Running big festivals in Austin and Chicago

This is a really good article on the team that created the Austin City Limits Festival in Austin and what has and has not worked for them in creating a big festival in Chicago (including the difficulties coming in as outsiders, and underestimating "the amount of time, money and bureaucratic wrangling it would take to secure city approval.")

7/30/2006 Chicago Sun Times: Charlies in charge at Lollapalooza "Although many Chicagoans think of Austin as a Mecca for live music, thanks to the annual South by Southwest Music Conference, for much of the rest of the year, the city is a backwater that attracts a mere fraction of the touring acts that play Chicago. ...

"In 2002, hoping to create an event similar to New Orleans' Jazz and Heritage Festival, [Capital Sports & Entertainment co-owner Charlie] Jones approached the long-running PBS concert showcase 'Austin City Limits' to lend its name to a massive concert in Austin's Zilker Park. He tapped [Charles] Attal to book the talent, which was a tall order, since the first ACL Fest was thrown together in two months. ...

"From the beginning of the ACL Fest, they weren't unduly concerned with booking the kind of rootsy artists regularly seen on 'Austin City Limits'; they just thought it would help to add the TV show's name to their festival, and they simply booked as many popular big-name acts as they could. They now are bringing that same approach to the TV show itself.

"In 2003, the show's home base of KLRU-TV struck a five-year deal with Capital Sports to co-produce and fund the broadcast. ...

"Capital Sports has floated nebulous plans to further expand into broadcast with a reality TV show, as well as issuing CDs and making movies. (Stapleton is producing an Armstrong biopic.) It is involved in artist management -- clients include Ben Kweller, Jack Ingram and Blues Traveler -- and it's building the sports agency beyond Armstrong: It now represents 10 NFL stars, including Delanie Walker, Brian Carter and Willie Andrews."

American Idol auditions deliver value

Evidently it's a very good thing when American Idol comes to town for auditions. This article mentions that cities like Minneapolis and Birmingham actively courted American Idol to win auditions for their cities, working at it for at least a year in advance. In one case it was the local Fox affliate doing the wooing and in another case it was the marketing manager of the local arena. Producers were courted the way any large event would be: phone calls, goodie baskets, presentations about local support and capabilities.

Ledger-Enquirer, 7/29/07: American Idol auditions music to ears of host cities financially: "[Birmingham, Alabama] The city that gave the wildly popular FOX television contest two winners in five seasons will host 10,000 to 15,000 entrants at an audition Aug. 21, one of seven cities where the flood of would-be Idols are expected to bring upbeat exposure and ring cash registers.

"'You're talking millions between hotels, rental of the facilities and then the intangibles of when you see your city, your facility highlighted like that on a number one show,' [Scotty] Colson said. 'How much is that worth?'...

"'You can't buy advertising like that,' said Scott Johnson, deputy director of North Carolina's Greensboro Coliseum, which hosted season five auditions. 'It's a tremendous amount of advertising value that's great for the community, and of course to have all those kids come out here and go on to the show, every time they talked about them, they said they auditioned in Greensboro.'...

"'Trot out the stuff to them that's the best. We show them the barbecue, we show them the music, we show them the restaurants. Put your best where it does the most good,' he said.

"But he also has a few words of caution.

"'They're having fun, you might be getting great exposure. But they're going to poke a little fun at people trying out (who weren't) very good,' Johnson said. 'You've got to take the good with the bad and you can't really control that. But the good far outweighs any bad you might have.'"

Festival meccas

Below is an article about a United Kingdom community that wants to tie all of its festivals together into a synergistic brand campaign.

While another location, Telluride, Colorado, hasn't billed itself as a festival capital, in essence it is the American equivalent of such a thing. The Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the Telluride Film Festival have become internationally famous, which has helped elevate the status of Telluride's many other festivals including the Mountain Film Festival, Blues and Brews Festival, Wine Festival, Jazz Celebration, Mushroom Festival, Chamber Music Festival, and Culinary & Art Festival.

