Liverpool, Music City? - Report

At the end of 2015, Liverpool was awarded the status of UNESCO
City Of Music “…due to music’s place at the heart of Liverpool’s
contemporary culture, education and the economy – from the vibrant
live music scene to tourism, music management courses and digital
businesses”. According to UNESCO, the award is intended, “…to
focus cultural policy and activity in relation to music in the
city, delivering a more joined up and visible music offer.” Over a
year on, and despite the best efforts of a small number of underresourced
individuals, this agenda is yet to kick in. Like many
music organisations in the city, we see the need to embrace this
moment. This is an opportunity to rethink what music means to
Liverpool and create a new, community-led approach to music policy
in the city.
We all know that Liverpool City Council faces a precarious
financial future. Mayor Joe Anderson confirmed at February’s
Culture Sector Consultation that the austerity agenda is on course
to result in a £470 million real term loss to the city between 2010
and 2020. Council tax revenues remain painfully lean; Liverpool
has 70,000 more people than Bristol but receives £38million less
in council tax revenue because of lower property values. It is
unrealistic to expect the City Council to provide strategic
leadership around the city’s music agenda when such acute pressures
exist on them to provide core services. They are also detached from
the music culture that we, as a community, intimately understand.
Leadership needs to come from the people best placed to deliver
it; us, the music community of Liverpool. We need a Liverpool
City Music Office; a strong, independent voice that can champion,
support, and ultimately, invest in music in the city.
But first, we need to ask some honest questions. What does music
really mean to Liverpool in 2017? How is it valued? How healthy is
Liverpool’s music ecology? Is Liverpool’s Music Tourism offer truly
world-class and what role does new music play within it? In terms
of its policies around noise, planning and the role of music in the
built environment, does Liverpool have a global music city outlook?
How good are we at developing the next wave of artists in the city?
Is Liverpool an international hub for music business? How joined up
is the city’s music industry and music education offer?
Fundamentally, what is the future of music in our city? Who is
protecting it and who is fighting for a future with music at the
centre of the civic agenda?