Tulsa Music Strategy - Final Report

Tulsa Music Strategy Final Report Prepared for

January 2021

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction

5

1.1 About the Project

5

1.2 Building the Case for a Music Strategy in Tulsa

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1.3 Music Cities Resilience

8

1.4 Commitment to SDGs

9

1.5 Methodology and Sources

10

1.5.1 Stakeholder Engagement Methodology

10

1.5.2 Economic Impact Methodology

11

1.5.3 Survey Methodology

14

1.5.4 Asset Mapping Methodology

15

2. Music Ecosystem Overview

17

2.1 Tulsa At a Glance

17

2.2 Music Ecosystem Economic Impact Assessment

20

2.2.1 Direct Impact

21

2.2.2 Direct Employment and Wages

24

2.2.3 Indirect Impact

29

2.2.4 Induced Impact

31

2.2.5 Tulsa County in Comparison

33

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2.3 Music Asset Mapping

37

2.4 Music Ecosystem Survey

40

2.4.1 Demographic Groups

40

2.4.2. Music Ecosystem Role

43

3. Strategic Areas of Action

45

3.1 Strategic Framework

45

3.2 Governance, Leadership & Funding

46

3.2.1 Music & Culture Governance

46

3.2.2 Equity, Accessibility and Diversity in the Music Ecosystem

50

3.2.3 Grants, Funding and Incentives for Music

54

3.3 Music Promotion & Tourism

61

3.3.1 Music Tourism

61

3.3.2 Local Music Promotion and Consumption

66

3.4 Professionalization of Music Creatives & Industry

74

3.4.1 Characterization of Local Industry

74

3.4.2 Sources of Income

76

3.4.3 Skills, Creative and Career Development Opportunities

82

3.5 Regulations, Planning & Infrastructure 3.5.1 Licensing and Permits

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3.5.2 Planning, Zoning and Noise Regulations

95

3.5.3 Connectivity and Transportation

99

3.5.4 Health and Safety at Music Venues & Events

102

3.6 Implementation of Strategic Plan

106

3.6.1 Overview

106

3.6.2 Examples of Funding

106

4. Conclusion

111

5. Bibliography

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1. Introduction 1.1 About the Project Sound Diplomacy was engaged by the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts and Culture (FMAC) in early 2018 to lead a study of Tulsa’s music ecosystem. The project took off in January 2020 as the foremost study into the local music economy and the first to provide in-depth analysis and insight into the effects of music in the city.

The scope of this study was to determine Tulsa’s music economic impact, organize stakeholder engagement and deliver a comprehensive implementation plan to further develop Tulsa’s music offer. We performed an audit and gap analysis of existing infrastructure; identified areas of strategic investment; and opportunities for artist and industry incubation, leveraging local resources and assets. Additional research was also carried out to assess the short and long term effects, measures and precautions related to COVID-19.

The work was completed through the following process, with the findings outlined and summarized in the Strategic Areas of Action section of this report: 1.

Tulsa Music Economic Impact Assessment: Macroeconomic research based mainly on official, secondary sources and statistics, complemented by primary research conducted

by Sound Diplomacy.

2. Stakeholder Engagement: Online conversations with +40 stakeholders between May and August 2020.

3. Regulatory Desk Research: A brief overview of existing (and absent) music policies and how they affect the music ecosystem and its sustainability.

4. Tulsa Music Survey: An online survey that targeted music fans, music industry professionals and musicians that are based in Tulsa (or engage in music activities there). It received 323 complete responses and remained online for six and a half weeks, from July 8th to August 23rd, 2020.

Based on the findings, and in close coordination with Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts and Culture (FMAC), Sound Diplomacy developed an action plan for strengthening the health of the local music ecosystem over a five-year period. These recommendations are cross-referenced and

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affirmed by case studies and best practice guidance, and will lay the foundation to retain and attract music talent and businesses for Tulsa in the future.

ABOUT SOUND DIPLOMACY / www.sounddiplomacy.com Sound Diplomacy is the global expert in delivering economic growth to cities and regions, and the tourism and real estate sectors using strategies focused on music and the night time economy. They have worked in over 30 countries and with over 100 clients, spanning public, private and third sectors, such as the Greater London Authority (UK), the cities of Vancouver (CA), San Francisco (California), Huntsville (Alabama), New Orleans (Louisiana), Brisbane (AUS), Cardiff (UK), the regions of Northwest Arkansas (Arkansas) and Muscle Shoals (Alabama), and organizations such as the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

1.2 Building the Case for a Music Strategy in Tulsa Tulsa is the musical heart of Oklahoma, a big city with a small-town spirit. There are abundant options to enjoy live music in Tulsa any evening of the week, which is an asset appreciated by locals and visitors alike. Its location in the geographical center of the US has historically attracted a rich variety of touring acts that incubated a vibrant and unique live music offer. Jazz and blues musicians performed in Black Wall Street clubs at the beginning of the century, international pop stars have been routed to the BOK Center since 2008, and Cain’s Ballroom continues to program legendary concerts in almost any and every music genre. But despite its long-held importance to local culture, live music in Tulsa is in a vulnerable position: it lacks dedicated policies to protect and sustain the places where it exists, the artists that perform it, and the rest of professionals who make it all happen.

Every person engaged in this study agreed that there is vast music talent in Tulsa across genres and generations. However, the absence of a strategic development plan to leverage this talent and support its professionalization until now has encouraged locals to move to cities with bigger opportunities in order to develop their careers. The wealth of musical talent that Tulsa has seen over time has not realized the potential of the prosperous music industry that creates full-time job opportunities. Historically-famous Tulsa artists who achieved mainstream success in their respective genres – The Gap Band, JJ Cale, Leon Russell, and Hanson among others – all were supported by teams outside of the city. There are some exceptions to this, like the Tulsa-based Jim Halsey Company, which successfully represented national rock’n’roll and country stars until the 1980s.

Several efforts have been made at the local level to address the industry gap and promote the SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 6

development of the local music ecosystem. One of them came from the Tulsa Regional Chamber, which established the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (FMAC) in 2015, a deliberate action to promote and grow the creative talent in the region. Since then, Tulsa FMAC has delivered programs and events that have supported the outreach and professionalization of musicians, music organizations and professionals, in addition to leading and championing the creation of the present music strategy. Local philanthropic organizations and individuals continue to invest in music heritage to inspire future generations, whether these are inspiring exhibitions at the Woody Guthrie Center or reinventing the Church Studio to serve the needs of 21st century artists, to name two recent milestones.

It is imperative that Tulsa prioritizes its music artists and organizations to drive economic recovery, starting now. The devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide have led to a global urgency for the music sector to measure and address its economic, social and cultural impact to avoid losing decades of hard work and community-building. With the uncertain future of the billion-dollar live music sector,1 independent venues are advocating for increased government support to keep local music communities alive.2 Music industry investors are now exploring streaming and the recorded music sector as the most promising future for artists and businesses: publishing, live-streamed shows, synchronization in audiovisual and digital entertainment products are witnessing increased investment.3 These timely opportunities are captured in this roadmap to support Tulsa’s music ecosystem diversification and steady growth in the next five years.

The long-term future we propose in this action plan for Tulsa is equitable, confident, and colorful.

It creates diverse career development pathways for local artists and professionals, with more opportunities for full-time employment in music. It aims to protect local music venues so they can continue to offer shows in any genre and to people of all ages. It promotes Tulsa’s rich heritage and homegrown talent to the world. It supports and creates spaces for everybody to be seen and heard. By the end of 2026, anyone in Tulsa who wants to pursue a full-time music career should be able to do so successfully and on their own terms. Tulsa now has the roadmap to achieve that goal. It is time to secure the resources and partnerships to make it a reality.

1

Technavio (2020) Aswad, J. (2020) 3 Penick, B. (2020) 2

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1.3 Music Cities Resilience In May 2020, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sound Diplomacy published its Music Cities Resilience Handbook.4 The objective was to demonstrate the value of music not just on local economies, but also on the social and cultural development of a community. At the same time, it proposed a number of cost-neutral strategies, researched and tested from our work around the world, that cities and relative organizations can take to support the stabilization and recovery of the music ecosystem and in doing so, support the wider economic and cultural recovery simultaneously. While this report was written as the COVID-19 pandemic was unfolding, it is important to ensure that its findings are utilized in a manner that makes sense for the time we are in now, rather than before.

Music cities resilience is based on a number of key factors. The first is that music must be part and parcel of recovery discussions and decision making and to spur a more equitable recovery, music and cultural representatives must have a seat at the table. The data compiled in this study is supportive of that shift in recovery discussions and decision making, to better inform the role that music has on the wider economy.

Second, while much relief has been required to support creators and the music ecosystem, there is an opportunity to convert this relief into investment and, in the process, develop greater community resilience around music. Third, all support –be it financial, policy-based or incentive related– must be for all music, all genres and all disciplines.

Finally, the crisis demonstrates a need to produce explicit, intentional and deliberate policies and procedures specific to music, to ensure a wider, more equitable recovery. Speaking more directly to the sector through incentives, planning and licensing regulation, inclusive growth and professional development programs, for example, will involve a wider set of stakeholders, which will bring more music to the surface and more economic and social return to the community.

This is the crux of the Music Cities Resilience Handbook and its findings, which are meant to function as a continuum. The recommendations in this strategy have been designed with these elements in mind – music as a driver for economic resilience and equity, converting relief into long-term investment, and all-encompassing support – so music becomes a more economically, socially and culturally impactful sector in Tulsa.

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1.4 Commitment to SDGs We stress that the recommendations – and subsequent actions – of this research and findings must be as inclusive as possible. To support this, we have coordinated and written the recommendations in line with the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on three in particular and their targets:

#5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls ●

5.5 By 2030, Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic and public life

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5.7 By 2030, Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws

#8 Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all ●

Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services

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Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value-added and labor-intensive sectors

#11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable ●

11.3 By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries

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11.4 Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage

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Promoting good music governance and ensuring cities have safe and inclusive music spaces and night-time economy

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Promoting the recognition of music infrastructure within city development and urban planning

Each of the recommendations in this report reflect a desire to meet these aforementioned goals, so as to promote and ensure gender equality, ensuring musicians and music companies secure appropriate access to finance mechanisms, and promoting as diverse an array of music as possible.

1.5 Methodology Sound Diplomacy deployed its unique four-step methodological approach to deliver a comprehensive assessment of Tulsa’s music ecosystem.

Ecological Assessment: We did regulatory desk research, consisting of a brief overview of existing (and absent) music policies and how they affect the music ecosystem and its sustainability.

Stakeholder Engagement: We conducted a series of online conversations with +40 stakeholders between May and August 2020 and launched an online survey that targeted music fans, music industry professionals and musicians that are based in Tulsa (or engage in music activities there).

It received 323 complete responses between July 8th and August 23rd, 2020.

Quantitative Research: Macroeconomic research based mainly on official, secondary sources and statistics, complemented by primary research conducted by Sound Diplomacy, enabled an in-depth study of the economic impact of the music ecosystem in Tulsa.

Analysis of Findings and Recommendations: Based on the findings, and in close coordination with Tulsa FMAC, Sound Diplomacy developed an action plan for strengthening the health of the local music ecosystem over a five-year period. These recommendations are cross-referenced and affirmed by case studies and best practice guidance, and will lay the foundation to retain and attract music talent and businesses for Tulsa in the future.

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2. Music Ecosystem Overview 2.1 Tulsa At a Glance The findings below have been compiled using desk research, roundtables, interviews and survey analysis.

Table 4. Music Ecosystem SWOT

STRENGTHS ● Vibrant music, arts, and culture community which is appreciated by local people as an economic driver ● Affordable city for artists and music industry professionals ● Sustained philanthropy towards music from organizations and individuals ● Tulsa is the music leader in Oklahoma with the most music ecosystem establishments and the only competitive drum corp ● Tulsa Chamber has dedicated resources to attract professionals of any industry to the city ● World-class music venues and vibrant live music offer any day of the week, many of them for free ● Strong city support and investment for music-related tourist attractions

WEAKNESSES ● Small number of for-profit companies contributing to the music ecosystem ● Poor economic diversification in the local music economy, based mainly on live music, which has been devastated during the COVID-19 health crisis ● Gaps in creative and industry development infrastructure for locals (e.g. professional recording studios, clustering spaces) ● Absence of dedicated music leadership at the city and state level ● Lack of music industry undergraduate and graduate degrees locally, limited music undergraduate degrees ● Scarce and uneven remuneration within the industry for local creatives and professionals ● Limited access to music business roles (e.g. managers, agents), currently being outsourced to industry workers outside of Tulsa

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● Tulsa FMAC leverages music as a tourism asset and supports the promotion of the local scene ● The Oklahoma Film and Music Office provides information resources and incentives to the music sector ● Improved perception of Downtown Tulsa in the past 10 years

● Sparse presence of local music in local media and the public realm (e.g. busking) ● Regulatory gaps create an unsustainable music ecosystem (e.g. all-ages licensing, noise ordinance, planning) ● Uneven access to music education across public schools, mainly tied to athletic programs, school size and location

● Some education providers have introduced more non-traditional music education programs for high school students: sound recording at Tulsa Tech, record label program at McClain High School.

● Long distance to cities with large populations, limiting touring and business development opportunities

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

● Increased visibility of Tulsa in national media, including the Tulsa Race Massacre commemorations

● Uncertainty of the impacts of COVID-19 on the music sector in the medium- and long-term, including music tourism

● Expanding opportunities to monetize music globally (e.g. recording, licensing, sync, publishing, songwriting, scoring, audio post-production)

● Increased development and density in Tulsa’s urban core threatens the sustainability of music spaces with the current regulations

● Competition and increased cost of living in large cities in the US are encouraging the relocation/return of music artists and professionals

● Access to traditional forms of finance (i.e. bank loans) is a major challenge for music entrepreneurs due to a perception of the music industry as a high-risk investment

● Businesses provide more opportunity for remote working across sectors, particularly in tech industries, which can potentially increase Tulsa’s music audience

● Appeal of other mid-sized cities near Tulsa for career development (e.g.

Oklahoma City for music-related college degrees, Nashville for music industry)

● Increased national advocacy for music rights and industry support, particularly during COVID-19 and for social causes

● Tulsa’s economy and philanthropy relies on the energy sector which is susceptible to oil price fluctuations ● Ageing demographic targeted by Tulsa’s music branding and tourism assets (i.e. heritage, museums, casinos)

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● Growing music communities nearby can foster inter-regional synergies (Northwest Arkansas, Southwest Missouri) ● Music placemaking can activate vacant spaces and the public realm complying with social distancing

Table 5. Tulsa’s policy-related challenges

REGULATORY CHALLENGES

BEST PRACTICE FOR TULSA

Tulsa FMAC and Oklahoma Film and Music Office support the creative industries, but there is no dedicated music leadership at the local or state level.

Nashville’s Music City Music Council is a collaboration between the Mayor’s Office, Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Corp. Its focus is economic development, working to expand local business while attracting new businesses.5

Current liquor licensing restricts audience development for persons under 21 years of age. There is no license available for all-age performance spaces.

Milwaukee amended in 2019 its restrictive city codes to make it possible for venues to host all-ages shows and simultaneously serve alcohol to patrons 21 and over.6

No designated artist parking near music venues.

Austin, Seattle and Nashville all have artist loading and unloading zones.7

No Agent of Change principle or similar policy to protect new and existing music venues from property development changes.

London, San Francisco and the Australian state of Victoria have forms of the Agent of Change principle.8

Noise laws are imprecise with dB limits only provided for special events. Bars and restaurants must abide by specific sound limits only if they are located on lots abutting a residential zoned lot.

The noise ordinance in Austin establishes clear dB limits and curfews in the designated Entertainment Districts. They have pioneered a curfew extension for music venues in their Red River Entertainment district.9

There are 8 unique districts within Downtown Tulsa including Tulsa Arts District, but there is

Austin has six entertainment districts, each with unique laws regarding extended curfews for live music outdoors.10

5

Nashville Chamber of Commerce (2020) City of Milwaukee (2019) 7 City of Austin (2020a) 8 Music Venue Trust (2014) 9 Visit Austin (2020a) 10 Visit Austin (2020b) 6

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no designated Entertainment District defined through special policy.

No formal organization for musicians and industry professionals in Tulsa to advocate for standard pay, with national efforts focusing on orchestral, musical theatre and opera sectors.

Musicians Union UK’s Fair Play scheme could be applied to all Tulsa venues.11

2.2 Music Ecosystem Economic Impact Assessment Figure 1 summarizes the economic impact (direct, indirect, and induced) of the music ecosystem in Tulsa County for 2017. It generated and supported a total of 4,392 jobs (1.39% of the employment in the county). In the same year, the output generated by the music ecosystem was $335 million, its total GVA $198 million and the total compensation of the workers was $156 million.

Figure 1. Tulsa County Music Ecosystem Economic Impact, Output, Compensation and Employment 2017

The economic impact assessment shows that Tulsa County is the leading music city in Oklahoma with more music establishments than any other county (see figure 18, p. 36). The overarching 11

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themes of the findings are the predominant role of the live music industry in the local music economy. Most of the employment and output is created through touring acts coming into the city, with less economic contribution from local music artists and creatives in comparison. The recommendations in this strategy will address the need for sector diversification, the professionalization of the local creative and industry community, and the focus on equity for people regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability status or any other personal identification. The following sections give an overview of the direct, indirect and induced impact of the Tulsa County music ecosystem.

2.2.1 Direct Impact The direct impact reflects the economic value created directly by the activities of the music ecosystem. The music ecosystem produced a direct output of $173 million and an estimated GVA of $104 million. It was responsible for 2,761 direct jobs, and the compensation of these employees (including both the Professional & Supporting 12 and Artistic Segments13 ) reached $88 million.

The economic activities related to the Artistic & Creative Segment of the music ecosystem represented 4% ($7 million) of the direct output of the music sector, while the Professional & Support segment comprised 96% ($166 million).

According to our calculations, music ecosystem employment grew at a faster rate than the rest of the economy in Tulsa County until 2018, the last year with available official data. The direct employment in the music ecosystem grew 42% between 2004 and the end of 2018, while the growth of the employment of the rest of the economy grew 11.44% over the same period (see figure 2).

12

Professional & Support segment: According to the NAICS 2017, this segment includes music-related businesses such as manufacturing, publishing and distribution, managers and agents, music venues, radio broadcasting, and music education.

13 Artistic segment of the music ecosystem: According to the NAICS 2017, this segment comprises musicians (songwriters, music composers), music groups and performers.

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Figure 2. Tulsa County Music Ecosystem Economic Direct Employment 2004 - 2018 14

Of the total direct employment created by the music ecosystem, 93% (2,581) exists in the Professional & Supporting segment, while 7% (180) exists in the Artistic & Creative segment (see figure 3).

Figure 3.Music Ecosystem Direct Employment & Output by Segment 2017

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We excluded the economic activity ‘51511 Radio broadcasting’ when calculating the employment trend from the source Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. This exclusion was necessary since there was information of employment of that industry only from 2008 until 2014. Including it would have generated a distortion in the employment trend.

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The highest share of the employment within the Professional & Supporting segment is created within the “Live Music” sub-segment (50.6%). This category is followed by the “Other Supporting Activities”15 sub-segment with 46.6%, and the “Recording Industry” sub-segment with 2.8% (see figure 4).

These sub-segments contribute to the direct output of the Professional & Supporting segment differently. The “Recording Industry” sub-segment generated 9.8% of the segment output, while “Other Supporting Activities” & “Live Music” contributed 57.5% and 32.7%, respectively.

Each sub-sectors’ contribution is determined by the employment and output of that particular segment, which is why the contributions differ. In this case, the Live Music sub-segment requires more employees to provide its services, while the Recording Industry sub-segment needs fewer employees and more capital investment to provide its services, generating a bigger output (see figure 4).

Figure 4. Music Ecosystem Direct Employment & Output, Professional & Supporting Segment, 2017

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Other supporting activities groups instruments, supplies and records stores; radio broadcasting and music schools.