What is common to all of the events is the experience. Telluride is a small mountain town and whether you are there for music, film, technology, or another reason, you're going to be hitting the same places and being treated to the same laid back hospitality. So the town's reputation for being able to host a great fesstival carries over to each new festival.

Yorkshire Post Today 7/24/06: "Scarborough Council is teaming up with the organisers of such events to produce a strategy designed to rebrand the Scarborough area as 'The Festival Coast'. ...

"This included setting up a festivals association to bring together the network of individual organisers so they could work together on marketing and fundraising.
A computer database of the various events had been compiled and there had been extensive consultations with both the organisers and arts communities, leading to brochures in 2005 and 2006.

"Mr Hollingworth said: 'The vision of the strategy is that the borough is recognised nationally as a destination staging high quality festivals, accessible to all and at the heart of the cultural, social and economic life of the area.'

"... the borough boasts more than 70 annual festivals aimed at a variety of audiences embracing the arts, community, heritage, sports and culture, ranging from the Angling Festival to the Silent Film Festival."

Rock history lends cachet

Hard Rock Cafe showed that rock memorabilia attracts people. Now real estate developers are taking the concept one step further.

Manhattan's Hit Factory Converts to Condos: "New York City’s former recording studio, The Hit Factory, is now being converted to condominiums....

“'My partners and I were in the market for a unique conversion opportunity,' Scott Turkington of HR Sponsor Corp., told CPN. 'In keeping the name and having 40 to 50 platinum albums in the lobby … we were able to package everything for a really unique place to live.'

"As a building that once housed music greats, the lobby will remain decorated with the original signage for The Hit Factory. In addition, the walls will display multiple gold and platinum records that were recorded at the former studio by artists such as John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel and The Rolling Stones."

Clubs for rich rockers

Although most music marketing is directed to audiences 25 and under, it may be much more profitable to go older. Not only is there a market for clubs catering to grown up audiences, there appears to be a market for clubs accomodating equally mature musicians.

This 7/28/06 Wall Street Journal article discusses CEOs who play in rock bands on the side.

WSJ.com - CEOs That Rock: "Gregg Raybin, a former corporate lawyer in New York, helped form a 'dating service for musicians,' which is aimed at professional workers who are amateur players. The service has resulted in 20 to 30 bands in the New York area, about half of which play public gigs. Formed with a $100,000 initial investment pooled from about 25 member-partners, the organization offers match-making services and rehearsal time in midtown Manhattan for $349 a year per bandmate. Of the 250 members, about 80% are male.

"NAMM, a trade group for instrument makers and retailers, has created a program called Weekend Warriors, billed as a way to get 'non-active musicians back on stage to relive their fantasies of superstardom.' The program's 21 locations, in cities such as St. Louis, Boulder, Colo., and Louisville, Ky., provide space and instruments -- partly as a way to entice participants to buy new equipment. ...

"Taylor Guitars considers baby boomers 'the core of the business,' says Jonathan Forstot, director of marketing. Buyers over 35 account for 75% of the company's customers, while buyers over 50 account for a third of all sales ..."

Does your area have a "sound"?

Denver has been looking for something to call its sound for a long time.

It's not that we don't have a wealth of nationally successful musical talent, because we do. Just a few examples:

We have a band at top of the pop charts (The Fray). We have a highly acclaimed blues artist (Otis Taylor). We have the top jazz vocalist in the country (four -time Grammy winner Dianne Reeves).

We also have a thriving indie scene, and Boulder has long been known as a jamband center.

But none of that has felt distinctive enough for us to "brand" ourselves. We know we didn't invent jazz, blues, or indie rock, so we can't claim them as our own. We know that some people have credited John Denver with a "Denver Sound," but he lived in Aspen, and anyone who "names" himself after a place doesn't really represent it. We know that the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, String Cheese, and Yonder Mountain are associated with Colorado, but they're not "Denver."

Therefore it is notable that today's (7/28/2006) Denver Post talks about what can be legitimately called the "Denver Sound." I've heard it referred to as goth country -- a dark, backwoods, stylized form of alt-country. The Post expands the definition a bit to include bands like DeVotchka, which it calls "Gothic mariachi folk."

