From November 18–25, 2017, I facilitated the Deputy V of the Indonesian Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) on a comparative study visit to UNESCO Music Cities in Liverpool and Glasgow. Both cities are members of the Music City sub-network within the UN body for education and culture. The findings would feed into Indonesia’s national music city strategy.
Why Liverpool and Glasgow?
Both cities have built their modern identities substantially around music — and both have used UNESCO Creative City designation as a policy framework, not just a label. They’re among the most studied examples of how music can anchor urban regeneration.
Liverpool
Liverpool’s music identity is obviously anchored by The Beatles. But what’s more interesting is what the city has done with that legacy — and how it has built a living music ecosystem beyond nostalgia.
The city invested heavily in infrastructure: world-class venues at every scale, a vibrant club and live music scene, and serious music education institutions. Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), co-founded by Paul McCartney, is one of the most respected performing arts schools in the world.
What struck me most was how the city had institutionalized support for the music ecosystem. There is a dedicated music office within the city government. There are programs supporting emerging musicians, venue owners, and promoters. The music industry is treated as a genuine economic sector requiring policy attention — not just a cultural amenity.
Liverpool also showed how heritage and innovation can coexist. The Beatles tourism is a multi-million pound industry. But the city is also producing new artists and scenes — it doesn’t rely solely on the past.
Glasgow
Glasgow’s approach is different and in some ways more instructive for developing countries like Indonesia.
Glasgow didn’t have a single iconic act to anchor its identity. It built its music scene from the ground up through a combination of civic investment, community organizing, and strategic use of its UNESCO designation.
The city has an extraordinary density of grassroots music venues — small rooms with 100–500 capacity that serve as the training ground for artists and the heartbeat of the scene. City policy actively protects these spaces. When development pressure threatens a venue, the city has mechanisms to intervene.
Glasgow Music City is a formal body that coordinates between the city government, the music industry, and the creative community. It is an example of the “multi-stakeholder forum” model working well in practice. Everyone has a seat at the table, and the forum has real influence on policy.
Key Lessons for Indonesia
Several things stood out as directly applicable to the Indonesian context:
- Designate a music officer within government. Both cities have someone in local government whose job is specifically to support the music ecosystem. This single structural change would make a significant difference in how seriously music is taken as a policy matter.
- Protect small venues. Grassroots venues are where scenes develop. Without them, you have no pipeline for new talent and no community infrastructure. Glasgow’s approach to protecting these spaces is a direct model.
- Use UNESCO strategically. The UNESCO Creative City designation is more valuable as a policy framework than as a marketing badge. Both Liverpool and Glasgow use it to access networks, funding, and international partnerships that directly benefit their local ecosystems.
- Build cross-sector partnerships. The music city model works when music is connected to tourism, education, urban planning, and economic development. Siloing music within the cultural sector limits its potential impact.
- Invest in music education at scale. Both cities showed that the health of a music ecosystem over the long term depends on feeding it with trained musicians, producers, and industry professionals. This requires sustained investment in education.
The Visit in Practice
Over seven days, our delegation met with city government officials, venue operators, music industry associations, educators, and musicians. We visited LIPA in Liverpool and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. We attended live shows. We walked the streets and felt the cities.
The most important thing I took away wasn’t any specific program or policy — it was the attitude. In both cities, music is taken seriously. It is respected as both culture and economy. The people working in the ecosystem — from policy to performance — carry themselves with professional dignity.
That attitude is something Indonesia’s music cities will need to cultivate. It doesn’t come from UNESCO designation. It comes from people who believe in what they’re building and commit to it over the long term.