Marketing Jacksonville as a Music City

I would like to see Jacksonville get some recognition for its role in American music, and I would like to see us all make a little money from it, too.

Our fair city has an important and sustained history of contributing commercially successful and culturally important acts to the world, but we have never seriously considered the potential economic benefit of branding, marketing and stewarding this valuable asset.

Consider the numbers. The estate of Ray Charles, who started his career in LaVilla, is worth around $50 million. It is fair to assume the Allman Brothers Band’s brand value is in the same neighborhood. Lynyrd Skynyrd, which still tours even though all of its original members are dead, still generates around $40 million per year. This is not even considering Limp Bizkit, CC Lemonhead, Molly Hatchet, Yellowcard, 38 Special, Derek Trucks, JJ Grey and many other artists. Add to that the fact that the city was the site of pivotal moments in the careers of Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Blind Blake, Jelly Roll Morton and a host of other culturally significant musicians, and you can see that Jacksonville easily can make a strong case as an important music center. There is money to be made off showbiz.

The return on investment is an important part of this discussion because too often city leaders either see music as frivolous at best or, at worst, a potential safety and security risk. And yes, these are valid concerns. But, considering the investments we’ve made into the Jaguars, the potential for profit from our music scene has the potential to be a sure thing. Again and again, artists from Duval County have launched from here into the stratosphere of success and fame. Sadly, like Ray Charles and the Allman Brothers Band, they’ve had to leave here to do it, taking the potential revenue with them. When you consider the consistency with which a city of our size has kept musical acts on the charts in the 20th and 21st centuries, it becomes clear that we are missing a major opportunity by not better coordinating our efforts and stewarding this potential source of good feelings and income. The potential upside is grand.

New Orleans and Nashville are hours away, and no city in Florida has carved out a notable niche as a music city or destination. Atlanta has a burgeoning music business, but they are five hours away and still known more for business than entertainment. There is a strong breeze if we decide to chart a course and set sail.

I bring this up because there is some significant work happening in this direction already. The recent Florida Theatre renovation brings new energy to a beautiful centerpiece of our story. JazzFest has one of its best lineups in years. The persistent and consistent work of many downtown advocates, many of whom I count as close friends, have brought us Winterland, Riverfront Jams and several other important pieces to the puzzle. Farther out, Five will soon open in Five Points, and the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall is newly renovated. The band flipturn continues to pick up steam in the alternative space.

I’m grateful for the people who make improving downtown their ongoing and daily mission, and I hope they’ll read this article and consider it in addition to their current efforts.

But to do that, we need to align our work in a few key ways. Considering other music hubs like Austin, Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans, there are a few steps we need to take as a city to purposefully assert our claim as an important music destination.

Build a Niche Music Brand

First, we need to better articulate our brand. To do so, we need to combine our efforts. Southern rock is fading from the public’s memory, and our impressive contributions to blues, R&B and gospel are not enough on their own. Likewise, our continued commercial success in hip-hop and hard rock are still just now being understood for their longevity and cultural significance.

There is always a struggle for power in Jacksonville. We want one dominant narrative to drive our entire story, but no one can rule the day. We see cities like Atlanta and Charlotte – powerful business centers of the New South – and want their clarity of purpose. But we weren’t built to be a railroad stop as they were. We are, like the older Southern cities our region shares its story with, a meandering, varied and rich tapestry, and we need to start embracing that. No one artist’s brand is enough to carry the day. Focus on only jazz and blues, and we will trail New Orleans, much like our current JazzFest does. Hem too tightly to Southern rock, and we will play second fiddle to both Nashville and Austin. Focus solely on hip-hop and hard rock, and we will skew too young and forfeit potential revenue. No, all musical boats in Jacksonville must rise together.

We need to market all of these together under the same umbrella. If Memphis is the home of the blues, New Orleans the home of jazz and Nashville the home of country music, we are the home of the trailblazers – the people that combine hip-hop and rock, dance and hip-hop, blues and rock. Jacksonville is where all the streams flow into one delightful jam. Consider how the Allman Brothers Band combines blues, jazz and rock; Limp Bizkit hip-hop and heavy metal; Quad City DJs dance and hip-hop.

We can underscore our trailblazing history – that dovetails with our First Coast and Bold City branding – in a way that allows us to tell a bigger story about ourselves as a city where many different neighborhoods and tributaries flow into downtown like the mighty St. Johns River. This also allows us to position ourselves as a challenge brand to Nashville, with its formulaic country music, and New Orleans, with its touristy and predictable jazz promotion. We are where you hear the great musicians of the age first.

Create a Downtown Music Corridor

Secondly, like the cities I mentioned, we need to create a dedicated live music corridor. Consider Sixth Street in Austin, Beale Street in Memphis, Broadway in Nashville, Frenchmen Street in New Orleans or Deep Ellum in Dallas. Many will immediately point to Five Points and Riverside, but this would be a major mistake as it already abuts a residential neighborhood and cannot support the inflow of people nor tolerate the noise and parking. The Elbow area downtown, where a row of clubs currently exist and are largely underutilized, would be a much better option and would dovetail nicely into efforts to activate the riverfront – as well as provide people a reason to go downtown.