A lesson other areas might take from Denver's very recent discovery of its "sound': You can't really set out to invent a sound just because you want to be the center of the universe for something. It has to happen organically and then, after the fact, you start to realize that it's there. Further, I'd venture to say that to really be a "sound," the music has to feel so genuine to the area that you're already in the middle of it before anyone gives it a name.

DenverPost.com - "The Denver Sound" and more: "'When we're on tour, both the Harlots and [Slim Cessna's] Auto Club, people continue to come up to us and ask, 'What's going on in Denver?' Munly Munly [of Munly and the Lee Lewis Harlots] said last week while on tour with the Auto Club, with which he also performs. ...

"'It's unique to Denver,' agrees Chris K., a local music industry guy who is hosting 'The Colorado Sound' radio program, 10 p.m. to midnight Wednesdays on KRFC/88.9- FM in Fort Collins. 'I don't think this is going on anywhere else in the country.'

"When Matt Fecher moved to Denver to create the South Park Music Festival (Sept. 7-10 in Fairplay), he started hearing the shared sound at rock clubs such as Bender's and the Hi-Dive.

"'I've seen American Gothic attempted to some extent all over the country, but when I moved to Denver, I finally saw it perfected,' said Fecher, who has booked many of the aforementioned bands for this year's festival. 'I truly believe that Denver's American Gothic scene is to Americana and alt-country what Omaha is to indie rock.'"

denver music
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Live Music in Canada

This is a 2004 government report on live music in Canada. Part of the table of contents is listed below.

Overview of the Live Music, Festival and Concert Industry in Canada:

4. Business Structure of the Live Music Sector
4.1 Grass Roots and Emerging Bands
4.2 The Established Talent
4.3 Festival Environments

5. Research Findings
5.1 External Data
5.2 Live Performance in Today's Environment
5.3 Scale and Geography
5.4 CD Merchandizing: Ripple Effect or Sea Change?
5.5 Clubs, Touring and Festivals as Components of Live Music

6. Government Support for Live Music
6.1 Interviewee Comments
6.2 Key Messages and Information Gaps

A Venue Idea: Doug Fir in Portland

A long article on a concept venue in Portland, Doug Fir, which might work as a guide for other locations.

Willamette Week Online, "FIR FRENZY": "Once a greasy-spoon relic from the '60s, this 10,000-square-foot cube was transformed last October into a ski lodge with Jetsons-esque cocktail chic. ...

"In six months, Doug Fir's below-street-level, 300-capacity live-music room has become the most celebrated, and in many ways most innovative, rock club in a city loaded with them. ...

"The club is a carefully crafted environment, designed to lure a broad array of nightclubbers. Shows start and end early. There's no smoking. As trivial as those tweaks seem, they're bold moves in a business better known for its eccentricity and edgy volatility than its marketing savvy. ...

"First-wave punks could be in their 50s now, and scenesters from the Northwest's '90s alt-rock explosion are as likely to have mortgages as vintage Sub Pop vinyl collections.

"'Now you can draw on people in their 20s, 30s and 40s,' Rose says. 'I have friends who've brought their parents to shows here. That's pretty remarkable.'"

Quality control for bars

In my mind, the weakest links to developing strong local music scenes are the venues. They can be horrendous: The waitstaff is rude, your feet stick to the floor, the bathrooms are dirty and there may even be vomit in the sinks. (I've seen it.) While that might be considered "atmosphere" to some, it keeps other potential patrons away.

Quality control is very much lacking in many music venues, particularly the smaller ones. Here's an article by Marc E. Babej and Tim Pollak about a national chain of upscale bars which has built its reputation on quality. These are not live music venues, but some of the same principles could apply.