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To put the level of the direct employment in perspective, the direct employment generated by the music ecosystem in 2017 (2,761 jobs) represented the 0.87% of the workforce in Tulsa County, whereas traditional sectors such as construction or Finances & Insurance supported 6.49%16 and 4.47%,17 respectively. Meanwhile, industries like “Utilities” and “Agriculture and Foresting” supported 0.93% and 0.3% respectively18 (see figure 5).

Figure 5. Employees by Industry, 2017

2.2.2 Direct Employment and Wages Using the American Community Survey’s five-year estimates for 2013 to 2017, we compared the annual average income by economy (music ecosystem versus the rest of the economy) and by segment (Artistic & Creative and Professional & Supporting) in Tulsa County.19 Individual respondents were classified as part of the music ecosystem or part of the rest of the economy, based on the activities they identified as part of their career (see Appendix 3), and several variables: sex, age, race, area in the world they were born, level of education attained and class of workers (according to the type of employer).

16

U.S. Census Bureau (2017a) Ibid.

18 Ibid.

19 ACS PUMA codes used are: 01201 - Tulsa County (Central) - Tulsa City (Central), 01202 - Tulsa County (Southeast) Tulsa (Southeast) & Broken Arrow (West) Cities, 01203 - Tulsa County (North) - Tulsa (North) & Owasso Cities and 01204 - Tulsa (West), Creek (Northeast) & Osage (Southeast) Counties - Tulsa City (West).

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According to the American Community Survey (ACS) data, the majority of individuals (82%) in the music ecosystem in Tulsa County are employees of a private, for-profit company or business, or for an individual, for wages, salary, or commissions, similar to the rest of the economy (71%).

The Artistic & Creative segment has a diverse class of workers, where 32% are employees of a private, for-profit company or business, or for an individual, for wages, salary, or commissions, 37% are self-employed by their own not incorporated business, professional practice, 30% are employees of a private not-for-profit, tax-exempt, or charitable organization and 1% are unpaid family workers.

In the case of the Professional & Support segment 85% are employees of a private, for-profit company or business, or of an individual, for wages, salary, or commissions, 2% are self-employed by their own not incorporated business, professional practice and 3% are employees of a private, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, or charitable organization and 10% are government and unpaid family workers. This shows there are higher levels of informality faced by musicians and artists compared to industry professionals, which affects their workers’ rights and social security.

Figure 6 shows the annual average income over time in the music ecosystem and the rest of the economy in Tulsa County. The average annual income for the music ecosystem reached $25,035 between 2013 and 2017, while for the rest of the economy this figure reached $32,466, representing an average annual income gap of $7,431 (33%) and both segments follow a similar growth cycle. However, income growth or decrease periods in the Music Ecosystem are more drastic.

Figure 6. Average Annual Income by Economy

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Figure 7 shows that workers in the Artistic & Creative segment receive a 31% higher salary on average ($37,357) than those who are part of the Professional & Supporting segment ($24,592).

Data shows both segments follow a similar growth and decrease cycle, with the exception of 2013-2014, when the average income for the Professional & Supporting segment grew, while at the same time decreasing for the Artistic & Creative segment.

Figure 7. Average Annual Income by Segment

Figure 8 shows the average wage for men and women in the music ecosystem and the rest of the economy in Tulsa County. Within the music ecosystem, the income gap between women and men (106%) is more pronounced than in the rest of the economy (gap of 53%). There are no known statistics available for transgender, intersex and non-binary gender representations in music.

In turn, on average, men earn almost the same (8% gap) in the music ecosystem ($37k) as in the rest of the economy ($40k). The segment wage gap is more visible for women, who earn 45% less in the music ecosystem than women in the rest of the economy ($18k vs. $26k, respectively).

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Figure 8. Music Ecosystem Annual Average Income in USD

Figure 9 compares the average income by gender and music ecosystem segment. In the Professional & Supporting segment, men on average get paid twice as much as women ($36k vs. $18k, respectively). This difference is statistically significant (p-value = 0). For the Artistic & Creative segment, this is also visible, where men on average get paid above twice as much as women ($44k vs. $19k, respectively). The difference is also statistically significant (p-value = 0.0174).

The latter could be derived from the type of positions that men have within the sector, where men might be in higher-paying roles, which would have to be further researched to contextualize these findings.

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Figure 9. Music Ecosystem Annual Average Income by Sex and Segment in USD

Figure 10 displays the average income by race in the music ecosystem and the rest of the economy (white vs. people from all other races combined).20 In both cases, persons who identify their race as white earn more than people who identify as other races. In the rest of the economy, white-identifying workers earn 27.6% more than workers who identify as other races. This gap is greater within the music ecosystem, where white-identifying workers earn 39.6% more than workers identifying as other races.

Further research to contextualize these findings should be conducted to assess what gaps exist in equity and access to higher-pay positions and sub-segments for people of races other than white in Tulsa County’s music ecosystem.

20

Since the individuals in Tulsa are mainly white (70% for the music ecosystem and 71% for the rest of the economy), the classification of race was defined as ‘White’ and ‘Rest of races’ to maintain a statistically significant sample of non-white individuals. ‘Rest of races’ includes the rest of individuals who are Black, Native American, Alaska Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian, some other races alone or, two or more races, as defined by the ACS. SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 22

Figure 10.Tulsa Music Ecosystem Annual Average Income by Race

2.2.3 Indirect Impact The indirect economic impact is calculated by looking at the changes in the values of output, employment and compensation driven by suppliers of the music ecosystem. It represents the jobs and output generated by local businesses that supply goods and services to the Tulsa County music ecosystem. To calculate it, it is necessary to include the measurement of economic exchanges with suppliers that do not necessarily belong to the music ecosystem, such as advertising, video production, and even legal services, communication and transportation. This process is carried out using the Type I Multipliers, available in the BEA, RIMS II model for 2017.

In 2017, the indirect economic impact of the music ecosystem in Tulsa reached an output of $66 million and a GVA of $38 million. At the same time, it is estimated that 549 jobs in Tulsa were indirectly supported by the music ecosystem in 2017. The sum of the indirect earnings (compensation) reached $29 million.

To give an idea of the size of the indirect effect of the music sector on the local economy, it was estimated that $1,000 of output produced by the music sector is indirectly supporting $379 of the output of other industries in the city. This is due to the inputs from other sectors that are used for the production of goods and services in the musical sector.

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Figure 11 displays the output and employment breakdowns of the industries impacted indirectly by the music ecosystem. It was estimated that 47.2% ($30.9 million) of the indirect output effect of the Tulsa’s music ecosystem impacted the information sector,21 13.2% ($8.64 million) impacted the food services & drinking places sector, 11.8% ($7.72 million) impacted educational services and 7.8% ($5.09 million) impacted the arts, entertainment and recreation sector, among other industries.

Figure 11. Indirect Impact Output Breakdown, 2017

When assessing the breakdown of indirect employment, 39.3% (216 jobs) of the indirect jobs belong to the information sector, 15.5% (85 jobs) to the food services & drinking places sector, and 15.7% (85 jobs) to the education sector, among other sectors (see figure 12).

21

The main components of this sector are the publishing industries, including software; motion picture and sound recording industries; broadcasting industries, telecommunications industries; Web search portals, data processing industries, and the information services industries.

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Figure 12. Indirect Impact Employment Breakdown, 2017

2.2.4 Induced Impact The induced economic impact is the economic value (output, compensation and employment) derived from “the spending of workers whose earnings are affected by a final-demand change, often called the household-spending effect.”22 In other words, this impact is derived from the spending of workers whose wages are supported directly and indirectly by the Tulsa music ecosystem. This includes, for example, the money they spent on services, food, entertainment, transportation, etc.

The induced output of the music ecosystem in the region reached $96 million, a GVA of $56 million in 2017, and supported 1,082 jobs, with a compensation of $39 million.

The data shows that $1,000 of the music ecosystem output is generating an induced effect of $557 on different industries of the economy. According to the calculations, 31% ($29.42 million) of the induced output goes to the information sector, 13% ($12.32 million) to the food services and drinking places sector, and 8% ($8.06 million) to the arts, entertainment and recreation sector and educational services, among other industries (see figure 13).

22

RIMS II: An essential tool for regional developers and planners, page 53.

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Figure 13. Induced Impact Output Breakdown, 2017

At the same time, induced employment is mainly impacting the information sector (25.7%, or 277 employees), food services and drinking places 16.4% (177 employees), the arts, entertainment and recreation sector 10.3% (111 employees), and educational services 10.3% (111 employees), among other industries (see figure 14).

Figure 14. Induced Impact Employment Breakdown, 2017

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2.2.5 Tulsa County in Comparison CONTRIBUTION TO LOCAL EMPLOYMENT A variable that allows for comparing the development of the music ecosystem in different cities is the contribution of music employment to the local economy. This variable is represented in figure 15 for cities that also have music economic impact reports.23 The pink bar represents the percentage contribution of the music ecosystem to local employment and the blue bar represents the number of local employees supported by the music ecosystem.

In the case of Tulsa County, the music sector supports 1.39% of the county's employment, a rate above the national average contribution of music to local employment (1.3%). However, Tulsa ranks below other places with a strong music industry tradition, such as Austin or New Orleans, where the music sector supports 2.55% and 5.37% of the local employment respectively.

Figure 15. Music Ecosystem Total Employment, US Cities

23

The figures in the graph come from different sources with different methodologies and different years as reference.

We use them to compare the dimension of the music sector in different locations. Sources: TXP, Inc. (2016); Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce (2016); The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (2017); Musicians’ Association of Seattle (2015); and Siwek, Stephen E. (2018).

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MUSIC OUTPUT PER CAPITA Another variable that allows for comparing the level of industrial development of local music ecosystems is the music output per capita since it represents the economic resources generated according to the size of the population of a city, county or region. This variable is calculated by dividing the output of the music sector by the total number of residents in each of the locations that also have music economic impact reports.

The music output per capita of the United States is $444, while in Tulsa this figure reaches approximately $521 (see figure 16). In cities such as Austin and New York, which have high flows of music tourism and strongly consolidated industries, this figure is $1,899 and $1,604, respectively.

Figure 16. Music Ecosystem Output-Per Capita Comparator

MUSIC ECOSYSTEM OUTPUT PER SEGMENT When looking at the music ecosystem output contribution per segment of these local ecosystems, we found that the Artistic & Creative segment in Tulsa has a small contribution to the overall music ecosystem that is similar to other cities previously studied by Sound Diplomacy.

In Tulsa, the contribution of the Artistic & Creative segment to the music ecosystem output is 8%, while in cities such as Huntsville, AL or New Orleans this figure reaches 26% and 15%, respectively (see figure 17). These figures reflect a gap of musicians and creators (Artistic & SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 28

Creative segment) in Tulsa County who could benefit from the local, live music infrastructure, which may currently be primarily used by non-local artists.

Figure 17. Music Ecosystem Output by Segment Comparator

MUSIC ECOSYSTEM ESTABLISHMENTS Figure 18 shows the number of establishments of the music ecosystem per 10,000 county inhabitants in each county in Oklahoma, according to the County Business Pattern 2017.24 The darker the color of the area, the higher of establishments per capita in that specific county, over the total establishments in the state. For the grey colored counties, there is no data available.

Tulsa ranks the number 1 county in Oklahoma, with 3.9 establishments per 10,000 inhabitants.

24

County Business Pattern is an official source of information, however it does not include some establishments that might be classified in the incorrect NAICS (standard to classify economic business activity). To offset the gap, Sound Diplomacy performed a mapping of establishments, visible on the website.

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The counties that follow Tulsa are #2 Oklahoma County with 3.1 music establishments per 10,000 inhabitants, #3 Payne County with 2.94, #4 Garfield County with 2.92, and #5 Cleveland County with 2.7.25 Figure 18. Percentage of the Total Music Ecosystem establishments in Oklahoma, per 10.000 inhabitants per County, 201726

25

In order to avoid statistical cause bias, for the calculation of the number of music establishments per 10,000 inhabitants, counties with fewer than 10,500 inhabitants were excluded.

26 Source: United States Census Bureau (2017b) SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 30

2.3 Music Asset Mapping All the mapped assets are visible and shareable using Google Maps. Please use the following link to enlarge the different areas, filter assets per category and see assets’ names, categories and addresses where publicly available: http://bit.ly/TulsaMusicMap. The mapping has identified the following: LIVE MUSIC

● ● ● ● ● ●

89 Bars, Cafés and Restaurants with Live Music Performances (ticketed and free) 26 Multi-purpose Venues with Music (theatres, concert halls, venues for hire) 25 Large-scale Music Events 21 Nightclubs with Regular Music Programming 10 Dedicated Live Music Venues 4 Arenas with Concerts

The mapping also identified 14 live music places that ceased operations between 2017 and 2020.

MUSIC EDUCATION

● ● ● ●

39 Music Instructors 38 Music Schools 5 Music Museums 3 Universities/Colleges with Music Curriculum

MUSIC INDUSTRY & NONPROFITS

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

43 Audio/Music Recording Studios 26 Music Instrument & Equipment Stores 21 Music Radio Stations 7 Record Stores 7 Artists Management, Booking Agents, Music Promoters 6 Music Production & Manufacturing 4 Concert & Event Producers 4 Other Music Industry Businesses 3 Record Labels, Distribution, Music Publishing

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Figure 19. Map of Music Assets in Downtown Tulsa27

27

Source: Tulsa FMAC & Sound Diplomacy, August 2020 SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 32

Figure 20. Map of Music Assets in Tulsa County28

28

Source: Tulsa FMAC & Sound Diplomacy, August 2020. Please note this image has been cropped from the original digital map and not all assets appear.

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2.4 Music Ecosystem Survey Insights from the survey have been aggregated to the findings from the stakeholder engagement and the regulatory research. These are presented using “respondents” specifically referring to the artists, industry professionals, and audiences surveyed, and “stakeholders” used as an inclusive form for both interviewees and respondents.

2.4.1 Demographic Groups Questions about respondents’ gender, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, and disability(-ies) were included to investigate any inequality patterns in the music ecosystem among minority groups.

These were created reproducing U.S. Census categories and considering Tulsa’s demographic characteristics. Our survey added a ‘Prefer not to disclose’ option in all demographic questions, and a ‘Prefer to self-describe’ option in questions for ethnic, gender and LGBTQI+ self-identification.

Results show a predominant engagement of men (72% of respondents overall), as seen in figure 21 below. Looking at representation per role, there is a gendered access gap in the local music ecosystem. There were six times as many men than women in music creation roles (83% versus 13%), and there are three times as many males than female industry professionals in the surveyed sample (66% and 31%).29 Figure 21. Respondents gender self-identification, by role30

29

Female persons represent 51% of the population in Tulsa County. Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2020b). Because the sample of women and nonbinary/genderqueer audience respondents is close to that percentage, we assume the gender access gap applies mainly to creatives and industry professionals in Tulsa’s music ecosystem, considering the survey’s low margin of error.

30 Source: Tulsa Music Survey. Percentages have been rounded and therefore may not add up to 100% SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 34

Members of the LGBTQI+ community represented 9% of respondents. Among them, 61% were artists, 21% were industry professionals, and 18% members of the audience.

Overall, 29% of respondents identified as a non-white ethnicity. Independent of their ethnic self-identification, 6% of respondents identified as Latino/a, as figure 22 below shows.

Meanwhile, figure 23 shows the ethnic representation in the different roles surveyed. The creative group had the largest ethnic diversity of the three, with 59% in the group identifying as white compared to 76% of the industry and 74% of audiences. However, only 20% of the owner/CEO/general manager respondents identified as an ethnic minority.

Survey sampling reflected an underrepresentation of persons identifying as Latinx and/or Asian in comparison to general U.S. Census data for Tulsa: in the survey, Latinx respondents accounted for 7% (compared to 13% in Tulsa County) and Asian respondents represented 0.6% (compared to 3% in Tulsa County).31 Further research and outreach efforts should assess if the sample gap reflects any particular access challenges in the local music sector for these demographics.

Figure 22. Respondents ethnic self-identification overview32

31 32

U.S. Census Bureau (2020b) Source: Tulsa Music Survey. Percentages have been rounded and therefore may not add up to 100% SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 35

Figure 23. Respondents ethnic self-identification, by role33

The education levels reported by respondents showed a higher level of education compared to the general population statistics in Tulsa County – 53% of respondents reported having a Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent/higher certification, compared to 31% of the population in Tulsa County.34 Specific information on the respondent’s opinions on music-related higher education in Tulsa is addressed in Appendix 7.

Based on the 321 respondents who provided their age, those who participate in Tulsa’s music ecosystem were generally less than 40 years old, corresponding to the median age in Tulsa County of 35.5 (see figure 24). However, younger people were more involved in artistic roles – 61% of artists/musicians were born between 1980 and 2010). In contrast, 49% of industry professionals were over 40 years or older and 46% industry roles were millennials or younger.

33 34

Source: Tulsa Music Survey. Percentages have been rounded and therefore may not add up to 100% U.S. Census Bureau (2020b) SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 36

Figure 24. Respondents birth year, by role35

2.4.2. Music Ecosystem Role Figure 25 shows the respondent composition. The sample was mainly composed of music creatives, artists or musicians (56%), while 22% of respondents were industry professionals, and 22% represented the audience.

Although 72 respondents responded exclusively as members of the audience, artists and industry respondents could opt-in to answer audience questions as well. In total, 220 individuals responded to audience questions.

35

Source: Tulsa Music Survey. Percentages have been rounded and therefore may not add up to 100% SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 37

Figure 25. Respondent type

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3. Strategic Areas of Action 3.1 Strategic Framework This section outlines the key findings from the previously mentioned research phases. These are presented across four action areas, which also elaborate on how to address the weaknesses in the regulatory research.36 1.

2.

3.

4.

Governance, Leadership & Philanthropy Music Promotion & Tourism Professionalization of Music Creatives & Industry Infrastructure, Spaces & Places

The recommendations outlined below will help define Tulsa as a leader in the global music cities movement within the next five years. This will be achieved through the following objectives:

36

●

Strengthen and capitalize on the reputation of Tulsa as a music place to drive music-related tourism;

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Embrace and promote genre and talent diversity in music while honoring the roots and legacy of the Tulsa Sound;

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Increase music export through a combination of public and private support and foster deliberate collaborations with the film, TV, and digital media sectors;

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Increase resilience and equity within the Tulsa music ecosystem;

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Include music and culture in local governance structures, strategic economic recovery plans, and urban planning efforts;

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Secure equitable investment in music at all levels and for all genres;

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Ensure the participation of everyone in the music ecosystem regardless of their gender expression, ethnic identification, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, or disability status;

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Rebuild and rethink the economic foundation of Tulsa’s music ecosystem to diversify the industry, based on the needs and opportunities identified in this study;

Additional research and actions for the area of Music Education are presented in Appendix 7.

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●

Lead with best practices in remuneration, incentivization, and access to finance mechanisms to grow the number of local full-time jobs in music;

●

Leverage existing music infrastructure and resources for professional development to help attract and retain music talent and industry.

The recommendations address these objectives in the context of short-term action (year one), mid-term action (years two and three), and long-term action (years four and five).

3.2 Governance, Leadership & Funding 3.2.1 Music & Culture Governance In the last 20 years, Tulsa’s local government has committed to diversifying the local economy away from the energy industry, prompted by national recessions. Music, culture and entertainment are part of the city’s economic foresight, as outlined in ‘Vision 2025: Foresight 4 Greater Tulsa’. This strategy saw a $0.01 increase in Tulsa County Sales Tax over a 13-year period for regional economic development and capital improvement/community infrastructure projects.

