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Bonnaroo 2018

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Bonnaroo 2020 Postponed Due To Coronavirus Concerns

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The Farm-set event, originally scheduled for June 11-14, has been postponed to Sept. 24-27
Rachel Brodsky
GRAMMYs
Mar 18, 2020 - 11:20 am

Bonnaroo 2020 has been rescheduled for Sept. 24-27 due to ongoing concerns around the coronavirus pandemic. 

Organizers announced today (March 18) over Twitter that the festival, which was scheduled to take place on The Farm between June 11-14 with Lizzo, Tool and Tame Impala as headliners, would be rescheduled.

The event was also set to feature major performances from Miley Cyrus, bass legend BASSNECTAR, recently reunited rock supergroup Oysterhead (consisting of Les Claypool of Primus, Trey Anastasio of Phish and Stewart Copeland of The Police), Primus and GRAMMY-winning St. Louis rap icon Nelly, who was to perform his GRAMMY-nominated debut 2000 album, Country Grammar, in full.

In a statement to Billboard, organizers said that the decision came "out of an abundance of caution and for the health and safety of all Bonnaroovians, artists, staff and our community."

Tickets and onsite accommodations (camping, tent rentals, RV, etc.) will be honored for the rescheduled weekend, while fans with off-site accommodations and shuttles purchased through the festival will be contacted directly with updates.

"Rest assured, we will share updates as quickly as possible via email, our website, and on our social accounts," organizers said in a statement. "Please continue to radiate positivity through this uncharted time in our world. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you on The Farm this fall."

Recording Academy And MusiCares Establish COVID-19 Relief Fund

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OP-ED: How To Ensure Music's Survival In The COVID Era

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Music deserves economic, social, political and cultural support to flourish in every community
Shain Shapiro
GRAMMYs
Aug 11, 2020 - 11:14 am

While the music industry continues to face unprecedented challenges from the closure of music venues and the reduction in music usage in shops, restaurants and other businesses, there’s a lot to be hopeful about. Music instrument sales have increased. More music is being streamed than ever before. TikTok and Snapchat have been entered into licensing agreements with publishers; paid for live streaming is increasing. However small, there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic. 

But these improvements are built on a shaky foundation. While the prevalence of music in our lives remains consistent, the revenues directed to those responsible for it—the songwriters, producers and musicians—remains flat. Spotify CEO's bold assertion that it is not their responsibility to increase payouts and artists must initiate individual change is proof that what remains important is access to the music, not supporting the process of how it got there.  This is why a call by artists to triple payouts in March to alleviate live cancellations fell on deaf ears.  

While one cannot predict what the music industry will face in the next three, six and 12 months, the fallout from the pandemic is revealing a few trends that if we focus on now, can lead to and support a more equitable, inclusive music sector and ecosystem in the mid and long term. Here are five such examples, what they mean and what we can learn from them. 

1. Local music is becoming the only live music: However few and far between, concerts are popping up. The vast majority are local acts. This is an opportunity for the sector to rewire its talent development pipeline in its towns and cities. If local venues rely on local artists—and vice versa—we can create and advocate for sustainable local scenes, who can, over time, be intertwined into regional touring circuits. Instead of only lamenting the lack of national and international touring, now is the time to invest in local talent. At the same time, the fallout from the pandemic is creating a renewed interest in creatives settling in small and mid-sized cities, as they are cheaper and less dense. This will support the importance—culturally, socially and economically—of local scenes into the future.   

2. Difficult, needed conversations are becoming increasingly prevalent: In the U.K., Gomez guitarist Tom Gray launched the #BrokenRecord campaign, highlighting the inequities in how streaming pays artists. The crisis has spawned the Black Music Action Coalition in the U.S. and U.K. Women in CTRL in the U.K. published a report outlining the inequities in U.K.'s music trade bodies, where only five out of a possible 185 board seats are held by Black women. Calls for fairness, equity and equality in the sector are more prevalent now than ever. A wider set of voices will create better music, better governance and better advocacy.     