Forbes, July 25, 2006: "Each Midnight Oil property is unique, and managers are free to run them as their own…so long as they stay within the rules. Those 'rules' help create a national brand. Comfort and relaxation are priorities. So the music--chosen by Gerber--'is always pretty similar and conducive to conversation.' There are guidelines for grooming (there's no room for sloppiness), the types of drinks that are poured (top drawer and generous), the drink mats and napkins (think thick). Even the bottles behind the bar are always positioned the same way--another visual cue to patrons that they are in a Gerber bar.

"... the bars offer a measure of privacy that’s highly-prized and hard to come by in cities where celebrities live and play, such as New York, Los Angeles and Vegas. An inviolate rule is that employees do not talk to the press. No cameras are allowed in. If a patron takes out a cell phone, they are asked to use it in the bathroom or outside. 'We want our customers to let their hair down, and not read about themselves the next day,' Gerber says.

"Gerber is methodical about maintaining product and service quality and consistency. New locations are staffed by corporate managers for the first few months, and every employee is trained at another property."

Employees are kept happy, thus reducing turnover. According to the article, "Many are young, good looking, and mobile--the kind of people who frequently move between major cities. 'If they want to go from New York to LA, they know they have a job with us,' Gerber says. 'No questions asked.'"

A new revenue stream for venues

Venues are the key to local music scenes. Without them, there are no places for local bands to play. But the venue business can be a tough one. So finding ways to make more money can mean the difference between survival and failure. Some venues around the country are starting to film performances and then broadcast them on line. Here is a long article from Billboard on the subject.

Concert, rehearsal venues get wired | Reuters.com: "The Gig films all performances -- three a night, seven nights a week -- and broadcasts them the next day from its Web site, Live at the Gig.

The Gig is riding a tide of revolution in the concert business. The ongoing explosion of high-speed, broadband Internet penetration in the United States has sparked a growing need for quality, exclusive multimedia content. Live performances fit this bill perfectly, and everyone from small clubs to major media companies are getting hip to this fact."

SXSW economic impact

ECONOMIC IMPACT IN AUSTIN FROM SXSW:
(Figures provided by the Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau)
• Music Conference: $24.9 million
• Film/Interactive Conference: $13.3 million
• All Three Conferences: $38 million
• Participants from around the world spend on average $264/day

ADDITIONAL IMPACT OF SXSW ON THE CITY OF AUSTIN:
• Media attention from coast to coast and numerous countries around the world
• Music venue revenues increase on the average of 45% over their next highest month, with similar increases at restaurants, bars, etc.
• Establishment of relations with international governmental agencies in 17 countries which reinforces the 'Live Music Capital of the World' title
• Largest annual conference held in the city of Austin
• 21,879 room nights booked in local hotels

Texas Music Office

A model site for states wanting to promote local music: "The Texas Music Office serves as the information clearinghouse and promotion office for the Texas music industry. This site contains 15,089 business, band or event listings totaling 2,744 printed pages. In 2005, it attracted 320,726 unique visitors resulting in 3,612,579 hits."

Festival funding

This is a good article,"Grass always greener at the other city's festivals," in the 7/24/2006 Ottawa Business Journal on funding of music festivals in Ottawa and Montreal.

The Ottawa Bluesfest receives $33,000 (Canadian) from the city. And around $500,000 from over 50 business sponsors. It operates "with a paid staff of three people, a total budget of $4 million and a talent budget of $1.8 million."

Equipe Spectra (the blanket organization that administers the jazz fest and two other Montreal festivals) "employs over 40 full-time paid marketing people year-round, while receiving less funding-per-dollar from the City of Montreal. The Montreal Jazz Fest does pay for the several concert halls it uses, but is also allowed usage of parks and selected streets for free – a better deal than Ottawa's Bluesfest, which paid in the six-digits for use of city land this year."

According to Alain Simard, president of Equipe Spectra, "The Montreal Jazz Festival has a $20 million budget, and 12.5 per cent of that comes from the government and public funding." Private sponsorship contributes 52 per cent and 30 per cent comes from concessions and food and beverage sales.

How to bring local music leaders together

Nashville has a program, Leadership Music, which brings local music movers-and-shakers together, based on a similar program, Leadership Nashville, to bring community business leaders together.