One of these public-private development partnerships was the 19,199-seat BOK Center, which until the pandemic, regularly hosted headliner concerts and various events.37 Stakeholders noted that there is no centralized, dedicated music leadership or ancillary position at the state or city level that directly supports music and shares information with other city departments. Tulsa FMAC provides valuable support to the music industry. However, there are mixed opinions among stakeholders on the organization’s commitment to music since it is also strongly involved with the film sector and it does not have dedicated executives or managers for its music programs. Tulsa FMAC could work with other existing non-music government programs to further target the music sector, according to stakeholders. The two most important are TYPROS 38 (including Tulsa Remote) and Tulsa Global Alliance,39 which would be appealing to the music sector after slight changes to their communication and scope.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased advocacy at the national level for the live music sector, artists and industry professionals. New associations such as the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) now complement the existing national unions and associations that, in most cases, are mainly focused on the orchestral, musical theatre and opera music sectors (e.g. American Federation of Musicians, 37

Program Management Group (n.d.)

TYPROS Arts & Entertainment Crew (2020) 39 Tulsa Global Alliance (2020) 38

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American Guild of Musical Artists, SAG-AFTRA). Despite the momentum, only 24% of artists surveyed in Tulsa are part of an informal artist collective/network, and about 6% of creatives are part of a musicians’ organization or guild.

There is no formal local organization in Tulsa for music creatives and/or industry professionals, as noted by interviewees, with the exception of associations in the music education realm. The community support and collaborative spirit of Tulsans was repeatedly mentioned during interviews and roundtables. Approximately 86% of survey respondents agree it’s important or very important for them to collaborate and network more with musicians and the music industry in Tulsa.

Action 1: Create the Tulsa Music Committee Focus: Create a committee specifically for music with representatives of Tulsa FMAC, local government organizations, foundations, music nonprofits, music businesses and professionals that meets regularly to advance actions in the music ecosystem.

Goals: ● ● ● ●

Implement the Tulsa Music Strategy by allocating shared responsibilities; Connect with the day-to-day experience of the music community; Grow the advocacy of, and leverage the music sector in government, industry and philanthropy sectors in Tulsa; Lead with good practice in governance as an inclusive music ecosystem.

How to implement it: ●

●

Tulsa FMAC should oversee the process of creating a committee that includes representatives from its organization, a diverse group of members from the music community, economic development stakeholders in the City of Tulsa, and the main foundations and philanthropic organizations; This committee should be located under the Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce, leveraging the advocacy efforts already made by Tulsa FMAC, and work in close collaboration with the City of Tulsa to allow for fast collaboration and implementation with other City departments;

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●

Terms of Reference must be written at the creation of the committee which prospective members will need to agree to, as well as declare any conflict of interest before being accepted.

According to the findings of the study and the experience of other music committees and boards that have been set up in cities around the world, it is recommended that the Tulsa Music Committee adopts the following structure: ●

● ●

● ●

Consist of 10-12 volunteer members, split between 60% music professionals and 40% from government and other industries, a 50/50 gender split, and reflect the diversity of the city, ensuring the participation of minority groups; The committee would be a 12-month membership, extendable to 24 months; The setup includes a chair, a co-chair (as an assumed chair-in-training and backup if the Chair is unavailable), a secretary and members. Guests and observers can be invited on a meeting by meeting basis, either to present on a topic (Guest), or to sit in on a meeting (Observer); The Chair should propose the agenda, and members are encouraged to suggest agenda items; The Secretary may also act as the strategic steer to the committee, organizing the content of the meetings and pushing the committee’s work forward through policy work, research, and inviting appropriate guests and observers to specific meetings.

The main activity of the committee would consist of regular meetings to assess current issues and liaise with external stakeholders on the implementation of the Tulsa Music Strategy, with consideration of the following directions: ● ● ●

Depending on their area of expertise, members may be asked to carry out actions within a deadline through the course of their membership; Different working groups or sub-committees should be set up to focus on relevant topics.

The working groups can be temporary to meet specific needs; Meetings could take place in the music hub proposed in Action 8 to reinforce its relevance to the local music community.

When to Implement: Year 1 (2021-2022) to be maintained long-term.

Potential Partners: Tulsa FMAC, TYPROS, Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce, George Kaiser Family Foundation, City of Tulsa Economic Development Commission, Special Events/Board of Adjustment.

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How to Measure It: ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Number of actions from the Tulsa Music Strategy implemented every year; Number of committee meetings held per year; New music initiatives launched by the committee; Number of requests from Guests and Observers to participate per year; Number of interactions with the wider community (e.g. surveys, open calls for comments); Amount of funding allocated towards music projects every year; Press mentions on the Tulsa Music Committee.

Best Practice Case Study - Huntsville Music Board, AL40 What Is It: A nine-member volunteer citizen advisory committee appointed by the City of Huntsville, AL in January 2020. Members represent a wide diversity of backgrounds and roles in the music ecosystem, including music industry professionals, artists, music community leaders, managers of nonprofit organizations, journalists and educators. Its main purpose is to pursue recommendations outlined in the Huntsville Music Audit, creating opportunity and connections within the community. The board hosts four subcommittees dedicated to education, policy, community, and PR/marketing. Its website (www.huntsvillemusic.org) also includes a compilation of event calendars for music in Huntsville, resources for artists, venues and industry professionals (e.g. local ordinances and policies, music history, training), and a blog with music news in Huntsville.

Who Is Responsible? The City of Huntsville created the board, spearheaded by the efforts of Mayor Dennis Madsen, Jessica Carlton, Allison Dillon-Jauken, and secretariat Sound Diplomacy.

What Has It Done? Huntsville is the first city in the US to have a music advisory board. The key recommendations to deliver by 2021 are to establish a music officer and music board support (underway), creating a music policy guide for professional development (underway), and delivering a regular music ecosystem health check (planned).

Relevance for Tulsa: The diversity of members and objectives represented in the Huntsville Music Board should inspire Tulsa’s own committee. As Huntsville’s board is appointed by its Mayor, it shows the city is committed to supporting the music sector and implementing its music strategy. Another key aspect for streamlining responsibilities is to organize the committee in separate subcommittees, as suggested in the recommendation, so each stakeholder can work with specific groups and objectives. This will facilitate communication with external agents and monitoring implementation progress.

40

Huntsville Music Board (2020) SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 43

3.2.2 Equity, Accessibility and Diversity in the Music Ecosystem The Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity works on implementing the 2018 Resilient Tulsa Strategy and its Equality Indicators to build a more equitable and resilient community.41 Tulsa Regional Chamber has Mosaic, a dedicated coalition of companies and nonprofit partners that champion the development of diverse and inclusive workforces in Tulsa.42 The George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) is the main NGO advancing equity and accessibility objectives in Tulsa.

Its ‘Vibrant and Inclusive Tulsa’ framework is designed to improve the quality of life in Tulsa and to provide equal opportunities to all children across three priority areas: Arts & Culture, Economic Development, and Neighborhood Development.43 Some of the music-related investments GKFF has done in Tulsa’s Arts District and Greenwood include:44 ●

The establishment of Guthrie Green after identifying the need for a green space for cultural events in the Tulsa Arts District. All of its events are free of charge to the public;

●

The Tulsa Artist Fellowship which provides 50 fellowships, including a yearly stipend and housing in Tulsa's Arts and/or Greenwood Districts, to a diverse community of artists and arts workers;

●

Opening the Woody Guthrie Center, which aside from operating as an archive of the late musician Woody Guthrie, provides music education resources, outreach and programs for social justice.

The analysis on employment and wages carried out in the economic impact assessment identified large wage gaps among women and non-white workers in the music industry. This is tied to the negative ratings received in the survey for “diversity and inclusiveness in the music community”, which was considered ‘very bad’ by 37% of Black or African American respondents and 33% who prefer to self-describe their ethnicity, compared to 2% of white respondents.

Several stakeholders and survey respondents expressed concern about Tulsa’s affordability in the medium and long-term, particularly for artists, given the increased levels of development in the Downtown area, which can increase the existing racial inequality.

Equity in access to live music was a common theme among several stakeholders and survey respondents in the open comments. It was argued that ticket prices had become unaffordable at

41

City of Tulsa (2019) Mosaic (2020) 43 George Kaiser Family Foundation (2020a) 44 George Kaiser Family Foundation (2020b) 42

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some larger venues, and that it was important to program free concerts, particularly in public spaces, to ensure live music remains accessible.

Stakeholders called for genre agnosticism in music funding and advocacy to bring more equity to the local community. Survey results show the interest towards the government championing all genres of music (overall, 69% of respondents say it’s very important and 21% it’s important), followed by achieving equal access to support (overall, 60% say it’s very important and 18% it’s important), and to have inclusive and diverse music leadership and advocacy groups (55% say it’s very important and 23% it’s important).

LOCAL HIGHLIGHT: Fire in Little Africa45 What Is It? More than 50 Oklahoma rappers, singers, producers, musicians and visual artists researched the history of Black Wall Street and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and gathered for five days of creative collaboration and recording sessions in Tulsa during March 2020. The recording sessions were hosted at The Greenwood Cultural center and the former mansion of Tulsa’s founding father and Klansman W. Tate Brady, who was directly complicit in the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Who Is Responsible? The project was supported by the Woody Guthrie Center and Bob Dylan Center, among other Tulsa-based organizations. The executive producer is Stevie Johnson, manager of education and diversity outreach for the Archives of American Song, who coordinated an executive team of three artist leads, a marketing director, a documentarian and a creative director.

What Has It Done? The compilation hip-hop album ‘Fire in Little Africa’ will be released internationally in 2021 for the centenary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. The project has also incited a podcast, a record label and publishing company, a permanent recording studio in the mansion, a documentary and a school curriculum for students from middle school to college level.

45

Information retrieved from one-on-one interviews with project producers Dr. View, Steph Simon and Chris Davis.

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Action 2: Create a ‘Diversity & Inclusion’ Pledge for Music Focus: Create a set of recommendations for Tulsa’s music organizations that advances diversity and inclusion in the local music ecosystem, in line with the Resilient Tulsa Strategy and the Tulsa Equality Indicators.

Goals: ● ● ● ● ●

Set and measure the standards for equality, diversity and inclusion in Tulsa’s music organizations; Give visibility to and create more learning, artistic and professional development opportunities for underrepresented groups in the music ecosystem; Give visibility to and advocate for fair deals in the music sector; Increase full-time music employment in the music ecosystem; Retain professionals throughout the development of their careers.

How to implement it: ●

●

● ●

● ●

Tulsa FMAC should meet with the Tulsa Music Committee, the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity, Mosaic and other relevant stakeholders to design an inclusive support pledge that provides equitable opportunities for artists and professionals, as well as encouraging sustainable economic growth; The pledge would consist of a set of best practices that organizations can voluntarily adhere to. It should be hosted under the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity and promoted throughout the music ecosystem by Tulsa FMAC and Tulsa Music Committee; A special badge or other physical and digital distinction should be provided to pledging organizations to show their support to the local music ecosystem; Adhering to the standard should provide organizations with better scoring to access grants or other economic/financial benefits managed by the City of Tulsa, or with a similar incentivization considered by the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity; A public mention of recognition to the organizations best adhering to the pledge should be awarded each year; To measure change, the Tulsa Music Committee and the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity should annually monitor the compliance of pledging organizations.

Examples of principles the pledge could incorporate: ●

Build trust and representation of underserved groups in the local music industry;

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●

● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Champion equity in the music sector for women and gender nonconforming persons, people of color, LGBTQ+, differently-abled musicians and music industry professionals and other underserved communities; Create a strong development pipeline for talent in historically underserved communities in Tulsa, particularly for people of color; Empower senior musicians and music professionals to continue teaching and inspiring the next generation in the local music sector; Advocate for increased financial support in government, philanthropy and in the private sector; Set a minimum hourly rate standard for performing artists; Commit to producing a minimum of all-ages shows per month; For venues and businesses with background music, commit to paying performing rights organizations’ fees; Commit to using locally recorded and produced music in marketing and advertising when possible.

When to Implement: Year 1 (2021-2022) to be maintained long-term.

Potential Partners: Tulsa FMAC, Tulsa Music Committee, Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity, Mosaic, Tulsa Arts Commission, Arts Alliance Tulsa, George Kaiser Family Foundation.

How to Measure It: ● ● ● ●

Number of organizations pledging to the standard yearly; Average salaries in the music economy by role, gender and ethnicity; Number of full-time jobs in the music ecosystem by role; Percentage of workers who self-identify as senior/highly experienced in their career.

Best Practice Case Study - Fair Play, Musicians Union (UK)46 What Is It: The Musicians’ Union advocates and promotes activism for musicians in the UK. In 2012, its work led to the Fair Play venue scheme, which aims to “recognize good practice and stamp out the unfair treatment of musicians”. Venues can adhere to the scheme by supporting the fair treatment of musicians and opposing pay-to-play and unfair ticketing deals. The Fair Play guide contains advice for self-promoting artists in areas such as fair co-promotion deals, participating in competitions and showcase events and submitting applications to perform at festivals. Musicians can submit their positive experiences at venues to get the owners involved in the Fair Play scheme. After evaluation, the venues receive a sticker to display as the badge 46

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of their respect for artists.

Who Is Responsible? The initiative is led by the UK Musicians’ Union, but is supported by the Mayor of London.

What Has It Done? As of 2020, the database contains over 130 venues across the UK that adhere to the scheme.

Relevance for Tulsa: Such a scheme, seen as a way to elevate the value of Tulsa’s spaces and places, will create a more welcoming music ecosystem and demonstrate to artists that all spaces and places are talent development partners, not adversaries. Establishing a fair play program is coherent with the mission of the Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Equity and will show the city values music and wants to keep it alive in the future. This initiative can be tied to a minimum wage for projects or businesses benefiting from the music industry investment program in Action 3.

3.2.3 Grants, Funding and Incentives for Music Our research shows there are no Tulsa-based organizations and programs that directly grant or sponsor individual musicians or bands except for the Tulsa Artist Fellowship (managed by GKFF), which is open for contemporary artists and art workers of any discipline.47 Arts Alliance Tulsa supports nonprofit music organizations on a local level, and 12 of its 43 grant recipients in 2020 work directly with music.48 Red Dirt Relief Fund’s emergency support for Oklahoma-based individual musicians had benefited 50% of the artists surveyed in the study who said they had received a grant for their music activities.49 Launched in September 2020 and still ongoing at the time of this report, Play Tulsa Music (managed by Tulsa FMAC) supports COVID-19 recovery efforts by providing grants to grassroots venues that hire local artists and comply with Tulsa Health Department’s reopening guidelines.50 The philanthropy, sponsoring and funding support available to nonprofit organizations in Tulsa has been praised by stakeholders throughout the study, particularly for the support received during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, 44% of the surveyed audience had donated to a local music fundraiser in 2020. All of the nonprofit organizations surveyed have previously received a grant for their music activities, and 18% of for-profit organizations and 20% of industry professionals have also received grants for their music activities. Only 12% of surveyed

47

Play Tulsa Music (2020b) Arts Alliance Tulsa (n.d.)

49 Red Dirt Relief Fund (2017a) 50 Play Tulsa Music (2020a) 48

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musicians have received a grant for their music activities. Responses to not having benefitted from a grant remain consistent across demographic groups.

The music industry in Tulsa, and the wider U.S., is disadvantaged in accessing traditional forms of finance, such as business lines of credit or bank loans for small businesses. Any music business endeavor is mostly considered a high-risk investment by lenders.51 Many artists and entrepreneurs also lack the financial literacy to seek out and compare different forms of lending and funding. Often artists and entrepreneurs in music lack collateral assets, while those who do are given loans at very high-interest rates.

The most voted priority investment in the survey was to increase the grants to support artists and music organizations, as figure 26 below shows. In total, 56% of surveyed artists and industry would like to see more tax incentives to support music businesses. Several stakeholders suggested financial or tax incentivization to attract and/or create ancillary music business services in Tulsa since there are currently no music-specific incentives for industry development or entrepreneurship. The economic impact assessment in this study indicates low participation of the music ecosystem in the overall economy in Tulsa and a strong dependence on the live music industry and touring artists. With the exception of one organization (which claimed a home office deduction), none of the other industry survey respondents have ever benefited from a tax incentive or rebate for their music activities.

Figure 26. Desired increased support in governance, creatives and industry52

51 52

Loan.com (2020) Source: Tulsa Music Survey. Respondents could select up to three options, therefore results do not add up to 100%.

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Action 3: Launch a Music Industry Investment Program Focus: Develop a package of matching grants and financial incentives aimed at musicians, industry professionals and music businesses in Tulsa to address three economic development areas: sector diversification, intellectual property (IP), and equity.

Goals: ● ● ● ● ● ●

Support the recovery of the local music economy during and after the COVID-19 economic crisis; Grow the economy of IP and music services in Tulsa; Increase the participation and equity of women, those who identify as ethnic minorities and other underrepresented groups in the local music industry; Raise the quality of professional music services and facilities available in Tulsa to attract artists to record and perform; Encourage investment in property development, expansion, refurbishment and/or equipment purchases; Increase the availability of commercial, original local music prepared and ready for export and promotion.

How to implement it: ●

● ● ●

The Tulsa Music Committee, in consultation with the local music community, should lead the design of a program of matching grants and financial incentives that lasts over a five-year period; The program should be developed with local and state legislators to consider the funding and bureaucratic resources available each year; Grants and incentives in the program should be eligible for Tulsa-based individual artists, musicians, and industry professionals, as well as music businesses; Funding allocation should have equity guidelines and prioritize groups who are currently underrepresented in the ecosystem such as women, people of color, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community, for instance by awarding a higher matching percentage in their applications.

The study has identified three strategic industry development areas in need of financial support that should be core to the development of this investment program:

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● ●

●

Diversifying the local music economy to increase its resilience and reduce its current dependence on live music venues and touring acts; Encouraging the creation and licensing of music IP, developing and strengthening businesses and activities in the recording music industry value chain such as music production and engineering, songwriting, beat-making, composition, licensing, publishing, synchronization, etc.; Increasing equity across genres and demographics by accounting for the need to include, fund and empower underrepresented individuals and communities in the Tulsa music ecosystem.

The study has also identified the following gaps in activities and projects to sustainably develop the music ecosystem and should be encouraged for funding in the investment program: ● ● ● ● ●

Internships and traineeships for youth; Continuing education for adults (e.g. workshops, mentorships, job shadowing); Employee recruiting and training; Professional development events outside of Oklahoma such as industry conferences, showcase performances, or promotional events (e.g. album release tour, product launch); Marketing and advertising for the promotion of recorded music and live music events.

In addition to the funding program detailed above, we recommend setting up a dedicated form of support for the duration of the program, such as a ‘drop-in consultancy’. Applicants and beneficiaries could book time with an expert to learn about the programs, receive support on how to submit successful proposals, learn how to create a project/business/career development plan, and be redirected to other useful resources, such as the Music Licensing & Export Division conceived in Action 7.

When to Implement: Year 2 (2021-2022) to be released through Year 5 (2025-2026).

Potential Partners: Tulsa Music Committee, Tulsa Regional Chamber, Tulsa Mayor’s Office, TEDC Creative Capital, Oklahoma Film & Music Office.

How to Measure It: ● ● ● ●

Number of applications, beneficiaries and amounts awarded in the stimulus package incentives yearly; Economic impact of the Tulsa music economy 2019-2026, addressing industry sectors, workers’ gender and ethnicity; Share and revenue contribution of the local recording music sector yearly; Number of songs registered and licensed by Tulsa artists; SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 51

● ● ● ● ●

Synchronization placements of music by Tulsa artists in films, TV, digital entertainment, or other products; Number of artists outside of Tulsa served at local studios yearly; Share and revenue contribution of the local recording music sector; Development and/or registry applications for music businesses; Reported measures of Tulsa artists’ success outside the city, e.g. sales and streams, tour dates and press mentions.