3. Communities are recognizing what they are losing: Across the United States, a host of local, statewide and national trade bodies have been created, to advocate for specific subsections of the sector. The impact of the National Independent Venue Association and National Independent Talent Organisation has spawned new trade bodies in Indiana, New York City, Austin and the State of Washington, among other places. Huntsville, Alabama has a music board. Madison is reigniting its music and equity task force. Oregon has provided relief to its venues. While local change that prioritizes music infrastructure in recovery is its nascent phase, more collective voices are advocating for music now than ever. 

4. Local regulation is being simplified: In New York City, a cumbersome and complicated regulatory environment was quickly liberalized to allow restaurants to set up tables and chairs on sidewalks and streets, to be able to trade outdoors. Before COVID, this would never have happened. But a need to innovate facilitated it. In Indianapolis, regulations still exist banning under 18s from stepping inside music venues, so a future wedding booking can’t be taken because the ring bearer won’t be allowed in. In Philadelphia, multiple permits are required before opening a music venue or bar. In Madison, racist ordinances are still utilized to prohibit hip-hop shows from being staged. But discussions are being conducted to change these and many others. The grassroots work of Reopen Every Venue Safely, particularly in New Orleans, Seattle and Cleveland, is testament to that. As is the Global Nightlife Recovery Plan, a cross-border initiative of nightlife policymakers and practitioners. A rewriting of local regulations to embolden and support music more is underway across America.  

5. Existing Funding is reaching artists and venues: In Indianapolis, the city has allocated $125,000 to support its music venues. CARES funding has reached Soundcorps in Chattanooga. Plans are being devised for a new program to support artists and venues in Tulsa, via an award of CARES support. Tucson arts organisations have received $450,000. This is a small example of a number of organizations who have utilised CARES to support musicians and artists. While this is nowhere near what's needed, these examples demonstrate that in many places, musicians and venues are seen to be as valuable as any other business or entrepreneur.    

These initiatives are far from good enough. The systemic inequities across the music ecosystem remain, including support not always reaching the widest possible amount of community members, or a lack of reform from within the industry to better support songwriters. But these green shoots, however small, are encouraging. A trend is emerging that is increasing the importance of music—in all its forms and functions—in communities around the country. If this continues, so will the passing of better regulation, increased support and a recognition that no matter who we are or where we live, music deserves economic, social, political and cultural support to flourish in every community. 

OP-ED: How Music Can Help Lead Recovery

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Gold-Diggers in Los Angeles

Photo by Farah Sosa

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Capturing Los Angeles' COVID-Closed Venues

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With clubs closed until at least next year, photographer Farah Sosa spends her nights documenting L.A.'s shuttered venues—many of which may not reopen without federal support
Jessica Lipsky
Farah Sosa
GRAMMYs
Aug 5, 2020 - 1:33 pm

There has been shockingly little pit hospitality for the entertainment industry during the coronavirus pandemic. As live music venues around the country — D.I.Y., independent, corporate and mid-sized holdings – settle into the fifth month of closures, many are waiting with baited breath for the passage of federal funding packages that could be the difference between life or death for American music.

Over the past several weeks, Congress has introduced bills that would alleviate some financial burden for small businesses such as music venues, recording studios and self-employed creators. The bipartistan RESTART Act would establish a loan program for, and offer loan forgiveness to, music creators through the rest of 2020. On July 22, the Senate introduced the $10 billion Save Our Stages Act — a Small Business Administration grant program that would provide six months of support for independent live music venues, which could use funds to pay for capital expenses associated with social distancing, COVID-incurred costs, as well as regular operation.

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The Regent Theater in Downtown L.A. was originally a cinema built in 1914.
Photo by Farah Sosa

The proposed legislation is the result of months-long lobbying efforts from industry advocates like The Recording Academy and the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), as well as musicians themselves, but must be voted into law before Congress goes into August recess. According to a press release from Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who co-introduced the Save Our Stages act, independent venues expect to lose $9 billion before 2021. In a letter to Congressional leadership, NIVA noted that the majority of its 800-plus members are in dire straits: "With zero revenue and the overwhelming overhead of rent, mortgage, utilities, taxes and insurance, 90% of independent venues report that if the shutdown lasts six months and there’s no federal assistance, they will never reopen again."

