Know The Score

The Red Bull Music Academy In A Nutshell

The Red Bull Music Academy is an event that travels the world. A yearly celebration of all the journeys and breakthroughs, all the dreams and intricacies that go into the music we love. For two weeks, you'll be checking gear, chatting on tunes, and spinning in clubs, while getting a rare glimpse into local musical hybrids in a different country. Inbetween times, you can talk to people from around the world who started revolutions in sound. They're the people we look up to, and they're looking to you for a fresh perspective in turn.

Each morning participants, team and lecturers gather on-site, checking emails and grabbing liquid refreshments. The building is bubbling with activity as we prepare for the day's guest speakers to take the famous Academy couch. There, armed with a mic and a turntable or a piece of hardware, each guest explores crucial know-how, sharing the dreams that pushed them forward to where they are. Since the very first session back in '98, when Jeff Mills revealed his transglobal hotel secrets, the Academy lectures have offered a chance for participants to glean those pearls of renegade wisdom.

 
 
 

Then, after breaking-down chord progressions and wising-up to business pitfalls, it's time to hit the beats. Participants have the chance to DJ one-on-one and sketch out mixes, or collaborate on tunes, flipping styles. It's free time, and anything could happen. You might find yourself exchanging licks with your favourite reggae-soul composer in a studio session, or writing sentimental lyrics with a Scandinavian singer/songwriter at a milkshake bar. The building echoes with noise and music well into the night, and then we head out on the town to get down to each other's sets.

It might seem too good to be true, but it's actually a very simple recipe: the best in music, past & present, from around the world. All under one roof, getting down just for the funk of it. The Red Bull Music Academy is there to advance and inspire at a grassroots level - expect your expectations to be overturned in the best possible way. 
 

Wherever We Lay Our Hats

The Wandering Feet of the Academy

The Academy shifts location to zoom in on micro-cultures and new musical hybrids that are springing up all over the world. It gives international participants at each Academy a chance for an original adventure, their own unique set of experiences. The Academy also aims to help local music-makers in each new location to form friendships and make contacts, by attending workshops that are open to the public, and by playing alongside their international counterparts in the city's clubs. Thus participants in Brazil had the chance to attend samba schools, and locals in Cape Town could attend a workshop with Bob Moog on sound synthesis. It's a two-way street, and everyone's getting closer to the essence of the music. The vibe that is created is incomparable - something close to a revelation. We all know music brings people together, but global politics could benefit from the spirit of the Academy.

Catalán Circuits

Red Bull Music Academy - Barcelona 2008

After bringing its unique symposium of knowledge and good musical vibes to cities like Melbourne, New York, Sao Paulo, and Cape Town, this year, we planted our stakes in one of the most beloved creative metropolises to ever exist, for the special tenth anniversary edition. Local architect Frank Dominguez repurposed an old textile factory, Fabra i Coats, in the district of Sant Andreu for the headquarters. The massive space contained eight preproduction studios, a rehearsal room, two control rooms and a recording room, plus a terrace to chillax with a 150-yr old olive tree. On the walls of these studio spaces, as well as the rehearsal room, radio studio and hall, art curators Hector Ayuso and Oriol Rosell of the world-renowned OFFF Festival, had installed works by 22 artists representing ‘post-digital creation culture’. Therefore visitors to the building could encounter an air-harp of coloured threads installed in the stairway, or a contact-sensitive screen that generated images. And the fingerprints of the Academy alumni will not exactly be washed away. As part of a long-term plan to further develop its local cultural landscape, the Cultural Department of the City Council of Barcelona will turn the Academy building into a Centre for Cultural Creation, making use of the Academy’s infrastructure.

 
 
 

If Your Name's On The List...

Who's Allowed Through the Academy Doors

The application phase for the Red Bull Music Academy 2009 starts in March – look out for the application CD-Rom and the Local Workshop Sessions in your town.

The Academy is intended for anyone with a strong yen for music and a desire to be involved in its evolution: DJs, producers, MCs, singers, sound engineers, broadcasters, laptop lapdancers, soulful songwriters - they'll all be considered. You'll need to be 18 or over when the Academy workshops starts... but there's no other age limit.

No particular set of skills is necessary. For each Academy, two groups of 30 participants are chosen to represent a wide range of cultures, musical backgrounds and set of skills. There are no set quotas for any country or genre of music. Therefore everyone has an equal chance of coming along - as long as they have a creative vision, an honest attitude and an open approach.

No one will forbid you and your entire crew to enter individually. But please do understand that fairness, logistics and our desire to create open socio-dynamics alone do not allow us to invite entire crews. With only 60 spaces to give away... you do the maths.

Gold Medals Aren't Made of Gold

Running the Road of Re-Application

If you've applied before and didn't get in, it does not mean that you're not the kind of person we're looking for. Often the number of potential participants far outnumbers the amount we are able to invite. If you've applied in the past and not got in, you should definitely apply again: this year, you might be just the person to create the right balance in the final selection of 60 people. 
 

 
 
 

Red Letter Day

What Happens if You're Selected

There's no winners or losers, simply a group of like-minded people who we think will interact well at the Academy. Once there, they'll make friends and learn the kind of knowledge that money can't buy. Creativity is the only currency here. The workshops are free, open only to successful applicants. The Red Bull Music Academy also covers the flight and accommodation costs.

The Academy doesn't give out certificates or sponsor artists. It's not about getting 'discovered' by a record label either... We offer the participants who come along a unique experience, one they're likely to never forget - an experience filled with the inspiration you need to keep making the music that moves you. If you want to be supported by Red Bull in any other way, you should contact the Red Bull representative in your country. The contact details of all international Red Bull offices can be found at redbull.com. Red Bull generally has no interest in publishing any of your music, and doesn't obtain copyrights to any of your work. 
 

Behind The Scences

The People Who Make It All Happen

The people who have been running the Academy for the last nine years are committed music lovers just like you. They're journalists whose love for music led them to feature-writing instead of navel gazing. Label heads who started putting out music to further their home-town scenes. They're people who hail from different points on the globe, where they're listening to the soundtrack of their daily lives, staying connected and planning the Academy.

The local Red Bull representatives are personally spreading the word on the Academy, since there was never any single advert or billboard for it. They're available to answer any of your questions, and will also take care of your travel logistics if you're invited.