Best Practice Case Study - Creative Saskatchewan Music Investment Programs (Canada)53 What Is It: Matching grants and partial subsidies are available for the following music activities and projects developed by Saskatchewan-based artists and/or businesses: sound recordings (demos, singles, EPs and LPs), tour support (minimum six paid live performances in multiple cities), market travel (e.g. after receiving an invitation to a showcase), micro-marketing (for market and export development), business capacity (e.g. taking a business skills course, attending a business conference), undertake industry research (e.g. market or competitive research, emerging technologies), and open submission projects. The Creative Saskatchewan website clearly describes the applications’ steps and expectations, offers one-on-one consultations, and advises how to approach sponsors to collaborate on the activity/project.

Who Is Responsible? Creative Saskatchewan, the provincial government organization to advance the commercial success of the creative industries and producers in Saskatchewan, Canada.

What Has It Done? Although there are no expenses differentiated for music applicants, over CA$2 million was allocated in 2019-2020 through grant programs where musicians and music professionals were eligible.54 Relevance for Tulsa: The structure of the funding and the types of activities supported by Creative Saskatchewan can be an inspiration for Tulsa FMAC and other funding stakeholders, since their areas align with the main funding challenges identified in Tulsa’s music ecosystem – recording, skills development, touring, and marketing/promotional resources. Saskatchewan’s geography is relatively isolated in the middle of Canada with 1.17 million residents. Its economy largely relies on the energy sector (26% of the province’s PIB in 2019) and is experiencing a growth in investment in the past decade, very similar to Tulsa County.55 Saskatchewan’s government allocates a CA$70 million budget towards “Parks, Culture and Sport”, which makes the creative sectors less dependent on private sponsorships/funding and philanthropy to grow as businesses.

53

Creative Saskatchewan (2020) Saskatchewan Arts Alliance (2019) 55 Government of Saskatchewan (2020) 54

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Action 4: Set up an Online One-Stop-Shop for Tulsa Music Resources Focus: Create a website that encompasses music-related resources for two main groups: Tulsa artists and industry professionals, and Tulsa residents/visitors.

Goals: ● ● ● ● ●

Create a comprehensive website containing the music ecosystem agents, assets and services available in Tulsa; Make it easier for locals and visitors to discover, engage with and purchase Tulsa music, local music services and music activities; Make it easier for artists, industry professionals and businesses to connect with each other and find the resources and services they need; Assist the promotion of local music, music places, services, and activities; Further integrate Tulsa FMAC and Visit Tulsa into the local music community.

How to implement it: ● ● ●

●

●

Tulsa FMAC should set up and maintain a website that includes a comprehensive directory of artists, music businesses and music-related services available in Tulsa; The website should provide information related to artists, venue listings, an industry directory, funding and services available, building upon the Tulsa Creativity Database; Visit Tulsa should collaborate in the maintenance of the audience-related information including a calendar of events, a list of music places and experiences, information about Tulsa’s music history, music asset maps, and written/audiovisual content, building upon the updated website PlayTulsaMusic.com; The website should provide guidelines and information for people who would like to hire a Tulsa musician or license a song made by a Tulsa artist, linked to Action 7 for the creation of a music export division; The promotion of this website is linked to Action 6 for the development of a music appreciation and consumption campaign.

When to Implement: Year 2 (2022-2023) to be maintained long-term.

Potential Partners: Tulsa FMAC, Visit Tulsa, Tulsa Arts Commission.

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How to Measure It: ● ● ●

Website visitors; Number of entries added to the website’s databases monthly; Conversion rate.

Best Practice Case Study - Music Export Memphis56 What Is It: The organization attempts to attract new talent to live and work locally in Memphis, and give local musicians opportunities to perform outside the city. Their main areas of action are offering ‘Experiences’ at events outside of Memphis that feature local talent and culture, manage an ‘Export Bank’ of national and global partnerships, and provide financial support in the form of grants. Their main grant programs are ‘Ambassador’ (to fund five or more tour dates held outside the state for Memphis-based musicians) and ‘Industry scholarships’ (to attend music industry conferences and other professional events outside of Memphis).

Who Is Responsible? Music Export Memphis, a nonprofit group founded in 2015.

What Has It Done? In 2019, Music Export Memphis paid more than $50,000 to musicians across all of their programs, and artists supported by MEM were featured in popular music media outlets, such as NPR, Paste Magazine, American Songwriter and No Depression. They have built a strong network of local, national and international partnerships that not only improve local opportunities, but also opportunities abroad for enhanced music tourism and more vibrant music ecosystems.

Relevance for Tulsa: Music Export Memphis is powered by an independent organization with no government support which allows for greater flexibility with fundraising and industry outreach. A relevant starting point for Tulsa is the ‘Export bank’ (which relates to Action 7), a mediation and network-building service to develop and leverage partnerships to create more performance and feature opportunities for Memphis artists. Their ‘Industry Scholarship’ grants for professional development are also a best practice for Tulsa to encourage more participation in conferences and showcase events outside of Oklahoma.

56

Music Export Memphis (2020) SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 54

3.3 Music Promotion & Tourism 3.3.1 Music Tourism MUSIC TOURISM ASSETS The city is committed to investing in music tourism. The strategy ‘Destination Tulsa2025’ was created by Tulsa Regional Chamber to attract tourism, investment and to develop and retain talent.57 Tulsa2025 recommends the creation of a Tulsa College of Arts and Design, a music incubator and the promotion of Oklahoman creative talent, which aligns with the purpose of this music strategy.58 This will be key to Tulsa’s competition with Oklahoma City, as the strategy states that it is transforming into Oklahoma’s creative capital.

Stakeholders highlighted the strong city support and investment for music-related tourist attractions (BOK center, OK Pop, Woody Guthrie Center, Bob Dylan Archives). The music museums focus on music heritage (both local and foreign to Tulsa) and target an ageing demographic, although they include educational outreach programs in their mission. Another key asset that promotes music heritage tourism in Tulsa is the state-wide Rhythm and Routes music trail, showcasing renowned artists and iconic music places, which includes some music trails that take place exclusively in Tulsa and others that are part of statewide journeys.

The majority of stakeholders and survey respondents felt that historic associations to the Tulsa music scene limit awareness, appreciation and growth. They argued that the Tulsa Sound, despite being a widely recognized and celebrated aspect of the city’s historic music scene, neglects the current music scene. This corresponds with comments about investment allocated towards heritage to inspire current talent, rather than addressing the needs of current talent.

Several stakeholders and survey respondents argued Tulsa lacks a flagship city festival that attracts industry professionals, showcases local talent and generates tourism. Despite this, the mapping conducted by Tulsa FMAC and conversations with stakeholders’ show potential for many local celebrations to brand Tulsa as a festival city. There were mentions of Jim Halsey’s annual “Tulsa Ranch Parties” that brought national talent buyers, journalists and industry sales and marketing professionals in the 1970s for a broadcast music festival and golf tournament.

Stakeholders also lamented the loss of two large downtown multi-venue festivals, Center of the Universe (2013-2015) and Dfest (2002-2009). The latter featured industry panels, a trade show

57 58

Resonance (2016) Ibid.

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and professional development activities. The main sustainability challenges reported by the interviewed promoters were sponsorships and fundraising.

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE LOCAL SCENE One key PR piece that was set to promote music tourism to Tulsa before the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded is the Rolling Stone piece “Why Tulsa Might Be the Next Austin”, published in January 2020.59 Although it did not directly target tourists in its media strategy, Fire in Little Africa has received national press from Grammy, Bloomberg, Business Insider and others since April 2020, putting Tulsa’s music scene in the media by highlighting the history of the Tulsa Race Massacre and its influence on hip-hop culture and the Tulsa music scene.60 Stakeholders expressed uncertainty over the impacts of COVID-19 on the music sector in the medium and long-term, and particularly music tourism. A repeated demand from stakeholders was to increase municipal support in promoting music activities and artists to locals and visitors.

Many argued that the city’s largest venues and international/touring acts are featured and promoted in tourist information materials instead of promoting local artists and smaller venues that actually contribute to Tulsa’s unique musical identity.

Tulsa’s reputation as a music place was the top-rated area of Tulsa’s music ecosystem (32% rated it ‘very good’ and 40% ‘good’), as figure 31 below shows. However, the presence of music in non-music events received the most negative ratings (18% rated it ‘very poor’ and 31% ‘poor’), including 100% of respondents who identified as Black or African American (compared to 44% who identified as white). It demonstrates that music is integrated into the wider community, yet the experience differed by ethnic representation, which could also affect diversity of tourist appeal.

Placing local musicians and venues more prominently within local promotional initiatives and international tourism strategies will also help professionalize the music ecosystem. Stakeholders argued that local music should be integrated into other tourist attractions, suggesting the Tulsa Botanic Garden, The Tulsa Zoo and Philbrook Museum. Encouraging buskers in tourist areas would also give more artistic development to local musicians while providing them with additional income. In terms of merchandise, artists interviewed wanted support in distributing merchandise at key tourist locations such as the airport. For many, it was vital for artists to become more present in places across the city. Venues, on the other hand, envisioned the city’s role as producing marketing materials for the city’s venues to attract booking agencies.

59

60

Bernstein, J. (2020) Label 21 (2020) SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 56

Figure 31. Top- and worst- rated areas of the Tulsa music ecosystem

Action 5: Create the ‘Tulsa Music Month’ to Promote Local Talent, Music Heritage and Industry Events Focus: Develop a music destination event that joins existing and special music events during a specific month every year under the same brand.

Goals: ● ● ● ●

Create international networking, promotional and business development opportunities for the music sector in Tulsa; Celebrate the local grassroots music community, including musicians and industry professionals; Attract music tourists to Tulsa during the low or shoulder seasons; Publicly support the importance of music to Tulsa’s cultural heritage and identity;

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●

Improve programming and collaborations between venues and event-organisers.

How to implement it: ●

●

Tulsa FMAC should lead and coordinate the development of a multi-venue music destination event for Tulsa showcasing local talent and uniting international industry professionals; The Tulsa Music Committee should liaise with music stakeholders in Tulsa to propose ideas on the duration, format, programming, and resourcing;

The main elements of the celebration should be: ●

●

●

A city-wide program of concerts and activities for all ages highlighting two themes: Tulsa’s musical history and legacy musicians, and the wide diversity of today’s Tulsa artists. Tulsa FMAC should liaise with local museums and individuals connected to music heritage to coordinate the non-concert program of activities, while the Tulsa Music Committee would be responsible for engaging with local venues and promoters for the live performance component; An industry conference program uniting local musicians and professionals in Tulsa with international professionals for talks, panels, workshops and networking sessions. The conference should include a guided visit for delegates and the press to promote Tulsa’s music assets and identity. This prorgram should be created and overseen by Tulsa FMAC; A promotional campaign should highlight local shows during the month, exploring Tulsa’s music venues, music attractions and stores, and learning more about Tulsa’s music heritage and contribution to today’s commercial music. This campaign should be created

by Visit Tulsa and Tulsa FMAC, leveraging existing promotional resources and targeting tourist markets.

Partners should have the following considerations on diversity and inclusion for the Tulsa Music Month: ●

●

●

It is suggested that participating organizations adhere to the ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ pledge for music envisioned in Action 2, if not permanently, at least for the duration of Tulsa Music Month; Concerts should be designed with inclusive and diverse programming, including at least 50% of the line-up of local and regional artists, as well as national and international headliners to incentivize tourist attraction; Conference line-ups should be 50/50 gender split and concerts line-ups should also aim for that percentage. The selection of candidates and bands should prioritize

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underrepresented groups and demographics including people of color, people with disabilities and the LGBTQ+ community.

When to Implement: Year 1 (2021-2022) through Year 5 (2025-2026).

Potential Partners: Tulsa FMAC, Visit Tulsa, Tulsa Music Committee.

How to Measure It: ● ● ● ● ● ●

Launch of the initiative; Number of networking events produced yearly, within and outside of the Tulsa Music Month; Reported number of new business leads and opportunities from attendees; Reported revenue and employment impact on participating venues, businesses, professionals and artists; Number of overnight tourists during the event in comparison to an off-festival period; Press mentions of Tulsa’s music, i.e. its music professionals, musicians and companies.

Best Practice Case Study - Love Austin Music Month What Is It: In February 2008, the City of Austin declared February Love Austin Music Month.61 This concerted campaign aims to encourage people to consume local music and support local music organizations, highlighting existing events at local venues, music nonprofit fundraisers, and music stores across Austin. One of its major partners is the alternative radio KUTX, which records and broadcasts live performances at the studio featuring some of the artists performing during the month. The nonprofit Austin Music Foundation hosts the “Feel the Love” Music Industry Expo during that month to connect local artists, professionals and nonprofits to network and learn about available community resources.62 Who Is Responsible? The City of Austin Music and Entertainment Division, the Austin Music Foundation and non-commercial local radio KUTX.63 What Has It Done? Although impacts and metrics are not publicly available, the success of the initiative has been proven in its continuity for 12+ years.

Relevance for Tulsa: The reputation of being the ‘Live Music Capital of the World’ has to be sustained with year-round promotional and support efforts to maintain and grow attendance in 61

Visit Austin (2014) Geisler, E. (2018) 63 KUTX (2020) 62

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the local music ecosystem. Austin’s campaign shows a little investment and strategic partnerships can go a long way to promote the grassroots music community. Tulsa FMAC and Visit Tulsa should strengthen their relationship with local radios and music journalists to increase visibility of Tulsa music in the city. Austin’s coordinated effort can be copied to promote Tulsa music to locals and support the scene by bringing people back to concerts, purchasing at music stores and donating to music nonprofits while the COVID-19 health and social restrictions are still in place.

3.3.2 Local Music Promotion and Consumption There are a limited number of media outlets and radio coverage providing artist interviews, show coverage and album reviews in Tulsa. Funding is an important aspect of sustaining music media to support the local ecosystem. For instance, one interviewee stressed that casino event advertisements were a sustainable source of income for media outlets, and accordingly had become a priority for the sector. Stakeholders concluded that no advertisers were paying to cover the local music scene (e.g. review of a local act’s performance at a small venue, the new album release of a local band, a new recording studio opening). Without dedicated media focused on introducing local music to the mainstream, the potential for local audience development and tourism is limited.

Overall, 83% of respondents were interested in music by local artists (51% ‘Very much’ and 32% ‘Interested’) and several survey respondents utilized the open comments to express their appreciation for local artists and the live music scene in particular. Music fans follow the same promotional channels used by the industry to promote music activities in Tulsa (see figure 30 below). Social media pages and word of mouth are the most common methods used to promote and discover music activities. This, however, contributes to audiences restricting themselves to music they know and like and therefore challenges audience development for artists and organizations outside of those scenes.

The most popular means of promoting and finding out about music in Tulsa is Facebook (used by 93% of artists & industry, 88% of audience), followed by word of mouth (used by 87% of artists & industry, 74% of audience). Overall, 84% of respondents to the survey had followed a Tulsa artist on social media in the past six months. Event calendars and electronic mailing lists are also used by stakeholders, who also noted that most marketing efforts are now on social media rather than print media. However, there remains no singular source to access information on the city’s music industry or musical activities. More than half of the 72 audience respondents are not musically

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active (53%),64 highlighting the importance to promote Tulsa music and music activities outside of social media.

Figure 30. Methods used by audience to find out about music activities compared to promotional methods used by creatives & industry

Audiences have a strong digital engagement with local music, as 81% of persons surveyed had streamed music/video and 71% watched a livestream of a Tulsa musician between January and July 2020. Half of the survey respondents said they went to shows very frequently before the pandemic (‘Multiple times per month’ or more often, 57%), although 36% would attend shows only once a month or every couple of months. Of those attending shows more infrequently (those going once a month), 24% argued programming did not match the genres or artists they like, and 23% said ticket prices were too high.

64

Defined in the survey as someone who does not sing in a choir/chorale, sing or play an instrument, takes/gives music lessons, and/or organizes music events.

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The long-term impact of COVID-19 on the live music industry is still unknown. Surveyed audiences had mixed feelings about returning to live music, despite safety measures at shows. In general, people felt more confident with going back to shows at an outdoor space soon. 48% of respondents would like to attend a show at an outdoor space “as soon as possible”. In comparison, only 33% of respondents said they were ready to go to a concert inside a venue, bar or other enclosed space. The majority of venues and organizations interviewed expected to maintain some form of virtual programming in 2021, which would be an option for the large percentage of survey respondents who are still unsure when they will return to shows in indoor venues (27% of audiences and creatives/industry) or outdoor concerts (22% of audiences and 19% of creatives/industry), the second most common response.

A key aspect to increasing levels of engagement are the spaces and places that host live music.

According to survey respondents, the top favorite places to see live music in Tulsa were live venues/nightclubs (for 91% overall), multi-purpose spaces such as the BOK Center, Guthrie Green or the Gathering Place (75%), and breweries/bars (52%). However, multi-purpose spaces and breweries/bars may not have the most appropriate acoustics or settings. A challenge with this, outlined by some stakeholders, was the generational differences in the music scene.

Action 6: Develop a Campaign to Grow Music Appreciation and Consumption among Locals Focus: Launch a marketing campaign to incentivise Tulsa residents and those in surrounding counties to consume local music, watch live performances/streamings from local artists and engage with music services throughout the year.

Goals: ● ● ● ●

Increase consumption of Tulsa music among locals, both in live and recorded formats; Improve audience confidence to attend live music activities in Tulsa; Increase the number of musically active residents in Tulsa (i.e. play an instrument, take music lessons); Increase the number of visitors to local music museums and local music activities outside of live music.

When to Implement: Year 1 (2021-2022).

How to implement it:

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●

●

●

●

●

●

Tulsa FMAC and Visit Tulsa should develop a marketing campaign which invites residents in Tulsa and surrounding counties to connect with Tulsa music. The format and elements of the campaign should be decided by Tulsa FMAC and Visit Tulsa, but it is recommended that it involves the creation of a music-specific brand; This marketing and branding should be developed in coordination with the development and launch of the one-stop-shop for Tulsa resources envisioned in Action 4 so it reinforces the website and the music, concerts, live streams and activities featured in it; The campaign should build on existing communications from Tulsa FMAC across various channels, highlighting the value of the local music scene to the city as seen in #PlayTulsaMusic. It should have Tulsa’s diverse music talent, assets and offerings as the core of its message to grow appreciation of where Tulsa has come from and what it has today; It should include a direct call-to-action to support the local scene and be musically active in different ways, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, how to find and watch live-streamed or live performances, purchasing an instrument at a local store and learning how to play it, shopping for music at a local store, visiting a music museum, listening to a busker, or booking a music therapy session; A promotional toolkit should be shared with audiences and businesses to amplify the promotion and show pride in supporting Tulsa music is recommended (see case study below); The campaign should be used to build anticipation for the celebration of Tulsa Music Month (see Action 5).

Potential Partners: Tulsa FMAC, Visit Tulsa, Tulsa Music Committee.

How to Measure It: ● ● ●

Launch of the campaign; Reported revenue gains by local campaign partners, including artists, music stores, music venues and other music businesses; Reported frequency of engagement with local music artists, assets and services (i.e. visiting venues, museums, shops) by locals and visitors.

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Best Practice Case Study - Year of Chicago Music Marketing Toolkit65 What Is It: To celebrate its 2020 Year of Chicago Music, the City of Chicago unveiled its first ever music brand, “Music in the Key of Chicago”. The City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and the local music industry developed a major local awareness campaign including digital billboards, advertising on CTA trains and buses, advertising at O’Hare, radio, community, minority-owned media and more. To support the campaign, DCASE made a Music Marketing Toolkit, including key schedule announcements, official hashtags and brand names, a manifesto and logos, in addition to sample social media posts, emails and press releases.

Who Is Responsible? Choose Chicago, together with marketing agency FCB. What Has It Done? This toolkit helps local organizations encourage and guide their audiences or partners in accurate and succinct advertising. With homogenous images and messages, and a simplified and officially approved set of messages, fans and supporting organizations can easily access necessary information and help successfully market upcoming events in a collaborative effort.

Relevance for Tulsa: Any marketing initiatives and partnerships that Tulsa develops in the future must attach a music marketing toolkit with clear guidelines on how to promote the Tulsa “music brand”, with examples of texts, posts, hashtags and images to align and maximize communication impact. Making it publicly available online, like Chicago, also encourages fans and individual supporters who can take pride in the initiative, and further amplify the campaign’s reach.

