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.