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Many iconic musicians — including Elton John and Joni Mitchell — got their start at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. "The last show I saw there was Café Tacuba and they were outstanding!" Sosa said.
Photo by Farah Sosa

In Southern California – the epicenter of pop music and an important incubator for up-and-coming artists as well as those in sprawling underground scenes — venues have been shut down since March and will be among the last businesses to reopen. Los Angeles is now a tableau of shuttered venues and hopeful marquees encouraging people to hang in – though no one knows for how long. Industry analysts are looking toward spring 2021 for the return of live music, though Lollapalooza co-founder Marc Geiger recently said he didn’t expect concerts or festivals to return until 2022. In the meantime, Los Angeles nightlife photographer Farah Sosa – who also co-founded popular global bass crew Subsuelo – has been documenting this hopefully temporary absence of industry.

"I am predominantly a music photographer and when the pandemic started, of course all the venues shut down. And as much as I wanted to try to document COVID moments, it just seemed unsafe," Sosa said. “Instead of shooting people with masks, I thought that I would start documenting things that mattered to me the most — the places where all the magic happened. I started looking for venues where I had documented music before. We do not know if these venues are going to survive, so I wanted to make sure that the history remained somewhere." Since May, Sosa has documented approximately 40 venues around Los Angeles, working on dark, empty and often eerie streets.

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The AEG-owned El Rey Theatre in L.A.'s Miracle Mile was the first Farah Sosa shot. "It was very shocking. Everything was dark — never in my life of living in Los Angeles had I seen that before."
Photo by Farah Sosa

Carl Lofgren owns three venues in L.A. – bar/nightclub La Cita, recording studio-hotel-bar Gold-Diggers and the nightclub El Dorado – all of which closed and furloughed employees. "We've shut everything down; we've minimized all of our expenses as best as we can. It's just a matter of us trying to make what little money we have stretch through until we can reopen," Lofgren said, adding that he is fortunate to own the buildings housing two of his businesses. "We felt that our needs and our businesses were pretty much being ignored [by the government]. When the protocols came out about how to reopen, they kind of just lumped us in with restaurants. So it's really difficult for us to get enthusiastic about reopening; we really need [legislators] to step it up, do what they do for other businesses and really come to our aid. I mean, look how much money they're willing to pump into the airline industry or the oil and gas industry."

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Gold-Diggers on Santa Monica Boulevard was previously a bikini bar before being reincarnated in 2018.
Photo by Farah Sosa

Even with federal funding from RESTART and Save Our Stages legislation, it’s possible that the reality Sosa’s photos depict will stick around for the time being. Brett Powell, who co-owns 1720 LA, a 3-year-old all-ages venue in Los Angeles’ warehouse district, wishes independent venues had received money earlier. "Now we're crossing our fingers and hoping that in the next few weeks we hear good news. But if we are just a percentage of venues that are still clinging on to hope, there are many that have lost hope."

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1720 LA was financially healthy prior to COVID — which may make the all-ages venue one of the lucky post-pandemic survivors.
Photo by Farah Sosa

Independent venues – even those that own their buildings or have sympathetic landlords – have exceedingly high overhead and thin profit margins. Sources for this article said they had received no relief for the cost of city permits, insurance or high taxes. Yet the venue itself is just the tip of the iceberg; the network of businesses contracted through venues – from security companies to backline, food vendors and liquor distributors – as well as surrounding businesses that depend on pre- and post-show crowds have all suffered. "For every person you see on a stage, there's like 100 people behind them supporting," said Matthew Himes, director of programming and production for Levitt Los Angeles, a nonprofit that hosts 50 free and sonically diverse concerts in MacArthur Park throughout the summer.

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"Levitt Pavilion is one of my favorite outdoor venues. They really worked hard to bring quality music to MacArthur Park, which was historically not known for being the best place to hang out," Sosa said. "Because of the music, it became a special place for the community."
Photo by Farah Sosa

Levitt relies on sponsorship and federal, state and local grants to fund its programming, though much of that has dried up as budgets shrink or are redirected to COVID safety. "The PPP loan was just a Band-Aid. We understand that this is gonna be at least another year for venues. A whole year is a long time to be able to fund every single person to at least pay their bills. People are getting other jobs, but L.A. has a 20 percent unemployment rate — I can't even get a job at Home Depot right now,” said Himes, who would normally be working six or seven days a week on Levitt programming.

