Culture Goes Down the Drain!

Music is everywhere. On your phone, in the car, while cooking, while falling asleep. But hardly anyone stops to ask where it comes from, who makes it, and who earns what from it.

"Culture Goes Down the Drain!" traces the history of commercial music - from its social origins to today's streaming reality. From a time when music was an experience, to playlists, algorithms, and AI-generated songs. Why musicians now need millions of streams just to pay rent. Why music education is disappearing, and what all of this means for society.

Music journalist Maik Pagels and concert pianist Andreas Oesterling combine live music, entertaining anecdotes, hard facts, and sharp insights into the music and media business. Pagels knows the industry from the inside: he is a music editor at Radio Bremen, was head of programming at VIVA/MTV in the 2000s, and spent many years in commercial radio at radio ffn. Together with Oesterling at the piano, he examines what is being lost right now - and why it is worth listening more carefully again.