What does the IGFM do?

• A big part of our work is education and awareness raising. You could put it in one word: Lobbying. Ignorance has been one of the main causes of precarious working conditions until now. Very important is our work on cultural policy: presenting our concerns to (almost) all cultural departments of (almost) all political parties and the cultural officials relevant to us. We always meet with great interest from our interlocutors. Until now, there has been no one who has described the situations first-hand and named the problems. We are gratefully accepted as experts and specialists.
• The structural development of our interest group was and is very time-consuming. We were only able to achieve this because concert projects fell away due to Corona and we all suddenly had a lot of time. 
• Another project we are actively involved in is the Cultural Strategy 2021 Vienna and the Innsbruck Cultural Strategy 2030 (See below).
• In November 2020, we initiated a survey on the topic: "Covid-Test situation for independent music makers". In the course of this, the first networking actions with IGFT, mica, IG Kultur and the ÖMR took place.
• We are currently running a second survey, our Shadow survey. 
• This is a comparison with the Fair Pay Gap survey of the BMKÖS, which was addressed to employers in the arts and culture sector. This time we want to ask about the problem from the perspective of performing musicians. (See below for a report)
• In spring we start with workshops/lectures at musical training places: Universities, conservatories and music high schools. Being a freelance musician should be a conscious career decision - not an "accident".
• Several newspaper articles have already been published in various print and online media in which the IGFM repeatedly draws attention to grievances in the Austrian music market. Our core team member Peter Trefflinger and one of our board members Johannes Stöckler deserve special mention. They keep in touch with representatives of the press and also write articles themselves time and again.
• The IGFM has written a number of letters to responsible politicians in an attempt to address them directly. The letters were often written jointly and co-signed by representatives of other IGs. We have also co-signed letters from our fellow campaigners.

Listen, understand, act:

our members are important to us!

Not only the exchange with those responsible in the cultural sector is a major concern of the IGFM. At least as important to us is the exchange within the core team and the board as well as with our members. That's why there were countless meetings, emails and telephone calls - many, many hours of (involuntary) voluntary work.  

The two evenings of 29/30 November 2021 deserve special mention. Our members had their say. Via Zoom we discussed Fairpay, raised concerns, described events and asked questions. Martina Reiter and Heide Wartha moderated in accordance with the motto:

"We are listening ...!"

These were two very exciting meetings and we came to the conclusion that there should be such a "regulars' table" more often. 

Social media

We want to keep you up to date. Ana Inés Feola and Daniela Flickentanz, both core team members of IGFM, inform our members as soon as possible about important news and interesting opportunities via Facebook, Instagram and newsletter. The team is supported by our "all-rounder" and core team member Michael Köck. He is responsible for internal communication, sends out links for meetings and creates doodles to find common dates. 

Ana Inés is also in charge of our website. She has spent many hours learning "the language" of our new website in order to be able to design and maintain it. She is also often the first point of contact for our members. 

Vienna and the provinces - 2021 is the year of construction

Most of IGFM's work can only be done in Vienna and is done there. The simple reason for this is that most of our contacts are located in the federal capital. Nevertheless, there are tasks that can also be done decentrally in the provinces. These are then taken over by the core team members who live all over Austria. In addition, direct contact with our members, as well as representatives of other IGs, politicians and civil servants in the provinces is very important to us. That is why we founded the provincial groups with the IGFM about a year ago. 

It shows how difficult it is to win active members for this work. No wonder - we don't pay anything, and there is a great fear of experiencing disadvantages on the music market through involvement with the IGFM. But our experience so far has taught us that this fear is unfounded. Because IGFM thinks sustainably and in the long term. That's why good cooperation is very important to us. We don't want actionism, we want to improve and strengthen the situation of all creative artists in Austria in consensus with organisers and funding bodies. 

The task of the provincial teams is to be a local contact, to help shape the music landscape and to network with other stakeholders from the arts and culture. Our task is also to recruit and support members. In order to make ourselves known, we have sent out a letter to all music school teachers in Tyrol, for example. In addition, we have made friendly visits to representatives of associations as well as to representatives of provincial politics in the provinces. The founding of the IGFM was received positively throughout.  

In Tyrol, the Tyrolean Folk Music Association with its chairman Peter Margreiter was very helpful. In order to make us better known, he had an article about the IGFM printed in the TVM's club newspaper.

Close cooperation among Board and core members

Heide Wartha is a core team member and provincial coordinator. Her task is to stay in touch with all active members and to be their contact person. There were several meetings via Zoom with the provincial teams, which Heide moderated. Also a jour fix, which we held once a month, gave us the opportunity to exchange information on a regular basis. The Executive Board was able to inform us core members about the latest negotiations and developments. In addition, solutions to various problems were discussed and courses of action were worked out.

Retreat in August 2021

Another highlight was our retreat, which took place on 28 and 29 August 2021. After several zooms, phone calls and emails, we finally wanted to meet in person. There was enough work to do. Heide Wartha made her farm in Hopfgarten available to us. The participants were Martina Reiter, Barbara Fischer, Edda Breit, Johannes Stöckler, Heide Wartha. Ana Inés Feola and Irma Niskanen joined us online. We discussed the situation, set goals for the next months and strengthened each other. 

Retreat in February 2022

This second retreat took place at the parents' house of our board member Martina Reiter in Upper Austria. Due to Corona, only a small group of IGFM members met: Martina Reiter, Daniela Flickentanz, Edda Breit and Peter Trefflinger. Heide Wartha and Barbara Fischer joined via Zoom. Once again, they summarised, congratulated on partial successes and defined the further roadmap of the IGFM. Another central topic was how to get urgently needed money.

Are you interested in actively working with us? Then get in touch with us! The tasks are varied, there is something for everyone!

Cultural Strategy Vienna, Innsbruck Cultural Strategy 2030

Another wonderful opportunity to network was offered by the "Innsbruck Cultural Strategy". In six workshops, art and culture professionals from all sectors discussed, debated, defined problems and worked out solutions to confirm and strengthen Innsbruck and Tyrol as a cultural location. IGFM Tyrol participated in this process. The results will be presented in spring 2022. culturalstrategy-innsbruck.at

A similar process also started in Vienna in 2021. The IGFM is part of it!

The Battlegroup in Innsbruck

In Innsbruck, IGFM and Barbara Fischer became part of the Battlegroup, an association of stakeholders from the arts and culture that strongly influences the cultural policy of the city of Innsbruck. Within the framework of this cooperation, we were able to presentour fee recommendations to the cultural committee of the city of Innsbruck. We also signed several joint letters to draw attention to financial hardship during the pandemic, to prevent renewed cultural closures and to highlight long-standing grievances.