Horst Weidenmüller
Biography
Horst Weidenmüller founded !K7 in 1985 at the age of 21. He died after a short illness on February 10, 2025, with the independent sector paying tribute.
!K7 Records originally started as a music video production company in Berlin, and later transforming it into a multifaceted music enterprise. !K7 is renowned for its pioneering DJ-Kicks series, which launched in 1993, featuring mixes by influential artists like Carl Craig, Kruder & Dorfmeister, and Peggy Gou. Over the years, !K7 has expanded to include several sub-labels, such as Strut Records (focusing on funk, soul, and world music), 7K! (for neoclassical releases), and Ever Records (jazz).
In addition to his label work, Horst contributed significantly to the broader independent music sector, including as IMPALA board member since 2003 (vice-president until 2011) and board member of Merlin, advocating for the value of independent music rights, sustainability and inclusion. Horst works with drive and a business vision advocating for a broader change in the sector. He was awarded IMPALA’s outstanding contribution award in 2024.
Horst was founder and chair of IMPALA’s sustainability task force and helped launch the industry’s first sector wide programme and the first bespoke carbon calculator for labels, along with Julie’s Bicycle. The calculator was originally crowdfunded by a group of IMPALA members and is now supported by Merlin and Murmur. Horst was also instrumental in building IMPALA’s Business Case for Sustainability, putting the spotlight on the commercial benefits of taking sustainability action.
Under Horst’s leadership, !K7 Music received significant recognition for its commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. !K7 is certified as a B Corporation, a prestigious designation for businesses meeting high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Achieving this status reflects !K7’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace, and positively impacting the community.
Alongside its sustainability efforts, !K7 Music actively supports social inclusion through its community initiatives. One notable project is its partnership with Ernst-Reuter-Schule in Berlin. Through this collaboration, !K7 staff work with local students to teach music production, marketing, and distribution. This hands-on experience empowers students, particularly from underprivileged backgrounds, to create and release their own music. The initiative fosters creativity, promotes technical skills, and encourages youth engagement in the arts, strengthening ties between the company and its diverse local community in Wedding, a multicultural district of Berlin with high inequality rates.
Paying Tribute
“Horst had such a positive impact on all who knew him, the “Horst halo effect”. We will miss him and will continue his work as he would have wanted. It was an honour to recognise his work with !K7 last year, just ahead of the fortieth anniversary of the iconic label, one of my personal favourites. Horst’s contribution at IMPALA on the board and as founder of our sustainability task force four years ago is inspirational. He was instrumental in so many of our successes. Always funny and caring, Horst was a friend and a mentor.”
Helen Smith, Executive Chair of IMPALA
“Horst was truly inspiring. As we know, he has done great work for the independent record label community in general, including his massive contributions to IMPALA and Merlin. But crucially for me he has been a guiding light on sustainability, together with the team at IMPALA, showing us the way to make a real difference.” Peter Quicke, Ninja Tune
“Horst’s vision was centred around advocating for broader change in the sector whether in relation to digital or as a leader in sustainability or inclusion. When he received our outstanding contribution award last year, he spoke of how we are on a shared journey, where the independent sector underlines time and time again that we are leaders, something he was very proud of. Horst taught us a lot about what being a responsible business means, really cementing the sector’s position as a leader. It was an honour to have shared part of this journey with him, we will miss him dearly.”
Dario Draštata, Chair of IMPALA and Executive Director of regional association RUNDA Adria:
“Horst was instrumental in shaping our association’s mission and values. His relentless commitment to equality and sustainability guided our collective efforts that we will continue in his honour. Over the years, Horst stood with us in every battle, demonstrating unwavering dedication to the independent music community. In recognition of his exceptional efforts, he was honoured with IMPALA’s Outstanding Contribution Award last year. His absence leaves a profound void, and my thoughts are with his family and all who had the privilege of working alongside him.”
Francesca Trainini, IMPALA’s President and Vice President of Italian association PMI
“Horst was a key driver of the European independent movement, and globally through Merlin. That he was the last original board member speaks for itself. The initiative to set up Merlin was a huge lift, and his passionate advocacy of the concept was crucial. As a board member, and a very engaged one, his principles always drove his actions, and his advocacy of smaller members’ interests was truly influential. As a guiding light of the EMI divestment group which brought so many rights home, he was the personification of the enormous independent wins of the last two decades. As well as which, he created and ran a truly innovative music label. His influence will live on.”
