May 08, 2024 Tourism Commission

PEOPLE, AUDITORIUM SHORES.

THANK YOU MS. OJEDA.

[3. Presentation by Omar Lozano, Director of Music Marketing with Visit Austin, regarding Austin’s Music Ecosystem and Connections with Tourism. ]

ITEM ON THE AGENDA.

AGENDA NUMBER THREE.

ITEM NUMBER THREE, RATHER.

UH, WE HAVE A PRESENTATION BY OMAR LOZANO, THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC MARKETING WITH VISIT AUSTIN REGARDING AUSTIN'S MUSIC ECOSYSTEMS AND CONNECTIONS, UH, TO OUR TOURISM INDUSTRY.

BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD, I WOULD WISH TO REMIND, UM, OUR COMMISSIONERS THAT, UM, WE HAVE SET FORTH A ROADMAP AND THIS MONTH'S ROADMAP TOPIC, UM, WAS, OOPS, EXCUSE ME, UH, TOURISM WEEK AS WELL AS, UH, MUSIC MAKERS AND MUSIC SHAPERS HERE IN AUSTIN.

SO WE ARE SO PLEASED TO HAVE, UM, THREE SPEAKERS COMING HERE TODAY TO SPEAK TO THIS PARTICULAR TOPIC, UM, AS WE FOCUS ON THE, NOT ONLY THE CULTURAL BUT ECONOMIC IMPACT OF MUSIC AND WHAT IT BRINGS TO AUSTIN AND OVERALL HOW IT INCREASES HOT TAX FUNDING HERE FOR OUR CITY AND ITS ESSENTIAL PROGRAMS. MR. LOZANO.

GREAT.

THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR, UH, INVITING US IN.

GOOD, UH, GOOD AFTERNOON TO ALL THE COMMISSIONERS.

UH, TODAY I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT, UH, THE VISIT AUSTIN MUSIC OFFICE.

UM, I HOPE THAT, UM, THROUGH THESE DISCUSSIONS, UM, YOU'LL HAVE, YOU'LL LEAVE WITH A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT WE DO, UM, HOW WE PROMOTE THE DESTINATION, YOU, UM, WORKING WITH OUR MUSIC COMMUNITY, UM, AS WELL AS, UH, SOME, UM, INTERESTING CASE STUDIES, UH, THAT ILLUSTRATE THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN TOURISM AND, AND MUSIC HERE IN OUR CITY, ESPECIALLY, UM, BEING THE, THE SWARTS OF, UH, OF THE LIVE MUSIC BRAND.

UM, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE VERY, WE'RE VERY HAPPY TO BE HERE AND, AND TO BE ABLE TO DISCUSS, UH, THESE WITH Y'ALL.

UH, SO A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE AUSTIN MUSIC OFFICE.

UM, WE PROMOTE AUSTIN AS THE LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.

UM, WE, UM, OWN THAT, UH, REGISTERED TRADEMARK AND WE PROTECT THAT BRAND.

UM, WE WORK WITH MUSICIANS, UM, UH, AS WELL AS, UH, THE LOCAL, UM, LIVE MUSIC ECONOMY, UM, ON CAMPAIGNS, ON EVENTS, MUSICIAN BOOKINGS,

[00:05:01]

CONTENT.

UM, WE ALSO MAINTAIN RELATIONSHIPS WITH, UH, LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS, FESTIVAL ORGANIZERS, VENUE OWNERS, UM, MUSIC SHOPS, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, THERE'S, UH, GOOD COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY, HOSPITALITY INDUSTRIES, AND THE MUSIC ECOSYSTEM.

UH, AS FAR AS, UH, THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF, OF MUSIC TOURISM, UH, I WANTED TO BRING IN, UH, SOME OF THE MOST RECENT, UM, EXAMPLES OF, UM, OF THOSE CONNECTIONS.

UM, THE MOST RECENT STUDY OF AUSTIN MUSIC IMPACT ISN'T REALLY THAT RECENT, BUT IT'LL GIVE YOU SOME ILLUSTRATIONS OF WHAT, UH, HAS BEEN.

UM, MUSIC AND MUSIC RELATED TOURISM WAS VALUED AT, UH, 1.8 BILLION, UM, THROUGH THE ECONOMIC MUSIC IMPACT, UH, STUDY RELEASED IN 2014 BY TXP, AND AT THE TIME IT ACCOUNTED FOR 20,000 JOBS IN PRIMARY MUSIC AND, UH, STRONG GROWTH IN MUSIC RELATED TOURISM JOBS.

UM, I'M ALSO ADDING SOME OF THE, SOME OF THE ECONOMIC IMPACT FROM, UM, THAT'S PUBLICLY AVAILABLE FOR ACL AND SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.

UM, OBVIOUSLY THESE, THESE, UH, THESE MASS MUSIC MOMENTS IN THE CITY ARE, ARE, ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO, UM, TO THE WAYS THAT, UM, THAT, THAT WE PROMOTE THE DESTINATION AND THE VISITORS THAT WE GET AND THE ECONOMIC, UM, IMPACT, UH, THAT WE GET HERE IN THE CITY.

UM, I'M ALSO PLEASED TO, UH, TO SHARE, UH, UH, CMT, UM, NUMBERS.

UH, OUR, OUR, OUR ORGANIZATION WORKED, UM, FOR, FOR A COUPLE YEARS TO BRING OVER CMT.

UH, SO WE WERE HAPPY TO SEE IT, UM, NOT ONLY THIS YEAR, BUT LAST YEAR.

UH, THE NUMBERS OF ECONOMIC IMPACT ARE FOR 2023, UM, 19.8 MILLION, UM, AS WELL AS 14, UH, THOUSAND ECONOMIC, UH, ESTIMATED, UH, ATTENDANCE AND SOME REALLY INTERESTING, UH, HOTEL IMPACT NUMBERS.

UM, IN 2023, UH, 40% REVPAR, WHICH IS REVENUE PER AVAILABLE ROOM.

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT NUMBER, UM, AN IMPORTANT FIGURE.

AND, UH, IN THE WAYS THAT HOTELS, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, CALCULATE THEIR REVENUE.

AND THAT'S OBVIOUSLY AN IMPORTANT NUMBER FOR, UH, HOT TAX, UM, THAT, THAT GOES, UM, INTO THE COMMUNITY.

SO, UM, AND THEN, UH, AND THIS YEAR, UH, THERE'S 132%, UM, REVPAR GAIN.

UH, THIS WAS ALSO INCLUDING THE ECLIPSE.

SO CERTAINLY, UH, SOME OF THOSE NUMBERS WERE ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.

UH, ONE OF THE CASE STUDIES I WANTED TO SHARE, I FEEL LIKE WE'RE IN A NEW, UH, INTERESTING ERA OF, UH, OF AUSTIN MUSIC.

UM, CERTAINLY, YOU KNOW, THE, THE INDEPENDENT, UH, VENUES, THE INDEPENDENT BANDS ARE THE HEART OF OUR CITY, AND AND THAT'S THE CULTURE, AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT.

UM, BUT HAVING, UH, THE INVENTORY OF LARGER EVENT SPACES, UH, SUCH AS MOODY CENTER, YOU KNOW, EVEN MOODY AMPHITHEATER, UM, UH, CIRCUIT THE AMERICA'S AMPHITHEATER, AS WELL AS, UM, UH, Q2 STADIUM, THESE ARE OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE'RE GETTING TO BRING IN THESE, UH, MASSIVE, UH, GLOBAL TOURING ACTS, WHICH IN THEIR OWN WAY ARE ECONOMIC DRIVERS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE'S, UH, RESIDENCIES, UM, THAT, THAT TAKE PLACE IN THE CITY.

WE'RE, WE'RE FINALLY ABLE TO, UM, EXTEND THE INVITE, UH, AND, UM, HAVE THE, THE PRODUCTION LEVEL TO BE ABLE TO, TO DO THIS.

SO, UM, FIVE NIGHTS OF, UH, HARRY STYLES, UH, REALLY, UM, REALLY AWESOME, UM, ECONOMIC IMPACT, 11%.

UH, THIS WAS BACK IN 2022, UH, 11% IN VISITOR SPENDING, UH, OVER THE LAST TWO NIGHTS OF THE HOTEL.

UH, AVERAGED 3% LIFT IN HOTEL OCCUPANCY THE NIGHT OF THE CONCERTS.

AND WHAT'S REALLY COOL IS THAT THE MAJORITY OF, UH, THE ATTENDEES WERE FROM, UH, WERE VISITORS.