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The intimate Mint on W. Pico Boulevard has been in business since the late 1930s and for decades was a renowned blues venue.
Photo by Farah Sosa

Owners and promoters such as Live Nation, Goldenvoice and AEG are also suffering without revenue from festivals like Coachella and midsized spaces like The Wiltern and The Palladium – though those corporations are more likely to have the financial means to survive COVID closures. Goldenvoice and AEG declined to comment, though several people interviewed for this article expressed concern that corporations' smaller venues will suffer the most in the wake of COVID.

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The Bootleg Theater in Filipinotown is an inclusive art space that hosts independent bands, theater, spoken-word and dance events.
Photo by Farah Sosa

"I don’t have anything against Live Nation or AEG, but I just don't think that them having a monopoly on music or the arts is going to be conducive. We need diversity; there needs to be some sort of competition amongst the arts," Himes said, adding that independent venues are where the majority of artists cut their teeth. "The whole L.A. jazz scene, like Kamasi Washington and Thundercat, 10 years ago they were at some bar in College Park in front of like, 20 to 40 people. There’s a progression that needs to happen for musicians to be able to get their name out there, and that requires all the people behind the scenes that elevate and curate that experience."

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The Echo and nearby Echoplex are run by Spaceland Presents, which hosts punk shows, dance nights and the hugely popular Funky Sole DJ party.
Photo by Farah Sosa

"Bands like Chicano Batman, La Santa Cecilia, Las Cafeteras — 5 to 10 years ago when they started out, they couldn't even find a place to play. We were very proud to put them on our stage and now they're headlining festivals, and they're GRAMMY award winners," said Lofgren, who moved from Maryland to Los Angeles in the early 1990s for the city's iconic nightlife. "This is where we make the dreams; that's irreplaceable. Music is a cultural thing; are we gonna start giving up on our culture?"

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A legendary Sunset Strip venue, The Roxy has hosted everyone from Bruce Springsteen and The Temptations to punk band The Germs and Pee Wee Herman. Its building is leased by Goldenvoice-AEG.
Photo by Farah Sosa

Without federal support, venues have had to find new ways to monetize their spaces. Some have turned to live streaming and other promoters have held drive-in concerts. Historic spaces like Silverlake's The Satellite are converting to restaurants. "We use GoFundMe and I know a number of other venues have as well," Lofgren said. "What does that say about our country when the only route that we have to save ourselves is by begging people to support us? It's not that I don't appreciate those people, because I certainly do. But it just doesn't seem right to me that we should expect other people, fans and customers, to be the ones to save us." The owner suggested streaming services like iTunes and Spotify offer some sort of financial support, adding, "I think it really needs to be a combination of government and private industry helping venues. I just don't know if that falls in line with the capitalist aspect of our world."

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On July 17, The Satellite announced it would reopen as a restaurant. The Silverlake venue could "no longer afford to wait for the day we will be allowed to have shows again.”
Photo by Farah Sosa

Even after a COVID vaccine is developed, 1720 owner Brett Powell expects it will be difficult to convince people to go back out to concerts. "It’s tough to think about the next 3, 5, 10 years, especially not knowing how much longer this goes on. So of course, this could lead to venues not being able to operate anymore, be insolvent, but we like to stay positive," he said. Questioned Himes, "How is the audience going to come back? Do they have extra money for an extracurricular activity if everyone’s been out of work? If people don't feel safe and feel comfortable, that's going to affect us as well."

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The Teragram Ballroom opened in May of 2015. It launched a GoFundMe page in March.
Photo by Farah Sosa

While the live music industry collectively holds its breath waiting for legislation to pass through Congress, there is hope in the bipartisan support for the RESTART and Save Our Stages bills. "Across all political beliefs, across all people, one thing is universal and that is music. It soothes the savage beast and it's something that we all agree brings joy to our lives," Lofgren said. "Supporting music and art culture should be universal. And I think if we don't do this, we're really turning down the wrong road for our country. The height of culture and civilization is when you're focused on creativity and artistic development."

