The Liverpool-based Sound City conference hopes to help new artists make it in Asia with its Sound City Korea initiative
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Sound Diplomacy: Your guide to becoming a music city
After five "wild years", Shain Shapiro's music market development agency is celebrating its half-decade in business
By IQ on 04 Apr 2018
To celebrate its fifth birthday, Sound Diplomacy – the music market development consultancy known for pioneering the idea of the ‘music city’ – has created a video that aims to explain how music impacts the places we live, and how both communities and the industry can better support it.
Founded in 2013, Sound Diplomacy now has offices in London, Barcelona and Berlin, and has over the past five years worked in more than 40 countries to bridge the gap between music, music policy and urban planning. Its current roster of clients includes the Walton Family Foundation, United Nations, Mayor of London, city of Cardiff, Lend Lease, Legal & General, German Haus at SXSW, city of Brisbane, city of Lausanne, city of Barcelona, South Arts USA and the Canadian Independent Music Association.
Future plans include publishing a night-time economy guide in April, in partnership with Tallinn Music Week, and launching a new Night Time Economy conference in South America later this year.
“It’s been five amazing, wild and adventurous years,” says Sound Diplomacy founder Shain Shapiro. “We have been lucky to have worked all over the world introducing the role of music in urban planning and public policy. But this is only the beginning.
“Every city must have a music policy to support talent development, music engagement and quality of life. We will ensure this happens.”
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