UM, SO 35% CAME FROM, UH, OUTSIDE OF TEXAS, AND 86% STAYED OVERNIGHT.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE WANNA SEE.

UM, AND HERE YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE TOP ORIGIN MARKETS, UM, UH, THROUGH EACH, UH, EACH OF THE WEEKENDS, UM, OR THROUGH EACH OF THE EVENTS, EXCUSE ME.

AND, UH, AND SOME OF THE OTHER TOP POINTS OF INTEREST, UM, UH, THAT THESE VISITORS WERE, WERE EXPLORING.

SO IT'S, IT'S, IT'S COOL TO SEE THAT THEY'RE SPREADING THEIR WINGS AROUND THE CITY, SPREADING THEIR DOLLARS AROUND THE CITY, AND, UH, INTO SOME OF THESE, UH, SOME OF THESE, UM, DESTINATION, UH, POINTS OF INTEREST THAT ARE IN MULTIPLE DISTRICTS.

UM, THIS YEAR, THIS PAST YEAR FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE, UM, WE HAD A PARTNERSHIP WITH CNN.

UH, THIS WAS A REALLY AMAZING, UH, UH, MEDIA DESTINATION MARKETING OPPORTUNITY.

UM, WE WERE ABLE TO, UM, PARTNER WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND THEIR ONGOING, UH, NEW YEAR'S EVE CELEBRATIONS AND, UH, REALLY, UH, RETROFIT, UM, THAT INTO, UH, INTO A STREAMING PRODUCTION THAT IS, UH, WORTHY OF A NATIONAL, UM, NATIONAL RECOGNITION AND NATIONAL, UM, STREAMING.

UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THIS VIDEO WITH Y'ALL.

UM, 20,000

[00:10:01]

YES, THAT'S A GREAT NEW YEAR, EVERYONE.

HAPPY PERSONALITIES, MUSICIANS, CHEFS IN SPORTS, UM, A LOT OF GREAT AIRTIME.

MARTINEZ, WHAT'S UP LADIES? WELCOME TO AUSTIN, TEXAS.

LONGHORNS HEAD FOOTBALL COACH.

STEVE SARKIS HERE.

YOU'RE GONNA BE IN AUSTIN, YOU GOTTA KNOW HOW TO THROW YOUR HORNS UP.

THE MAYOR OF AUSTIN IS WITH US, KIRK WATSON, BUT FIRST, THE BARTON HILLS YOUTH CHOIR FROM RIGHT HERE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, THERE'S A MILLION VIEWERS.

UM, IT WAS THE MOST POPULAR PRIME TIME, THE MOST POPULAR TIME SLOT FOR CABLE VIEWING AT THAT TIME.

SO LOTS OF GREAT RECOGNITION FOR THE DESTINATION.

THIS IS SOMETHING WE'RE HOPING TO CONTINUE WITH, UM, WITH, UH, WITH CNN AND ALSO THE CITY OF AUSTIN.

UM, THE HOPE IS TO MAKE, UH, AUSTIN A A, A BIG, A BIGGER, UH, NEW YEAR'S EVE DESTINATION.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

EVERYONE FROM AUSTIN, THE FIREWORKS ARE STILL GOING OUT HERE.

AWESOME.

AND, UH, I GUESS A BIG PART OF THE MUSIC OFFICE IS, UM, AND I GUESS WHEN I WANT YOU TO THINK ABOUT THE WAYS THAT WE ENGAGE WITH MUSICIANS, WE DO IT UNDER A PLA UH, UNDER A PROGRAM THAT WE CALL HIRE AN AUSTIN MUSICIAN PROGRAM.

UH, THIS ESSENTIALLY REFERS MUSICIANS TO CONVENTION AND MEETING PLANNERS, UM, AND ALSO SERVES AS OUR IN-HOUSE BOOKING, UM, AGENCY, YOU CAN SAY WITHIN, UH, WITHIN VISIT AUSTIN.

SO ANY VISIT AUSTIN OWNED EVENT OR PARTNERED EVENT, UM, THIS, THIS IS THE UMBRELLA PLATFORM FOR IT.

UM, IT'S AN INCLUSIVE DATABASE.

WE'RE ADDING TO IT ALL THE TIME.

UM, 850 ARTISTS, 26 GENRES OF ALL KINDS.

UM, IN ADDITION TO LIVE EVENT PERFORMANCES AND BOOKINGS, UH, WE ALSO WORK, UH, WITH CONTENT AND LICENSING APPEARANCES AND REGULARLY COMPENSATE ARTISTS, UH, TO BE A PART OF OUR CAMPAIGN.

SO, UM, WE UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF MUSIC IN THE BRAND AND, AND WE'RE CONSTANTLY IN EVERY STEP, UM, WORKING WITH MUSICIANS, UH, TO BE A PART OF IT AND TO BE COMPENSATED IS A PART OF THAT.

UH, THIS FEATURE IS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE.

YOU CAN FIND IT, UM, UNDER THE MUSIC OFFICE PORTION.

AND, UH, WE DON'T TAKE A FEE FROM THE ARTIST.

WE DON'T TAKE A FEE FROM THE CLIENT.

UM, AND WE TRY TO BE AS TRANSPARENT AS POSSIBLE AND HELP MUSICIANS GET PAID AS MUCH AS THEY CAN.

UH, THIS IS A BREAKDOWN OF, UM, I'VE BEEN AT VISLO ME FOR LIKE EIGHT YEARS, GOING ON NINE YEARS.

UM, THEY HAD, THEY WEREN'T REALLY TRACKING A LOT OF THE MUSICIAN IMPACT BEFORE THEN.

SO THIS IS, UH, ESSENTIALLY FROM, UH, 15 TO 23.

UM, WE'VE HIRED ABOUT A THOUSAND, OVER A THOUSAND MUSICIANS AND, UM, DIRECT PAYMENTS TO AWESOME MUSICIANS AT 1.76 MILLION.

UM, SO WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING TO INCREASE THAT.

AND, UM, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING ON WHEN WE HAVE GREAT CONFERENCE YEARS, LIKE IN 2017 AND 18, UH, WE HAD PCMA, WE HIRED 50 BANDS FOR ONE EVENT.

UM, THERE'S ALL THESE OPPORTUNITIES AT CONFERENCES AND THIRD PARTY OP, UH, EVENTS ARE, ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE.

AND, YOU KNOW, EVEN THROUGH THE PANDEMIC, UH, YOU KNOW, 20, 21, 19, UM, THOSE YEARS, UM, WE STILL WORK TO PAY MUSICIANS, UM, WHETHER IT WAS CREATING LIVESTREAM PROJECTS OR, UM, LICENSING CONTENT OR APPEARANCES OR DOING LITTLE TAKEOVERS ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA.

UM, AND, UH, AS YOU CAN SEE, WE'RE FINALLY RECOVERING OVER LAST YEAR IN TERMS OF THE REQUESTS.

UH, IN TERMS OF, UM, IN TERMS OF BOOKING, UM, UH, AN EVENT SERIES THAT WE DO HERE IN THE CITY IS CALLED, UH, AUSTIN, UH, VISIT AUSTIN LOCAL AND LIVE.

UM, IT'S AT THEIR VISITOR CENTER.

UM, WE USUALLY DO IT AROUND BIG MUSIC MOMENTS OR, UH, OR BIG CITY MOMENTS, OR WHEN THERE'S A, A CITYWIDE CONFERENCE IN TOWN.

WE'LL, WE WILL USUALLY ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO COME, UH, GET A LITTLE DISCOUNT AT OUR VISITOR CENTER, SEE SOME LIVE MUSIC, UM, DURING SPRING MUSIC WEEK, WE ACTUALLY HOSTED, UM, NINE ARTISTS THIS YEAR.

UM, SO YEAH, IT'S A COOL LITTLE STAGE AND, AND AS WE WORK TOWARDS EXPANDING, UM, UH, WHAT OUR VISITOR CENTER CAN BE, UM, THIS IS CERTAINLY SOMETHING THAT WE'RE CONSIDERING.

UH, AND CONTINUING.

ANOTHER BIG, UH, BUCKET OF, UM, VISIT AUSTIN, UH, MUSIC OFFICE IS THE, OUR EXPERIENTIAL PROGRAM.

UM, EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING IS ESSENTIALLY, UM, MARKETING AROUND EVENTS, UM, OUTSIDE OF THE CITY.