Martin Mills, founder of Beggars Group
“Horst had a clarity of vision that never wavered. Climate action was business critical not just to his own label, but to the wider independent community at large: the question was never whether to do something, but how. In the process, he not only steered !K7 through the process of becoming one of the only B Corp Certified labels in the world, but continued raising the ambition of what collective action by the sector could look like. The IMPALA Environmental Sustainability programme has been the collective work of many, but we doubt a single one of them would deny that without Horst, it wouldn’t exist at all. (…) He leaves behind an immeasurable gap. As we feel his loss, we also celebrate his memory and everything he has set in motion. We hope many more will join us in doing the same – asking how we might all be a little bit more Horst today.“
Julie’s Bicycle team, find the full text here
Charles Caldas, speech delivered in 2025, at a !K7 event honouring Horst.
Thank you to Charlotte, to Horst’s family and to Tom for inviting me to share my memories today.
They say that we are the sum of our friendships, that who we are is fundamentally shaped by who we surround ourselves with.
As I reflected on what to say today about my, our, friend Horst I realised that, whilst true, this notion is far too limited because it doesn’t capture the way someone like Horst radiated the wisdom, love and kindness that he possessed back to others. It’s what he gave rather than what he took that define my memories of him.
I was lucky to have Horst at my side as a board member for the 16 years that I spent at Merlin. His belief in that mission was unshakable. He was calm and fearless always in the face of the many challenges we faced. His loyalty and support, once you gained his trust, was absolute, and the time and energy he dedicated to me helped me enormously. His trust gave me the confidence and strength to always keep going, to always do better. I know that many of you, at K7, at Impala, at all the organisations that he dedicated his time to must feel the same.
I was even luckier that through this time we forged a deep and abiding friendship. Even after I left Merlin, our connection remained. He checked in on me often. We had great conversations. About our families, about our lives and interests, about health, travel, about food and wine. But we also laughed a lot, gossiped (he was great to gossip with) and shared cooking tips. He even convinced me that Japanese knives were better than German ones!
I always loved those chats. Horst was always kind, wise, unafraid to challenge me when he thought I was off the mark, but always generous. His spirit, his presence was inherently generous.
He was always genuine, authentic. He left you feeling that he cared as much about how you were as what you were doing. He had no pretence, no veneer, he was unafraid to ask for advice as much as he was happy to give it. As I’ve spoken with people about him in the past weeks, I know that many felt the same. It was a beautiful and rare talent, leaving you feeling appreciated, energised, elevated.
He also had a great appetite for joy. Meals with him were always memorable, filled with laughter, and always a bottle or two of whatever wine he was exploring at that time. That smile, followed by a shaking Horst giggle is something I’m sure many of us remember.
He had an inherent instinct to always stay connected to what mattered, and that always stuck with me.
During the pandemic we spoke regularly about that. How to balance work, family and health. How to stay inspired. How to contribute to a better, more sustainable world, a better music industry. In between our calls, we wrote to each other about these things. I went back to those mails and was reminded of how deeply he thought about these things, these parts of himself.
I want to share some of what he wrote with me, but before I do that, I want to say that he was of course proud of his professional life, his K7 team who he always spoke of so highly, his and their achievements, the B Corp certification he so passionately pursued, and the contributions he made to the many organisations he believed in and dedicated his time to. There was much more he wanted to achieve on the professional front. But it’s these more personal thoughts that he sent to me on his vision, and his purpose that reveal his deeply human side and underline why he was such a special human being.
“To simplify my life and have more space to enjoy the love in my family”
“To follow my curiosity and interests which will lead me to new ideas and adventures”
“No harm should be created by my actions”
“Trust is the basis of my relationships. I will not waste my time on people I don’t trust”
“Openness and transparency are the key”
“I have nothing to lose”
Host had so much more to give. I’m heartbroken that we, and especially his family, won’t get to enjoy the fruits of the future he was looking forward to building. My heart goes out to his family and his team for that.
But I also want to take a moment to celebrate an exceptional person, who we were so fortunate to have in our lives. For me, this was a defining friendship, and I know that for many others his impact was just as powerful. He happily gave us his time, his energy, his wisdom, his enthusiasm, and of course his humour.
He listened, he really listened. In itself, and especially in the industry we work in, that is a rare talent, a mark of a deep emotional intelligence and humanity.
He cared, genuinely, and I loved him for that. I’m forever grateful that he was in my life.