Currently, our music scene is, like our city itself, sprawling. Southern rock largely comes from the working-class Westside. Our gospel and blues from LaVilla and the Eastside. Hard rock and heavy metal from the far environs and suburbs. Much of our indie rock scene comes from the affluent beaches. Punk and hardcore thrive in Riverside. It means that many of our residents are totally unaware of the rich and varied history that might exist just a few miles from them.

But I don’t think we need to fight that. Let it sprawl. Our assorted neighborhoods and their unique cultures are part of what makes us such an inventive and exciting place for music. However, like the river that cuts through our city, we should provide a channel for those different musicians to combine and meet a larger audience. It only makes sense that our underutilized downtown is that place.

Longtime locals will remember both the Comic Book Club and the Milk Bar, both of which hosted significant scenes downtown – and international commercial success followed close behind. Imagine what a well-considered and intentional music corridor could do in terms of return on investment for the city. We don’t need to depend on imported music. Our local scene has the capability to be world class when it is allowed to thrive.

Doing so would mean a few things – making permitting easier and perhaps directing some placemaking efforts toward creating a music hub or bottleneck. Pitching opportunities for investment is an idea as well – Lynyrd Skynyrd executor Judy Van Zant’s Freebird Live on the beach was an important tour stop for bands for many years. Some targeted marketing in the way of banners and billboards wouldn’t hurt either. And, of course, it would mean finding a way to keep those clubs utilized and also safe for people – teenagers, young couples and single women – to go to and enjoy.

Some might point to the soon-to-be-opened Five in Five Points as a reason to stray from downtown, but I think this is a mistake. Five will be there, and our city can support music in a few locations. Likewise, the Florida Theatre is just around the corner from the zone I am describing, and recently Intuition Ale Works has been bringing in excellent small and mid-level touring acts as well just a block or two away. The choice is clear. Our downtown needs purpose and partition to create activity and life. Education is one. Finance and business is another. Music and nightlife are an important piece of the puzzle. Let it flow downtown.

Promote and Showcase our Story and Artists

Thirdly, we need to actively promote our music culture and scene through a series of intentional moves. The first would be to create a specific music showcase. The easiest move would be to build on Winterland, Riverfront Jams, or JazzFest in a way that better reinforces the brand we discussed earlier. It would be good – if this isn’t already happening – to bring all the assorted major music promoters to the table together to better coordinate their efforts and messaging.

It would also be important to create a music foundation or build on existing efforts. Critical to these would be something like a Jacksonville Music Awards, including a lifetime achievement award, which would help build bridges with the music industry and current and former residents who will feel invested in our efforts. Other, smaller ideas – like a compelling documentary, walking tours or other creative storytelling tactics are welcome. There is serious work toward a Jacksonville Music museum, and that would be a boon as well, especially if handled correctly. The Jacksonville Music Experience is off to the right start but needs support.

Finally, we need to shepherd and steward our current music scene in a way that allows us to promote it to the region more effectively. That means making this an easier city for musicians to live in. Austin did this by helping musicians obtain healthcare like the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), and if it was me, I would start right there. Grants and awards help close the gap as well, though the city should be wary of playing favorites and keeping the financial awards too insular and limited. The capital C City must widen its view and loosen its grip if it plans to support a truly representative music scene.

Leverage Public-Private Partnerships

These last two involve public and private money, and this is where things often fall apart in Jacksonville. Between a history of corruption, insider dealmaking and good, old-fashioned incompetence, we often fumble the ball on the goal line when distrust and infighting take hold. To this end, I suggest we try something new (for us) and consider this effort a private-public partnership. If the city can dedicate reasonable resources to this effort, those resources can be used to pursue matching gifts and engagement from others. A lifetime achievement award allows us to cultivate relationships with successful and wealthy musicians, as well as their industry connections. My own experiences in town tell me there are many local music lovers who would love to support an effort to boost Jacksonville’s morale and self-image – and that many of these supporters enjoy working together to do so.

I’ll conclude by putting it all together. Good marketing considers product – connecting the dots of our sprawling music scene and talking about it persuasively; place – creating a dedicated corridor for that sprawling scene to flow; promotion – coordinating and building our local showcases and cultivation efforts; and price – taking care of the relatively modest requests our musicians need to turn a profit. I’ve tried to cover all of those here.

But, more importantly, we are a city with little faith in ourselves and in constant search of an identity. The Jaguars have helped with that to a degree (come on, playoffs), but there is more to be done. Imagine how fun it would be to march out of a big win against the Titans and into our own music corridor for live music. Imagine the pride we would feel and how that would build momentum for our city. If we started now, we could be harvesting the benefits in a decade. We should use the rich soil of our past to sow seeds for our future for once.

These aims are realistic and achievable and are likely to garner broad-based support if handled correctly – safety and the perception of safety will be critical. To do so would not only improve our overall quality of life but would lay an important cornerstone in our overall story about ourselves. The pieces are here. Give it some thought.