SO, UM, BEING ABLE TO WORK DIRECTLY WITH LOCAL MUSICIANS TO REPRESENT THE CITY AT MUSIC FESTIVALS, AT CULTURAL EVENTS, AT TRADE SHOWS, UH, MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES, CONFERENCES VISIT US IN SALES EVENTS, MISSIONS AND MORE.

UM, WE ALSO PARTNER WITH, WE DON'T JUST DO EVENTS AND, UH, AND HAVE THEM PERFORM AND, AND, AND LEAVE IT AT THAT.

WE HAVE SURROUNDING CAMPAIGNS.

WE WORK WITH MEDIA PARTNERS,

[00:15:01]

WE WORK WITH, UH, PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER AUSTIN BRANDS, UM, AS WELL AS, UH, YOU KNOW, THE EVENT THEMSELVES TO MARKET OUR PRESENCE, UH, IN OTHER CITIES INTERNATIONALLY AND, AND THEN DOMESTICALLY, UM, AND REALLY WORK TO PROMOTE AUSTIN, UH, AS A WORLD CLASS MUSIC DESTINATION.

UM, INCORPORATING AND, UH, ENGAGING WITH MUSICIANS IN THAT PROCESS FOR, UH, FOR THAT EXPERIENCE.

UM, SINCE WE'RE A BIG LIVE EVENT CITY, UH, BEING ABLE TO MEET POTENTIAL LEISURE TRAVELERS WHERE THEY'RE AT, UH, IS IMPORTANT.

UM, SO TO BE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE THE WIDE RANGE OF, UH, CALENDAR, UH, EVENTS THAT WE HAVE RELATED TO MUSIC, UM, TO, YOU KNOW, FOLKS WHO MIGHT NOT BE AWARE OF THE DESTINATION OR HAVE NEVER VISITED, UM, IS, IS, IS A REALLY QUALITY, UH, FORM OF MARKETING.

UH, AND I'M GONNA TAKE Y'ALL THROUGH SOME QUICK, UH, JUST CASE STUDIES YOU CAN SAY OF THINGS WE'VE DONE IN THE LAST, I GUESS, FOUR OR FIVE YEARS.

UM, AGAIN, WE TOOK A TWO YEAR BREAK, UH, DURING THE PANDEMIC.

SO, UM, YOU'LL SEE SOME STUFF BEFORE AND THEN SOME STUFF AFTER.

UM, AND WE'RE GETTING READY THIS SUMMER TO REALLY, UM, AMP A LOT OF THAT UP AND, AND TO, TO GET OUT AND ABOUT AND TALKING ABOUT, UM, THE DESTINATION.

UM, SO, UH, IN MONTREAL THIS LAST MONTH, UH, WE WORKED WITH AIR CANADA.

WE, UH, WE WERE PIVOTAL IN, UH, MAKING THE, THE RIGHT CONNECTIONS TO HAVE A DIRECT, UM, MONTREAL TO AUSTIN FLIGHT, WHICH, UM, UH, I BELIEVE WAS, UM, IS, UH, GOING LIVE THIS MONTH.

AND, UH, WE HAD JUST LIKE A LITTLE, UM, UH, EVENT HOSTING 75, UH, TRAVEL TRADE MEDIA AND INFLUENCERS.

WE CREATED AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE IN MONTREAL.

WE BROUGHT AWESOME MUSICIAN, DANIEL FIERCE TO PLAY, TO TALK ABOUT, UM, TO TALK ABOUT THE CITY.

SO, YOU KNOW, HE WAS ABLE TO ENGAGE AND, AND I THINK BEING ABLE TO MARKET THROUGH MUSICIAN'S VOICE IS MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN ME, YOU KNOW, COMING UP TO THE MIC AND TELLING YOU THAT IT'S A COOL CITY.

UH, SO, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY PROUD WHEN, UH, WHEN MUSICIANS FEEL, FEEL GOOD TO INVITE FOLKS AND TO, UM, TO BE A PART OF OUR EVENTS.

UH, IN, UH, OCTOBER LAST YEAR, WE PARTNERED WITH AN ORGANIZATION CALLED VISIT THE USA.

UH, THEY'RE THE FEDERALLY FUNDED ORGANIZATION, WHICH, UH, WORKS WITH CITY DESTINATIONS TO, UM, PROMOTE THE DESTINATION.

SO THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, INTERESTING CO-OP OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE WOULDN'T REALLY BE ABLE TO AFFORD ON OUR OWN.

UM, SO, UH, THERE'S, UH, A REALLY GREAT PARTNERSHIP, UM, WITH, UH, MULTIPLE DESTINATIONS, UH, USUALLY IN DIFFERENT PROJECTS ALL AROUND THE WORLD IN KEY MARKETS, UM, WORKING TO PROMOTE, UH, INDIVIDUAL OUR DESTINATIONS SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST SYDNEY.

UM, LAST YEAR WAS THE INAUGURAL YEAR.

UH, THEY TOOK OVER A HOUSE AND, UH, DESTINATION PARTNERS GOT DIFFERENT DAYS, UH, AND WE WERE ABLE TO CREATE A AUSTIN, UM, AUSTIN SHOWCASE, UM, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BRAND USA AND, AND TEXAS TOURISM.

AND, UH, WE, UH, YOU KNOW, HAD, UH, AUSTIN INSPIRED DRINKS FOOD.

UM, WE ALSO INVITED SONG CONFESSIONAL, UM, WHICH IS A REALLY GREAT, UM, UH, THEY'RE ESSENTIALLY A MICRO STUDIO AND THEY RECORD ATTENDEE STORIES, UH, AND THEN THEY WORK WITH AUSTIN MUSICIANS TO TURN THAT INTO SONGS.

SO ESSENTIALLY, WE'RE NOT ONLY HIRING THE AUSTIN MUSICIANS THAT CAME, BUT ALSO MUSICIANS BACK HOME TO WRITE SONGS BASED ON THOSE STORIES.

AND THEN WE CREATE PROMO, UH, CAMPAIGNS AROUND THOSE.

UM, SO TWO OFFICIAL SHOWCASES A DAY, A DAY SHOWCASE, A NIGHT SHOWCASE, SEVEN 50 ATTENDEES, OR 7 25 ATTENDEES.

AND WE TOOK FIVE MUSICIANS IN BANDS OVER.

UM, AND THEY DIDN'T JUST PLAY OUR SHOWCASE, THEY PLAYED 15 OTHER PERFORMANCES, AND WE SUPPORTED THEM WITH EVERYTHING, FLIGHTS, HOTEL, VISA, UM, EVEN SUPPORT ON BEING ABLE TO GET, UH, THEIR VISA, UM, AND TOUR MANAGERS SUPPORT.

I WAS TOUR MANAGER FOR A WEEK, JUST MAKING SURE THAT THEY HAD THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THESE ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES, WHICH EACH OF THEM FOR BACK LINE IS, IS EXPENSIVE.

SO, UM, YEAH, AND WE ALSO HAD A, A SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST AUSTIN, UM, UH, WELCOME, UH, EVENT IN TOAST WITH, UH, WITH THEIR INCLINE, UM, FROM SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.

SO THIS WAS ALSO AN ADDED VALUE FOR THAT BRAND.

WE WERE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT SOUTH BY AS A BRAND, UM, AS WELL AS ENCOURAGE VISITATION TO, UH, SEE THE ORIGINAL EXPERIENCE HERE IN THE CITY.

IN 2022, WE PARTNERED WITH A, A MUSICIAN NAMED GRAHAM WILKINSON.

UM, WE TOOK, UM, UH, WHAT WAS MOSTLY, UH, A SERIES OF TRADE EVENTS, UM, SO REALLY DEALING WITH TRAVEL AGENTS, UM, UH, TOUR OPERATORS, UM, FOLKS THAT, UH, PACKAGE AND SELL THE DESTINATION.

UM, SO HE PERFORMED, UH, SEVERAL EVENTS, UH, FOR THIS AUDIENCE.

UM, AND DURING THIS TRIP, UM, WE ALSO INVESTED IN, UH, RADIO PROMOTION.

UM, SO

[00:20:01]

HE, THROUGH HIS VOICE, UM, ACTUALLY DID SOME, UH, SOME RADIO SPOTS AND FULL LENGTH INTERVIEWS, UM, WITH ABOUT 335 STATIONS, UH, AROUND THE US AROUND THE, AROUND UK.

UH, SO THAT WAS, UM, ESSENTIALLY, UM, AN 11.9 MILLION TOTAL AUDIENCE REACH.

