Culture Liverpool Developing a Liverpool City of Music Strategy February 2018 i Credits Written and prepared by BOP Consulting Photo credits Mike Sheerin/Sound City Data credits BOP online surveys, LinkedIn, UK Music, Office of National Statistics (ONS), the University of Liverpool, Bido Lito! and Liverpool John Moores University, Live Music Census, Sentric Music This work contains statistical data from ONS which is Crown Copyright. The use of the ONS statistical data in this work does not imply the endorsement of the ONS in relation to the interpretation or analysis of the statistical data. This work uses research datasets which may not exactly reproduce National Statistics aggregates . 2 Scenario 2: Facing up to our responsibilities - from organic growth to Contents structural change .................................................................................. 29 Executive summary .............................................................................. 4 Scenario 3: Innovation and renewal - Liverpool, World City of Music 30 1. Approach and methodology ...................................................... 8 7. Strategic choices ..................................................................... 31 Geography ........................................................................................ 8 Strategies of competitor cities and other UNESCO World Cities of Methodology and terminology ........................................................... 8 Music 32 BOP Background .............................................................................. 8 8. Recommendations ................................................................... 35 2. Liverpool’s Music Economy: Scale and Significance ............. 9 Strategic recommendations ............................................................ 35 Turnover ......................................................................................... 10 Operational recommendations ........................................................ 38 Employment in core music sectors.................................................. 13 Capital projects ............................................................................... 41 Profile of music enterprises ............................................................. 15 Inclusive growth .............................................................................. 41 3. Trends ....................................................................................... 16 Annex 1 – Methodology - turnover .................................................... 42 A fast-growing sector of the economy ............................................. 16 Annex 2 – Methodology – employment ............................................. 44 How Liverpool compares to the UK as a whole ............................... 16 Annex 3 - List of consultees .............................................................. 45 Distinctive elements of Liverpool’s offer .......................................... 17 Annex 4 - Music Education provision ............................................... 46 Competition between the music sector and other users for strategic Bibliography and references ............................................................. 49 locations ............................................................................................... 17 Acknowledgements ............................................................................ 51 4. SWOT of Liverpool’s music economy .................................... 19 5. Findings .................................................................................... 22 Liverpool, Music City? ..................................................................... 22 Our findings from consultation ........................................................ 23 6. Scenarios .................................................................................. 28 Scenario 1 – Do nothing ................................................................. 28 3 musicians in 2016/17, when some 270,000 people attended RLP events, Executive summary contributing to a turnover of £10.9 million. We commend Culture Liverpool and the City Council for taking the The Beatles’ legacy underpins an additional £98m per annum from the initiative to develop a Liverpool City of Music strategy. We are delighted music visitor economy – and the number of visitors attending Beatles to have been asked to do the work. attractions has grown year on year for a decade. We’ve taken a rigorous approach to mapping the sector, including And the city benefits from a strong and diverse higher education sector ground-breaking analysis of the scale and significance of the music with four universities, including the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts sector within a single region. (LIPA), and a range of undergraduate and postgraduate provision focused on developing careers in music as much as academic study We have built upon the experience of an industry advisory board drawn from all parts of the music sector and education in Liverpool; and added The combination of heritage and a music sector that has strengths to that findings from a sector-led consultation exercise carried out in the across contemporary and classical genres is reflected in Liverpool’s summer and a comparison of Liverpool with other UK and international status as a UNESCO World City of Music – but there are concerns about music cities. More than sixty individuals from over fifty organisations took the sector’s sustainability. part in depth interviews or round tables as part of our consultation. Commercial pressures on venues – particularly risk of Liverpool is a music city with high levels of recognition amongst UK and displacement – threaten the vibrancy and relevance of live music international audiences. As recently as 2015, this was recognised in the award of UNESCO World City of Music status. Our analysis shows that Fragmentation of responsibilities and lack of strategic planning its reputation, which is arguably much greater than that of any other city and coordination across the public sector means that public of comparable size in the Northern Hemisphere, is in many ways resources are inefficiently allocated – as a result, sector support, deserved. marketing and inward investment are all sub-optimal Liverpool’s music economy is increasing in scale and significance. The Lack of sector voice in investment decisions undermines both the core music sector generates over £100m in turnover each year and live music and visitor economy offer employs 2,330 people. Critical to its success is a vibrant festivals and live music offer worth over £48m per annum. The industry does not represent the diversity of the city region and its communities The city boasts a clutch of high growth businesses across different music sectors – Adlib, Sentric, Ditto, Sound City, Modern Sky – as well Cuts to public funding mean that public bodies will need to re- as a major arena venue, anchoring the commercial music offer and prioritise and, in some areas, reduce support for music bringing opportunities that could simulate further investment and growth. Cuts to education falling particularly hard on arts subjects, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (RLP) is a major asset – it directly including music, increase the risk of exclusion of individuals and employs 250 people and contracted an additional 349 freelance whole communities from the opportunity to pursue a career 4 These challenges remind us that music exists in a volatile and accompanied by a review of existing industry/heritage advisory groups challenging political and commercial environment. Preserving the ‘status with a view to consolidating them within the new structure, removing quo’ will see a decline in some or all parts of the sector, as levels of duplication and better aligning the objectives for which existing groups public funding continue to fall, competition increases, and uncertainties were established with new realities of city region governance. around Brexit limit opportunities for expansion and investment. Therefore, despite the evidence showing that music has a growing scale Once constituted, Liverpool City of Music Board should have lead on and significance within Liverpool’s economy, ‘doing nothing’ is not an development of key elements of the City of Music strategy: option that we can recommend. A sector-led strategy, backed by all local government and We have set out three different future scenarios to help the reader economic development agencies and non-departmental public understand the challenges and opportunities for the music sector in bodies, to underpin, preserve and sustain growth in live music Liverpool; and drawn upon the expertise within the city and the and other core music sector activities experience of other cities with music development strategies to frame a set of recommendations that, we believe, will combine to underpin, Music and education sectors to come together with a plan to project and magnify Liverpool’s global status and build opportunities for increase engagement in music and investment in and individuals and businesses from all the city region’s communities to development of talent from all communities across the city region. pursue artistic and entrepreneurial opportunities in the music industry. Engagement with Apple Corps to secure agreement on the use of These inform a series of strategic, operational and aspirational Beatles-related IP rights in order to honour the contribution