In an article discussing hip-hop in Germany, one would expect an outline of how hip-hop emerged in the two German states or an analysis of the differences and similarities of the hip-hop scene in the two parts of the country or a report on how this youth culture has been affected by the process of political unification. However, an immediate analysis of the situation shows that although the hip-hop scene was organised in similar ways in both German states, and had similar role models, all the better known acts came from the west.

Since autumn 1989 when the ‘peaceful revolution’ in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) made Die Mauer (The Wall) fall, Germany has gone through a transformation process incomparable in world history. To understand how popular music has changed during this period it is necessary, first, to describe the situation in the former GDR before examining the personal views of two famous exponents of rock music in East Germany, Tony Krahl (leader of the band City) and the vocal group Die Prinzen, from Leipzig.

The events of 1989 mark a turning-point in German history. Among the other far-reaching economic and social consequences of German reunification, the German market for audio-visual media expanded considerably.

Kurt Tucholsky wrote in 1923 in reference to an old ‘Fasching’ tune of that era that this song comprised the ‘most complete expression of the German “Volksseele” (“soul of people”) that one could imagine’ and that it ‘truly reveals the day and age we live in, how this age has evolved and how we ourselves come to terms with this age’ (Tucholsky 1975, p. 187). His argument can be compared to Kracauer's thesis on the effects of film (Kracauer 1979, p. 11). He suggested that the commercial character of mass cultural production was constantly affected by what was provided in a stream of feedback: only commodities which convincingly meet public expectations on either a latent or manifest level are successful with the public. If the masses are moved by a national rhythmic feeling, then the hits articulating that feeling can be seen as a kind of national expression. From this perspective, national and political identities are bound up in the daily emotional turbulence of the music industry.

In the field of scientific research on popular music there are a number of studies of the reception of rock music and various sociological analyses of the music industry, but there are few studies of rock musicians themselves. The empirical musician studies that do exist tend to use qualitative data analysis and to pursue limited research interests. There is thus work on the formation of rock bands (Jones and Harvey 1980; Schäffer 1996), on cover bands (Groce 1989), on group processes and structures (Groce and Dowell 1988; Tennstedt 1979), on female musicians (Groce and Cooper 1990) and on amateur musicians (Clemens 1983). Studies with standardised questionnaire and quantitative data analysis are rarer (but see Wills and Cooper 1988; and in Germany, Dollase, Rüsenberg and Stollenwerk 1974; Ebbecke and Lüschper 1987; Niketta 1986; Niketta, Niepel and Nonninger 1983; Weber 1990). The problem of these studies is their narrow database, and so I want to report here on a research project designed to provide empirically well-founded but broad-based evidence of the situation of rock musicians in West Germany. The research was undertaken in order to inform strategies for promoting rock music making in Germany (see Zickenheiner 1988). It was financed by the Federal Ministry for Education and Science and the Secretariat for Common Cultural Activities, in co-operation with the Centre for Music and Communication Technology, Wuppertal. The original project report was published in 1993 (Niketta and Volke 1993).