WE HAD INTERVIEWS WITH, UH, REALLY KEY PUBLICATIONS IN THE UK.

UM, AGAIN, THIS WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE MUSICIAN TO TALK ABOUT, NOT JUST AUSTIN IS A GREAT PLACE, BUT WHY THEY CHOSE AUSTIN, WHY THEY LIVE IN AUSTIN, WHY THEY WORK IN AUSTIN, THEIR NEW PROJECTS.

UM, SO VERY MUCH A, AN INTEGRATED, UM, CAMPAIGN, UM, THAT, THAT, THAT SUPPORTS, UH, NOT JUST OUR EFFORTS TO PROMOTE THE DESTINATION, BUT THE MUSICIAN ITSELF.

THIS WAS, UH, IN 2019, WE PARTNERED WITH NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL, UM, REALLY GREAT FESTIVAL IN, IN, IN, IN THE SENSE OF HOW LEGENDARY IT IS FOR AMERICANA BLUES, SOUL MUSIC.

UM, WE CREATED WHAT WE CALL THE AUSTIN MUSICIAN MAKERS AND LOUNGE.

UM, WE PARTNERED WITH FORT LONESOME, UH, A CHAIN STITCH EMBROIDER HERE, UM, WHO DOES A LOT OF SUITS FOR, UM, FOR HUGE COUNTRY ACTS FOR, UM, FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS IN THE CITY.

UM, AND WE WORK WITH SONG CONFESSIONAL AS WELL, UM, AS WELL AS WITH CHARLIE CROCKETT.

UM, THIS WAS HIS FIRST TIME.

HE'S, HE'S AN AWESOME BASE MUSICIAN.

UH, AND THIS WAS HIS FIRST TIME PLAYING NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL.

AND, UH, WE TEAMED UP WITH FORT LONESOME.

THEY MADE HIM A REALLY AMAZING SUIT AND, UH, WE'RE CHAIN STITCHING, UH, ON SITE.

AND WE HAD SONG CONFESSIONAL ON SITE, TAKING CONFESSIONS, CONFESSIONS, UH, AND THEN WE DID, UH, ABOUT 11 OTHER AUSTIN ARTISTS, UH, SONGS WITH THEM, UH, IN THE CITY.

SO THEY WERE ALSO COMPENSATED TO WRITE SONGS BASED ON THAT.

UM, ABOUT 3000 FOLKS WERE ABLE TO ENGAGE WITH UNIQUELY.

UM, AND THEN WE HAD A FLYAWAY THAT PROMOTED THE DESTINATION, UH, FOR ATTENDEES WHO WANTED TO SIGN UP.

WANTED TO TALK TO YOU ALL A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE DIGITAL MARKETING THAT WE DO AROUND MUSIC.

UM, OBVIOUSLY OUR, OUR, OUR MAIN CAMPAIGNS THAT WE DO ALL TOUCH MUSIC.

SO OUR, OUR BIG MEDIA BUYS THAT, UH, OUR GENERAL MARKETING DEPARTMENT ALL TOUCHES MUSIC.

SO, UM, THAT CERTAINLY, UH, WILL ALWAYS BE GOING ON AND WILL ALWAYS BE TOUCHING PILLARS THAT, UM, ARE IMPORTANT AND INFLUENTIAL FOR THE DESTINATION AS ATTRACTIONS.

UM, BUT THESE ARE MORE, UH, TARGETED, UH, MUSIC SPECIFIC, UM, ENDEAVORS THAT WE DO THROUGH THE MUSIC OFFICE.

SO, JUST TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE DIFFERENCE.

UM, SO LAST YEAR, UH, THROUGH AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER, UM, WE'VE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION, UM, SEVERAL YEARS AGO, WE WERE TASKED BY CITY COUNCIL TO, UM, ESSENTIALLY CREATE MUSIC RECOVERY CAMPAIGNS, UH, DURING THE PANDEMIC, UM, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CITY OF AUSTIN.

UM, SO WE, THIS IS ACTUALLY THE THIRD ONE.

UM, WE WORKED ON ALL THREE OF THEM WITH A LOCAL MEDIA PARTNER CALLED ORANGE 1 4 2.

THEY'RE ACTUALLY JUST RIGHT UP THE STREET ON, UH, SOUTH CONGRESS.

AND, UM, AND REALLY THE, THE GOAL OF THIS WAS HOW CAN WE MAKE OUR, HOW CAN WE MAKE THE EXPERIENCE OF TRIP PLANNING FOR MUSIC, UH, TOURISTS MORE, UM, MORE SIMPLE, MORE USER FRIENDLY? SO IT INVOLVED, UH, AN UPDATED, UH, REVAMPING OF OUR MUSIC SCENE, UH, WEBSITE ON THIS IS AUSTIN.ORG.

UH, SO INVOLVE NEW MUSIC CONTENT, UM, INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS, UH, VENUE GUIDE, UH, VENUE MAP, UM, UH, VERY SPECIFIC BLOG ENTRIES.

UM, WHETHER YOU'RE LOOKING FOR RECORD SHOPS OR YOU'RE LOOKING FOR, UM, CENTRAL AUSTIN VENUES, OR, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU NAME IT ANY LISTICLE, WE PROBABLY HAVE IT.

UM, SO ESSENTIALLY THIS, THIS MEDIA BUY HAD PLACEMENTS IN, UH, IN VARIOUS, UM, DIFFERENT, UM, YOU KNOW, NEWS WEBSITES, MUSIC STUFF, UM, AND THAT ALL LINKED BACK TO OUR WEBSITE.

UM, AND, UH, IT GARNERED 3.8 MILLION IMPRESSIONS.

UM, WHICH AGAIN, THIS IS JUST V THREE.

WE'VE HAD TWO OTHER ONES.

UM, AND THE GOAL OF THIS WAS TO CREATE TRAFFIC TO MUSICIAN AND VENUE WEBSITES.

SO, UM, ESSENTIALLY EVERYTHING THAT'S HYPERLINKED, UH, IN OUR WEBSITE, UM, THOSE, THAT 15,000, UH, 473 NUMBER THAT'S DIRECT REFERRALS, PEOPLE CLICKING OUT OF OUR MUSIC SCENE WEBSITE ONTO LOCAL ARTISTS, SOCIALS, LOCAL ARTISTS, WEBSITES, LOCAL VENUES, UM, AND HOPEFULLY PLANNING, UM, THEIR TRIP OR AT LEAST BUILDING AWARENESS FOR WHAT'S AVAILABLE HERE IN THE DESTINATION.

MR. MR. ZA, I'M JUST AWARE OF THE TIME, SO, UM, IF YOU COULD WRAP IT UP AND THEN WE'LL GO TO QUESTIONS TOO.

SOUNDS GOOD.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

YEP.

UH, ONLY A COUPLE MORE.

UH, WE GOT, UH, WE DO SOME COOL TAKEOVERS ON A SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT.

UH, ESSENTIALLY THIS IS EMPOWERING MUSICIANS TO, UH, BE TOUR GUIDES.

UM, SO THEY JUST GO AROUND THE CITY, UM, HIGHLIGHTING DIFFERENT PORTIONS OF, UH, OF THEIR FAVORITE, UM, ATTRACTIONS.

[00:25:01]

UM, SO WE, WE PUT SOME PAID MEDIA BEHIND THIS, BUT FEATURED A BUNCH OF ARTISTS, UH, A BUNCH OF DIVERSE ARTISTS.

SO WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY HAPPY TO, TO, TO, TO BE ABLE TO DO THESE KIND OF THINGS IN OUR SOCIAL AND, AND CONTINUE TO DO SO.

UH, OUR VISIT LOSS IN DISTRICT VIDEOS, UM, THESE, UH, WERE LAUNCHED LAST YEAR, UM, AND WE HAD, UH, MUSIC AND APPEARANCES FROM 10 MUSICIANS.

WE COMPENSATED THEM FOR THEIR APPEARANCE AND ALSO THEIR MUSIC CONTRIBUTION.

THEY, I ENCOURAGE Y'ALL, IF Y'ALL HAVEN'T SEEN IT, UH, TO CHECK IT OUT, HAS A REALLY INTERESTING SCORE THAT'S ACTUALLY THE AMALGAMATION OF, OF ALL THE MUSICIANS, UM, COMING TOGETHER AND, AND BEING A SCORE.

SO IT'S A VERY INTERESTING AUDIO AND, AND VISUAL EXPERIENCE.