Leadership Music's head helps unite Row's fractious factions - 07/24/06 - Tennessean.com: "... a dozen Leadership Nashville alumni — led by former Warner Bros. Nashville President Jim Ed Norman — created a similar program in 1989 geared specifically to the city's music industry.

"The goal was to offer leaders from all the relevant segments of the music business a chance to learn about the rest of the industry and, in the process, get to know each other as well. [Executive director Kira] Florita says the segments have changed along with the industry— for instance, the head of label and artist relations for Yahoo Music will be among those included in the class of 2007 — though the mission remains the same.

"Perhaps the hardest part of the program for most participants is the time commitment.

"Leadership Music kicks off each year with a two-day, overnight opening retreat in October and a closing retreat in May with six 12-hour days scattered in between. Not only is attendance mandatory, cell phones are prohibited — not an easy set of rules for roughly 50 incomprehensibly busy music executives, nor for the high-caliber alumni who run the program under the direction of Florita and her assistant."

Stockton promoted by local rappers

This article talks about how rap is often tied to location. True to their roots:

"Stockton artist Andre 'Drizay' Hillery, 32, said claiming a hometown also gives a rapper an identity.

"'If you don't represent where you're from, you're nobody,' Hillery said.

"The best example of regional sounds in rap are the West and East Coast sounds that developed in the early 1990s. West Coast artists such as 2Pac rapped about their region's superiority over funk-based tracks, while East Coast rappers such as the Notorious B.I.G. chose a different musical path and emphasized the supremacy of their area.

"Record companies have found that consumers are willing to buy music based on these regional identities, said [Marc Lamont Hill, a hip-hop scholar and assistant professor of urban education at Philadelphia's Temple University]."

When war interrupts your festival

This article talks about how the current war conditions in Israel have discouraged people from going to festivals. Interestingly, the festival organizers expect the government to compensate them for the disruption.

The curtain falls on an empty stage - Haaretz - Israel News

"Something always happens that seems to pose a threat to the foreigners," says Gilad Sheba, the director of Keshet Eilon, a music festival featuring master classes for violinists from all over the world. International masters come to the kibbutz under the sponsorship of violinist and conductor, Shlomo Mintz, and conduct the classes.

"I will never forget the concert that was held in 1993 during the war in Lebanon," he recalls. "The violinist Hagai Shaham was playing in the kibbutz concert hall, which had once been a chicken house, and dozens of Katyusha rockets whistled above our heads. We decided not to stop the concert so as not to create a panic, but the next day, we understood that we had to leave and move to Ramat Efal near Tel Aviv. We continued to hold the masters classes during the intifada too. We never canceled and hundreds of students were registered."

... "We paid for the guest rooms in Kibbutz Eilon," explains Sheba, "and we have to return the money to the students who are not coming. In addition, the faculty has remained almost unchanged despite the fact that the number of participants has gone down to half of what it was supposed to be. We sent a letter to Culture Minister Ophir Pines-Paz, and wrote that we expected help from the government."

...Like Sheba and Solomon, Agmon also expects to be compensated for the losses. "Minister Pines-Paz was here and he promised that the state would compensate us," he says. The minister has indeed declared that he will allocate NIS 10 million for losses caused to cultural organizations by the war. "We have asked the treasury to indemnify the ministry," he says. "We will look into everyone's needs, and that includes institutions that have been forced to close down as a result of the events. No one will be left out."

The REAL Live Music Capitol

While Branson doesn't have the hip image of Austin, it has found success delivering lots and lots of live music.

7/15/06, Branson Daily News: Repeat visitors on the rise

“The percentage of repeat visitors is currently at 76.1%,” said Dan Lennon, Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations with the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce.

“We posed the ‘Why Branson’ and ‘why not Branson’ questions in a branding study (of the area), and came up with three answers,” Lennon said.

Lennon called the first answer to the question the, “Live entertainment bonanza.”

Branson has 49 theaters with more than 100 shows to choose from, as well as a myriad of other attractions ranging from museums to amusement parks.