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Sosa was looking forward to shooting Finnish cello metal band Apocalyptica at The Mayan — a stunning DTLA movie palace built in 1927 which now hosts a variety of bands.
Photo by Farah Sosa

"The United States' music scene is extremely strong and dominates globally, and has for a long time. Not to be so grandiose, but a huge part of what makes up Los Angeles is our music," Himes said. "It’s not speaking in hyperbole or being overdramatic to say if we don't do anything, a year from now, you're not gonna have the culture that you use to have, that you grew up talking about."

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The Theatre at Ace Hotel is a 1,600-seat Spanish-Gothic movie palace built in 1927.
Photo by Farah Sosa

Although photographing now quiet places that were once responsible for so much joy is emotionally exhausting, Farah Sosa remains committed to Los Angeles’ nightlife. "I do have a lot of hope that the people that come after me, younger generations of photographers, will be able to understand what a thrill it is to be on stage, in the first row, taking photos and documenting history," she said.

How The Global Coronavirus Pandemic Is Directly Impacting Songwriters, Musicians And Artists

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The Best Apps & Tools For Recording And Monetizing Music In The COVID-19 Era

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Here's a rundown of some easy-to-use apps and tools for recording and monetizing your music in the COVID-19 era
GRAMMYs
Jun 9, 2020 - 3:04 pm

We are currently living in an unprecedented era around music creation and touring. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all business has been forced to become remote, making it difficult for artists to maintain their usual level of activity. Of course, though the music landscape looks totally different right now, artists are finding new and innovative ways to get their music heard, be it through livestreams, engaging with fans via social media or launching subscription models that offer exclusive content to fans. To that end, here's a rundown of some exciting new apps and tools for recording and monetizing your music in the COVID-19 era. 

Recording Tools

There are plenty of social media options for getting your work out there: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitch are just some of the possible platforms you can use to capture your recording. 

There's also a new all-in-one app called RMusic, which allows songwriters to collaboratively write music on the go. Not only does RMusic let you to record ideas directly onto a virtual project file, but you can punch in new lines, edit takes, invite other collaborators from your address book, type lyrics, undo takes and communicate with project members from within the app.

Live Broadcast & Streaming Channels

Facebook: According to a new Remote Musicians Handbook put together by the Berklee College of Music, Facebook is the best venue for livestreaming if your audience skews a little older. 

Instagram: Meanwhile, Instagram, which has a feature that allows other people to join your live stream as guests, is ideal for younger audiences. "Based on your social media engagement on each platform, you can make an informed decision about which platform will be best for your fans," the handbook writes. "Both of these are well-suited for unannounced livestreams as notifications will go out to engaged fans, as well as letting your fans know ahead of time when you will be streaming."

YouTube: Then there's YouTube, which offers a number of monetization options and scheduling tools, such as pre-stream and in-stream ads, donations and merch sales. YouTube will even notify your followers when you go live and will allow you to schedule a live stream ahead of time. And as the stream takes place, YouTube lets viewers ask questions and interact with the streamer. 

TikTok: If you're on the super music-friendly app TikTok, did you know that you can activate a live stream if you have more than 1,000 followers? Once watching your livestream, viewers can purchase stickers, and a portion of the money is donated to the streamer. According to the aforementioned handbook, on TikTok these purchases are made using "coins." Coins start at $0.99 for 65 coins and go up to $99.99 for 6,697 coins. In turn, users can buy stickers, called "Virtual Gifts," for anywhere from 1 to 100 coins.
     
Twitch: The video game streaming platform can be useful for engaging new fans. Because this app hosts as many as 4 million viewers at once (according to TwitchTracker) actively encourages discovering new streamers, artists can show up under Twitch's "Music & Performing Arts" section (with 2.3 million followers). Here, according to the handbook, "the music ranges from metal to violin covers to singer-songwriters, and is generally more diverse genre-wise than more mainstream platforms."

