A city-initiated study called The Austin Music Census and The Austin Music People Biennial White Paper, issued in June and July, respectively, each outline problems facing Austin musicians and industry workers. Now city leaders and industry veterans are picking up the pieces of the multibillion-dollar industry to find solutions that ensure Austin’s long-term status as the “Live Music Capital of the World.”
“We’re not looking at it as the sky is falling, as some of the early reporting might suggest,” said Don Pitts, head of the ATX Music Office, a city division that oversees the industry. “When I read the [Music] Census, I cried the first time, got mad the second time and was extremely optimistic by the third time.”
The Music Census, a data-driven report based on nearly 4,000 survey responses, focus groups and interviews with area musicians, industry workers and venue owners, unveiled a lack of central leadership in Austin’s music scene, said Pitts, who is willing to take on that role after initially wanting to only work behind the scenes.
“I give my office a C so far,” he said, grading the ATX Music Office on its leadership. “We’ve tried a lot of different things the past few years, but we definitely had a hand in the mediocrity because there was an overwhelming sense of complacency within our office and the community in general.”
Aside from a lack of true leadership, Census respondents also identified low incomes, affordability issues, regulatory pressures and a lack of an entrepreneurial spirit as hurdles to music industry success. In addition, the AMP report gave Austin’s music scene an overall C-minus grade, claiming the industry “needs improvement.”
Where industry went wrong
City-led efforts in the past decade to encourage downtown growth failed to identify ways for new residents and music venues to coexist, Pitts said. However, he said it is not too late to find a balance between entertainment districts, which once dominated downtown, and residential uses despite noise concerns, a problem Pitts calls overblown.
“For the most part, we don’t have a sound issue right now,” he said, estimating the city receives 10 noise complaints per week, and half of those result from CrossFit gyms. “The noise issue gets all the attention, but it hasn’t been a problem for five years.”
However, the Census shows nearly two-thirds of venue operators struggle with inconsistent enforcement of the city’s sound ordinances, which are forcing more venues outside of downtown—thus creating new issues with neighboring communities, such as parts of South Austin, East Austin and north Central Austin where specific noise complaints and concerns have already emerged.
“I think everybody wants the music industry to thrive, but not in their neighborhood,” said Bruce Willenzik, a former employee at Armadillo World Headquarters, a former music venue credited for helping Austin earn its live music reputation until it closed in 1980.
Willenzik, who for the past 40 years has operated Armadillo Christmas Bazaar, said more work must be done to ensure prosperity among all Austin cultural outlets. By building an ecosystem that allows the music and art industries to work together, he said more crossover could occur before any more ground is lost.
“We need to manage the scene so it’s not crushed under the weight of its own success,” Willenzik said. “We have to be a ‘we,’ and with today’s challenges we really need to be a ‘we,’ or we don’t stand a chance.”
Proposed solutions
The city’s technology sector, which has grown in prominence during the same time Austin’s music industry declined, could play a role in any resurgence, according to multiple experts. In fact, technology and music have been innovating in Austin for the past 25 years, said Mellie Price, a local entrepreneur involved in technology initiatives that could potentially help improve Austin’s music scene.
“I don’t want the narrative to be about affordability,” Price said during an Aug. 4 Austin Forum on Technology & Society presentation. “But I would love to see Austin, Texas, be known as a place where music is working in lockstep with technology and as a place where music is in front of commercialization.”
Money made in the tech sector, and not just advanced technologies, can also help improve the music industry. Black Fret, a nonprofit group that collects $1,500 annually from each member in exchange for entry to exclusive live music showcases and house parties, invests its money back into artists using performance-based grants. Last year, for example, the group awarded $130,000 in grant money to 10 local musicians as voted by Black Fret members.
“Music has value—we all know that. And in starting Black Fret we wanted to give people a way to support the art they love,” co-founder Matt Ott said during the Aug. 4 forum. “What we’d love to see from the tech industry are easy and amazing ways to do that.”
At the forum, Ott and other advocates suggested creating a virtual tip jar to allow music patrons without cash to still support bands during live performances. Austin-based software engineer Chris Bush is working with musician and booking agent Rene De La Mora to launch such a mobile application called TipCow. By mid- to late September, users will be able to download TipCow and follow their favorite bands, learn about gigs first and leave tips in as few as four clicks, Bush said.
“I think we’re going to be part of an ecosystem bands adopt to collect money, reach their fans and find new venues,” he said.
‘Hurdles to climb’
Efforts to make health care more affordable and accessible nationally do not replace local initiatives from Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, which celebrates its 10th annual HAAM Benefit Day on Sept. 1. The event features more than 400 live music performances throughout Austin that day, with participating businesses and patrons combining to donate roughly one-third of HAAM’s annual budget, according to Executive Director Reenie Collins, who said this year’s fundraising goal is $450,000—up from $400,000 last year.
Collins said the lone bright spot from the recent music reports is that health care was not listed among the industry’s problem areas. However, much concern remains, with 18.9 percent of Census respondents claiming to have no health insurance versus 12.4 percent who are covered by HAAM or another nonprofit.
“Nobody does quite what we do, but there are towns that do hybrid [health care programs],” Collins said.
“Nashville, for example, is working on paying health care premiums. We may need to evolve at some point to address [insurance] premiums.”
The recent demise of downtown music venues, such as Holy Mountain, Red 7 and Austin Music Hall, also has some industry advocates calling for more protections from rising rental rates and redevelopment pressures. Multiple recommendations from industry analysts also call for a more nurturing system to develop locally based talent. ATX Music Office is anticipated to unveil long-term proposed plans in response to the Census data later this year, according to Pitts.
Willenzik suggested the music industry take a page from Armadillo’s tactics in the 1970s when the venue would pair a national touring act with a lesser-known but equally talented local musician.
“As we get bigger as a city, there are more resources and also more hurdles to climb,” he said. “But if opportunities were easy, everyone would have them.”