“Only 45 percent of the music offered for entertainment is country these days, with more and more musical variety to choose from,” Lennon said.

The theaters actually have more seats New York City’s Broadway district, with more than 57,000 available.

Nashville showcases in NYC

This article talks about leveraging the Country Music Award's 2005 appearance in NYC as a way to promote Nashville as a whole.

Nashville leaders play alluring tune for NYC - 11/13/05 - Tennessean.com:

"... about 130 Nashville executives, policy-makers and academics representing both the Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce head to New York this weekend (paying their own way) to spread the gospel of Music City. Included in these groups are people such as Mayor Bill Purcell, HCA Inc. CEO Jack Bovender, and Vanderbilt University's vice chancellor for public affairs, Michael Schoenfeld.

"... Performers such as Kix Brooks and Sara Evans plan to attend a 'Music City' luncheon tomorrow at Gotham Hall in New York that will include a wide range of business-development consultants, national media and New York-based corporate executives."

"Vanderbilt's Schoenfeld said 10 or 15 years ago, the university considered Nashville's image as Music City a 'net liability' when it came to recruiting top faculty and students. Today, he said, Nashville has become an important selling tool for the school.

"That's been an experience shared by many others throughout the local business community, from law firms to health-care and insurance companies, [Convention & Visitors Bureau President Butch]Spyridon said.

"'About three years ago, as the CVB was going through a strategic planning process, we realized that we couldn't hide from this "Music City" brand anymore,' Spyridon said. From those discussions, the task became to tell the rest of the world what the average Nashvillian already knew: That "Music City" encompassed much more than just an outdated notion of country music. It includes rock, gospel, R&B, and classical, as well as numerous songwriters and studio resources.'"

Umpqua Bank compilation disc

Umpqua Bank - Press Releases: "Starting today, the CDs will be sold for $12 each in Umpqua’s 127 stores throughout Oregon, Washington and California. In the coming weeks, the album will also be available online at the iTunes music store for $.99 per song and at CDBaby.com for $14.00. Inspired by a college road trip in a ’69 Buick, the album is the ultimate “mixtape” inspiring listeners to turn it up, roll down the windows and drive to music that reflects their communities. Select Umpqua Bank stores in Oregon and Northern California will host album launch parties the weeks of July 10 and 17th, featuring live performances by Discover Local Music artists. "

Bank brands local music campaign

Umpqua Bank - Press Releases: "“Umpqua’s marketing initiatives use non-traditional means to connect with customers and the public in creative and surprising ways,” said Lani Hayward, Umpqua Bank executive vice president of creative services. “Music is one medium that has the ability to connect with people on a deeper level, in ways that reinforce our brand.”

The music brand profile developed by Rumblefish helped guide the development of Umpqua’s popular Discover Local Music Project. The project, the most recent collaboration between Umpqua and Rumblefish, is an extension of an in-store music-on-demand program that Rumblefish developed to reinforce Umpqua’s innovative in-store experience. Met with resounding success, the music-on-demand program led to a 20 percent increase in deposits at Umpqua Bank’s flagship store in Portland’s Pearl District.

The Discover Local Music Project expands on this program. It reinforces Umpqua’s focus on community banking by showcasing local talent in each community Umpqua serves. Rumblefish reviewed the music of hundreds of local artists in each of Umpqua’s markets for inclusion in the Discover Local Music Catalog. Umpqua, in turn, embraced the project with dedicated interest in connecting local communities to local artists by promoting their music both in stores and online at www.umpquamusic.com."

Bioregionalism and local music support

Here's a site that talks about the ecological and social advantages of living locally.

Bioregionalism:

"Bioregionalism is a fancy name for living a rooted life. Sometimes called 'living in place,' bioregionalism means you are aware of the ecology, economy and culture of the place where you live, and are committed to making choices that enhance them."

Louisiana provides tax credits to people who record

"The State of Louisiana is helping to finance sound recordings by offering a refundable tax credit to the people or companies that invest in the production (that is, those who put up the money). The more money you spend in the state to record music, the more you get back in the form of a tax refund — even if you don’t live in Louisiana or owe any taxes in the state."