WE WORK WITH LOCAL PRODUCTION, COMPANY, ARTS AND LABOR ON THIS ONE.

UH, AND THEN THIS IS JUST OUR WEBSITE, UH, JUST WANTED Y'ALL TO GET A LITTLE LOOK AT IT ON SOME OF THE STATS.

UM, UH, 1.3 MILLION VIEWS A YEAR, AND, UH, 111 TOTAL CLICKS OUT.

UM, THESE ARE, AGAIN, REFERRALS TO BUSINESSES, VENUES, OR MUSICIAN WEBSITES AND SOCIAL MEDIA.

BUT THESE ARE SOME OF THE WAYS THAT, UH, WE MARKET AUSTIN MUSIC, THE WAY WE WORK WITH, UH, THE LOCAL, UH, AUSTIN MUSIC ECOSYSTEM, UM, AND THE WAYS WE LOVE, UH, TO BE ABLE TO TAKE IT ON THE ROAD AND, AND, AND TALK ABOUT THESE THINGS.

SO, UM, THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR GIVING US THE TIME TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS, AND I'M HAPPY TO TAKE SOME QUESTIONS.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, MR. LOZANO.

COMMISSIONERS, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? VICE CHAIR BAILEY, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.

IT WAS, THAT'S, THAT'S A LOT OF INFORMATION AND, UM, I'M, I'M GLAD TO SEE HOW INNOVATIVE, UH, YOUR ORGANIZATION IS.

WHAT I, I GUESS THE, THE MAIN QUESTION I HAD WAS, THIS IS REALLY PROGRESSIVE AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, TIMELY.

I'M WONDERING WHO YOU, WHO ELSE, WHEN YOU'RE OUT IN THE WORLD DOING YOUR WORK, THE WORK FOR AUSTIN AND THE WORK FOR VISIT AUSTIN, WHO ELSE IS TRYING TO MAKE A RUN AT THIS? HAVING A DEPARTMENT IN THEIR TOURISM OFFICES THAT ARE TRYING TO REPLICATE OR HAVE THEIR OWN APPROACH, WHO, WHO ELSE USES MUSIC TO THE, THE LEVEL THAT AUSTIN IS TO DRIVE THEIR TOURISM AGENDAS? YEAH.

UH, SO JUST TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE, WHEN I STARTED, THERE WAS MAYBE ONE AND A LOT OF THE TIMES, UH, AND I WAS JUST TALKING TO CHIP ABOUT THIS A LOT OF THE TIMES FOLKS, UH, SPLIT FILM AND MUSIC, UM, WITH MUSIC BEING THE LESS DOMINANT IN THAT EQUATION USUALLY, UM, WHEN I STARTED, THERE WAS MAYBE ONE AND THEY WERE, UM, MUSIC AND FILM.

UH, BUT I MEAN, CHIP CAN TELL YOU EVEN IN THE STATE HOW THAT THAT'S PART OF THEIR WORK.

THEY'RE INCREASING, UM, YOU KNOW, MUSIC FRIENDLY'S DESTINATIONS AND, AND ENCOURAGING OTHER DESTINATIONS TO, UM, TALK ABOUT THEIR MUSIC COMMUNITY AND, AND WHAT THEY HAVE TO OFFER.

UM, BUT EVERY MUSIC CITY HAS, UH, NOW, UH, SOME SORT OF A MUSIC ROLE.

SO, SO N NASHVILLE IS OBVIOUS.

NASHVILLE.

NASHVILLE IS OBVIOUS.

MEMPHIS, UM, SEATTLE, I THINK SEATTLE HAS, HAS A MM-HMM, .

SO WHO, I'M JUST FOR THE SAKE OF SOME OF MY OTHER PI MEAN, I'M, YEAH.

I WORK IN THE MUSIC FIELD, SO I'M A LITTLE MORE INSIGHTFUL TO IT, BUT YEP.

JUST TO OPEN IT UP FOR, SO WE THINK ABOUT IT AS A BODY WHO ELSE IS OUT THERE YEAH.

TRYING TO BRING, YEAH, I CAN GET Y'ALL A FULL LIST OF, UH, OF SOME OF THE FOLKS.

UM, BUT IT'S CERTAINLY EXPONENTIAL GROWTH, AND THAT MEANS EXPONENTIAL COMPETITION IN TERMS OF THE WAYS THAT WE GO OUT AND TALK ABOUT DESTINATION MARKETING AND, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE, ARE YOU GONNA PICK COKE OR COCA-COLA OR ARE YOU GONNA, LIKE, IT'S, IT'S PART OF, UH, BEING PRESENT IN THAT MARKETING AND, AND BEING ABLE TO SEPARATE OUR MUSIC EXPERIENCE FROM OTHER DESTINATIONS.

HEY, THANKS FOR COMING OUT TODAY.

GREAT INFORMATION, AND THANK YOU FOR, UM, NOT ONLY PUSHING AUSTIN, TEXAS, BUT ALSO PUSHING, UM, OUR MUSICIANS, WHICH ARE, I THINK, THE ECONOMIC UNDERCURRENT OF, OF ONE OF THE MAIN DRIVERS OF THE CITY.

UM, QUESTION ON BACK WHERE YOU TALK ABOUT, UM, HIRING AN AUSTIN MUSICIAN.

DO YOU HAVE ANY METRICS OR DO YOU PUSH OUR ARTISTS TOWARDS GIGS THAT ARE PAID AT LIVING WAGES OR LABOR WAGES? DO YOU HAVE ANY AFFILIATIONS WITH ANY OF THE LOCAL UNIONS HERE WHERE YOU TRY TO DRIVE? DO YOU SEE WHERE I'M GETTING AT? YEAH, YEAH.

AND SO IF YOU'RE GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT, 'CAUSE A GREAT, RIGHT.

CLIPS ARE GREAT AND EXPOSURE IS GREAT, AND I LOVE THE STORIES ABOUT THE REAL AUSTIN MUSICIAN LIVING THEIR LIFE HERE.

RIGHT? UM, BUT IF YOU COULD JUST GO ON SOME OF THE THINGS AROUND THE ECOSYSTEM THAT'S HELPING SUPPORT A COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS.

YEAH, SURE THING.

UM, WE HAVE NO OFFICIAL AFFILIATION WITH, UH, WITH EITHER OF THOSE, UM, UH, LIKE UNIONS OR LIVING WAGE EXAMPLES, BUT I COULD ASSURE YOU THAT WHAT WE PAY IS, IS, IS ABOVE AND BEYOND,

[00:30:01]

UM, THOSE RATES.

UM, AND A LOT OF THE TIMES WE'RE WORKING WITH THE MUSICIANS TO QUOTE, UM, SO THEY'RE OFFERING DIRECTLY THEIR QUOTE BASED ON WHAT THEIR PERCEIVED VALUE FOR THAT PERFORMANCE IS.

SO IT TENDS TO VARY.

UM, BUT CERTAINLY, UM, WHEN I WORK WITH MUSICIANS, UM, I TRY TO BE AS TRANSPARENT AS POSSIBLE, AND MY GOAL IN THIS ROLE IS TO MAKE MUSICIANS MONEY.

I HAVE NO OTHER, NO OTHER GOAL.

AND TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT, UH, AND TO SUPPORT OUR MUSIC COMMUNITY AND DOING IT IN A WAY THAT IS ABOVE, UM, CURRENT CITY FAIR PAY, UH, ABOVE UNION RATE, AND WHAT I'VE SEEN IN MY EXPERIENCE, UM, CERTAINLY IS, IS A BIG PART OF, UM, WHY WE DO IT.

SO, NO, THANK YOU.

AND I JUST DID THE MATH REALLY QUICK.

I THINK YOU HAVE A 35% INCREASE, I GUESS, SINCE YOU'VE TAKEN ON THE ROLE.

SO KUDOS TO YOUR MISSION.

HI, THANK YOU.

COMMISSIONER CHAPEL.

HI, OMAR, COMMISSIONER MATHIS MATHIS.

HI MADAM COMMISSIONER MATHIS, I'VE ACTUALLY WORKED WITH, WITH YOU, UM, BEFORE.

I'M A DIRECTOR OF SALES AT A HOTEL IN DOWNTOWN AUSTIN.

I JUST WANTED TO CHAPEL, LET YOU KNOW THAT WE ACTUALLY WORKED WITH HIS OFFICE BEFORE BECAUSE WE WANTED LIVE MUSIC, UM, ON THE PATIO OF MY HOTEL DURING PCMA.