Action 7: Create a Music Export Division at Tulsa FMAC Focus: Assign a team of one or two persons to support local artists with music promotion in national and international markets that acts as the main music information contact for partners outside of Tulsa.

Goals: ●

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Increase the recorded music sector’s contribution in revenue and share to the local economy;

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● ●

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Stimulate audience development for Tulsa musicians in the national and international market; Develop a network of international industry contacts to support creative, knowledge, and professional exchange between Tulsa’s music ecosystem and those in other regions in the world; Attract artists and industry professionals to Tulsa through music collaboration, promotion and performance opportunities; Improve the visibility of music opportunities in the corporate environment, advertising, and audiovisual productions.

How to implement it: ●

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Tulsa FMAC should appoint a one- or two-person team to become the “Tulsa Music Export Division”. The services provided by it can be integrated in Action 3 for the music industry investment program and its activities promoted in the one-stop-shop for music resources in Action 4 (see also the relevance of Music Export Memphis, the case study attached to Action 4); The person appointed to this role should have a deep understanding of the local industry alongside a diverse network of national and international industry contacts. It is important they are directly involved in the local music industry, as they should be respected and trusted by stakeholders in any genre, and be passionate about Tulsa music in general; The Division should first develop a strategy that identifies and addresses the target markets, music discovery platforms, performance and media opportunities, and ‘gatekeepers’ in the promotion of Tulsa music to set its action plan; The main responsibility of the Division should be to create opportunities for local musicians outside of the city in alignment with the strategy. It can directly promote their music and/or redirect them to the appropriate information, contacts, and resources (such as the funding for promotional activities outside of Oklahoma suggested in the industry investment package of Action 3); A secondary responsibility of the Division should be to liaise on the use (i.e. licensing) of songs made by Tulsa artists among businesses and audiovisual productions outside of Tulsa. This should not be an active role, but acting as an intermediate between organizations interested in the use of Tulsa music and Tulsa artists who are actively interested in licensing their music for those purposes (see case study below); This position and/or some of its responsibilities could be trialled for three years to see if the private sector can ultimately fulfill this gap in music promotion and export in the local ecosystem.

Some suggestions for the responsibilities of the division include:

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● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Liaise with local artists who want to export and/or license their music, creating an internal database of local music for reference; Build a network and collaboration portfolio with the national and international music industry, music PR and media, and music export initiatives;66 Support local artists with showcasing and/or promotional efforts through the aforementioned network; Support artists and professionals outside of Tulsa to perform and/or promote their music in the city; Bring selected cohorts of industry contacts to showcase events such as the Tulsa Music Month (see Action 5) as inbound missions; Promote Tulsa music to the local, national and international media through articles, playlists and sync placement; Liaise with artists and organizations on the use of local music in advertising and audiovisual productions; Manage the one-stop-shop for Tulsa resources suggested in Action 4.

The study has found knowledge and service gaps in music publishing in the local ecosystem, which could limit the diversity of artists supported. The Division should support the following efforts in the implementation of this action: ●

● ● ●

Tulsa FMAC should engage with performing rights organizations, collection societies, and other organizations related to music licensing to do a series of workshops in Tulsa aimed at artists (e.g. songwriters, producers) and industry professionals in the recorded music sector (e.g. managers, agents, labels); Sessions should educate artists and music professionals about royalty collection and distribution, and how to register and monetize music; Different sessions should be created for different levels of knowledge (i.e. beginner, intermediate, professional) to cover a broad range of needs in the music ecosystem; These sessions can be part of the professional development program devised in Action 10.

When to Implement: Year 2 (2022-2023) through Year 4 (2024-2025).

Potential Partners: Tulsa FMAC, performance rights organizations (e.g. ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc.), organizations related to music licensing (i.e. neighbouring rights organizations, collection societies, music distributors), international music export initiatives, Oklahoma Music Office.

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How to Measure It: ● ● ● ●

Creation of the Division; Number of international creative and professional exchange opportunities for the music ecosystem created through the Division; Number of songs registered and licensed by Tulsa artists with the support of the Division; Synchronization placements of music by Tulsa artists in films, TV, digital entertainment, or other products through the Division.

Best Practice Case Study - Colorado Music Licensing Project, Colorado67 What Is It: An initiative to encourage Colorado companies to license music made by local artists. It took place from November 2015 to June 2016 and was spearheaded by the then-Colorado Music Ambassador Shawn King, drummer of Colorado-based band DeVotchKa. 68 The role acted as a sync agent, coordinating with Colorado businesses to identify licensing opportunities for Colorado musicians and assisting them in finding the appropriate artist and song for their commercial and productions, keeping business within the state. Its success led to the launch of the website SongsColorado.com in 2017, an online hub pairing Colorado businesses to Colorado bands.

Who Is Responsible? It was a collaborative partnership supported by Take Note Colorado, the Bohemian Foundation, Youth on Record and Colorado Creative Industries, developed as an initiative of the Colorado Music Strategy.

What Has It Done? Despite its short duration, the program reportedly generated $40,000 in revenue for Colorado bands, working with recognized brands such as the Bank of Colorado.69 Relevance for Tulsa: Tulsa’s artists and producers could use more support in getting additional promotional support for their music, particularly building licensing and sync relationships with film, TV and digital entertainment to take advantage of the Oklahoma Film Incentive. The service could become so successful it branches out to become its own non-profit organization, as with Songs Colorado, or it could be outsourced to Tulsa-based licensing and sync agents that emerge in the private sector to keep business development within the region.

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Colorado Creative Industries (2020) Taylor, M (2016) 69 Vaccarelli, J (2016) 68

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3.4 Professionalization of Music Creatives & Industry 3.4.1 Characterization of Local Industry INDUSTRY COMPOSITION The diversity of music genres represented in the survey reveals a heterogeneous music sector in Tulsa. The top three styles represented by the artists surveyed are rock/punk/metal (19%), hip-hop/rap (16%), and folk/americana/singer-songwriter (13%). The three most-beloved genres by the audience are rock/punk/metal (24%), folk/Americana/songwriter (18%) and jazz (10%).

All of the organizations surveyed were set up later than 1990. Most had less than five employees (58%). These small organizations mostly had half of their total staff working full-time (75%).

Overall, 64% of industry professionals and organizations surveyed in Tulsa work in more than one different sector and/or role in the music ecosystem. The most common industry sectors are live music venue owners/workers (24% of roles surveyed) and other live music industry roles, such as talent buyers, promoters, and booking agent owners/workers (17% of roles), as shown in figure 27.

Before COVID-19, only 39% of the 70 industry professionals surveyed earned a substantial income from music (i.e. it represented 75% or more of their total income). A similar percentage (35%) barely made any money from their music job (i.e. it represented 25% or less of their total income). The lack of well-paid opportunities that would enable full-time employment in music was also reflected in the economic impact assessment. This dynamic has led to a homogeneous local music economy with low rates of full-time employment. Discussions and survey open comments regarding talent attraction and retention focused on the need to incentivize music industry roles that support musicians, whether these are freelancers, satellite offices or new businesses.

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Figure 27. Responses on industry sector representation, industry respondents70

IMPACT OF COVID-19 IN THE LOCAL INDUSTRY As it has happened with the collapse of live entertainment globally, live music has been the hardest-hit sector by the COVID-19 pandemic in Tulsa: 68% of the surveyed organizations and industry professionals with the role of “live music venue”, “live music industry” (talent buyer, promoter, booking agent, etc.) and/or “festival” had experienced a decrease in their income since March 2020.

At the time of the survey (July-August 2020), 78% of organizations and 56% of industry professionals had registered a decrease in their music-related income since March 2020. For the most part, organizations had also accumulated income losses between March 2019 and March 2020 (61%). Despite this, 73% of the companies that were experiencing income losses before and during the COVID-19 pandemic expect to recover within the next five years.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Tulsa, stakeholders felt most local artists were in a critical situation. At the time of the survey (July-August 2020), 71% of artists had registered a 70

Source: Tulsa Music Survey. Respondents could select up to three different roles, therefore results do not add up to 100%.

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decrease in their music-related income since March 2020. Most of them had lost between $1,000 and 5,000 in expected revenues (36%). In this situation, only 26% of artists were not trying to gain any additional income from music while social distancing. Most were doing live streaming performances (34%), selling music and merchandise (32%) and doing remote session/freelance musician work (30%), as figure 28 below shows.

Figure 28. Surveyed artists’ alternative music income during the COVID-19 pandemic, March to July 2020, per category71

3.4.2 Sources of Income ARTISTS AND MUSIC CREATIVES Most of the 181 musicians surveyed considered themselves to be semi-professional, defined as someone who is paid from music but is not their main income (60%). Professional musicians, who earn their living substantially from music, represented 34% of the sample, and those who

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Source: Tulsa Music Survey. Respondents had the possibility to select several options, therefore results do not add up to 100%.

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considered themselves amateurs or not usually paid for music work, represented 6%. We will use these three categories to analyze survey results from artists further below.

It has been stressed throughout this report that local creatives are highly dependent on income from live music, shown here in the form of concerts/touring (71% of creatives had earnings from this source) and private performances (42%). Figure 29 shows the different sources of music-related income surveyed musicians had between March 2019 and March 2020 according to their professional category.

Figure 29. Creatives’ music income sources between March 2019 and March 2020, per category

Largely, professional musicians were able to perform outside of Tulsa in other parts of Oklahoma (60%) and elsewhere in the U.S. (57%) between March 2019 and March 2020. In comparison, only 39% of semi-professional musicians toured in other parts of Oklahoma and 23% performed elsewhere in the U.S. during the same period, making them more dependent on income from local performances.

A fixed fee per performance is the most common form of compensation at Tulsa venues for local musicians who are professionals (83%) and semi-professionals (71%), while most amateurs were offered no compensation, a tip jar or a percentage of food/bar sales (40% each). Low artist

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pay was a development challenge mentioned by stakeholders, and 45% of surveyed professional musicians and 43% of semi-professionals surveyed were also dissatisfied with the pay rates at Tulsa venues. This issue plays a crucial role in talent retention and attraction since being based in Tulsa raises the cost of touring to reach several large cities. Several stakeholders have started doing their own shows by renting multi-purpose or “black box” venues instead of working with local venues/bookers to keep the income from tickets and bar/catering sales.

The majority of professional musicians surveyed worked in an unlisted music genre (‘Other’, 18%), which is tied to the availability of well-paid performance opportunities for cover acts. One interviewee went into detail to explain talent buyers who offer the best deals to local artists often program live music as background music (e.g. restaurants, casinos) and would only hire cover acts. However, survey data shows high rates of access to performance opportunities locally for the five most popular genres,72 noting the uneven development of the local hip-hop/rap circuit.

For example, music creatives in hip-hop/rap had the least access to performances in Tulsa in the last year (76%, compared to 92% of jazz musicians) and the highest levels of performances without compensation (36%, compared to 0% of jazz musicians).

More than half of the musicians surveyed (105 respondents) created intellectual property (IP).

Figure 25 (p. 43) showed most creatives identified as songwriters (44%), 4% were composers/lyricists, and 10% were music producers. Survey data shows further opportunities to capitalize on IP revenue in the recording music industry: only half (56%) of artists who mainly identified as IP creators were registered with a performance rights organization, the same percentage (56%) had income from recorded music, and only 31% earned revenues from songwriting/composing.

VENUES AND LIVE MUSIC SPACES Bar and food sales are the main income source for the venues surveyed: they represent on average 46% of their income. Ticket sales are a source of income for 55% of the surveyed venues, but income from ticket sales only represents 31% of their total income. At the time of the survey, 55% of venues did not have income from venue rentals. These revenue sources and business models affect the ways in which performers get paid, particularly local performers.

Booking touring acts is costly for the large-capacity venues interviewed, as they have to allocate large marketing budgets to attract out-of-town audiences to break even. Smaller venues often have to overpay artists (in comparison to rates at Oklahoma City or Kansas City) who have not visited Tulsa before to help route them into the city, as Tulsa is still an unexplored market for 72

The five most represented genres of creatives in the survey are rock, hip-hop, folk, funk and jazz, adding to 115 or 64% of artists. This analysis considers local creatives working outside these will likely have less opportunities for performance and professional support by representing a minority genre.

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many managers and promoters. On the other hand, interviewed musicians highlighted the lack of marketing investment and acumen by smaller venues who mainly book local and regional acts.

One of the major complaints by musicians (both in roundtables or interviews and in the survey) is the genre cliques in the local live circuit as most venues that program Tulsa acts focus on rock, Americana, country, blues and other genres related to the cultural heritage of Tulsa sound. Artists felt performance opportunities were pre-determined by personal relationships which act as gatekeepers for venues. Further venue development feasibility should analyze the differences in infrastructure, capacity, and genres covered by existing Tulsa venues.

LOCAL HIGHLIGHT: Cain’s Ballroom73 What Is It? An independent, historic music venue in Downtown Tulsa, originally built in 1923 as a parking garage and later transformed to become the home of Western Swing in the 1930s and 40s. It operated as a music venue under different ownership until the current owners, the Rodgers family, purchased it in 2002. This all-ages venue regularly hosts concerts to its 1,700-capacity audience and has been famously patronized by musician Jack White.

Who Is Responsible? The Rodger brothers, Chad and Hunter, manage the venue with the assistance of two other full-time people and more part-time ancillary staff.

What Has It Done? Cain’s hosts over 100 shows per year and has been credited for spurring the revitalization and growing investments in Downtown Tulsa. It is considered one of the greatest American music venues,74 and ranks as the #22 club venue worldwide by ticket sales in 2019 according to Pollstar.75 It began a series of live streaming ticketed shows, Live from Cain’s, after COVID-19 postponed the majority of its shows scheduled in 2020.

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Information retrieved from one-on-one interviews with Chad Rodgers, owner of Cain’s Ballroom.

Consequence of Sound (2016) 75 Tramel, J. (2019a) 74

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Action 8: Build a Hub for the Music Community Focus: Establish a space for the artistic and professional development of music artists, professionals and companies that incorporates rehearsal spaces, a community recording studio, an event/performance space, lounges, and working/office spaces.

Goals: ● ● ● ● ● ●

Create a physical space to clusterize and nurture the music community outside of live music venues; Increase access to recording opportunities for young artists, producers and engineers; Foster the inception of a music tech/startup community in Tulsa; Increase access to artistic and professional development opportunities for music artists and entrepreneurs from all ages and genres; Avoid outsourcing of services outside of Tulsa by facilitating and promoting collaborations between local musicians, music businesses and professionals; Make Tulsa an attractive city to develop a professional music career.

How to implement it: ●

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The Tulsa Music Committee should create an open call to receive input from the community on what are the key priorities for space, service and programming regarding the development of a music hub in Tulsa; Tulsa FMAC should liaise with the Tulsa Music Committee, the tech community (via the tech hub 36ºN) and philanthropic organizations in Tulsa to find or build a suitable space/s for the hub and develop further partnerships to provide those essential services in the music community; The hub should promote its workspace and activities to different types of creatives linked to the music ecosystem (e.g. photographers, videographers, graphic designers) to expand cross-sector business development; It should establish a clause in the leasing contract that limits who can commercially use the recordings produced (e.g. artists under 21 years old, amateur bands recording their first album) so as to avoid unfair competition with Tulsa’s recording studios; The key needs for a music hub identified during the study prioritize a space that is genre-agnostic and prioritizes access and equity for women, people of color, and youth; It is recommended the hub offers free or reduced rates for youth, underrepresented groups and/or unemployed persons to encourage early involvement.

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When to Implement: Year 2 (2022-2023) through Year 4 (2024-2025).

Potential Partners: Tulsa Music Committee, Tulsa FMAC, George Kaiser Family Foundation, 36ºN (36 degrees North), international music hubs.

How to Measure It: ● ● ● ● ●

Launch of the music hub; Number of attendees to the programming developed in the music hub; Number of recordings published by Tulsa artists and producers under 30 years old involved with the hub; Number of music tech entrepreneurs/startups registered in Tulsa involved with the hub; Number of musicians and industry professionals based in Tulsa.

Best Practice Case Study - H.O.M.E. (Helping Our Music Evolve), Nashville76 What Is It: A 24/7 coworking, production, and event space for musicians, producers, and music business professionals. It provides industry connections, trusted resources and professional workspaces for music entrepreneurs who can get involved as members or book one of its spaces. It has 4,000 square feet of services and amenities, including a showroom and event space, a lounge area, an open jam rehearsal space and a community recording studio.

Membership plans for start at $50/month and all price tiers offer use of all jamming and working rooms, free coffee and internet, and use of the hub’s audiovisual equipment. Members have a 50% discount on booking rates for its spaces (e.g. $30/hour for the recording studio, including setup), and have free access to workshops, talks, networking and professional development activities organized by the hub, such as ‘Feedback Fridays’ for artists with music industry experts.

Who Is Responsible? H.O.M.E. (Helping Our Music Evolve), a nonprofit community of music creators and music lovers. It has a core team of four employees to run the operations of the music hub, and three advisors who are members of the community and support technical operations and the hub’s culture.

Relevance for Tulsa: The membership and participatory model for H.O.M.E. could be adopted in Tulsa’s hub. A shared jamming room with a recording studio space will serve as a communal space for young and more experienced music producers alike, to jam and create music together in a quality space without the pricing and time limitations of existing professional studios.

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3.4.3 Skills, Creative and Career Development Opportunities CONTINUED SKILLS DEVELOPMENT The biggest skill gap among artists surveyed were “music industry skills”, as 68% of them would like to improve them, followed by “marketing, social media and audience insights” (67%), gaining financial acumen (57%), and developing a network of national and international contacts (57%). Besides the categories noted in the survey, stakeholders argued that there could be specific legal training for creatives on how to file a tax return (Form 1099), as this prevented many from accessing emergency government resources during COVID-19.

Those with an owner/CEO/general manager role predominantly showed interest in improving their organization’s social media (as in 71% of the group), and marketing and PR (62%).

Professionals, on the other hand, were mainly interested in gaining mentoring and career development support (54%). However, both groups had a similar willingness to learn business and financial management (54% of owners and 56% of professionals) and technology skills (42% of owners and 41% of professionals).

Stakeholders had different skill and professional development interests among the diverse demographic groups. Women in the role of owner/CEO/general manager are more eager to develop their organizations’ national and international contacts (80% of women compared to 37% of men), gaining mentoring and career development (60% of women, 32% of men), and fundraising (also 60% of women, 32% of men). “Marketing, social media and audience insights” was the top skill to develop for 84% of Black or African American and 73% of multirracial artists, while it is the second-most important skill gap for white artists (62%). “Legal, business, fundraising and financial management” was the second learning priority for Black or African American artists (81%), as well as for American Indian (70%), and multiracial (60%) artists, but these represent the fourth priority for white artists (49%).

ARTIST SUPPORT TEAMS Most of the musicians surveyed did not have any type of support team at the time of the survey, as in 55% of the professionals, 68% of the semi-professionals, and 100% of the amateurs.

The vast majority of teams from local artists were based outside of Tulsa (72%). The most common form of industry support were music publishers/administrators, working with 26% of the professionals and 16% of the semi-professionals. This relates to the low availability of artist

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management, recording industry and PR/marketing roles identified in the industry composition in section 3.4.1.

Examining the five most represented music genres among surveyed artists,77 those in the folk/americana/singer-songwriter genre had the most noticeable path to development with 13% of professionals, 13% of semi-professionals, and 20% of amateurs working in that genre.

LOCAL HIGHLIGHT: Horton Records78 What Is It: A full-service 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Tulsa supporting Oklahoma musicians on a project by project basis. It provides services in music recording and distribution, artist management, administration, IP rights, licensing, booking, promotion and merch for its roster of artists. Its aim is to be a connector for Oklahoma musicians, understanding and providing what they need depending on their career development stage and future goals.

