Florida on Music Clusters

Richard Florida, creative class guru, recently released a preliminary report on Music Clusters (view Florida’s Report here).

There is a growing, mainly qualitative, literature on music scenes. Historians have noted the tendency of musicans and artists to cluster together Mark (1998). The term “music scene” was orginally used to describe the musical genres associated with mid‐20th century crossroads music locations which brought migrating, largely rural, folk and blues based musical talent to major cities and in contact with larger audiences, radio stations, commerical venues, recording studios, agents, producers, and music entrepreneurs. Examples of this include: the New Orleans and jazz, Nashville country, Memphis in blues and soul, rockabilly, and Detroit in Motown and roots rock.

Interesting to note Florida’s mention on the lack of quantitative information existing about music clusters worldwide – this despite the fact that there are many cities recognized as being musical ‘meccas’. Florida goes on to provide a working definition of music ’scenes’…

Bennett and Peterson (2004) define music scenes as “the context in which clusters of producers, musicians, and fans collectively share their common musical tastes and collectively distinguish themselves from others.” Clark, Rothfield and Silver (2008) add that scenes are “modes of organizing cultural production and consumption” that ”foster certain shared values and tastes, certain ways of relating to one another and legitimating what one is doing or not doing.” While examining music scenes is useful and important (and a key element of our broader project), this research note focuses on the factors associated with observed concentrations of employed muscians. Other, more qualitative research will probe the nature of scenes and the actors and networks that comprise them.

Some would argue that scenes are precursors to ‘clusters’, if we were to apply economic theory to a very unique system, such as music scenes. I would propose that music ’scenes’ are actually the economic equivalent of clusters, in a much more organic and natural sense.

While it will be interesting to see more research on the topic of music ‘clusters’, I do wonder whether an effort to create and maintain a true music ‘cluster’ (in the economic sense of the word) could be the death of the creative music scene as many have come to know.

 

Toronto Music Garden

In my brief studies of cluster systems, I have often found myself overwhelmed while trying to conceptualize the linkages and intricacies of these economic organisms. While I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to fully formulate a strong mental picture of cluster systems, I do know that one demonstrable proof of a clusters existence is the integration of the cluster/industry into the urban landscape of the host city. Recently, I read an entry at CLUSTER_BLOG, a blog on city/design/innovation, on the new Toronto Music Garden.

Inspired by the pictorial element in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, internationally renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma collaborated with a number of artists to produce Inspired by Bach – a six-part film series. The series was produced by Rhombus Media Incorporated and broadcast in 1997 and 1998. It has also been made available for home video.

For the first film in the series, The Music Garden, Mr. Ma worked with landscape designer Julie Moir Messervy to interpret in nature the music of Bach’s first suite. As a result of the film project, Yo-Yo Ma, Julie Messervy and Rhombus Media Incorporated approached the city of Boston, Massachusetts to create an actual garden based on The Music Garden. When the Boston site fell through, Toronto Parks and Recreation enthusiastically embraced the project.

Another true sign of a cluster is public/private partnerships supporting cluster activities and related endeavours.

James Douglas Fleck is leading the private side of a public/private collaboration with the City of Toronto to create and build the Toronto Music Garden. Under the leadership of Mr. Fleck, over one million dollars has been raised from private donors. The donors are David and Vivian Campbell, George and Kathy Dembroski, James and Margaret Fleck, David and Catheriné Graham, Michael and Sonja Koerner, Wilmot and Judy Matthews, Jim and Sandra Pitblado and Sandra Simpson. The Weston Foundation has also contributed to the project.

Interested in checking out the garden?

The Toronto Music Garden is located on the waterfront at 475 Queen’s Quay West between Bathurst Street & Spadina Avenue. (see Toronto maps)
The Toronto Music Garden is easy to reach by public transit. Take the Spadina 510 streetcar south from the Spadina subway station or the LRT Harbourfront Line going west from Union Station. Call the Toronto Transit Commission at 416-393-4636 for service information.
For information on the Toronto Music Garden and its programs, or to receive information on upcoming events, call the Harbourfront Centre Info Line at 416-973-4000.
The Toronto Music Garden is open year-round and there is no admission fee. The Toronto Music Garden is wheelchair-accessible.

 

Florida’s unwitting support for redefining the music ’scene’ as a cluster…

While trying to perform some research on existing music clusters (not going so well right now!), I came across a video on Youtube, showing Dr Richard Florida’s testimonty before the Joint Committee on the Arts.

I’d highly recommend that you watch the video, but one of his points was that there are three types of creativity: technological, economic, and (as he puts it, “importantly”) artistic and cultural creativity. When we look at the city of Toronto, and specifically the economic/industry landscape in this city, we can account for all three types of creativity. More specifically, examples exist of these three types of creativity that can be intrinsically linked to a Toronto music cluster.

Technological: Toronto DJ Institute

Economic: Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund (watch for more in a future blog)

Artistic/Cultural: George Brown College’s renowned music program, spawning both independent and mainstream artists, thereby supporting cluster growth

Within the music scene, we can find complete creativity, as defined by Richard Florida. These diverse sources of creativity could be the foundation for sustainability of a cluster that doesn’t exactly fit the definition we’ve become accustomed to in our textbooks and lecture sessions.

 

Wait a minute….define cluster for me.

Very few would bat an eye when ICT is mentioned in conjunction with Waterloo. The same can be said about biotechnology in Vancouver, and fashion in Toronto. But how does music fit into all this?

Wikipedia gives us a good starting-point for discussing clusters.

This term industry cluster, also known as a business cluster, competitive cluster, or Porterian cluster, was introduced and the term cluster popularized by Michael Porter in The Competitive Advantage of Nations (1990). The importance of economic geography was also brought to attention by Paul Krugman in Geography and Trade (1991). Cluster development has since become a focus for many government programs. The underlying concept, which economists have referred to has agglomeration economies, dates back to 1890, and the work of Alfred Marshall. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_cluster)

Interesting to note the inclusion of Porter in the definition – and this is were the waters become muddied when defining a music cluster. Clusters – in their original form as defined by Porter – require competitiveness (specifically strong competitive environments in the cluster’s geographic region); however, most musicians would shudder at the mention of competition.

The world of arts, and specifically music, is one of elitist inclusion. Those who are musically gifted find themselves automatically enrolled in an elite group of people – groups that congregate in music stores and underground venues to hear the latest and greatest. That being said, when the inner circle has been penetrated, support networks begin to materialize. The music scene has historically been self-sufficient, with music stores providing rising stars with equipment loans, and social networks fueling ticket sales at CD launch parties.

Michael Porter would argue that competition should strengthen the music scene; however, my guess is that Richard Florida would suggest that collaboration within the music scene can be the fuel for this developing cluster. While this cluster is still in it’s infancy, it could serve to be an excellent case study on the viability of an economic cluster without the influence of competition (at least competition as framed by our historical economic learnings).

 

Wait, there’s a music cluster in Toronto?

The world we live in is constantly in a state of flux. We are surrounded by rapidly changing economic and competitive environments, the result of which is apparent in our manic consumerism. In recent years, the concept of economic ‘clusters’ has flowered into a full-fledged economic category. This concept has penetrated Toronto-area business networks, and has had a profound impact on the life sciences, information technology, fashion, and entertainment industries. Despite Toronto’s recognition as a hub for many arts-based clusters, little regard has been paid to the fledgling music cluster housed in this fine city.

This blog will be looking at current issues and developments related to this young cluster, with the hopes of providing readers with both a source of information and a place for discussion on this topic.