{"id":385621,"date":"2019-09-16T18:01:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T16:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/?p=385621"},"modified":"2020-04-17T15:59:43","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T13:59:43","slug":"what-makes-a-musical-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/inspire\/what-makes-a-musical-city\/","title":{"rendered":"What makes a city “musical”?"},"content":{"rendered":"

These days it’s so easy to leave<\/strong> your hometown, even your home country, for greener pastures, especially within the European Union. Flights<\/strong> are cheap, moving services<\/strong> are not that expensive and the Internet<\/strong> makes finding a flat<\/strong> and new flatmates<\/strong> a lot easier through the use of apps<\/strong> and Skype.<\/strong> Also, young people tend to collect less material “stuff”<\/strong> these days because a lot of our collections are digital<\/strong> (namely photos, videos, films<\/strong> and music<\/strong>), meaning we are less tied down<\/strong> and more free to roam the Earth. A person who is musically inclined<\/strong> or simply passionate about music<\/strong> might think “The music scene here sucks! I’m moving to a musical city<\/strong>!” or “I’m going to move to the most musical city in the world!”. But what is a musical city? Which factors make one city more musical than another? What does “musical” even mean when referring to a city? All great questions, we’v got a few ideas for you in this short article…<\/p>\n

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Observe & Listen<\/h3>\n

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We could say that any city is “musical”<\/strong> just by stopping for a moment and opening our ears. The landscape of a city, the cityscape<\/strong> rather, always comes with a soundtrack:<\/strong> The constant hum of traffic like a bass synth pad,<\/strong> honking cars like trumpets,<\/strong> the footsteps of pedestrians like percussion,<\/strong> the chugging sound of trains or trams like a drum beat<\/strong>, pigeons and seagulls chirping melodies<\/strong>… There is an intricate symphony of urban noises<\/strong> in every city but, even though this is a nice idea, we are not here to discuss this in particular, we’re here to discuss opportunities<\/strong> for people<\/strong> to hear, perform<\/strong> and engage<\/strong> in music culture.<\/strong> The following paragraphs explain further…<\/p>\n

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Opportunities to See & Hear<\/h3>\n

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We’ve all heard about cities where you can attend fantastic concerts<\/strong> every night of the week, cities that are just swarming with talented musicians<\/strong> who either live<\/strong> there or pass through often<\/strong>. Some that come to mind are metropolises like New York City<\/strong>, London<\/strong> and Berlin<\/strong> while other smaller cities shine even brighter in our minds like New Orleans<\/strong>, Havana<\/strong> or Austin, TX<\/strong>. The number of venues<\/strong> plays a role in how much live music can be seen but the quality and reputation<\/strong>\u00a0of the venues is what keeps audiences<\/strong> and artists<\/strong> coming back. Sometimes the best venues are the ones that start out as small DIY creative spaces<\/strong> organised by young musicians and then grow through experience and reputation. Also the ticket price<\/strong> of shows can greatly influence show attendance.<\/strong> In cities where bands and promoters<\/strong> have to compete for audiences (where there are multiple shows per night) the lowest price often wins. This price drop acts as a positive feedback loop and builds a music community with high attendance rates. Win-win situation.<\/p>\n

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A Sense of Community<\/h3>\n

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A very important aspect of a musical city is how well musicians feel<\/strong> there, socially<\/strong> speaking. If the general sentiment toward musicians is a negative or condescending one then musician might find it hard to thrive<\/strong> there. On the other hand, if the city has a tight-knit community of musicians<\/strong> who support<\/strong> and encourage<\/strong> each other the opportunities<\/strong> and inspiration<\/strong> could be boundless. A bit of friendly competition<\/strong> can also be a good thing, as long as it is free of hostility and jealousy. Competition can be fuel for creativity<\/strong> and a motivating factor <\/strong>when fostered in the right kind of community. When you are close to other, supportive, musicians you often feel inclined to share<\/strong> what you are working on or what you have accomplished. Sharing is caring!<\/p>\n

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Opportunities to Perform<\/h3>\n

