Most Wanted: Music 2026 is getting a makeover with a new theme and location.
From 3rd to 5th of November 2026, MW:M will turn the nhow Hotel Berlin, a venue designed at the intersection of music, business, technology, and exchange, into a vibrant convention space for music industry professionals and music lovers alike.
Rewire!
New pathways. New circuits. New connections.
The industry is ready for a rewire!
Most Wanted: Music 2026 brings together the people redesigning the future of the music industry — across business, technology, culture, and community.
You’re a forward thinker or curious about how we can shape the future of music together? Come by, and experience insightful talks, thought-provoking keynotes and immersive experiences.
Save the date and secure your early bird ticket
3–5 November 2026
nhow Berlin
Thematic Statement & Vision
Rewire! is this year’s theme and we are serious to act upon it and not only rewire ideas, communities and industry structures, but drive change for the whole music ecosystem.
Our mission is to create the space where forward-looking creators, leaders, and innovators come together to rewire the systems, connections, and pathways that carry music forward.
Rewire! speaks to the intentional redesign happening across the music industry:
- who connects to whom
- how power and money flow
- which pathways carry the industry forward
Revenue is flowing through channels that did not exist five years ago. Artists are building careers beyond traditional infrastructure. New regulatory frameworks are reshaping how creative work is valued and protected.
At the centre of it all, people are finding new ways to meet, collaborate, and create together across borders, genres, and generations.
With Rewire! we invite everyone to design the wiring that serves the future: with human connection running through every circuit.
Most Wanted: Music 2026 is the platform to connect those who want to rewire the music industry and push the boundaries of what has worked in the past, to pave the way for a new music scene.
The music industry is entering a new phase of creative and structural transformation
New tools are opening pathways for artists who were never part of the traditional pipeline. New markets are emerging. New forms of collaboration are reshaping how music is created, shared, and experienced, and how creators connect across borders and generations
Rewiring is not a single moment. It is an ongoing development calling for new connections and new circuits.
Each generation, scene, and technological shift creates new connections, new systems, and new opportunities.
Most Wanted: Music 2026 brings together the people actively designing those new pathways.
Rewire! asks:
Where do these new connections lead?
Who do they serve?
And what kind of industry are we building together?
Accelerating the work already underway
Across every sector of the music industry, people are developing new approaches to revenue, creativity, community and technology
What they need is a space where those approaches can meet, challenge one another, and combine into something larger. MW:M Rewire! provides that space:
Two days at nhow Berlin where the people shaping the future of music are in the same building — working with the same urgency and ambition
Four Interconnected Program Verticals
Each vertical carries the Rewire! theme through its own lens, with focused streams exploring specific areas of industry practice.
BUSINESS — Rewiring the pathways where value is created, captured, and shared
The economics of music are being redesigned in real time: from direct-to-fan models and independent distribution to new financial frameworks for creators and businesses.
Streams
- Modern Monetization
- Global Market Access
- Funding Innovation
- Education & Skills
SOCIAL IMPACT — Rewiring the industry’s relationship with the communities it serves
From sustainability and equitable access to artist wellbeing and community building, this vertical explores how music can drive meaningful social progress.
Streams
- Social Progress
- Sustainable Practice
- Inclusive Industry
- Artist Wellbeing
NEXTTECH — Rewiring how technology serves creative practice
Technology is becoming infrastructure. Artists, technologists, and policy thinkers are redefining the relationship between creativity, tools, and emerging technologies.
Streams
- Creative Technology
- Audience Experience
- Decentralized Music
- Production Innovation
SCENE — Rewiring how music cultures connect, grow, and sustain themselves
Venues, collectives, local ecosystems, and global creative networks are evolving alongside the cultures they support.
Streams
- Scene Economics
- Cultural Memory
- Night Culture & Policy
- Global Connections
Human connection at the centre
Across every vertical and session format, MW:M26 maintains focus on the irreplaceable human dimension of music.
The emotional resonance of live performance.
The trust built across a table during negotiation.
The creative spark between collaborators meeting for the first time.
Technology, policy, and business models are the infrastructure.
Human experience is what that infrastructure carries.
Our approach
From discussion to practice
MW:M26 is built on the principle that valuable conference programming moves beyond conversation into action.
How we programme
- Every session is built around a concrete question, challenge, or opportunity
- Speaker selection prioritizes practitioners actively doing the work
- The program is curated for coherence while remaining open to emerging perspectives
- Networking is programmed with the same intentionality as keynotes and panels
Our Commitment
MW:M26 is a working conference
We commit to:
- Ensuring every attendee leaves with new knowledge, new ideas, and new connections
- Programming that leads to tangible outcomes
- Creating pathways for implementation
- Reflecting the global diversity of the music industry
- Honouring Berlin’s legacy of creative reinvention
- Keeping the human experience of music at the centre
Apply for session, as a speaker, or as a researcher
Here you’ll find all our open calls to become part of Most Wanted: Music.
Contact
For questions about the Most Wanted: Music Convention, please contact programme@mwm-berlin.de