CTM's Transfer programme supports the festival’s vast musical scope. Transfer takes place at Kunstquartier Bethanien and other places, and ties together the Discourse series of talks, panels, workshops and screenings; the collaborative MusicMakers Hacklab; several public networking events including the Research Networking Day created together with Humboldt University’s Department of Musicology; and the Uncanny Valleys of a Possible Future exhibition, and the installation, "Physical Rhythm Machine_Boem BOem" at Halle am Berghain.

Revolving around the wide range of artistic strategies and movements examined during CTM’s music programme, the Discourse events are meant to create a special kind of think tank. Through panels, lectures, one-on-one interviews, and performances, it stimulates a broad and free-roaming discussion on the ramications of CTM 2018's Turmoil theme from the multiple perspectives of different artists, cultural theorists, writers, lecturers and more. Discourse speakers and participants include: Aden Evens, Christine Kakaire, Coral Foxworth, DJ Panic, George Lewis & Roscoe Mitchell, Guy Ben-Ary, Lauren Goshinski, Leigh Alexander, Luz, Marco Donnarumma, salt+sass, Stefan Römer, Swan Meat, The Darkraver & many more.

Transfer is funded by Musicboard Berlin, Initiative Musik, and Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Federal Government Agency for Civic Education), the Embassy of Canada, the Embassy of the Netherlands, the Polish Institute, the Quebec Office Berlin, the British Council's Dual Year UK/DE, and supported by SHAPE, which is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.