Innovation is at the heart of Most Wanted: Music – and nowhere is that more visible than in the MW:M Research and Hybrid Music Lab programmes. At MW:M25, music meets science, technology meets creativity, and experimentation meets experience.
MW:M Research – Rethinking How We Create
MW:M Research gathers leading academics, artists, and technologists who explore how we make, share, and experience music in the age of transformation.
The programme showcases long-standing collaborations between the Berlin Music Commission and the GMM (Gesellschaft für Musikwirtschafts- und Musikkulturforschung), complemented by an international line-up curated through an open call across music business, culture, tech, and education.
Highlights include:
Accessible Music Education in the Digital Age: Building Scalable Learning Paths for Visually Impaired Students – This presentation by Alexandra Paun-Stefan showcases “Simțim Muzica”, an inclusive music education project by Asociația Magia Artelor in Romania that provides blind and visually impaired students with structured piano and music theory training through accessible, audio-based, and tactile tools.
AI & Music Transformations Applied Knowledge Lab: Erwartungen, Chancen, Herausforderungen und Träume – Carsten Winter presents the outcomes of MW:M’s Applied Knowledge Lab on AI & Music.
The Art of the Music Video: Crafting Audio-Visual Worlds through Practice-based research – LAMIA shows how practice-based research helps artists build their own audiovisual worlds.
The Master Playlist: Listening to the Power of Playlists. Insights & Resources – Xavi Saldes Martí reveals how playlists can be tools for reflection, emotion, and connection.
Infrastructures for Immersion: Institutional Mediation of Spatial Audio – Cem Çakmak uncovers the politics and power behind spatial audio systems.
Hybrid Music Lab – Sound You Can See, Touch, and Feel
At the Hybrid Music Lab, art and technology collide in performances, talks, and installations that make music tangible. The Hybrid Music Lab Exhibition Space, right next to the stage, invites participants to explore interactive sound worlds – from experimental instruments to synesthetic experiences.
Featured highlights:
Constellation No. 4: A GPS-based Symphony by &theNIGHT – an interactive, non-linear musical experience that transforms listener movement into real-time changes in sound.
Sound as Social Architecture for Bridging Cultural Traditions and Experiences by SENAIDA – “Like Water, Like Clouds” is an improvised audiovisual ritual that invites audiences to experience softness as a radical act through the cultivation and expression of Qigong (气功).
Spatialized Algorithms: Combining Audiovisual Livecoding and Sound Diffusion by Skykys – audiovisual livecoding meets multichannel sound.
Concentric: Enter Altered States Through Sound by Jason Snell – altered states and neurofeedback through rhythm and sound.
The Sophtar: A Feedback String Instrument with Embedded Machine Learning by Federico Visi – a feedback string instrument powered by embedded machine learning.
Join the Transformation
From AI-driven creativity to immersive sound worlds, MW:M25 is where the future of music takes shape.