Why does Japan produce flawless (mostly female) metal musicians? Why did Scandinavia create fearless creativity? Why is LA the Silicon Valley of heavy metal? Watch on YouTube Talent is geographic. It's not random, it's not genetics, it's not luck. Certain places produce extraordinary musicians at levels that shouldn't be statistically possible because they've built ecosystems where elite musicianship becomes normal. In this episode, we take a...
The music industry and the startup world run on the same model: both chase unicorns. The difference? Startups evolved — they built systems so ordinary founders could win without venture capital. Musicians never got that. In this episode, Kevin Crowder (musician, entrepreneur, founder of BusinessFlare® and Street Economics®) breaks down how to fix the system that keeps artists broke and cities stuck. Drawing from his own years playing clubs...
AMTRAK LAUNCHES GULF COAST ROUTE STARTING AUGUST 18 Amtrak's new Gulf Coast route connecting New Orleans to Mobile creates fascinating opportunities for music-based economic development that most communities will completely overlook. The route restoration doesn't just provide transportation; it creates a cultural corridor that could link music scenes, festivals, and tourism experiences across multiple communities along the Gulf Coast. New...
DISNEY LAYOFFS HIGHLIGHT WHY CITIES NEED DIVERSIFIED CREATIVE ECONOMIES BEYOND ENTERTAINMENT GIANTS Disney's decision to lay off hundreds of employees in film and television operations demonstrates why cities banking on entertainment industry giants are setting themselves up for economic disappointment. While Disney cuts jobs, smart cities are building diverse music ecosystems that create sustainable creative economies independent of corporate...
Sacramento is remixing its music scene with a dose of economic savvy. The city has tapped federal recovery funds to launch an initiative teaching local musicians how to earn a living from their art. After a new “Music Census” found that 75% of Sacramento’s musicians rely on non-music jobs to survive, officials responded with a grant to the Department of Sound to roll out “Making Money with Music” workshops. This year-long program will...
London is literally putting its grassroots music scene on the map – the Tube map, to be precise – in a new campaign to boost the city’s independent venues. Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson has teamed up with London Mayor Sadiq Khan to champion the capital’s 179 small music venues, which collectively hosted over 4.2 million audience visits and 328,000 performers last year. These tiny clubs and pubs are the breeding ground for tomorrow’s...
Our inaugural entry for this category is the City of North Miami, Florida. As we worked in the community to help assist with revitalization and redevelopment, we started looking for things that were present, but unseen, and making connections to them. As I started looking, the connections quickly became apparent. I realized that as a musician, I visited North Miami to rehearse. To record. To buy my gear. To get my gear serviced and to shoot the...
