Many locals would agree that Columbus has a vibrant and exciting music scene. But Columbus is still a far cry from the Nashvilles, New Yorks and Seattles of the world. Thankfully, a local initiative called “How to Build A Music City” is working to change that. The group hosted its first event last August, gathering music industry experts to solicit advice on how Columbus can take the local music scene to the next level.
“The music industry advocated that the musicians in Columbus get the city’s support for our work, so over last six months we’ve worked to get over 40 letters of support from organizations like Experience Columbus and GCAC and companies like Donatos and Promowest Productions,” explained Joey Hendrickson, Founder of How to Build a Music City. “They all want to support us in building a Columbus music commission.”
Establishing a music commission would enable Columbus to open up communication channels with other leading music cities around the country.
“Eight cities have commissions that meet to talk about what’s working in the industry,” said Hendrickson. “These cities are talking about economic development through music, and Columbus is not a part of those discussions. A lot of the culture we have is organic and beautiful and great, but the infrastructure needs to be there so that locals can succeed.”
The second How to Build A Music City event takes place tonight at the Garden Theater in the Short North, and Hendrickson says that he hopes to get buy in on the commission idea from local musicians and music supporters. Local musician Angela Perley (who will speak on a panel at tonight’s event) concurred in a recent interview with Columbus Underground that the big piece missing in our city is the national music industry presence.
Other speakers at tonight’s event include Linda Lorence Critelli, VP of SESAC in New York, Brady Barnett, President of OSM Music Group in Nashville, Brian Penick, President of The Counter Rhythm Group, Eron Bucciarelli, CEO of MusicPlay Analytics and more.
“The live music scene is a huge part of what locals enjoy about living here; seeing shows at big venues, bars, festivals and even our own backyards,” said Mike Brown, Director of Public Affairs and Development at Experience Columbus, who will also speak at tonight’s event. “The talent is here and there’s huge potential to work together, build the arts economy and raise up the music scene to be a major draw for locals and visitors. We’ve seen collaboration work with the food scene, the fashion scene, local craft brewing and coffee roasting, and it’s time to talk about how we can organize, empower and serve musicians, songwriters, venues and all the people engaged in music.”
For more information, visit www.howtobuildamusiccity.com.
For ongoing discussion on building a music city, CLICK HERE to visit our Messageboard.
To watch the full presentation of last year’s event, check out the video below: