Update, June 2016: I have been documenting my journey following the development of Music Cities at www.walikotamusik.com.
Music City is a term that has been gaining a lot of traction lately. Over the past several months, my team at Musikator and I have been doing deep research into how to solve the problems facing Indonesia’s music industry — and the answer we kept arriving at was this: build a music ecosystem from the ground up. Our next strategic finding was that, given the diversity of Indonesia’s markets, a city-based approach is the most logical place to start. So we dug deep into the music city strategy.
Being in the right place at the right time with the right network, I crossed paths with Sound Diplomacy — a global music city strategy consultancy looking to enter the Indonesian market. Through my partners at the British Council, I was also invited into a network of music city experts from around the world and asked to speak at a conference exploring the relationship between music ecosystem development and urban development.
What Is a Music City?
A Music City is not simply a city that has a lot of concerts or famous musicians. It is a city that has deliberately built an infrastructure — policies, venues, education, business support, and community — that allows music to function as an economic and cultural driver. Cities like Nashville, Austin, Liverpool, and Bogotá are often cited as examples. What they have in common is not just musical heritage but intentional investment in the conditions that allow music to thrive.
Why This Matters for Indonesia
Indonesia has the raw ingredients: musical diversity, a massive youth population, a growing middle class with disposable income, and artists who can compete internationally. What is missing is the scaffolding — the ecosystem that connects artists to venues, venues to audiences, audiences to labels, labels to publishers, and all of it to government policy and city planning.
Building that scaffolding city by city is more realistic than trying to build a national music industry top-down. Different cities have different musical identities, different economies, and different political climates. A strategy that works in Bandung may not work in Makassar. The Music City framework respects that diversity while providing a common language and set of tools.
What We Are Working On
At Musikator, we are developing a framework for Indonesian cities that want to pursue music city status. This includes mapping the existing ecosystem — venues, artists, labels, promoters, media, education — identifying the gaps, and proposing practical interventions. We are also working to connect Indonesian cities to the global Music Cities network so that local policymakers and industry leaders can learn from what has worked elsewhere.
This is long-term work. Building a music city does not happen in a year or two. But the conversation has to start somewhere, and the fact that it is starting now — with real institutional partners and a global framework to draw from — is something worth being optimistic about.