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Which cities offer the most opportunities<\/strong> for you and\/or your band to perform live<\/strong>? Are these opportunities where you can potentially make money<\/strong>, or will you inevitably lose money<\/strong> with each gig you play? There are different standards<\/strong> from venue to venue but also from city to city. For example if you want to play at any medium-sized venue in City A you almost always<\/strong> have to\u00a0“pay to play”\u00a0<\/strong>whereas in City B you never have to pay a fee to play and you will almost always get a percentage of ticket sales<\/strong> or of drink sales<\/strong> at the bar. Which city would you call more musical? One that supports musicians<\/strong> and allows them, financially, to continue making making music or one that makes it difficult for them to pay rent? Of course this all depends on the music scene<\/strong>, the community’s efforts<\/strong> to set the standards<\/strong>. When musicians unite anything is possible, so don’t give up<\/strong>, make changes<\/strong> instead! Open your own\u00a0DIY venue\u00a0<\/strong>if need be. Leaving the city is not always the best solution, remember: The “grass is always greener on the other side” unless you water what you have \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

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Music: an investment for “Nighttime Economy”<\/h3>\n

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Some cities have a thriving music scene because the city’s government<\/strong> has made wise decisions on where to invest money. Culture<\/strong> and nightlife<\/strong> have always been indispensable aspects of cities with good international reputations. Funding for nightlife culture have never been a priority until very recently, and only in certain cities. In London,<\/strong> mayor Sadiq Khan<\/strong> made the wise decision to hire a “night tsar”, Amy Lam\u00e9, <\/strong>to turn London into a 24-hour city<\/strong>. People don’t often think of a city’s “nighttime economy”<\/strong> but\u00a0there is lots of income<\/strong> and business<\/strong> to be made in the late hours and music plays a major role in it. The fact that London has a public servant<\/strong> who is in charge of developing nightlife<\/strong> puts the city pretty high on the list of “musical cities”. Hopefully other cities will realise that prioritising their “nighttime economy” will benefit all parties involved (musicians and audiences included).<\/p>\n

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How often is a city sung about?<\/h3>\n

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Some cities are mentioned<\/strong> more than others in the lyrics<\/strong> of songs. This may be an indicator of a musical city because if a singer is inclined to mention a city in a song then there’s a chance that they have lived there or have found inspiration there<\/strong>. Celebrity Cruises<\/strong><\/a> has compiled and analysed over 2000 top-charting songs from the last 6 decades<\/strong> in search of the most-sung-about cities<\/strong>. They then mapped this data onto an interactive online map<\/strong><\/a>! Have a look HERE<\/strong><\/a>. The top 5 sung-about cities<\/strong> in the last 6 decades are, not surprisingly, NYC, London, Los Angeles, California (in general) and Hollywood. All of these cities (and state) are hubs for music<\/strong> and leaders in the international music industry<\/strong>. Is your city sung about often? Check out the website<\/strong><\/a> to find out.<\/p>\n

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A city’s Musical History<\/h3>\n

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A city’s musical history<\/strong> can either define a city’s musical presence today or not at all. Whether a famous composer<\/strong> or rockstar<\/strong> was born in a certain city doesn’t necessarily give the city credit for being “musical”. What could, on the other hand, is whether a great number of musicians have resided and grown<\/strong> there musically,<\/strong> have been cradled in a musically community which gave them the opportunities<\/strong> and support<\/strong> to take their music to an international level.<\/strong> For example, just knowing that David Bowie<\/strong>, Iggy Pop<\/strong> and Lou Reed<\/strong> shared a flat in the Sch\u00f6neberg<\/strong> district of Berlin<\/strong> makes you want to live there even though they are long gone. The ghost of their presence remains there and surely inspires<\/strong> young budding musicians who live in the area and are aware of who once roamed those streets. \u2b50<\/p>\n

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Which city is the most musical in your opinion? Why would you say so? Do you have any suggestions for ambitious musicians who want a better music city in their city or town? We’d love to hear your ideas.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\ufe0f????\ufe0f?<\/p>\n

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Do you live in the most “musical” city? What does “musical” even mean when relating to urban places? Read on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":387378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tblog_post_audio_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10676],"tags":[9345,9335,5033,9347,8465,9349,4789,9341,5611,8208,9337,9343,9339],"class_list":["post-385621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspire","tag-bar","tag-city","tag-concert-en","tag-hall","tag-musical","tag-performance","tag-performers","tag-place","tag-space","tag-street","tag-town","tag-venue","tag-village"],"category_colors":{"color_key":"inspire","css_classes":{"text":"cat-inspire","text_light":"cat-inspire-light","bg":"cat-bg-inspire","bg_light":"cat-bg-inspire-light","border":"cat-border-inspire","text_on_bg":"cat-text-on-inspire"}},"reading_time":{"minutes":7,"formatted":"7 min"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomann.de\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}