For more info about the program: Louisiana Music Export Office.

City of Austin Music

City of Austin Music This is an excellent resource. It talks about how Austin became the "Live Music Capital of the World" and what it does to promote local music.

PoughkeepsieJournal.com - Music venues have economic tune

PoughkeepsieJournal.com - Music venues have economic tune: "Chance co-owner Frank Pallett said his club can attract more than 3,000 people to Poughkeepsie weekly and the economic impact only starts with the $5 parking fee charged for a city lot that sits between the club and Mill Street.

'People come here and ask for hotels, restaurants, ask for some place to eat, where do I park? What is there to do in the area?' said Pallett, who has hosted fans from Canada for the band Our Lady Peace and fans from across the country for Bowie.

"The impact that the arts can have on an economy can be staggering.

"In 1995, the most recent year for which data is available, the arts statewide generated $13.4 billion, said Richard J. Schwartz, chairman of the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency and a big fan of the Bardavon. That economic impact took the form of employment, ticket sales and new construction, among other areas."

Canadian Jazz festivals and their economic impact

The Toronto Downtown Jazz costs about $3.5 million (Canadian) to stage (paid for through ticket sales and sponsorships), but adds $20 million to the local economy. (Not that finding sponsors is ever easy: it took six people making pitches to 75 companies over 12 months to find three new sponsors.) The biggest cost is the entertainment. Jazz festivals in Ottawa and Montreal are held around the same time so that out-of-town artists can play all of them, making it more economical to fly them in.

The Montreal International Jazz Festival costs $20 million and generates at least $100 million for the local economy.

"The most recent economic impact study, by Festivals & Events Ontario, found that the top 17 festivals in Ontario have a combined financial impact of $345 million on the regional economy and create more than 10,000 full-time jobs annually. Smaller festivals generate on average between $400,000 and $2.7 million for local economies. Were even three major festivals to stop operating, more than $100 million would be lost to regional economies every year."

TheStar.com - Festivals give Ontario a financial boost

Kansas benefits from country festival

A summertime festival, the Country Stampede , helps Kansas attract a number of visitors the state would otherwise not receive. The event brings in about 150,000 attendees. Started in 1995, the festival has been a major to local tourism. "Some advice I received from a friend was you're going to lose money the first three years - and he was right," according to founder Wayne Rouse. "The first year we lost over a quarter of a million. But I was told if I lost less than half a million, it would be successful. And each year it gets a little better."

The festival contributes about $13 million to the Manhattan, Kansas economy. All 847 local hotel rooms have been sold out for months. There are also 2400 slots in the campground next to the stages.

Headliners this year are: Gretchen Wilson, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, and Sara Evans.

Here's an article: Major music festival boon to state tourism

Music and culture drive Texas economy

Texas has been the most proactive state government in terms of promoting local music. The Texas Commission on the Arts figures that for every $1 it gives out in grant money, $98 in economic activity is generated.

According to a 2001 report, cultural arts were responsible for 19.8 percent of the tourism in the state.

Austin has done particularly well. In 2005, South by Southwest generated $30.9 million for the local economy and the Austin City Limits Festival generated $26.3 million, according to the Austin Visitors and Convention Bureau (AVCB). The total economic activity generated by Austin's music industry in 2005 was more than $600 million. It created nearly 11,200 jobs and $11 million in sales tax revenue.

To read more, go to: The Arts Economy.

Summerfest: size but not visibility

Summerfest in Milwaukee bills itself as the "World's Largest Music Festival," yet gets relatively little national press. Acts this year included: Pearl Jam, Tom Petty with the Heartbreakers, Mary J. Blige, Ne-Yo, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Paul Simon, Steely Dan, Michael McDonald, Nickelback, Hoobastank, Elvis Costello, Alice Cooper, Ray Davies, Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Yellowcard, Common, Chris Brown, and Los Lonely Boys, and many others

The July 3, 2006 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a good interview with Summerfest CEO Don Smiley talking about lack of recognition and also pricing issues. Here's an excerpt:

________________________________

Q.... A lot of national media still seem to overlook Summerfest when they do their wrap-ups on the summer music scene. The New York Times did a wrap-up of major music festivals and didn't mention Summerfest. Neither did Rolling Stone. Why don't you get the attention that the size of the festival might dictate?