I lost another very close friend recently, someone who also shaped me and who I spoke with about music, writing and literature. We both loved the writer Raymond Carver, who also sadly was taken too early, also from a cruel diagnosis. The final piece Carver published was called “Fragment”.
And did you get what
You wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel
myself
beloved on the earth.
Horst, From the love in this gathering of your friends and family, from the stories we’re all sharing about you, for your kindness, warmth, spirit and generosity I know that you also enjoy that privilege. That you are beloved on this earth.
You helped shape us all. I for one, treasure that.
Rest well my friend, I will miss you terribly but will remember and celebrate you, always.
Helen Smith, speech delivered in 2025, at a !K7 event honouring Horst.
Thank you Tom for the opportunity to be here. I am here to talk a little about Horst’s work at IMPALA.
First a comment about my choice of shirt. No Horst was not a fan of Hawaïn shirts (as far as I am aware anyway).
I am wearing it today it because it was my choice for the American independents award show two years ago, where Horst and I were on stage collecting A2IM’s first ever sustainability award for the work done by the IMPALA sustainability task force.
But let me rewind a little. Horst joined IMPALA in 2003. That’s when I first moved to Brussels to work with IMPALA. !K7 joined the same year. Horst hit the ground running and has been a key person in all of our successes for over 20 years.
He helped fund the class action that put us on the map in competition terms – a place we came back to a few times over the years and where we are again right now.
He was also one of the first labels to crowdfund Merlin and was a key supporter. He was the last remaining board member from the original team.
Horst was also on the WIN board. He saw these roles as a fundamental part of his work for the sector.
I think the project he had the most fun with (it was also painful at times…) was the work we did with IMPALA, Merlin and Warner to bring independent artists and assets back into the independent community. Horst was one of the main protagonists of that deal, among others in this room today. It was totally unique, and has never been repeated to this day in any sector.
Horst used to talk about the benefits of collective intelligence and this work is a real manifestation of this.
And of course he did all this because he was inspired by the artists he worked with and his great team at !K7, so here’s to Tom and all at !K7 over the years. Thanks from the whole board of IMPALA.
Last year Horst received IMPALA’s outstanding contribution award. In the words of one our members: Horst was a true maverick and a one-of-a-kind piece of the wider independent community.
This wasn’t just talk, Horst genuinely wanted to build a better company and have a better work environment for people who worked at !K7.
He also believed in the business case for taking diversity and inclusion action, and also on the sustainability side. He was one of the key drivers of IMPALA’s business keys in both areas, and became the only IMPALA member so far, as far as I am aware, to acquire BCorp.
We have to thank Horst for having a carbon calculator that the whole sector can use for free. We are also working on another tool Horst proposed which will help track progress on the equity, diversity and inclusion side, access the training they need.
And another project with Merlin will come to light in the next few weeks. I remember many a conversation!
There will be many memories for me personally, the Alechiinsky paintings in the French ministry of culture, Horst pasta (anyone who wants the recipe let me know) the !K7 777 party in 2007 in Horst’s garden, the many conversations about the 3Ks, coffee, kids and culture.
I also remember a couple of memorable summer holiday exchanges, including when he hatched his plan for the sustainability task force. This was a conversation that took place up a hill in the Basque Country, one of those critical moments. There have been a few of those and they’ve all led to great things, including one when we closed the divestment process deal if I remember correctly.
I also remember laughing about my No Waste experiment at one of the last in person meetings before Covid, in London. Horst was intrigued to see me putting an apple core and teabag into a little bag for composting at home and he said Helen “don’t you think this is going a little too far?” And of course he did remind me of that when he called up to say he thought IMPALA would be the best place for the sector’s sustainability task force!
My first connection to Horst was before I knew him through music like Kruder and Dorfmeister, DJ Kicks.
We also shared a few jokes about his resemblance to Joaquim Löw, the coach of the German national football team for 15 years, the coach people said that made Germany exciting to watch again!! Löw is credited with modernizing German football and developing a dynamic, attacking style that led to many successes. So looks were not the only resemblance to Horst.
We call it the Horst halo effect in the office, how he would bring people along with him and give them real credit for their work. Karla Rogozar IMPALA’s sustainability lead, is a great example of this.
The most impactful memory for me, was how he talked about the EDI training and how it made him realise what privilege in the music sector meant, as a white man. In today’s world, it’s quite a statement.
Thanks to all, we will continue Horst’s work! We sadly won’t make the meeting in the former Stazi house that Horst talked about to the task force, but we will keep the work going!!
