On Monday, November 17th, 2025 the APPLAUS (Auszeichnung der Programmplanung unabhängiger Spielstätten) was presented for the twelfth time in Munich by Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer
The federal prize has been awarded since 2013 by Initiative Musik in cooperation with the Bundeskonferenz Jazz and LiveMusikKommission e.V. to honor live music venues and concert series for their artistically outstanding music programs, cultural excellence, impact, and sociocultural significance. The main sponsor of APPLAUS is the Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (BKM).
In Munich, prize money totaling around €1.7 million was distributed across three main categories.
After winning last year’s inaugural award in the category “Best (subsidized) Live Music Venues,” the LOFT has once again received the APPLAUS award in this category this year.
In the category “Best (subsidized) Live Music Venues,” there was only one other venue in North Rhine-Westphalia among a total of four award-winning venues, namely the BLACK BOX im cuba.
We would like to thank the expert jury for considering us, as this is high praise for our work.
https://applaus-award.de/preistraegerinnen/
The category for Best (subsidized) Live Music Venuesis not endowed – due to a 40% clause, the federal government does not award prize money or subsidies to venues whose municipal subsidy share exceeds 40% of the total budget.
We would like to thank the expert jury for recognizing our work.
A big thank you goes to our sole partner, the Stadt Köln, and above all to all our colleagues at the Kulturamt Köln: without their support, we would hardly be able to maintain such a rich concert program.
Our greatest thanks go to our entire team: our jungloftler*innen, our sound engineers, piano and instrument technicians, and our loyal audience.
And, of course, we would also like to thank our loved ones, who have stood by us for so many years, listened to us, supported us with advice and often with action, and are our sources of strength.