AND, UM, YOUR TEAM GAVE US RANGES OF, UM, PRICE RANGES FOR DIFFERENT ARTISTS.

YOU SAID YOU HAD SO MANY, COULD I LET YOU KNOW THE BUDGET? I SAID, I THINK WE'RE AROUND IN HERE.

UM, AND THEN THE ARTIST HERSELF IS THE ONE THAT GAVE THE SPECIFICS ON, UM, WHAT HER, HER RATE WAS.

UM, AND IT TURNED OUT TO BE SUCH A, A GREAT EVENT.

WHENEVER YOU HAVE LIVE MUSIC, IT ALWAYS MAKES THINGS BETTER.

SO WE APPRECIATE EVERYTHING THAT, THAT YOU DO TO MAKE AUSTIN SPECIAL.

'CAUSE YOU'RE RIGHT, YOU KNOW, MANY CITIES NOW, UM, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, FORT WORTH MARKET, THEIR MUSIC AS WELL.

SO, UM, IT'S IMPORTANT FOR THAT WE AMPLIFIED THIS CULTURE.

YES, MA'AM.

THANK YOU FOR THAT.

AND, UH, YEAH, I REMEMBER, UH, REMEMBER THAT.

AND YEAH, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE MORE THAT WE CAN GET HOTELS ONBOARD TO SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC AND, UH, THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, IS A BIG PART OF THE DAYTIME ACTIVITIES THAT MUSICIANS ARE LOOKING FOR THAT MIGHT BE AVAILABLE IN OTHER DESTINATIONS THAT ARE MORE COMPETITIVE.

BUT, UH, HERE, UNLESS THERE'S A BIG MUSIC MOMENT, UM, IT'S KIND OF HARD TO, UH, TO BUILD THAT OUT.

SO THANK Y'ALL FOR, FOR HOSTING MUSIC DURING THE DAY AND, UM, AND FOR WORKING WITH US.

OF COURSE.

COMMISSIONER MATHIS, ARE THERE ANY ADDITIONAL COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS WITH REGARD TO THIS PRESENTATION? I HAVE ONE.

UH, I, I'D LIKE TO GO BACK TO THE TOP ORIGIN MARKETS SLIDE.

UM, I, I'M INTERESTED IN SEEING OR HEARING HOW THESE STATISTICS ARE GENERATED IN TERMS OF TOP ORIGIN MARKETS FOR, UH, VISITORS COMING TO AUSTIN FOR SEEING A CONCERT, OR, YEAH, SO OBVIOUSLY IT'S, IT'S GONNA VARY BASED ON, UM, IN TERMS OF THE ORIGIN MARKETS ARE GONNA VARY BASED ON EACH EVENT.

UM, WE ACTUALLY WORK WITH, UM, WITH A COMPANY CALLED ZAKO.

UM, THEY WORK WITH, UH, WITH, UH, ANONYMOUS CELL PHONE DATA.

MM.

UM, SO A LOT OF, UM, A LOT OF THE TRAJECTORY YOU CAN SEE THAT THEY HAD, THAT'S KIND OF THEIR, UM, WHAT WE CALL THE VISITOR JOURNEY.

UM, BUT, UH, YEAH, ESSENTIALLY IT'S, IT'S, UM, IT'S IT'S ORIGIN MARKETS, UM, THAT THOSE CELL PHONES TELL US, UH, THAT THOSE PEOPLE ARE BASED IN, AND, AND IF IT'S SOMEBODY IN AUSTIN, UM, THERE'S A CERTAIN TIME LIMIT THAT TELLS YOU THAT THEY'RE A RESIDENT OR NOT.

SO THESE ARE ALL, UM, PAST THAT, UH, OR UNDER THAT, UM, UNDER THAT MARKET.

UH, ACTUALLY NEXT SLIDE.

YOU HAD IT .

SORRY.

UM, THERE WE GO.

SO, UH, AND BECAUSE WE'RE ABOUT THE HOT TAX HERE AT THE TOURISM COMMISSION, I WANTED TO BRING ATTENTION TO THE 86% OF VISITORS WHO STAYED OVERNIGHT FROM TOP ORIGIN MARKETS.

CAN YOU SPEAK TO HOW THAT STATISTIC IS GENERATED? YEAH, AGAIN, THAT'S, UH, ESSENTIALLY CELL PHONE DATA, UH, FROM, UH, FOLKS THAT ARE CLEARLY NOT RESIDENTS.

UH, UH OH, I SEE.

UM, YEAH, THE, LIKE, HOW THEY STAYED OVERNIGHT, UM, OH, THE VERY FIVE, IT'S BASED ON THE TIME, THE TIME THAT, THAT THEY WERE IN MARKET, UM, OKAY.

AND BEING ABLE TO TRACK THAT TIME FROM WHEN THERE'S, AS SOON AS THEY FLY IN, OR AS SOON AS THEY DRIVE IN THE FIRST CELL PHONE TOWER THAT THEY HIT TO THE LAST ONE THAT THEY HIT OUTTA THE CITY LIMITS.

SO, SO THAT'S INTERESTING.

I, I WONDER, I, I LIVE HERE, BUT I HAVE A 5 0 3 NUMBER.

YOU INTERACT WITH THIS CITY ON A REGULAR BASIS.

SO, UM, ARE YOU, SO YOU WOULDN'T BE IN THAT, UH, IN THAT POOL BECAUSE

[00:35:01]

YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I WAS GONNA .

I FEEL LIKE WE NEED TO BRING THEM IN TO TALK ABOUT TOURISM .

NO, LIKE, I GOT A 3 0 3 1 OH NUMBER JUST FROM LIKE AN OLD WORK NUMBER AND, UH, AND YEAH, SO I, I WOULDN'T BE, EVEN THOUGH IT'S A DIFFERENT AREA CODE, I WOULDN'T BE IN THAT POOL.

INTERESTING.

COMMISSIONER MATH, YOU HAVE A COMMENT.

AND HOTELS WILL ALWAYS HAVE INFORMATION AS FAR AS FAR WHERE OUR, UM, FEEDER MARKETS ARE FOR DIFFERENT EVENTS.

OUR FEEDER MARKETS FOR ACL ARE, ARE FAIR, ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM FORMULA ONE.

VERY DIFFERENT FROM SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.

UM, SO, YOU KNOW, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, ACL, THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT ARE FROM DALLAS, HOUSTON.

UM, IT GETS BIGGER FOR, FOR FORM FORMULA ONE THAT STILL, YOU KNOW, UM, IS ALSO WITH INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL SOUTH BY ALSO HAS INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL.

BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE, WHEN FOOD AND WINE WAS HERE BEFORE, UM, AND WHO WAS THE OTHER, THE PO THAT ONE YEAH.

PUBLIC THAT THEY KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ACTUALLY COME IN HERE AND, AND STAY IN, IN THEIR HOTELS BECAUSE C3 DOES THEM AND THEY KNOW EXACTLY WHERE THEY'RE THEY'RE FROM.

WE ALL HAVE THIS.

AND, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK FOR A LOT OF THESE LIKE RESIDENCY, UM, SHOWS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE SORT OF A BIT NEW TO HERE IN, IN AUSTIN, OBVIOUSLY ACL HAS DONE THEM FOR A WHILE, BUT ONES THAT, YOU KNOW, ARE BRINGING IN, YOU KNOW, 10 TO 20,000 PEOPLE, UH, A NIGHT, UH, YOU KNOW, THESE, UH, A LOT OF THE TIMES, UM, DRIVE MARKETS ARE SORT OF THE FIRST TO, TO REALLY SCOOP UP TICKETS AND, AND, AND MAKE THE TRIP.

UM, AND, AND SOME CLOSE FLY MARKETS AS WELL, LIKE NEW ORLEANS.

AND THE DATA IS INCREDIBLE.

WHEN I SEE ON HERE THAT THE VENUES, UM, THAT, UM, POPPED UP FOR YOUR ATTENDEES, ONE OF 'EM WAS ONE IN A MILLION .

I WAS LIKE, MAN, I'M NOT SURPRISED YOU.

THAT WAS JUST LAUGHING.

YOU DRIVE BY THAT YOU SEE ONE IN A MILLION, GOD BLESS HIM.

I MEAN, WELL THAT'S, THAT'S SOME OLD SCHOOL AUSTIN LOVE.

I I LIKE THAT.

SO, YEAH.

WELL, IT'S NOT ABOUT THE TALK.

THANK, THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS, AND, UM, THANK YOU SO MUCH MR. LOZANO FOR COMING TODAY.

