Songs in the essence of cities.

Share

Abstract

Music and particularly, songs, are key contributors to a city's identity. Both Cities and Music are expressions of the human social face. This relationship is bidirectional: songs create and reinforce city identity, likewise, cities enable the conditions for social and cultural movements with music as the main expression of those, and songs show a reflection of city´s psychology/lifestyle. In their global competition for talent, Cities want to become more attractive, building strong branding. Investing in music to create city branding has proven to be very effective. This research is focused on the current impact of songs on Cities' Attractiveness to attract talent. Due to that fast information sharing, quantity, and propagation of reproductions are needed, then quality provide persistence. 175 cities around the world are analyzed. Research is focused on breadth (number of songs associated with that city) and depth (YouTube reproductions for top 3 songs). By combining both approaches, songs’ impact is measured and correlation with city branding and other city cultural expressions like movies are proven. In conclusion, City managers should pay attention to songs as a strong City identity builder in their competition to attract talent. Social sustainability is key and music is essentially social.