Who Is Responsible? The organization is a volunteer-based effort with no paid staff positions. The president of its board of directors is Brian Horton, a Tulsan deeply involved in the local music scene for the past 15 years who works at the organization in his spare time.

What Has It Done? The list of accomplishments by the organization include over 80 official releases on CD, vinyl and digital featuring Oklahoma artists; over 100 shows booked every year on behalf of Oklahoma musicians, and 50+ shows on behalf of non-Oklahoma musicians in Oklahoma; supporting and promoting European tours for 25 Oklahoma musicians and developing strategic booking alliances with Guthrie Green, Folk Alliance International Conference, among other highlights.

RECORDING STUDIOS AND REHEARSAL SPACES The city is gaining momentum around its sound recording heritage with the upcoming opening of Church Studio, as well as the 2017 opening of Teegarden Studios. They are both willing to establish an informal “Tulsa Studio Row” along 3rd Street in the Pearl District, according to

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The five most represented genres of creatives in the survey are rock, hip-hop, folk, funk and jazz, adding to 115 or 64% of artists. This analysis considers local creatives working outside these will likely have less opportunities for performance and professional support by representing a minority genre.

78 Information retrieved from interviews with Brian Horton, President of Horton Records.

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stakeholders and the media.79 However, these are two isolated examples of high-level recording assets available locally. The shortage of professional-level recording studios for all genres in Tulsa was a recurrent topic during stakeholder discussions. It prevents Tulsa studios from fully benefiting from the Film Enhancement Rebate Program (managed by the Oklahoma Film and Music Office), which offers a 37% tax rebate for audiovisual projects spending above $20,000 on music recorded in Oklahoma by an Oklahoman.80 Most artists surveyed had recorded music in Tulsa in the last year (72%), however most recorded at home studios and not professional facilities.81 Stakeholders involved with youth highlighted the lack of grassroots/community recording spaces available to learn and practice locally. Audio engineer stakeholders explained that Tulsa’s recording culture is influenced by the legacy of J.J. Cale and Leon Russell’s “one-take only” attitude. Not all musicians/bands have the performing abilities to record using this approach, particularly due to the shortage of locally available producers and coaches for emerging bands. As a result, stakeholders argued that Tulsa is garnering a reputation for undervaluing the investment in spending time and resources ahead of releasing a record, which affects the reputation of local audio engineers, but also of Tulsa as a music destination.

Although finding a rehearsal space is not a problem for most artists stakeholders, the majority rehearse in isolation from other creatives/bands (53%) at home or in a garage. Several stakeholders argued that a wider variety of places in Tulsa could offer shared rehearsal space, jamming spaces or other spaces for collaborative creative incubation. They mentioned large underused spaces like churches, music museums, and community spaces could be better utilised to bring together and strengthen the music-making community.

LOCAL HIGHLIGHT: The Church Studio82 What Is It: Leon Russell’s conversion of a church into a studio attracted recording artists including Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder to Tulsa between 1972-76. After being neglected by subsequent owners, a new refurbishing project is set to transform the space into a destination luxury studio with iconic analog equipment and high-tech digital gear. Besides offering top-level facilities, the studio will provide housing and VIP services to artists recording there, as well as educational programs and recording scholarships for the local creative community, permanent exhibits on the history of the studio, and daily tours of the facilities.

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News on 6 (2017) Oklahoma Film and Music Office (2020c) 81 The question allowed for multiple responses and therefore the addition of all categories will be greater than 100%.

82 Information retrieved from a one-on-one interview with Teresa Knox, owner of The Church Studio.

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Who Is Responsible? The new owner of the studio is Teresa Knox, a Tulsa native who has invested her personal funds into the refurbishment and repurpose of the studio.

What has it done? Teresa interviewed over 200 people who worked in the studio in the mid-70s to develop the new Church Studio with Leon Russell’s original vision of an entrepreneurial workshop where singers, songwriters and producers can come in and create music. These interviews are regularly published on the Church Studio website.83 The restoration was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020, but as of November the studio has not yet opened to the public.

PROFESSIONAL INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT One of the efforts to develop stronger connections with the international music industry was the Tulsa stage at the SXSW Conferences and Festivals set up by Tulsa FMAC.84 While stakeholders agreed the presence at SXSW provides valuable exposure to the Tulsa brand and for the selected cohort of artists, several stakeholders would prefer this investment is geared towards local music industry development programs, inclusive of artists and music professionals.

Informal training in the form of workshops, continued education and mentoring are key methods to gain knowledge of the music industry. Most artists and industry professionals surveyed agreed on the importance of accessing more creative and industry skills development in Tulsa. 90% of industry and 84% of musicians were particularly keen on accessing industry development opportunities, such as learning more about trends, marketing, export, and networking.

Furthermore, 71% of musicians said it’s important or very important for them to access creative development opportunities, such as instrument learning, jamming, or producing.

Industry and creative stakeholders highlighted the possibility of more collaborations with film and other creative industries to foster inter-sector synergies and growth. Several participants mentioned how the local audiovisual industry composition is similar to the music ecosystem: there is a large amount of grassroots talented creatives, and a top percent of companies that provide high-value (and inaccessible to the average creative) professional services.

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Action 9: Create a Fellowship for the Music Industry Focus: Incorporate at least one music creator and one music worker or entrepreneur into the Tulsa Artist Fellowship.

Goals: ● ● ● ●

Leverage an existing resource to support professional development and retention in music; Incentivize music creators and industry professionals to relocate to Tulsa; Support the professionalization and legitimization of the local music industry; Further integrate the local music sector with the creative communities in other sectors and with local audiences.

How to implement it: ●

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The Tulsa Music Committee together with the Tulsa Artist Fellowship Board should assess the creation of a dedicated call for fellows who are music creators (i.e. songwriters, producers, composers, etc.) and music workers or entrepreneurs (i.e. managers, label owners, PR agents, etc.); At least one of the fellowships should be awarded to an artist or professional not currently residing in Tulsa to amplify the professional network and outreach of the local music community; The assessment of the candidates should follow the diversity and equity guidelines from the general program and prioritize projects or initiatives that would benefit and complement the existing local ecosystem.

Potential Partners: Tulsa Music Committee, Tulsa Artist Fellowship.

When to Implement: Year 3 (2023-2024) through Year 5 (2025-2026).

How to Measure It: ● ●

Implementation of the fellowship; Professional results from fellows, according to their sector.

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Best Practice Case Study - Groundwaves with Murs (Fort Collins, CO)85 What Is It: A monthly open mic where aspiring rappers and hip-hop artists from Colorado and beyond can showcase their abilities. The prominent rapper Murs and an audience of peers are the judges, and use their expertise and connections to mentor and maximize the potential of the most promising participants, bringing a positive energy and collaboration into the local community. Murs also hosts mentoring sessions, writing exercises and more activities as part of the program.

Who Is Responsible? The program was collaboratively set up by Murs, his team and The Music District, Fort Collins’ music hub, with support from the Colorado-based non-profit Bohemian Foundation who also provides funding for the music hub.

What Has It Done? The program was in-person for six months in 2019 but was moved online for its 2020 edition. For each monthly installment in 2019, dozens of MCs participated, reaching full capacity on its first night (200 people). The Music District’s director said rappers have come from all over the U.S. and even from Spain to participate, showing interest in the program from the hip-hop community at large.

Relevance for Tulsa: Not all learning happens in classrooms – open mics are a key space for collaboration, innovation and growth in the hip-hop community. Since recipients of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship have to develop and participate in cultural activities to give back to the community as part of the program, music industry fellows could be a part of similar open mic events. In the case of hip-hop, bringing a respected local rapper and pairing it with mentoring sessions, writing exercises and cypher circles will provide more necessary space and resources to develop Tulsa’s future hip-hop stars.

Action 10: Launch a Professional Development Education and Collaboration Program Focus: Develop a yearly program of informative sessions, talks, workshops, mentorships, networking sessions and drop-in consultancies for the local music industry.

Goals: ●

85

Provide access to creative and business skills development for Tulsa artists, industry professionals and entrepreneurs;

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● ● ● ● ●

Enable deeper interaction and knowledge sharing between mentors/guest speakers and participants; Increase the number of local full-time musicians and industry professionals; Increase the number of registered music companies in Tulsa; Raise the profile and capacity of Tulsa musicians, industry professionals and music businesses; Increase collaboration with the local music sector, creative industries, and other sectors.

How to implement it: ● ● ●

● ●

Tulsa FMAC, in partnership with TYPROS and other creative entrepreneurship partners, should establish a program of free (or partly subsidized) learning activities; The action should be structured and communicated as a yearly program of activities, assessing the capacity and interest in the formats and topics addressed; These activities should be available to local artists, industry professionals, entrepreneurs and business owners in the local music ecosystem and prioritize groups who are currently underrepresented in the ecosystem such as women, people of color, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community; According to the research findings, formats should include informative sessions, talks, workshops, mentorships, networking sessions, and drop-in consultancies; There should be several education itineraries to incentivise the development of different hard and soft skills currently lacking at the local level.

This Action should be linked to as many other actions in the strategy as possible to expand synergies such as: ● ●

● ●

Mentorships and training could be aligned with the investment program in Action 3; Informative sessions should explain the introduction of new implementations and programs as they are incorporated, such as the all-ages policy in Action 11, the busker permit and best practice guide in Action 12, the new noise policy and Agent of Change in Action 13, etc.; Activities could take place in the music hub conceived in Action 8; Fellows from Action 9 could act as mentors.

When to Implement: Year 2 (2022-2023) through Year 4 (2024-2025).

Potential Partners: Tulsa FMAC, TYPROS, Tulsa Artist Fellowship, music industry associations outside of Tulsa.

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How to Measure It: ● ● ● ●

Number of activities hosted each year; Number of participants; Number and background diversity of participants to each activity; Participants’ evaluation on the quality, depth and relevance of each activity.

Best Practice Case Study - Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, New York City86 What Is It: This agency encompasses the key economic and creative sectors of film, TV, theater, music, advertising, publishing, nightlife and digital content. The main goal of this office is the promotion of New York City as a thriving center of creativity. MOME also leads the following career development programs in music: ●

Sound Thinking NYC, a free 3-week program for young women to participate in music industry events and training opportunities;

●

#MyNYCSong Contest, where young New Yorkers can receive mentorships and professional recording sessions and perform live at an annual event;

●

Made in NY Career Panels, a free talk series that explores multiple topics within the media and entertainment industry to support career development, networking, training and recruitment.

Who Is Responsible? The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment comprises four divisions: the Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting; NYC Media; workforce and educational initiatives in film, television, theater, music, publishing, advertising and digital content; and the office of Nightlife.

What Has It Done? In addition to promoting economic development through expanding the creative sector, MOME has launched a number of groundbreaking initiatives to promote both diversity and equality in the entertainment fields, including New York Music Month, MOME’s Women’s Fund and the ‘Made in NY’ Awards. The office unveiled the results of the city’s first-ever economic impact study on NYC’s music industry in March 2017.87 Relevance for Tulsa: New York’s dedicated program to support the music sector addressing the gaps in mentoring and skills development is very similar to the action proposed for Tulsa.

By prioritizing the participation of minorities, women and other underserved groups like New York does, Tulsa’s professional development program will promote equity in the access to

86 87

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professional development opportunities in the music ecosystem. Doing it through different formats and forms of support, like New York’s events, mentorship and training, will ensure Tulsa’s music leadership becomes more diverse, inclusive and empowered.

3.5 Regulations, Planning & Infrastructure 3.5.1 Licensing and Permits Half of the artists and industry surveyed have never been negatively affected by music regulations and policies in Tulsa (53%), and the relaxed licensing and regulatory framework for venues was praised in several interviews. The three most common regulatory challenges for survey respondents are all-ages accessibility (for 22% of respondents), parking regulations (19%), and the noise ordinance (19%).

LIQUOR LICENSES State and local licensing requirements apply to most music venues selling beer, wine and/or liquor. The State of Oklahoma administers liquor licenses through the Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement (ABLE) Commission.88 Tulsa’s Code of Ordinances designates as an “entertainment club” any commercial establishment licensed by the ABLE Commission, or an unlicensed establishment where patrons or customers are permitted to dance.89 Under local and state law, persons under 21 years of age cannot enter a licensed premise (such as a music venue selling alcohol) unless they are in the company of a parent or legal guardian. However, premises with 35% or more of monthly gross sales attributable to food items that have a full kitchen and sell food items from a menu are exempted from the age restriction. This has resulted in a gap in licensing for all-ages performance spaces, which stakeholders said has left coffee shops, clothing stores and DIY/informal spaces as the only consistently places to perform and see a show for persons under 21 years of age.

SPECIAL EVENTS PERMITS The City of Tulsa has a dedicated Special Events Coordinator that handles all applications.

Special events requiring a permit are defined as “organized outdoor activities that have an impact upon public property or facilities, sidewalks or temporary uses of private property that vary its current land use, including a music festival”.90 Special event permits include the use of sound amplification at a recommended (but not limited to) 90 decibels 15 feet from the source, and 88

Oklahoma Senate (2019) City of Tulsa (2020a) 90 City of Tulsa (2020b) 89

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lowered between 11 pm and 7 am. A $1 million liability insurance is required for special events using the public rights-of-way and/or involve serving or consuming alcoholic beverages and/or beer.91 Special event applications can be submitted online no earlier than 365 days and minimum 90 or 45 days prior to the event depending on its type (see table 9 below) through the city’s online One-Stop-Permit Center. This is available through the City of Tulsa’s website and includes instructions for all types of permits. Applications are reviewed and sent to the relevant city departments, neighborhoods and public and private agencies. The Special Event Coordinating Committee ultimately reviews the application and discusses the feasibility and impact of the event.92 BUSKING Tulsa’s code of ordinances allows busking on any street or public place with a permit within its chapter titled “Disturbing the peace” (title 24 - Penal code, chapter 14). Fines for busking without a permit are capped at $200 for each day the offense is committed.93 However, none of the stakeholders knew how to obtain this permit. The only public performance permits contemplated in the City of Tulsa’s permitting center are the special event permits for concerts and performances detailed in the previous section.94 Busking is an underutilized opportunity for artist development and urban placemaking in Tulsa.

Stakeholders were unsure whether busking is legal in Tulsa since there were few music performers in the public realm, even before the COVID-19 health crisis. Only 30% of survey respondents had listened to a busking musician in Tulsa in the last six months and 22% had tipped a busking musician. Furthermore, only 8% of the artists surveyed had busked in the past year.

91

Ibid.

City of Tulsa (2020c) 93 City of Tulsa (2020d) 94 City of Tulsa (2020e) 92

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Action 11: Increase All-ages Accessibility at Music Spaces Focus: Implement special licensing considerations for live music spaces to host all-ages shows while maintaining the ability to sell beer, wine and/or liquor according to their license.

Goals: ● ● ● ●

Establish a framework to host more all-ages shows safely and sustainably; Develop local talent and audiences aged under 21; Increase access to live music of all genres in Tulsa across generations; Increase yearly revenues for music venues.

How to implement it: ●

●

The Tulsa Music Committee should conduct an assessment with local stakeholder groups to look at the impact of establishing a special licensing consideration that allows alcohol sales according to their liquor license and at the same time allows entry for under-21s.

There should be 3 groups: the underaged music community, the collective of event producers and venues, and policing and licensing bodies such as Tulsa Police and the City’s licensing department; The Tulsa Music Committee should then liaise with the City of Tulsa and the Oklahoma ABLE Commission to amend regulations and establish the eligibility criteria and the conditions to maintain the special all-ages licensing (e.g. control, security and safety plan; liquor sales hour limits, programming requirements).

When to Implement: Year 2 (2022-2023) Potential Partners: Tulsa Music Committee, City of Tulsa, Oklahoma ABLE Commission.

How to Measure It: ● ● ● ● ● ●

Establishment of the framework; Number of venues requesting the special licensing consideration yearly; Number and genre of shows attended by audiences under 21 years old yearly; Number of performances held by artists under 21 years old yearly; Number of all-ages shows produced by venues/promoters yearly; Comparison of venue’s revenue prior to and after adhering to the special license consideration.

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Best Practice Case Study - Center for Visual and Performing Arts License (Milwaukee, WI)95 What Is It: In October 2019 Milwaukee moved forward with less-restrictive city codes that allow venues to host all-ages shows and simultaneously serve alcohol to patrons 21 and over. The previous ordinance prevented venues from selling alcohol at all-ages shows unless venues were licensed as a “center for the visual and performing arts.” The requirements of the license were to boast a “culturally significant display of artwork” or have a stage larger than 1,200 square feet – much larger than what most small clubs could realistically accommodate.

After the reform, venues must only have a “designated performance space” to qualify for the license and must not sell any liquor 2 hours before or after a day’s performance. License proposals should detail a health and safety plan as in any other license application, and a proposal to determine who can and cannot drink, e.g. a colored wristband system, additional control staff, etc. and pay an annual fee according to their maximum capacity, ranging from $150 for premises under 25 capacity, to $2,000 for those with over 500 capacity.96 Who Is Responsible? The chair of the Licenses Committee, Ald. Nik Kovac, sponsored the new ordinance. Kovac noted that the previous code had been on the books for approximately 15 years.

What Has It Done? Local venue Cactus Club was publicly announced as the first Milwaukee venue to apply for the new all-ages license in January 2020. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, it is still too early to assess the impact of this change.

Relevance for Tulsa: Milwaukee’s all-ages ban uplift reflects the communities all over the U.S. that are updating restrictive codes to bring people of all ages together through music and the arts. This special license consideration could be adopted in local policy with the cooperation of the Oklahoma ABLE Commission to address the sustainability models of local music venues.

Having special requirements on venue infrastructure to benefit from the special license will help raise the quality of the venues and equipment available to musicians and audiences of all ages in Tulsa.

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Action 12: Champion Best Practices for Street Performers Focus: Create a ‘busking code’ to perform at a public space in Tulsa.

Goals: ● ● ● ●

Clarify the procedure to obtain a busking permit; Increase the number of buskers in Downtown Tulsa; Lead with good practice to encourage more public performances in Tulsa; Affirm busking as an important part of Tulsa’s music culture and vibrancy.

How to implement it: ●

● ● ●

Tulsa FMAC should liaise with the City of Tulsa and the Tulsa Police Department to develop a set of guidelines for busking in Tulsa, specifying what a busking permit entails (time, locations, amplification), and publishing clear instructions on how to apply for a permit; The busking guidelines should incorporate best practice and useful information, such as maps/lists of high-exposure areas, best hours, audio system levels and occupied spaces; The City of Tulsa and Tulsa FMAC should promote these guidelines on their respective websites; The process of obtaining a permit should be easily accessible online, with access to a support hotline to navigate the process.

When to Implement: Year 1 (2021-2022) to be maintained long-term.

Potential Partners: Tulsa FMAC, City of Tulsa, Tulsa Police Department.

How to Measure It: ● ● ● ●

Assessment on the clarity of the process of obtaining a busking permit; Number of busking permit applications received and approved yearly; Percentage of local artists who have gained income from busking yearly; Number of noise complaints related to buskers.

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Best Practice Case Study - Minneapolis Paid Busking Program (Street Show)97 What Is It: Street Show is a special program where sidewalk entertainers hold performances in two main areas of the city, Nicollet Mall and Hennepin Ave, during lunch hour, rush hour and the early evening on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. This includes a wide range of performances including musicians, mimes, poets and hula hoopers. They are guaranteed a payment of $50 an hour (or more if performing in a duo or trio) plus any tips made from the audience. They are also given a wagon, with Street Show signage, to transport their equipment as well as a battery-powered amplifier. The program has been moved to a live streaming version in 2020.

Who Is Responsible? The Minneapolis Downtown Improved District (DID), a non-profit funded by commercial property owners that develops initiatives to make downtown Minneapolis safer, cleaner and more welcoming.

What Has It Done? With over 550 hours of performances, the total cost of the program in 2018 was about $55,000. In one of the areas, Nicollet Mall, 100 different groups and individuals participated.

