Ideas

Support access to affordable spaces (public and privately owned) and ensure they are equipped for music activities and events.

Information and Examples

Local Example: Arts Council Wood Buffalo purchased a building in 2022 that will become an arts incubator with spaces for rehearsal and performance (additional article).  Additionally, Arts Council has also worked with Suncor Energy Centre for the Performing Arts and Keyano College to utilize their theatre spaces for live music.

Local Example: City of Medicine Hat worked with a private/public partnership to sell the historical Monarch Theatre with the intention of it remaining a unique, cultural hub for the community. (additional article)

Local Example: One participant shared, “Local bars have live music almost every weekend and they see a significant difference in terms of attendance and sales when there is music versus not.”

Info: How Multi-Use Venues Help Small Communities (article)

Info: A List of Alternative Venues, and Why You Should Be Playing Them (article)

Info: PA Speaker Buying Guide (an article to start considering what your spaces may need for sound, please note this is not an endorsement of the company that published the article)

Activate public spaces through outdoor musical performances and busking.

Local Example: Busking and Mobile Vending – Town of Sylvan Lake (notice the handy map to outline where busking is permitted)

Local Example: Buskers in Banff (again a map, conditions, and outlining applicable bylaws)

Local Example: Okotoks hosts an annual BuskerFest—a great way to introduce the public/businesses to a wide variety of local buskers

Info: The Positive Impacts of Busking On Cities (short article on the benefits busking can have in public planning)

Info: Street Performing Low Cost High Impact (article with examples of how busking can be successful, with suggestions about regulation)

Info: Effect of Street Performance (Busking) on the Environmental Perception of Public Space (results of 2 studies supporting the understanding “that street performance could make public space more visitable, more restorative, and more preferable”)

Explore the use of grants to increase music spaces by covering the cost of equipment, the costs of presenting live music in local businesses, or activating underused spaces.

Local Example/Resource: The City of Lethbridge offers the Re-Imagine Downtown Activation Grant supporting businesses, entrepreneurs, organizations, and community-minded individuals

Local Example/Resource: Red Deer’s Community Public Art Grant Program funds collaborative art projects between community groups and/or businesses, artists, and The City of Red Deer

Example/Resource: Arts Presenting Project Funding through the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Use the concept of the “venue ladder” to consider gaps in your local or regional music venues.

Info: See a description of the “Venue Ladder” pages 69–70 in Mastering a Music City.

Info: This recent study from the University of Toronto and Wavelength Music includes descriptions of types of music venues as well as innovative venues models (based on research focusing on Ontario)