If you want to monetize your work on Twitch, know that streamers get paid when new subscribers follow them and viewers donate to the streamer. Some streamers use new followers and donations as mechanisms to unlock new content or segments. Some will take requests at certain follower count or donation levels, others run merch giveaways, or give followers access to exclusive content.

OBS Software: OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Stream to Twitch, YouTube and many other providers.

Nugs.net: Get live music on demand. Nugs.net offers a collection of more than 15,000 full-length concert recordings from the likes of Pearl Jam, Widespread Panic, Umphrey’s McGee, Dead & Company and more. Try it free with a 30-day trial.

Houseparty: This social networking service enables group video chatting through mobile and desktop apps. Users receive a notification when friends are online and available to group video chat. 

StageIt: Founded in 2009, Stageit is a web-based performance venue that hosts paid livestreamed performances. Artists choose when they want to perform, for how long, and how much they want to charge. 

Crowdcast: This video platform hosts live video Q&As, interviews, summits, webinars and more.

Streamlabs: This streaming platform can stream audio to Twitch, YouTube and Facebook. 

BandsInTown: Use BandsInTown to promote your live stream shows. You can even engage new fans and monetize shows through BandsInTown's Twitch partnership.

Fan & Membership Platforms

Patreon: Patreon gives fans access to exclusive artist content for a monthly fee, might be the first option that comes to mind when it comes to fan and membership platforms. But Patreon is only the beginning. Gumroad lets creators offer digital and physical products for sale, while its dashboard provides insight into how your sales are doing and how fans are consuming your content.

Squarespace: Offers subscription products in their store, integrating directly with your website and can be sold alongside your other merch products. 

Shopify: For $40/month, Shopify offers apps that allow you to offer subscriptions from your Shopify ecommerce store, which is helpful if you are offering physical goods as part of your subscription. 

Bandzoogle: Sell music, merch, downloads  and tickets, commission-free. Once you add a store, you can start selling music, downloads, tickets and band merch. Monthly fees start at $8.29.

Ghost: With Ghost, which is free to join, you can publish content online, grow an audience with email newsletters and make money from premium memberships.

Memberful: Memberful helps independent publishers, educators, and creators sell memberships to their audience and build sustainable businesses. You can integrate with Wordpress, send email newsletters, create private podcasts and more. Pricing is free to start and goes up to $25 or $100 per month.

Digital Production Marketplaces, including licensing and sell music, samples, and custom sounds:

Splice: Splice Studio gives you access to millions of royalty-free samples, MIDI and presets on mobile, web and desktop for $7.99/mo. 

ScoreAScore: This music production, licensing and supervision company puts producers in need of original music directly in contact with the composers who create it.

Beatstars: Beatstars is an online marketplace to buy and sell beats.

Putting The Plan Into Action

Now that you have the tools, all you need is to put a plan into action. The Remote Musicians Handbook suggests that you first analyze your audience to get a sense of their social media profiles. Then, you may want to run an unnanounced test live stream, just to get a sense of who's showing up. Then, schedule a series of announced live streams on the platform(s) of your choice. Once livestreams are part of your routine, consider partnering with artist friends on YouTube where you can cross-promote each other's work. From there, consider monetizing your work on Patreon with exclusive content. All the while, to engage new fans, hop on music-discovery tools TikTok and Twitch.

Now that you have the resources to build a fully functional music online platform from the safety and comfort of your home, the rest is up to you. Good luck!   

How Musicians Are Staying Positive & Productive Amidst A Pandemic

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OP-ED: How Music Can Help Lead Recovery

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Music—as an amenity and an economy—can play an active role in recovery, but to do so it requires a city being intentional with how it supports, governs and interacts with music
Shain Shapiro
GRAMMYs
May 14, 2020 - 8:54 am

The recorded music industry grew by 8.6% in 2019, according to the IFPI. Before the pandemic, global ticket sales for concerts amounted to $25bn, according to PwC. We enjoy a sector that has grown, pre COVID-19, at more than twice the rate of the rest of the economy. As the crisis has impacted the business, it has not hampered our access to, and use of, music. Its ubiquity is as prevalent as it has ever been. Global Citizen utilized musicians to raise $127m for the World Health Organization, many of them Recording Academy members. Music Instrument sales are surging. Even the World Economic Forum is singing music’s praises, declaring that Beethoven can help us combat social isolation.

