The Belfast City Council has teamed up with Sound Diplomacy to develop a strategy to help revive the music industry in Belfast. Sound Diplomacy are the leading experts in developing sustainable music strategies. Sound Diplomacy has carried out projects similar to what will be happening in Belfast all around the world, including work in Cardiff, San Francisco, Bradford and New Orleans.
The strategy is aimed at helping both musicians and their listeners to get back into ‘normal’ music habits and continuing those habits after the pandemic ends. The strategy is a four-step plan that will help Sound Diplomacy to create a comprehensive and accurate strategy. They are currently on Step 2. The steps, which are listed on Sound Diplomacy’s website, are as follows:
Step 1: Inception and Ideation – October – November 2020 (completed): This step is the creation of the plan by bringing together key stakeholders across the community, UNESCO City of Music Steering Committee and Belfast City Council to establish objectives, timescales, deliverables and outcomes.
Step 2: Ecosystem Assessment – December 2020 – March 2021: An extensive literature review of available regulations, ordinances and policies that are related to the Belfast music scene. This will then be followed by sectoral engagement, including a survey (that is available to answer now), interviews and roundtable discussions.
Step 3: Economic Impact Assessment – January – May 2021: Sound Diplomacy will then establish the direct, indirect and induced economic value of the music ecosystem in Belfast. This will include calculating the percentage of jobs in the music ecosystem compared to the wider economy and the growth or contraction of music from the last decade.
Step 4: Final Report, Recovery Plan and Implementation Plan – July 2021: All the findings will then be presented in a report that will serve as the blueprint for moving forward to revive and grow Belfast’s music sector.
The survey is available here, it’ll be used to understand people’s music habits and create cultural infrastructure mapping.