Relevance for Tulsa: The strategic timing of the performances in Minneapolis during the day on weekdays adds to the good stipend, ensures a wide diversity of artists are motivated to perform and contributes to a lively atmosphere downtown and in other high-traffic areas. Tulsa could easily adopt best practices from Street Show into the redevelopment of the busking permit to eventually assess if a paid busking program could further encourage buskers to perform in Tulsa’s streets and transport hubs, extending the success of Tunes at TUL to other high-traffic strategic areas.

3.5.2 Planning, Zoning and Noise Regulations The Tulsa Planning Office leads the planning efforts for the City of Tulsa and unincorporated parts of Tulsa County. The Parks and Recreation division in the City of Tulsa designs the master plan for the city’s public parks, administers these facilities and provides programming, including live music. The planning information for this section mainly refers to the Tulsa Comprehensive Plan, published in 2010, which sets the vision for urban development,98 and the city’s Zoning Code, adopted in November 2015 and last amended in January 2020.99

97

Star Tribune (2018) PLANiTULSA (2016) 99 City of Tulsa (2020f) 98

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Downtown Tulsa is the main hub for cultural activity and entertainment in Tulsa. It encompasses 8 districts with distinct branding: Arena, Blue Dome, Cathedral, Deco, East Village, Historic Greenwood, Gunboat Park, and Tulsa Arts. Creativity is fostered through architecture, retail and entertainment, and cultural venues, with less emphasis placed on office and residential space.100 Downtown Tulsa is also an Opportunity Zone, benefitting from special tax benefits and funds to incentivize the development of new or existing commercial spaces.101 Tulsa Arts District is the epicenter of the arts and culture life in the city, although it does not have entertainment district designation or special policies for licensed premises.

The City of Tulsa recommends music levels do not exceed 90 decibels 15 feet from the source, and be lowered between 11 pm and 7 am for special events.102 Tulsa’s code of ordinances includes noise within its chapter titled “Disturbing the peace” (title 24 - Penal Code, chapter 14).

The chapter prohibits singing and sound amplification at a volume that disturbs any person in any dwelling, hotel or other type of residence.103 The lack of specificity in Tulsa’s noise ordinance has sparked public debate since the 1990s on the need to have objective measures to noise and loudness in Tulsa.104 It leaves room for interpretation that can be detrimental to music spaces and activities. This was highlighted by several stakeholders as a major threat to the sustainability of music spaces, fearing in particular the increasing residential development density in the Arts District.

As a general rule, most music industry-related uses that could use sound amplification such as “commercial assembly and entertainment” (indoor and outdoor), “broadcast or recording studio”, “restaurants”, “bars”, and “studio, artist or instructional service” are allowed in mixed-use districts, office, and commercial industrial districts located in Downtown Tulsa. However, all office and commercial industrial district zonings that allow the above music industry-related uses, also allow residential living in single, two or more households on a single lot adjacent to it.

Only bars must have a minimum separation distance from residential units (50 feet), essentially allowing to build residential developments next to an existing music space/place in most of Downtown Tulsa and vice versa. Screening walls or fences must be provided along the common line by bars, restaurants, and artist studios located on a lot abutting a residential zoned lot. These bars and restaurants must keep noise levels, including outdoor customer dining areas, below 65 db(A), measuring from the top of the dividing wall or fence.105 Fines for noise violations are capped at $200 for each day the offence is committed.106

100

Tulsa Downtown Coordinating Council (2020) City of Tulsa (2020g) 102 City of Tulsa (2020b) 103 City of Tulsa (2020d) 104 Colberg, S. (2019) 105 City of Tulsa (2020f) 106 Ibid.

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Action 13: Incorporate the “Agent of Change Policy” to Protect Live Music Venues Focus: Create a zoning and noise policy that includes decibel, measurement and accountability considerations for music venues and other places using music amplification.

Goals: ● ● ● ● ●

Substitute the “Disturbing the peace” ordinance for a noise policy that includes responsibility and accountability measures; Set in policy responsibilities regarding noise insulation in built structures that prevail over permitted zoning uses; Set in policy guidelines for noise attenuation, both by events and music spaces using amplified music and by developers building near existing sources of loud noise; Ensure the sustainability of Tulsa’s vibrant Downtown music scene amidst increased residential development; Reduce the number of fines to music establishments due to noise complaints.

How to implement it: ●

● ●

The Tulsa Music Committee should lead the advocacy towards the implementation of an overlay noise policy to protect music in Tulsa, liaising with the City of Tulsa and Downtown Tulsa district partners to intentionally protect existing live music venues in the city centre; The noise policy should establish clear expectations on noise limits, measurements and attenuation strategies for coexistence of music places, businesses, residents and visitors; The policy should include an “Agent of Change” principle (see case study below) affecting a 300 feet radius of existing live music performance venues and other spaces where music amplification is regularly expected, such as recording studios, churches, and music schools.

The policy should include the following specifications: ●

An automatic trigger when a new planning permit application is lodged to initiate the sound attenuation assessment. If a venue is built next to an existing development, the venue will be responsible for noise attenuation and the existing premises will be protected through Agent of Change;

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●

● ●

New developments may either soundproof themselves, soundproof the source of potential noise/nuisance or take no measures, but they must be made aware that the city will not close the existing venue down due to their noise complaints; New residents or businesses should be asked to sign a memorandum of understanding when moving into a property involved in an Agent of Change jurisdiction; Existing venues and music events of significant cultural value located outside an Agent of Change jurisdiction should be able to apply for a noise exemption permit.

When to Implement: Year 3 (2023-2024).

Potential Partners: Tulsa Music Committee, City of Tulsa, Downtown Tulsa neighborhood partners (Tulsa Arts District, Greenwood Historical District, East Village, Deco District, Blue Dome District) How to Measure It: ● ● ●

Policy is established; Yearly reported trigger/usage of the Agent of Change policy; Monitoring of noise complaints to music venues.

What is the Agent of Change?

The Agent of Change Principle holds the entity that creates a change in an area responsible for the impact this change can have in that area. When it comes to protecting music venues, the Agent of Change Principle either requires the building that arrives the latest (be it the music venue or the residential development) to soundproof adequately to avoid nuisances and complaints, and/or to inform the new residents that they are moving next to a music venue or within an entertainment area which permeates noise. This principle has been implemented in several regions with the intention to protect music venues, including the UK, Australia, and some cities in the US. The Victoria state government in Australia was the pioneer in passing the ‘Agent of Change’ planning policy in 2014. This Agent of Change integration does not change the legal noise limits, but rather ensures new developers pay for soundproofing against the legal limits if needed. A review into its efficacy to date was published in December 2018,107 issuing recommendations for policy improvement, such as including more precise definitions, having testing periods of soundproofing solutions, and using entertainment precincts to better apply the Agent of Change.

107

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San Francisco’s Agent of Change Law (Administrative Code Chapter 116, called Compatibility and Protection for Residential Uses and Places of Entertainment) was approved in December 2015108 and requires venues to maintain the sound levels they operate at within the limit of its entertainment permit in order to remain under legal protection. It is the responsibility of the developer to inform any new residents of the existing sound in the area. San Francisco also protects music venues from hotel and motel sound complaints within 300 feet of the venue.

The San Francisco Entertainment Commission reviewed 103 projects between 2016 and 2018 of new residential and hotel/motel proposals near existing places of entertainment.109 The Music and Entertainment Division of the City of Austin presented, in April 2019, a set of recommendations addressing the “Agent of Change” and its possible implementation in Austin, including a revision to the sound ordinance and more strict enforcement of noise disturbances, looking at building code requirements for new developments within a 600-foot radius of an existing venue.110

3.5.3 Connectivity and Transportation In May 2020, Tulsa International Airport had 20 domestic nonstop routes, including several daily connections to the international air hubs at Chicago O’Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Atlanta and Los Angeles.111 The Tulsa International Airport has hosted a music program, Tunes at TUL, since July 2019 in collaboration with Tulsa FMAC. It features live music performances from local artists, across different music genres, during passenger peak times at the terminal, including the main US holidays and the summer months.112 The main transportation challenge expressed by industry professionals was the lack of direct flight connections to the US East Coast, particularly the hub of New York City, and the few daily direct connections to Los Angeles. This affects client management and prospective business development opportunities for the stakeholders who pointed out the issue.

Locally, Tulsa Metropolitan Area has several transportation options, with private cars being the most convenient option to move around the city,113 although this has created an overdependence on car infrastructure. It should be noted only 3% of respondents to our survey had used public transport to get to/from a music activity in the six months prior. Five of seven Nightlines operated

by Tulsa Transit converge at the Denver Avenue Station all week between 8 pm and 12 am, reaching live music venues in Downtown, the Tulsa Arts District and the Blue Dome District.

108

Green, E. (2015) San Francisco Entertainment Commission (2018) 110 Swlatecki, C. (2019) 111 Tulsa International Airport (2020) 112 Tulsa International Airport (2019) 113 U.S. Census Bureau (2020b) 109

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Transit buses can also deviate to pick up passengers who schedule this service in advance.114 However, these schedules do not match the curfew for bars and music venues in Downtown Tulsa, which can remain open until 2 am. 38% used a taxi or ridesharing service during the same period.

Action 14: Re-imagine the Public Realm to Make it More Welcoming to Music Activities Focus: Establish policies to temporarily allocate Downtown streets and public places for music-related uses and activities.

Goals: ● ● ●

Secure specific areas destined for music activities, musicians and music organizations as Downtown Tulsa becomes increasingly dense; Increase on-street amenities and socially-distanced activities at night, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic; Create additional income opportunities for artists, live music professionals and venues, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

How to implement it: ●

●

The Tulsa Music Committee should liaise with the City of Tulsa and Downtown Tulsa district partners to intentionally include music activities in the area through dedicated policy and encouragement of music activities; Stakeholders should implement these policy changes to encourage more activities and foot traffic downtown while considering social distancing guidelines.

The study has identified the following gaps in policy and uses of the public realm to sustainably develop the music ecosystem and should be implemented as part of this action: ●

114

Reserved loading and unloading zones for artists in front of every music venue and establishment that regularly hosts concerts. Reservations should be limited to a certain time period (see case study below), allow registered vehicles only and requested and paid for in advance by the venues;

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●

●

Reserved street spaces (e.g. on-street parking, plazas) located near music venues and establishments hosting concerts with the aim to temporarily provide outdoor seating and/or outdoor live music. Reservations should be limited to certain days in the month and time periods to minimize nuisance to residents. The lease should be available free of charge during the COVID-19 pandemic; Reserve busking areas for street musicians in high-traffic areas where artists and audiences can remain socially distanced such as main streets, plazas and parks. This can be aligned with Action 12 for promoting best practices in busking.

These measures can be trialed around dates where higher activity is expected Downtown, such as the holidays or during special events like First Fridays, before being expanded year-round. The City of Tulsa should assess the expansion of these policies and initiatives to other less densely populated areas if requested by venues and businesses located outside of Downtown Tulsa.

Potential Partners: Tulsa Music Committee, City of Tulsa, Downtown Tulsa partners (Tulsa Arts District, Greenwood Historical District, East Village, Deco District, Blue Dome District).

When to Implement: Year 1 (2021-2022) through Year 2 (2022-2023).

How to Measure It: ● ● ● ● ●

Number of artist load/unload zones implemented in Downtown Tulsa; Number of artist load/unload permits requested by venues yearly; Participation of Tulsa citizens and visitors in outdoor music activities, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic; Number of participating venues and buskers; Reported revenue from participating venues and buskers.

Best Practice Case Study - Artist Load/Unloading Zones, Austin115 What Is It: Permits allowing performers to load and unload in designated Musician Loading/Unloading zones near music venues. Permits cost $25 each and are requested and paid for by the venue. The permit will allow musicians/performers to load/unload in any designated musician loading zone for 30 minutes. It is up to the venue to keep track of their permit and get it back from performers when loading/unloading is complete. Permits can only be requested by venues that host live performances.

Who Is Responsible? The Austin Transportation Department has worked with the Economic 115

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Development Music Office and local venues in its implementation.

What Has It Done? Other cities have successfully established Musician Loading and Unloading areas for music venues after Austin implemented them in 2013, such as Seattle, WA and Nashville, TN (Raleigh, NC also trialled them in 2015).

Relevance for Tulsa: Downtown Tulsa and other venues located outside of the city centre would benefit from having specific musician load/unload zones that cannot be obstructed by street parking or other loading vehicles. Establishing a permit system will also collect data on how often these areas are used by music venues and how loading/unloading space availability affects the venues/areas that do not have musician zones.

3.5.4 Health and Safety at Music Venues & Events Interviewees mentioned the visible improvements in safety in the Downtown area in the past 10 years, owing to the growing popularity of Cain’s Ballroom and the city’s investment towards the revitalization of the Arts District. The safety in venues and festivals was the second best-rated asset of the Tulsa music ecosystem in the survey (“very good” according to 29% and “good” according to 49%).116 House Bill 2597 became effective in November 2019, allowing most Oklahomans over 21 to carry a firearm without a permit (18 if they are in the military).117 Stakeholders also mentioned that most venues ban guns and weapons inside their facilities and do pat-downs at the entry. This has created some confusion around whether people are entitled to carry their weapons while attending concerts at public-private music places such as Guthrie Green and The Gathering Place, according to stakeholders, but there have not been any incidents linked to the issue.

At the time of the report, health and safety concerns have mainly shifted to COVID-19 safety precautions. As music venues and night-time economy businesses were allowed to reopen after almost two months of lockdown in May 2020, each bar and venue had to decide individually if and how to comply with COVID-19 safety recommendations. These were issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention118 and the State of Oklahoma119 as suggested policies, not mandates. Interviewed venues noted masks are only mandatory in Tulsa’s public areas and not inside private spaces as of September 2020, and therefore not enforced by all bars or venues.

The inability to reopen safely due to capacity and/or cost of additional protective measures has

116

This topic is further addressed in section 3.6.3. - Music Tourism in the report Vote Smart (2020) 118 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020) 119 Oklahoma Commerce (2020c) 117

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left most of Tulsa’s venues unopened or with a drastically reduced calendar of shows, according to stakeholders.

The health crisis related to COVID-19 has cancelled most music festivals in Tulsa and globally, or reimagined them as virtual events. In this context, stakeholders identified an opportunity to encourage more outdoor concerts with local and regional acts, weather permitting. Some have already done it, like the Tulsa Opera at One Oak Field (see case study below), the concerts at Admiral Twin drive-in movie theatre, and an outdoors, wi-fi transmitted performance by the Tulsa Signature Symphony.

LOCAL HIGHLIGHT: The Voices of Rigoletto at One Oak Field120 What Is It? To comply with safety and social distancing measures, the opera Rigoletto was reimagined as a baseball theme and performed at the baseball stadium ONEOK Field on October 9, 2020. Singers remained 25 feet away from each other on the baseball bases and a string quartet will be in place of its full opera orchestra. It is one of the several music initiatives launched by Tulsa Opera since COVID-19 in Tulsa, including virtual performances and more reimagined opera performances to follow this 2020-2021 season.

Who Is Responsible? Tulsa Opera is a nonprofit organization established in 1948 to produce professional opera of artistic integrity and enrich the region through innovative education and outreach programs.

What Has It Done? This was the first time an opera company has staged a production with live singers in front of a live audience in the United States since mid-March, when concerns about the spread of coronavirus shut down all public performances.

Action 15: Support Local Venues With a Collaborative Outdoor Concert Series Focus: Coordinate and subsidize an open-air music festival to support local venues and promoters during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Goals:

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● ● ● ● ●

Produce a series of outdoor shows following COVID-19 health recommendations; Increase collaboration between live music promoters and venues in Tulsa; Create additional income opportunities for artists, live music professionals and venues during the COVID-19 pandemic; Assess the capacity and fitting of existing outdoor live music venues; Increase audience confidence in returning to live music activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

How to implement it: ●

●

●

●

The Tulsa Music Committee should lead and liaise on the trial of a collaborative outdoor concert program in Spring-Summer 2021, uniting owners/managers of outdoor concert spaces and local live music promoters (venues or independent); Promoters should be incentivized to work as a collective organization by being provided with free rental of the outdoor facilities, keeping the profits from food, drinks and merchandise sales, and distributing the income from ticket sales collectively, favoring those in urgent need of support (see case study below); It is suggested that the City of Tulsa and the philanthropic organizations managing eligible outdoor spaces subsidize at least half of the production budget (e.g. stage rental, power, labour costs, artist remuneration). This will compensate for the reduced capacity and additional safety measures to minimize COVID-19 risks; Depending on the success of the initiative, the program could be extended for additional months when the weather permits. This action can be tied to special events devised in Action 5 for the creation of a ‘Tulsa Music Month’.

Potential Partners: Tulsa Music Committee, George Kaiser Foundation, River Parks.

When to Implement: Year 1 (2021-2022) through Year 2 (2022-2023).

How to Measure It: ● ● ● ● ●

Number of shows produced and of venues/promoters and artists supported in each edition; Reported collaborations between local promoters, philanthropic organizations, and artists; Reported revenue from live music performances during the COVID-19 pandemic by artists and venues; Tickets sold/capacity assessment for each concert and participating outdoor venue; Participation of Tulsa citizens and visitors in outdoor music activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Best Practice Case Study - Sala Barcelona, Barcelona (Spain)121 What Is It: The Barcelona Council is leasing the outdoor areas of its historic Montjuïc Castle to local music venues during the months of July, August, October, November and December 2020 under the name “Sala Barcelona”. The initiative aims to stimulate the live music economy as most local venues have remained closed since March. Concerts feature emerging and established artists of diverse genres and backgrounds and take place at night (8 pm to 12 am).

Ticket prices for each show vary between $15 and 22, capped at 400 attendees. Seating arrangements guarantee up to eight people in the same group can be together while distancing from other tables.

Who Is Responsible? A public-private partnership between the Cultural Institute of Barcelona (part of Barcelona Council) and the Association of Music Venues of Catalunya. The total budget of the program for July and August was $300,000 approximately. The Council sponsors 66% of the expenses and leases the space for free to the venue association, while the association is responsible for covering the rest of the cost through ticket sales and sponsorships.

What Has It Done? The 36 shows programmed in July and August booked 60 bands and 35 DJs, and employed 17 light technicians, 15 technical producers, seven photographers and five security guards. Around 9,000 tickets were sold, collecting $70,000 in income. The total income was split into two undisclosed mounts, one to be distributed evenly among all venues, and the other to further support the most economically pressured venues.122 Relevance for Tulsa: This is an example of a partnership that would leverage the philanthropy organizations, public support, and collaborative music scene in Tulsa. The number of shows, scale of the events and duration of the scheme can be narrowed initially in Tulsa to identify and assess the necessary changes required to succeed with a large-scale collaboration project like the proposed ‘Tulsa Music Month’ from Action 5.

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3.6 Implementation of Strategic Plan 3.6.1 Overview Tulsa FMAC, the proposed Tulsa Music Committee, and possibly the proposed Music Export Division (at FMAC or run by an external organization), will play a pivotal role in moving forward with these recommendations and implementing the strategy. Despite their importance, the success of this strategy depends on the collaboration of many different actors in the region: the City of Tulsa, musicians, business owners and music professionals, students, tourism stakeholders, bar and restaurant owners, Tulsa schools and other music education providers, to name a few.

Some of the actions are implementable in the short run, while others require long-term planning, coordination and lobbying efforts. These actions must be implemented in a certain order to be the most effective and realistic timeframes. They have been classified into implementation years, Year 1 (2021-2022), Year 2 (2022-2023), Year 3 (2023-2024), Year 4 (2024-2025), and Year 5 (2025-2026). A Gantt chart with the Actions, partners and implementation calendar is attached to this submission as Appendix 8.123 However, this action plan is not set in stone. Although each action is set for a specific implementation period, the Tulsa Music Committee should assess the sector’s needs and priorities for a given year and adjust the action plan accordingly.

