Career Bourani was born to Egyptians, Egyptian parents and adopted as an infant by a German family in Augsburg, in the southwest of Bavaria. As a youth, ...

, , , Marek Pompetzki, , Paul Würdig – ''Astronaut'' * Lifetime achievement:

2017

* Composition Audiovisual media: & * Composition Hip-Hop: * Composition Musik Für Musiktheater:

Anno Schreier Anno Schreier (born 1979 Aachen) is a German composer. Works * ''Der Herr Gevatter'' (2004). * ''Kein Ort. Nirgends'' (2006). Opera after Christa Wolf. * ''Wunderhorn'' (2008). Song cycle * ''Hinter Masken'' (2008) * ''Die Stadt der Blinden'' (2 ...

* Composition Rock/Pop:

Wallis Bird Wallis Bird (born 29 January 1982) is an Irish musician, living in Berlin since 2012. As of February 2023, she has released six studio albums, including ''Architect'' in 2014 and ''Home'' in 2016. Career Bird performed at the Eurosonic Festiv ...

* Composition Symphonic:

Olga Neuwirth Olga Neuwirth (; born 4 August 1968) is an Austrian contemporary classical composer, visual artist and author. She is famed especially for her operas and music theater works, many of which have treated sociopolitical themes. She has emphasized an ...

* Text Schlager: * Text Musikkabarett: * Most Successful Work of the Year: Kerstin Ott * Young Talent award: Von Wegen Lisbeth * Lifetime achievement:

Sofia Gubaidulina Sofia Asgatovna Gubaidulina (24 October 1931 – 13 March 2025) was a Soviet and Russian composer of Modernism (music), modernist Holy minimalism, sacred music. She was highly prolific, producing numerous Chamber music, chamber, Orchestra, orch ...

2018

* Composition Audiovisual media: * Composition Dance/Elektro: Martin Stimming * Composition Voice Experiment: David Moss * Composition Rock/Metal:

Rammstein Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, drummer Christoph ...

* Composition Solo concert: * Text Hip-Hop: (Friedrich Kautz) * Text Pop: * Young Talent award: , Kathrin A. Denner and * Most Successful Work of the Year:

Alice Merton Alice Florence Clarissa Merton (born 13 September 1993) is a British-based German-Canadian singer-songwriter. Merton achieved mainstream success with her debut single, "No Roots (song), No Roots". In 2017, she released her first EP No Roots (EP) ...

and Nicolas Rebscher * Lifetime achievement:

Klaus Doldinger Klaus Doldinger (; born 12 May 1936) is a German saxophonist known for his work in jazz and as a film music composer. He was the recipient of the 1997's Bavarian Film Awards. He is also a frequent collaborator of German filmmaker Wolfgang Pet ...

2019

* Composition Audiovisual media: * Composition Choir music:

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in p ...

* Composition Ensemble with electronic: * Composition Hip Hop: Christian Kalla (Crada) * Composition Jazz/Crossover: Martin Tingvall * Text Kinderlied: Suli Puschban * Text Pop/Rock: Maxim Richarz * Young Talent award:

Elif Demirezer Elif Demirezer (born 12 December 1992), also known by her stage name ELIF, is a German pop musician of Turkish descent. Early life Demirezer was born as the daughter of Turkish immigrants in Berlin and is the third of four children. She grew ...

and Mark Barden * Most Successful Work of the Year: Namika,

Simon Triebel Juli (German for "July") is a German alternative pop band from Gießen, Hessen, consisting of singer Eva Briegel, guitarists Jonas Pfetzing and Simon Triebel, bassist Andreas "Dedi" Herde and drummer Marcel Römer. The band was formed with this ...

, (around Hannes Büscher, David Vogt, Philip Böllhoff and Sipho Sililo), Simon Müller-Lerch () and Alpha Diallo (

Black M Alpha Diallo (born 27 December 1984), better known by his stage name Black M (originally Black Mesrimes), is a French rapper, singer, songwriter and member of the Sexion d'Assaut group. In 2014, he released his first solo album, entitled '' L ...

) * Lifetime achievement:

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (; 13 March 1952 – 27 July 2024) was a German composer of contemporary classical music and an academic teacher based in Karlsruhe. He was an influential post-war European composer, as "one of the most original and independent mus ...

External links

References

{{reflist, 30em Songwriting awards German music awards Music in Berlin Awards established in 2009 2009 establishments in Germany