5 Ways Music Impacts Cities That We Often Ignore

I spend a lot of time on the road, sitting in board rooms, conference centres & music venues talking about the value of music and how if we think about it deliberately and intentionally, it improves our lives. Most often, the conversation focuses on issues surrounding musicians and music makers in cities. Are they being paid fairly? Are their working conditions satisfactory? Are there enough places for them to record, rehearse and play? Is it a fair playing ground across race, gender and discipline? In our work we obsess over these questions. Musicians can be terrific case studies to look at the health and vibrancy of a place in general. If musicians are thriving, the city or place is. Promise.

But music impacts everyone, not just musicians. And music cities policies — the intentional act of strategizing music as an ecosystem in a place — is about more than the music industry. So in my second post of 2020, here are some of my talking points when I am trying to explain the value of music to all of us, whomever we are and whatever we do. I’ve included some examples to look at as well.

1. Music Benefits Workforce Development — This is a North American term, which means creating jobs in communities. All communities are obsessed with workforce development. Bringing music into this conversation creates competitive advantage. First, music is a business full of jobs. The sector grew by 9.7% last year globally and its supply chain, from music venues to studios, schools to festivals, is significant. But engaging music in workforce development policy is about more than music jobs. What are workers going to do after work to keep them? Alongside food, nature and safety, a bustling music scene helps. Music also welcomes workers to communities and creates commonality with residents. And it is being used in myriad ways. Google, Amazon and Salesforce, for example, have worker choirs and orchestras. Kodak’s still exists, so these initiatives last. Huntsville, Alabama (a city we work in), uses music to sell its quality of life, so much so Mayor Tommy Battle featured it in his State of the City address. When I speak to cities, I focus on how music can complement all workforce promotion strategies. This is especially prevalent as we continue to move towards jobs that prioritise culture, technology and innovation. 70% of call centre jobs are at risk from AI. 1.3m retail jobs have disappeared in the last decade. Music is a great recruitment tool to create innovative, high tech, culturally rich communities.
2. Music Drives Tourism — Music tourism is growing as its own standalone sector. Skift wrote about it, recognising its power to attract millennials. Here’s our report for the UN on topic. UC Denver is teaching a class on it. But it is not simply about festivals, attractions and historical monuments. Music can be embedded across how a city communicates itself to outsiders. It can be passive (listings, showcasing local artists) or active (calling oneself music focused, in one way or another), looking at music’s role holistically across how you see yourself as a place can improve all marketing campaigns. Use local bands in them. Playlist your town. Put pianos everywhere. Have a music program at the airport. Map music heritage assets. If you do this, it can increase dwell time (keeping business visitors another day, for example) and break down barriers. And when you do it, the press follows. Tulsa (another city we work) has been named ‘The Next Austin’ by Rolling Stone. This is down to Tulsa using music intentionally across its tourism portfolio. Moreover, music tourism assets can be anything. Parts of New Orleans became popular after Drake filmed a video there, so much so the tourism board created a walking trail.

3. Music Can Enlighten Transport and Parking— In most cities we work, the ability for people to travel to and from concerts is a challenge that comes up. The availability of late night public transit has a knock on effect on the night time economy, as people often leave earlier to get home, or drive to gigs which puts more carbon in the atmosphere. In addition, many cities we work in see artists get parking tickets while they are loading in equipment, often charging them more than they make in the evening. Exploring the traffic and capacity flows related to music (and wider evening and night time economy) can help design better, more community oriented transit strategies. Orlando did this, effectively creating a safer process to move revellers from the downtown core after bars closed down. London expanded its tube service to 24 hours on weekends on most lines. Cities like Seattle and Austin offer artist loading and unloading zones. Music can be a terrific tool to improve transit policy.

4. Music Drives Climate Action — The music sector is a terrific R&D tool to improve our planet. Festivals are mini-cities, complete with all the infrastructural requirements of a permanent place. The supply chain of music involves harvesting natural resources, heavy manufacturing, logistics, transport and storage. Music is a terrific tool to raise awareness, much like Global Citizen is doing. But within our business, there’s dirty practices that need reforming. Understanding these as case studies can provide insight to better manage waste, explore carbon-free logistics and even managing migrancy and human flows. For example, streaming music can create as much Co2 as making a CD. Vinyl is not environmentally friendly. But these solutions can be used to solve wider problems. We need to understand them more as global challenges, not just ones specific to music.

5. Music Improves Regeneration — I spent a lot of time discussing master plans, regeneration strategies and long-term visions for cities. Most of them tangentially mention culture, but leave it at that. Music is a powerful tool to look at how to create better, more livable cities. Musicians, like all artists, are often the first to regenerate areas before developers move in. Understanding how to protect them in policy can create fairer communities. Looking at how to plan housing around vibrant culture and leisure creates longer lasting, more durable communities. Building festival sites into communities can improve community cohesion with them and make them cheaper to run. Even running cables under public realm so street performers can plug in can regulate the practice, and the volume, and create a wider appreciation of busking. But doing this in the design phase is integral. Building in is cheap. Bolting on is expensive. Looking at music as a tool to impact visions and master plans leads to better cities. Period.

These are just 5 ways music impacts communities. There’s many, many more. From education policy, access and mobility policy to equity and diversity development, to our overall wellbeing. My friend Julia Jones has written extensively about music’s impact on health and wellbeing. I will focus on that in another post. But music has a role in your workforce development, tourism, transport, climate action and regeneration policies. Incorporating it in will benefit not only musicians, but your community as a whole.