THANK, WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND IT, WE ALSO APPRECIATE THIS BROADER SURVEY OF THE MUSIC ECONOMY AND HOW IT RELATES TO TOURISM HERE, UH, AND ULTIMATELY BUILDING THE HOT TAX FOR, UM, FUNDING ESSENTIAL PROGRAMS THAT, UH, EXPAND THE BRAND OF AUSTIN, UH, MORE WIDELY.

SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK.

YES, THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR, UH, INVITING US AND YEAH, ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO HELP.

CALL UP OUR NEXT SPEAKER, UH, PRESENTER, UM, CHIP ADAMS, THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS AND OUTREACH SPECIALIST WITH THE TEXAS MUSIC OFFICE, UH, THROUGH THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT.

WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO

[4. Presentation by Chip Adams, Community Relations and Outreach Specialist with the Texas Music Office - Office of Governor Greg Abbott, regarding the Music Economy in the State of Texas and its impact on Tourism ]

AND HE'LL SPEAK TO HOW THE MUSIC ECONOMY, UM, IS IMPORTANT HERE IN THE STATE OF TEXAS AND ITS IMPACT ON TOURISM.

BUT BEFORE THEN, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A BRIEF NOTE.

UH, THE FLOWERS YOU SEE BEFORE YOU TODAY ARE IN CELEBRATION OF TOURISM WEEK.

UM, MAY IS A GREAT MONTH FOR TOURISM, AS IS EVERY MONTH IN THE YEAR, BUT WE WANTED TO CALL THAT OUT.

UH, ADDITIONALLY, COMMISSIONERS, KTI MCGEE AND THE LAST, AND BISON, I'LL SEND THE REGRETS THAT CANNOT BE HERE THIS AFTERNOON.

UM, AND THERE'S ONE MORE, COMMISSIONER SHAPEY AS WELL.

SO THANK YOU, UH, EVERYONE FOR LETTING ME KNOW WHETHER OR NOT YOU CAN MAKE IT TO THESE MEETINGS AS WE HAVE IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS LIKE THIS ONE TO, UM, TO HAVE.

UH, SO WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO WELCOME MR. ADAMS. THANK YOU.

WELL, UH, AS OF YESTERDAY, I'VE ACTUALLY BEEN, UH, PROMOTED TO DIRECTOR OF THE TEXAS MUSIC OFFICE.

SO IT'S AN HONOR TO BE HERE.

AND THIS IS MY FIRST PRESENTATION UNDER THIS ROLE.

SO THANK YOU.

UH, IT'S GREAT TO BE HERE.

AND, UH, SO TWO DAYS INTO A NEW ROLE, BUT I'VE ACTUALLY BEEN WITH THE, UH, TEXAS MUSIC OFFICE FOR FOUR AND A HALF YEARS NOW.

UM, I'VE BEEN RUNNING OUR MUSIC FRIENDLY TEXAS PROGRAM, WHICH OUR PREVIOUS DIRECTOR, BRENDAN ANTHONY, CREATED, I THINK ABOUT EIGHT YEARS AGO.

AND WHEN THAT PROGRAM GREW FROM ONE CITY TO 10, AND HE SAW THAT THERE WAS A LOT OF MOMENTUM BEHIND THE PROGRAM AND INTEREST FROM OUR CITIES AROUND THE STATE ON HOW TO GROW THEIR LOCAL MUSIC INDUSTRIES.

AND HE REALIZED IT NEEDED SOMEBODY TO ACTUALLY RUN THE PROGRAM INDEPENDENTLY.

SO, UM, THEY BROUGHT ME IN AND I'VE GROWN THAT PROGRAM FROM 10 TO 60 CITIES ACROSS OUR STATE, UM, REALLY UTILIZING CITIES LIKE AUSTIN ON THE TEMPLATE OF HOW TO DO THIS RIGHT, HOW A CITY SHOULD BETTER UNDERSTAND, SUPPORT, AND HELP GROW THEIR, THEIR LOCAL MUSIC INDUSTRY.

SO MY HATS OFF TO OMAR AND, AND HIS TEAM, YOU KNOW, VISIT AUSTIN DOES IT SO WELL.

UM, SO YOU ALL KNOW MY BACKGROUND JUST A BIT MORE.

UM, I'VE BEEN WITH THE TMO FOR FOUR AND A HALF, BUT I'VE BEEN AN AUSTIN RESIDENT FOR ABOUT 16 YEARS NOW.

[00:40:01]

UM, BEEN A TEXAN MOST OF MY LIFE.

UH, MY CAREER HAS BOUNCED FROM RADIO TO WORKING FOR LABELS, DOING PROMOTION AND MARKETING.

UM, BUT FOR THE PAST, WELL BEFORE MY TIME WITH THE TMO, I RAN A RECORD LABEL FOR ABOUT 11 YEARS.

UM, AND SO, AND I, I COULDN'T HELP BUT SMILE WHEN WE WERE WATCHING THE, THE OMAR'S PRESENTATION, AND I SAW THE, UH, THE CONFESSIONAL BOOTH, WHICH, UH, WALKER LUIN WAS ONE OF MY FIRST SIGNINGS TO OUR LABEL.

SO, UM, I'VE BEEN WORKING HARD, UM, FOR AUSTIN MUSICIANS AND TEXAS MUSIC AS A WHOLE FOR MY ENTIRE CAREER.

SO FINDING A SPOT, UM, WHERE I CAN HELP ALL OF OUR CONSTITUENTS ACROSS ALL GENRES ACROSS THE ENTIRE STATE'S, BEEN REALLY A DREAM.

AND IT'S ALWAYS WORTH POINTING OUT TO THAT.

WE, UH, UP UNTIL ABOUT A YEAR AGO, WERE THE ONLY STATE IN THE US THAT HAD A STATE RUN MUSIC OFFICE LIKE WE DO.

UM, WE ARE THE ONLY ONE, LIKE OMAR MENTIONED, A LOT OF CITIES HAVE SPLIT FILM COMMISSIONS AND MUSIC OFFICES.

THERE'S A FEW OF THOSE, BUT UP UNTIL TENNESSEE LAST YEAR, TEXAS WAS THE ONLY ONE.

UH, AND WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT FOR 34 YEARS NOW.

SO I, I THINK THAT SHOWS A LOT THAT TEXANS TAKE SUCH PRIDE AND VALUE IN, IN OUR MUSIC INDUSTRY.

AND, UH, IT'S AN HONOR TO HELP KIND OF HELP THAT GROW.

UM, MY PRESENTATION'S NOT NEARLY AS BEAUTIFUL AS OMAR'S.

I, I TOLD HIM I NEED SOME LESSONS ON, ON POWERPOINT.

UM, MOST IMPORTANTLY IS WHERE TO FIND US.

WE'LL TALK A LOT ABOUT JUST THE ECONOMICS OF THE TEXAS MUSIC INDUSTRY AND A BIT ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS TODAY.

BUT, UH, WE HAVE ALL KINDS OF ONLINE RESOURCES.

SO PLEASE JUST GO TO OUR SITE, TEXAS MUSIC OFFICE.COM, AND WE'RE ON ALL YOUR SOCIALS.

FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, LINKEDIN, AND I GUESS IT'S X NOW IT'LL BE TWITTER.

I'M GEN X, I'M STUCK IN MY WAYS.

SO, UH, BUT WE'RE ON ALL OF OUR, ALL THE SOCIALS.

BUT WHAT WE DO, UM, WE ARE PART OF THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE, BUT TECHNICALLY WE ARE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM.

SO WE SHARE A FLOOR WITH THE TEXAS FILM COMMISSION AND TRAVEL TEXAS.

SO THE THREE OF US TAKE THE THIRD FLOOR ON THE, THE STATE INSURANCE BUILDING.

WE CALL IT THE, THE FUN FLOOR.

UM, BUT OUR MAIN JOB IS REALLY TO HELP BRING INDUSTRY TO OUR STATE AND TO SUPPORT OUR BUSINESSES AND, UH, OUR MUSICIANS.

SO EXAMPLES OF WHAT WE HELPED BRING TO TEXAS IS WHEN WE BROUGHT BMI HERE TO AUSTIN.

UH, WE HELPED BRING THE CMT AWARDS HERE TO TEXAS, UH, THE ACMS, WHICH I BELIEVE ARE NEXT WEEK IN FRISCO, WE HELPED BRING THEM HERE.