But while we’re all listening to more music, or using it to connect with friends, how music functions in governance is in crisis. The sector is in significant decline. Over 1000 music venues in the U.S. are threatened with closure. 92% of U.K.’s independent music festivals are threatened. Many of these businesses and their staff do not qualify for assistance programs. This is because there is a disconnect between our usage of music—enjoying what is created—and creating systems to support, remunerate and regulate those responsible for it: the creators. If this crisis demonstrates the importance music has to all of us, then we must change how it is treated in governance. 

This happened nationally in the United States in regards to copyright, with the passage of the Music Modernization Act. Some music businesses are also benefiting from CARES. But at a local level, there’s next to no governance, policy or intentional strategies to support music making, music businesses and music ecosystems. This crisis gives us an opportunity to change that. 

That’s why I am launching #BetterMusicCities, a campaign to ensure that music—in all its forms and functions—is represented in civic decisions around recovery. Music—as an amenity and an economy—can play an active role in recovery, but to do so it requires a city being intentional with how it supports, governs and interacts with music. This is because music ecosystems are interlinked. A more robust music education system produces more songwriters; such demand increases the value and need for professional recording studios or music venues. More content increases the chances of some of it being commercially successful, which generates direct and indirect economic benefit and taxable receipts for the city, and so on. 

But we lack a blueprint. A handful of cities—Austin, Nashville, Seattle, New York, Chicago—have music officers, or public support structures to support musicians. The U.S. alone has 310 cities over 100,000 people and thousands more smaller than that. If music had a voice across a city, town or region’s economic development structure, a wider set of incentives, employment initiatives or training schemes could be created. If music was intentionally strategized in tourism, more artists would be included in campaigns and paid for it. If music was part of an inclusive growth, health and wellbeing framework, most after-school music programs would exist, more music would be included in care homes and more community festivals would emerge. All this requires a strategy regardless of size, location or social structure. This is why I have written a Music Cities Resilience Handbook.

The handbook outlines nine strategies all cities create a better music ecosystem as part of a recovery plan. They are:

  1. Put Artists To Work: Incentivise Creation From Crisis
  2. Convert Creativity Into Community Investment Vehicles
  3. Create a City Music Registry
  4. Start A Cultural Infrastructure Plan
  5. Create Emergency Preparedness Plans (Venue, Event, City-wide)
  6. Ensure Music, Arts and Culture Language Is Included In Policy Frameworks
  7. Commit to Genre Agnosticism
  8. Plan and Develop a Night Time Economy Policy
  9. Set-Up City-Wide Artist Compensation Policies, Music Liaison Services & Fair Play Schemes

The principles are simple. Ensure that artists—no matter the discipline—are paid fairly for their work. This can be done by working with PROs to create a local music registry, setting up a city-wide artist compensation policy, or committing to fair play and fair ticketing practices. It requires cities to democratize any support offered to the sector, so no genres are prioritized over others. It requires deliberate, specific and intentional policy to be written, voted on and enshrined in council ordinances, frameworks and resolutions, outlining what one’s music ecosystem is, how it is best supported and how to best manage it. It requires a city or place to map—and keep updated—its cultural infrastructure so residents and policymakers know what they have, where it is and how it fits together. 

This is an ambitious framework, but it is doable. It requires a change in mindset. We need to prioritise the external value of music, rather than focusing on its internal value. If we outline the value of music to society, to our health and wellbeing and to the economy as a whole, it’ll demonstrate a need to reform the relationship between music and cities—to create a new set of music cities who embrace music as a recovery tool.

Think about music like a public park. Parks are for everyone, but they require investment, maintenance and structure. Some parts can be closed off for private endeavours, while others satisfy certain sections of the population, such as playgrounds. But we all accept parks are part of life and that they need to be paid for. We all use parks, like we all listen to music. If we value music—across genre, discipline and sector—we should be treating it both as an amenity and an economy. This requires policy, process and structure.

The report is your guide. Join me to help build #BetterMusicCities.

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