Music Cities Network: Creating connections around the world

The Music Cities Network (MCN) is a new international network dedicated to improving communication and cooperation between music cities around the world, initiated by Hamburg Music Business Association (IHM) and Sound Diplomacy in summer 2016. It is a platform for network development and collaboration, and will present networking events, panels and showcases at industry conferences around the world, including SXSW, The Great Escape, Eurosonic Noorderslag, Spot and more.

Music cities increase revenue, link cultures around nations and continents, retain talent, drive tourism and brand development, and are the key to sustainable music economies. As melting pots of musical creativity and consumption, urban centres are where music is produced, performed, advertised and sold.

There is nothing like music as a means to connect people, bridge linguistic and cultural divides and provide an avenue for identity and expression. Music is a transformative experience. Collectively, the music ecosystem generates rich social, cultural and economic benefits. Cities are increasingly assigning importance to these advantages and working with their music communities to accelerate the growth of the music economy, and identify and eliminate barriers. Small or large, they have the potential to become Music Cities. – The Mastering of a Music City (Music Canada, 2015)

The Music Cities Network is a new membership-based network, focused on:

1. Improving cities through music policies and collaborative projects;

2. Building greater networks and creating an actionable agenda for change;

3. Providing and sharing information and research about music cities activities & policies;

4. Facilitating exchange and collaboration for music business, artists, cultural institutions and education.

The first cities to sign up to the network in 2016 were Hamburg (Germany) Sydney (Australia) and Aarhus (Denmark). In early 2017 the network welcomed Groningen, the Netherlands, as a new member. Groningen is the home of Eurosonic Noorderslag, an annual music festival and industry conference attracting over 40,000 visitors each year and showcasing over 350 acts from around the world.

Audience development knowledge exchange

The network’s first collaborative research project is in development, focusing on best practice audience development. Modelled as an information exchange project, a selection of music venues from each city will work together to share their audience development strategies and experiences. A final report presenting the results will be presented to the participating venues, festivals and cities.

Industry conferences

The network will be a presence at music industry conferences around the world. In 2016 the network hosted meet ups and forums at The Great Escape (Brighton, UK) and Eurosonic Noorderslag (Groningen, the Netherlands).

At this year’s SXSW (Austin, USA) the network will present an official panel featuring network representatives from Sydney, Hamburg and Aarhus, as well as a “Music Cities Mixer” networking event for all SXSW music delegates.

At SPOT Festival in Aarhus in May 2017, the network is hosting both a seminar program focusing on music city strategies and initiatives, as well as showcasing new talent from Hamburg, Aarhus and the “candidate-city” of Bergen, Norway. The network will also take part in Reeperbahn Festival 2017 (Hamburg, Germany).

Creating connections

One goal of the network is to facilitate relationships and networks at an artist and business to business level. In early 2017, network members Aarhus and Sydney collaborated to support Aarhus based composer and percussionist Christian Windfeld while he was on tour in Australia. Having expressed an interest in doing a recording session on the UNESCO world heritage-listed Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour, the Aarhus music industry association Promus reached out to the City of Sydney, seeking help. Through its contacts at the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, the City of Sydney was able to help make sure Windfeld got the help he needed.

Christian Windfeld (Aarhus based composer and percussionist): “The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust got in touch with me and approved my wish to do recordings on Cockatoo Island. The rangers out there were extremely helpful and I got some really good stuff down on tape performing in the Great Turbine Hall, the Dog Leg Tunnel that penetrates the entire island and - most excitingly - inside a perfectly circular air raid shelter from World War II. I’m psyched to listen back and pick material. I’m positive there’s a record in there!”

Hugh Nichols (City of Sydney): “Music is both a cultural and economic industry that operates globally, but has its roots in local communities. There is lots of work happening here in Sydney to support our local industry, and being part of a network of cities doing similar work is a hugely worthwhile thing for us to do. The Music Cities Network gives us both a way of communicating our own work to international colleagues, as well as allowing us to keep up with all the great things other cities are doing. As the network grows and new cities join, these benefits will only increase.

The music industry is dynamic and ever-changing. It’s vitally important that the industry associations and government agencies supporting it remain informed and flexible, so they can evolve their approaches in response to what the industry needs. Beyond these industry-focused goals, the recent experience with Christian shows that there is also great potential in the practical, artist-level side to the network, and at the end of the day supporting musicians is what it’s all about.”

To find out more about the Music Cities Network visit the website.