A. I don't know. I think that's a mistake on the part of The New York Times and Rolling Stone in doing their research as to what's out there. Certainly when they look at the tour schedules of these bands, they see that they're stopping in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at Summerfest. Someone has to say, 'What is Summerfest?'

On the other hand, I think we're making progress in that we received exposure on The Travel Channel. We were on the E! Network. We're in USA Today. A big step is this Country Music Television exposure that we will get which is backed up by a Clear Channel radio promotion.

I don't know why a major publication like that could miss us. I think it's on them, but we will take the responsibility at the end of the day to pick up the phone and say, 'By the way, we have this small party going on here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that you might want to know about.'

Q.On the other hand, it's not like you need more people down here.

A. But the national recognition helps us with sponsors. It really does. When we take an edited version of this CMT series and we show that to a sponsor, it brings scale and importance to your event just like our amphitheater does. People think of Summerfest as large and important in large part because of what's in the amphitheater. Then things flow off of that. It's the same thing with exposure on CMT or in USA Today. So it's really not about bodies. It's about exposure and the significance of your event as it pertains to sponsors and who wants to be here and partner up with you.

Houston's experience hosting a large music festival

The Essence Music Festival, previously held in New Orleans, was moved to Houston this year. There were some glitches, which points up the challenge of putting on a huge music festival (this one stretched over three days and had 200,000 attendees), particularly with relatively short notice (Houston had just seven months to prepare).

This from the 7/2/2006 Houston Chronicle:

"'It was a difficult city to navigate and that can't be ignored,' said Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications Inc. 'The end result was a general lack of systems to manage the sprawl. Houston underestimated the enormity and significance of this event.'

"Festival organizers said they heard numerous complaints from attendees related to the distance between hotels, shopping, downtown entertainment and Reliant Park, where the Essence Festival was held."

There were also complaints that there was not enough to do once the late night concerts ended.

Salt Lake looks to Denver's model

One of the best articles about how Denver moved forward as a cultural center was recently posted in the Salt Lake Tribune, 7/02/06, AMSLC arts lovers are inspired by the success of theater complex in Colorado, which hopes to duplicate the effort.

"With more than 11,000 seats, Denver's [Performing Arts] complex stands next to a newly expanded convention center on Curtis Street and 14th. Only pedestrians are allowed on the 12-acre block. Parking is a snap at a 1,700-stall garage. Light rail is handy.

"There also are three restaurants - one includes a lounge singer who wanders the room in a shimmery pink evening gown - along with a banquet hall, design studios for sets and costumes and theater schools (including the National Theatre Conservatory) for adults and children.

"... after building the Buell in 1991 from the shell of an arena that once showcased wrestling matches, Denver leaped to the A-list. Suddenly, it was Denver, not Los Angeles or Chicago, launching the national touring shows for Disney's 'The Lion King' in 2002 and 'Sunset Boulevard' in 1996. ...

"Today, the city says the theaters attract 1.1 million to 1.6 million visitors a year and they generate about $30 million in ticket sales, according to The Denver Post."

This blog is about local music business

Local music. It's where musicians get their start. It's also part of the culture of a community. Plus increasingly it can be an economic driver. LA, NYC, and Nashville have long been music towns, but Austin showed that you don't have to be a town of major labels and industry insiders to have an impact.

There is a convergence of trends (i.e., the rise of independent labels, the focus on live music as a way to exploit the unpaid sharing of recorded music, mobile devices and online social networks promoting location-based activities, community branding to encourage tourism) that is generating an interest in local music scenes.

Noise:Floor is a television and multi-platform series devoted to highlighting local music scenes around the country.

The purpose of this blog is to share information among people interested in promoting local music in their own communities.