Three types of assessment should be adopted yearly, if possible, to monitor the success of the implementation of the Tulsa Music Strategy using the indicators measured in the “how to measure” section of each action: an economic impact, a mapping with the openings and closures of music spaces and places, and a survey aimed at artists, professionals, organizations and audiences. Some actions require a quantitative approach, while others have to be evaluated qualitatively. A main indicator for the growth of the music ecosystem will be the music ecosystem total economic output per capita and the contribution of the music ecosystem to employment to the local economy. However, the economic growth of the music ecosystem is only one of the indicators of a successful music strategy, and visible results can only be expected in the long-run.

3.6.2 Examples of Funding As part of this strategy, the joined forces between a more music-focused Tulsa FMAC and the Tulsa Music Committee represent the main drivers for implementation. They will play a key role in actioning the strategy and coordinating efforts with local stakeholders, including government organizations. The first step of the strategy is to set up these structures. However, the limited amount of funding available at Tulsa FMAC to develop new programs calls for partnerships and

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new funding mechanisms to increase the budget available to place Tulsa in the global music cities movement.

Below are some case studies that can inspire Tulsa to develop additional funding mechanisms to implement the strategy. The examples show how other US cities have adopted different funding mechanisms, structures and partnerships to support their music sector and culture at large. These local mechanisms have been tested and proven over time to leverage hundreds of thousands of dollars for their music sectors and put their cities on the map for the quality of their music and creative industries – Austin, Portland, Denver–, while ArtPlace’s public-private partnership shows new alliances can be created by aligning partners on the value of a sector to a local community –in Artplace’s case, of creative placemaking.

AUSTIN: Live Music Fund, an Increased and Redirected Hotel Occupancy Tax for music venues.124 What Is It: In Fall 2019, the Economic Development Department began the process of reimagining the use of HOT-funded programs within the Department. Eventually, Austin City Council decided to create the Live Music Fund, established by City Ordinance, on September 19, 2019. The fund contributes a portion of newly increased hotel taxes to local for-profit music entities in order to support the local artists.

How Is It Funded? The City of Austin's Hotel Occupancy Tax rate is 11 percent, comprising a 9 percent occupancy tax and an additional 2 percent venue project tax. The City’s tax is in addition to the 6 percent rate imposed by the State of Texas, which must be remitted separately to the State.125 What Has It Done? Fund distribution is decided by Austins’ Music Commission with input from community consultations to better allocate the funds. The new change was projected to generate an additional $3.6 million a year and $40 million in the next decade for the local music sector (according to estimates from a political action committee.

Relevance for Tulsa: Like Tulsa, the City of Austin takes pride in its vibrant local music scene and therefore is committed to tackling the struggles that the for-profit music sector faces, like the slim business prospects of clubs hosting local music. This was already addressed through Play Tulsa Music, and this is a potential mechanism to sustain the program over time in Tulsa to support venues during and after the COVID-19 health and economic crisis.

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PORTLAND: Arts Education and Access Fund, an Individual Income Tax.126 What Is It: The City of Portland approved in 2012 a $35 per person income tax for city residents to fund arts education and access named Arts Tax. How Is It Funded? Portland residents must pay the tax annually. Individuals who are under the age of 18, whose income is less than $1,000 annually, or live in a household below the federal poverty level are exempt from paying the tax.

What Has It Done? In the 2018 tax year (the last with available data) the tax dispersed $9.6 million to six Portland school districts and to the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC). The money helps arts and music teachers for K-5 students and arts programs citywide.127 Relevance for Tulsa: The funding cuts in arts education have a greater impact in school districts located in low-income neighborhoods. Tulsa’s generous philanthropic sector has allowed an ecosystem of music nonprofits, including music education organizations, to exist.

This individual taxing option would further ensure the sustainability of those programs despite the fluctuating prices of the energy sector or any economic crisis that may arise in the future, prioritizing continued access to music education in Tulsa.

DENVER: Denver Arts & Venues, a Local Agency Funded by Venue Rentals and Ticket Sales.

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What Is It: Denver Arts & Venues (A&V) is an agency of the City and County of Denver responsible for operating some of the region’s facilities. It also oversees the city’s public art program, grant programs and some entertainment and cultural events.

How Is It Funded? Most of its income comes from the rental of City-owned venues to external promoters, such as the 9,500-capacity Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Denver also imposes a ten percent facilities development admissions tax upon the purchase price of each admission to any entertainment, amusement, or athletic event or other production or assembly staged, produced, convened or held in or on any City-owned property. This tax is commonly referred to as the “seat tax.” It also develops corporate partnerships for promotions and advertising to increase its funding.

What Has It Done? Denver A&V had a budget of almost $48.8 million in 2019 from its seat tax

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City of Portland (2020a) City of Portland (2020b) 128 Denver Arts & Venues (2020) 127

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revenue.129 Some of the initiatives it has launched in the past have been the Denver Music Advancement Fund (2018), which distributed $100,000 in grants across 29 organizations that supported Denver’s music ecosystem in 2018-2019. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions to large events and consequent loss of revenue, the agency announced drastic budget cuts for 2021.130 Relevance for Tulsa: The City of Tulsa’s involvement with the BOK Center and the Tulsa Performing Arts Center could be leveraged to raise an additional tax from ticket sales to eventually fund the recommendations in the strategy and other creative industries programs.

Creating a Tulsa City and County funding mechanism similar to Denver’s seat tax will reinvest the success of local large initiatives into the grassroots ecosystem so small music businesses, artists and venues can continue to exist. This mechanism should not be adopted until the restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic allow for the production of events in City-owned venues again.

DENVER: Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, a Localized Sales Tax to Support Science & Culture.131 What Is It: A special regional tax across seven counties in the Denver Metro region that collects and distributes funding to nonprofit arts, culture and science groups. The district comprises the counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson.

How Is It Funded? It collects a sales tax of one penny for every $10 spent in the district. This mechanism has had voter approval at each of the three renewal elections.

What Has It Done? More than $66 million was collected and distributed to 300 organizations in 2019, the largest total in the district’s 30-year history. This funding directly supports over 11,800 jobs in the Denver Metro region.

Relevance for Tulsa: Downtown Tulsa is an attractive investment area where the adoption of a similar redistribution of property and/or sales taxes could be redirected towards funding the actions in the strategy and other initiatives in music and the cultural industries. The coexistence of this funding and the Denver Arts & Venues additional income (see previous case study) provide the Denver Metro area with arts and culture funding without taxpayers being overly aware of their contribution.

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City and County of Denver (2019) Harris, K. (2020) 131 Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (2020) 130

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ARTPLACE: Public, Financial, and Philanthropy Partnership for Creative Placemaking.132 What Is It: This organization seeks to encourage the development of projects in which art plays an integrated role in community planning and development, also known as creative placemaking. Successful creative placemaking projects are not measured by how many new arts centers, galleries or cultural districts are built. Rather, their success is measured in the ways artists, formal and informal arts spaces and creative interventions have contributed toward community outcomes.

How Is It Funded? A collaboration from 15 leading foundations (Barr Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, among others), eight federal institutions (NEA, USDA, Department of Transportation, etc.) and six of the US’s largest banks (Morgan Stanley, Citi, Chase, among others) with different working partnerships for every project.

What Has It Done? As of 2018, the collaboration had initiated 23 creative placemaking projects in 18 states and one US territory. The grants given by Artplace are highly competitive. In 2017, only 70 finalists were selected from 987 applications. ArtPlace also has a deep commitment to funding rural America, and almost 52% of 2017’s funded projects were located in rural communities. Awards typically range from $50,000-$500,000.

Relevance for Tulsa: This large partnership can be scaled-down to the local level to involve local foundations, government institutions and banks to fund creative placemaking actions, including those in the present action plan such as subsidizing more outdoor concerts and music activities, incentivizing busking, and allocating on-street parking spaces towards alternative uses for music venues and other Downtown Tulsa businesses at night.

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4. Conclusion The Tulsa Music Strategy is the result of eight months of research, stakeholder engagement and analysis. The 14 recommendations in the action plan aim to create a more resilient music economy that prioritizes Tulsa musicians, singers, producers and other creators, together with an ecosystem of professionals and businesses that promote their music and Tulsa to the rest of the world. It demonstrates the significant value music has to Tulsa, the biggest music economy in Oklahoma, as a sector with an output of $335 million annually and responsible for 1.4% of the total workforce in the county. Figures show the music ecosystem supports in Tulsa County three times more direct FTE jobs compared to agriculture-related sectors and has the highest number of music establishments per capita in Oklahoma.

Tulsa has world-class music venues, tourist attractions and a vibrant community of musicians and creatives in other sectors that support the music ecosystem. Its music scene has received national press coverage and been praised by global music stars like Jack White, who reportedly owns a house in the city. This ambitious five-year plan aims to leverage these assets in the disrupted context caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, increasing the economic output and employment contribution of music locally. Its underlying aim is to ensure a Tulsa-based music artist or professional can access education, career and network development opportunities in other music cities without having to relocate. By 2026, Tulsa will reverse the exodus trend and attract musicians, music industry professionals and companies to build back better together.

The data captured in this report shows the strategic support and investment the Tulsa music ecosystem needs to develop its advocacy, infrastructure, education, promotion, and tourism to fully benefit from the opportunities available in the music industry, national and internationally.

The roadmap outlined in this strategy is the first step for Tulsa towards a renewed, stronger music industry that is ready to play in the global music cities league.

The material included in the appendix, for those who wish to explore further contains: 1.

The list of music ecosystem definitions used in the economic impact assessment of the strategy, including NAICS codes, RIMS II multipliers, SOC for music ecosystem activities, Zip codes; 2. The questions from the Tulsa Music Survey; 3. The research and actions related to the area of music education, complementary to the strategic areas of action presented in this report; 4. The action plan implementation timeline.133

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Appendixes available upon request.

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Ellis, R. (2019) OKC-to-Tulsa passenger rail service falls through. Online at https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/okc-to-tulsa-passenger-rail-service-falls-through/article_bc5d3916a8f2-5103-b780-adf865127146.html accessed 6-5-2020 Europa Press (2020) Sala Barcelona alcanza los 9.000 asistentes en sus conciertos para reactivar el sector musical.

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Appendix: Methodology and Sources 1. Stakeholder Engagement Methodology Sound Diplomacy and Tulsa FMAC began this project in February 2020. A field research visit to Tulsa was scheduled at the end of April 2020 which included conducting a series of roundtable discussions, one-on-one interviews with stakeholders, and visiting a number of select music spaces with Tulsa FMAC. However, given the advancement of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and the US from March 2020 onwards, and the ensuing restrictions on travel and social distancing measures, the stakeholder engagement phase was carried out online.

Between May and August 2020, Sound Diplomacy conducted via Zoom seven 90-minute roundtables and 18 in-depth one-on-one interviews with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds and roles in the Tulsa music ecosystem. Three additional stakeholders who could not attend the meetings but expressed a willingness to engage completed a questionnaire via email. Overall, the Sound Diplomacy team spoke to 41 individuals. The findings from these roundtables and interviews are marked as “stakeholders” or “interviewees” throughout the report.

Stakeholders were identified in collaboration with Tulsa FMAC to ensure the widest set of voices, genres, styles and disciplines in Tulsa. Their main areas of work are as follows: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Venue Operators (Music & nightlife venues, multi-purpose spaces, concert halls, arenas, cafe/bars with live music) Independent Promoters (Festival organizers, event promoters, booking agents) Producers, Recording Studios & Rehearsal Spaces Artists (Diverse across genre, race, gender, style, discipline, age) Music Business (Record labels, publishers, managers, PR, retail) Education (K-12, higher education, private music education, other music education stakeholders) Music Media (Music and cultural journalists: radio, print, online) Government (Planning and zoning, tourism, chamber, parks & recreation, CVB, business improvements districts) Foundations, Funding, Associations (Private foundations with interest in music and culture, and public grant representatives, music-related associations)

2. Economic Impact Methodology METHODOLOGY

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The economic impact analysis is macroeconomic research, which is based mainly on official secondary sources and statistics, complemented by primary research conducted by Sound Diplomacy. It provides a reliable measure of the economic importance of the music ecosystem in Tulsa County’s economy on three different scales: direct, indirect, and induced impact. The geographic scope of this assessment is limited to Tulsa County, Oklahoma.

The results contained in this report correspond with data from 2017 and previous years. This is because most of the official data sources used have a three-year delay. For instance, during the research process, the most updated version available for the County Business Patterns and RIMS II multipliers was data from 2017.

Table 1: Economic Impact Definitions ECONOMIC IMPACT

DEFINITION

Direct Economic Impact

The direct impact is the economic activity directly connected to the music ecosystem, such as musicians, agents and venues.

Indirect Economic Impact

The indirect impact is supportive activity of the suppliers of the music ecosystem and is related to local businesses that provide goods and services, such as advertising, transportation and legal affairs.

Induced Economic Impact

Induced impact is created when the workers of the whole music ecosystem spend their wages on food, transportation, entertainment, etc. in their daily life.

The variables evaluated as part of the Economic Impact Assessment are: music ecosystem output, employment, gross value added (GVA), workers’ compensation or wages, and the average income of music ecosystem workers.

Table 2: Economic Impact Variables VARIABLE

DEFINITION

The music ecosystem output134

All produced goods and services of the music ecosystem in Tulsa County. For example, concert ticket sales, recording studios services, etc.

Music ecosystem employment135

The number of active jobs in the production of music ecosystem goods and services.

134 135

Bureau of Economic Analysis (n.d.)

Ibid.

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Music ecosystem compensation136

Remuneration (including wages and salaries, as well as benefits such as employer contributions to pension and health funds) payable to employees in return for their music ecosystem work during a given year.

Gross value added (GVA)137

The music ecosystem output minus music ecosystem intermediate consumption (the costs of all inputs – for example, equipment rented by a live music promoter).

The annual average income of the music ecosystem workers

Describes the average income of the music ecosystem workers based on several variables such as sex, age, race, etc.

CLASSIFICATIONS In order to define and frame the music ecosystem according to the official data available we use two standard classifications: The Classification of Economic Activities of the North American Industrial Code 2017 (NAICS) is the standard used by federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy. It was used to calculate the economic activity in Tulsa County that is attributable to the definition of the music ecosystem (see Appendix 1138).

The 2018 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system is a federal statistical standard used by government agencies to classify workers into occupational categories for the purpose of collecting, calculating, or disseminating data. It was used to calculate the average income of the music ecosystem workers in Tulsa County.

DATA SOURCES Six main data sources have been used to conduct the economic impact analysis in Tulsa County.

Table 3. Economic Impact Data Sources DATA SOURCE

DETAILS

136

Ibid.

Ibid.

138 See Appendix 1, available upon request.

137

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County Business Patterns: 2017

This source allows the calculation of the number of establishments and employees in Tulsa’s music ecosystem by detailed industry. It also allows calculating the share of music ecosystem establishments within the state of Oklahoma.

BEA Regional Economic Accounts GDP by State 2001 2017

This source provides GDP data according to the big industries at the state and metropolitan levels.

Regional Input-Output Modeling System (RIMS II)139

RIMS II provides both Type I and Type II regional input‐output multipliers to estimate the indirect and induced economic impact of the NAICS economic activities at the county level.

Type I multipliers account for the direct and indirect impacts based on the economic dynamics of the music ecosystem supply chain. Type II multipliers account for both indirect and induced impacts based on the purchases made by employees of the music ecosystem.

The American Community Survey 2013 - 2017

This source allows for identifying the average income of the different occupations associated with the music ecosystem.

Quarterly Census of Employment 2017

This source provides the employment information per North American Industry Classification System, NAICS activity. From the latter, the details used are for the activities associated with the music Ecosystem.140

Sound Diplomacy primary data

This data, collected through the sectoral survey, roundtables and the mapping of agents, enables us to identify missing data and data that does not necessarily correspond to the music ecosystem but that was found in the official databases.

3. Survey Methodology Sound Diplomacy developed a 15-minute survey to gather information from music industry professionals, musicians and music fans that are based in Tulsa (or engage in music activities there) to better understand the music ecosystem in the city and the local effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ‘Tulsa Music Strategy Survey’ was hosted on the SurveyGizmo platform (now Alchemer) and was open for six and a half weeks, from July 8th to August 23rd, 2020. No incentive was provided to the participants. Tulsa FMAC collaborated with Sound Diplomacy in the design of the survey 139 140

See definitions in Appendix 2, available upon request.

See Appendix 4, available upon request.

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and its dissemination and promotion. The analysis in this report has been created by Sound Diplomacy.

After an examination of the 493 responses the survey received, a total of 323 individual responses with complete or substantially complete status were marked as fit for analysis. Of those, 84% are based in the Tulsa Metro Area, while 16% are not based in Tulsa, but participate in the music ecosystem there, for instance by working, performing, and/or attending shows. Overall, 56% of respondents have a creative role in the Tulsa music industry (i.e. singer, musician, producer, DJ, composer, etc.), 22% have an industry-related role (i.e. manager of a music organization, employee, contractor, etc.), and 22% are members of the audience. The total 323 responses provided a margin of error of +/- 5.4% at the 95% confidence level.141 A list of the survey questions and answer options are provided as an appendix to this document.

142 Featuring separate tracks of questions for audience members, artists, businesses and professionals, the survey covered a wide range of topics, including: ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Demographics Music ecosystem roles Artist, professional and business finances and revenue streams143 Music ecosystem strengths and challenges Musical skills and educational background Areas needing government support Live music ecosystem, including audience habits

Furthermore, 26% of respondents also contributed with their opinion using an open-ended question at the end of the survey. The findings and themes from these comments are presented in section 3 of this report. Survey questions have been included in Appendix 6.144

4. Asset Mapping Methodology Between July and August 2020, Tulsa FMAC mapped the music infrastructure in Tulsa County.

This was complemented with additional research by Sound Diplomacy for the economic impact assessment using a shared Google Sheets document. The resulting map includes the following

141

This sampling considers the population size of Tulsa County residents aged 18 and older (479,515) as the target recipients for the survey. Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2020a) 142 Appendixes available upon request.

143 A technical error with the survey only allowed certain respondents to provide the amounts they lost due to COVID-19: those who provided this information in the open-end comments, and those who filled the survey after August 10.

144 See Appendix 6, available upon request.

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information: music asset’s name, type of business and address. A digital form of the mapping with these assets is available at http://bit.ly/TulsaMusicMap. While the mapping was not included in the scope of Sound Diplomacy’s work for this project, it was carried out by Tulsa FMAC to identify music-related uses in Tulsa and create a stakeholder list for future outreach and research efforts. It was produced using tertiary and publicly available sources, including Google Maps, Yelp, Yellow Pages and Songkick. The mapping was cross-referenced by Sound Diplomacy to ensure that the mapped assets were representative of the music categories and that they are still in use today. The following categories are included: ● ●

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Dedicated Music Venues: Locations built with the purpose of presenting live music (i.e. has permanent stage and equipment, opens only for concerts); Bars, Cafes & Restaurants with Music: Locations where the main business is selling food and/or beverages to patrons and also present live music (i.e. may not have a permanent stage, opens also if there are no concerts); Arenas & Occasional Concert Spaces: Large capacity venues or open-air structures (usually over 2,000) hosting sports, music, and other types of events; Multi-activity Venues: Locations where live music presentations are part of a larger cultural & events program (e.g. theatres, art centres); Nightclubs: Nightlife establishments with regular DJ nights and occasional live music performances; Music Industry & Nonprofits: Registered organizations primarily serving the music community; Music Education: Registered schools and instructors primarily teaching music; Recording Studios: Registered music and audio studios offering music recording and mastering services; Record & Equipment Stores: Retail establishments selling and/or renting music instruments, equipment, physical music and/or merch; Music Radios: Radio stations primarily programming music.

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SOUND DIPLOMACY LTD London • Berlin • Barcelona • New Orleans info@sounddiplomacy.com www.sounddiplomacy.com 120