UM, SO HOPING TO SEE MORE OF THAT, BRINGING MORE RESOURCES TO OUR STATE TO HELP GROW THE INDUSTRY.

UH, WE HAVE A FEW PROGRAMS THAT WE DO RUN OUT OF THE OFFICE.

UM, AND I HAVE SLIDES FOR BOTH OF THOSE.

OUR MUSIC EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY GRANT PROGRAM, UM, OUR INCUBATOR REBATE PROGRAM, AND OF COURSE MY MUSIC FRIENDLY PROGRAM.

UM, SO LIKE I MENTIONED, WE'VE BEEN AROUND FOR 34 YEARS.

UH, WHEN THIS OFFICE WAS ORIGINALLY CREATED, IT WAS REALLY MORE OF A, A CLEARINGHOUSE FOR, UH, CATALOGING DATA OF THE TEXAS MUSIC INDUSTRY.

WE LITERALLY RAN A DIRECTORY CALLED THE TEXAS MUSIC INDUSTRY DIRECTORY.

THAT WAS KIND OF THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF THIS OFFICE FOR MANY YEARS, UH, UNTIL BRENDAN TOOK OVER AND WE FLIPPED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

BUT THAT DIRECTORY STILL DOES EXIST.

AND BEING ESSENTIALLY THE ONLY STATE THAT'S HAD A FUNCTIONAL MUSIC OFFICE THIS LONG, WE'RE THE ONLY STATE THAT CAPTURES THAT DATA.

UM, SO WE LOOK AT EVERYTHING THAT TOUCHES UPON THE TEXAS MUSIC INDUSTRY, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT OUR VENUES, OUR ARTISTS, PROMOTERS, MARKETERS, PUBLICISTS, ATTORNEYS, VINYL RECORD PRESSING PLANTS, AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN.

AND RIGHT NOW, THAT DIRECTORY IS SITTING AT ABOUT 16,000 ENTRIES.

UM, WHEN WE, I'LL TALK ABOUT OUR ECONOMIC IMPACT REPORT IN JUST A MOMENT, BUT THAT DIRECTORY IS REALLY THE ENGINE THAT DRIVES THOSE REPORTS.

WE'RE ABLE TO UTILIZE THAT DATA TO HAVE THAT ANALYZED SO WE CAN BREAK THAT DOWN INTO TO NUMBERS TO LOOK AT PERMANENT JOBS, UH, JOB GROWTH AND WHAT THE INDUSTRY LOOKS LIKE AND HOW HEALTHY IT IS IN TEXAS.

SO THAT'S KIND OF THE POINT OF THAT.

IT'S FREE, IT'S ON OUR SITE, SEARCHABLE, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

IT'S ABOUT TO GET A WONDERFUL MUCH NEEDED FACELIFT.

UH, WE'LL MAKE A BIG SPLASH ABOUT THAT WHEN IT HAPPENS.

BUT THE DIRECTORY, AS IT STANDS STILL IS UP AND RUNNING.

SO IT'S FOR USE FOR ANYBODY TRYING TO FIND A PLACE TO RECORD, A PLACE TO PERFORM MUSICIANS TO BOOK.

AND THAT'S STATEWIDE.

UH, WE SERVE AS A LIAISON BETWEEN OUR MUSIC BUSINESSES AND OUR MUSICIANS, BUSINESSES AND GOVERNMENT OFFICES, UH, AND ALSO TO HELP PUBLICIZE EVENTS, UH, AND BIG DEVELOPMENTS WITHIN THE STATE.

AND WE DO THAT THROUGH OUR SITE, THROUGH OUR NEWSLETTER THAT COMES OUT ONCE A MONTH.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SIGN UP AND THROUGH OUR SOCIALS.

UM, AND THEN ALSO HELPING ATTRACT BUSINESSES TO OUR STATE.

SO THE NUMBERS, WHAT WE DO EVERY BIENNIUM WHEN THE LEDGE IS ABOUT TO GO INTO SESSION, WE CRUNCH THESE NUMBERS AND CREATE AN ECONOMIC IMPACT REPORT.

UH, SO WE WILL START THAT PROCESS LATER THIS YEAR.

SO WE'LL HAVE FRESH NUMBERS COMING, UH, AT THE TOP OF 2025.

BUT AS OF LAST YEAR, WE, WE, WE BREAK THESE NUMBERS IN THE, THE TWO SECTIONS, UM, THE ACTUAL DIRECT, UH, PART OF OUR INDUSTRY, AND THEN THE RIPPLE EFFECTS THAT IT HAS THROUGHOUT, UM,

[00:45:01]

THE STATE.

SO YOUR CORE MUSIC INDUSTRY FOR TEXAS IS LOOKING AT ABOUT 90,000 PERMANENT JOBS.

UH, THAT'S 4.6 BILLION IN ANNUAL EARNINGS AND JUST OVER 10.8 BILLION IN ANNUAL ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.

BUT AS WE KNOW, THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, ESPECIALLY FOR FOLKS ON THE ROAD, THERE'S A LOT MORE THAN JUST THE BANDS AND THE VENUES.

YOU'VE GOT A WHOLE SUPPORT STRUCTURE.

YOU'VE GOT CATERING, YOU'VE GOT YOUR HOTELS, YOU'VE GOT YOUR TRANSPORT.

WHEN YOU LOOK AT ALL OF THAT COMBINED, THAT'S 192,000 PERMANENT JOBS, 9.4 BILLION IN EARNINGS, AND, UH, $26.6 BILLION IN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.

SO, UM, ONE THING I WAS TALKING TO OMAR ABOUT, HE KNEW WE'D BE DISCUSSING THE, THE TEXAS MUSIC ECONOMY, IS HE ASKED, IS THIS BROKEN OUT BY CITY? HOW ELSE CAN WE LOOK AT THIS? AND UP UNTIL NOW, THIS IS JUST A LOOK AT THE STATE.

WE'VE NEVER REALLY BEEN ABLE TO PULL OUT DATA, UH, EVEN JUST BY REGION.

BUT WHAT I'M HOPING, AND OUR GOAL IS FOR THIS NEXT ROUND, KNOCK ON WOOD, WITH OUR NEW DIRECTORY SYSTEM, AND NOW THAT WE HAVE OVER 60 PARTNER CITIES, AND IN FACT, BY THE END OF THIS YEAR, IT'S PROBABLY CLOSER TO 70, I REALLY WANT TO TAKE THIS MODEL AND AT LEAST SHIFT IT SO WE CAN LOOK AT IT BY REGION.

SO THAT'S, THAT'S A GOAL OF OURS THAT WE'LL SEE IF WE CAN ACCOMPLISH THAT.

BUT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THAT FOR OUR NEXT ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY.

BUT THE FULL STUDY AS IT STANDS IS, UH, AVAILABLE FOR FREE FOR DOWNLOAD ON OUR SITE.

IF YOU JUST GO TO TEXAS MUSIC OFFICE.COM, ABOUT ON THE MIDDLE, THERE'S A, A TASK BAR, AND YOU'LL SEE ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY THAT YOU CAN CLICK ON AND, AND DOWNLOAD THAT.

UH, SO THE WAYS THAT WE REALLY DO HELP, AND WHEN I LOOK AT TOURISM AND, AND, AND HOW WE REALLY AFFECT THAT, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE BIGGEST PIECES IS MAKING SURE WE HAVE VENUES FOR OUR ARTISTS TO PERFORM IN.

AND SPECIFICALLY VENUES THAT ARE SMALLER, THE INCUBATOR STYLE VENUES WHERE OUR ARTISTS ARE CUTTING THEIR TEETH, THEY'RE DEVELOPING THEIR FAN BASES, AND THERE SMALLER VENUES IN CITIES ALL ACROSS OUR STATE.

IN FACT, LOTS OF UNDERUTILIZED VENUES ACROSS OUR STATE, AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THEIR LIGHTS STAY ON.

SO THIS IS A BILL THAT WAS PASSED ACTUALLY TWO SESSIONS AGO AND FUNDED LAST SESSION, UM, THAT ALLOWS US TO GIVE A REBATE BACK, UH, FOR, UH, VENUES BEER AND WINE SALES, UM, FOR VENUES UNDER 3000 IN CAPACITY, UP TO A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.

UM, THE GOVERNMENT GAVE US $20.2 MILLION OVER TWO YEARS TO GIVE OUT.

UM, THE FIRST ROUND OF APPLICATIONS IS CLOSED, AND WE EXPECT OUR NEXT ROUND TO OPEN SEPTEMBER 1ST.

SO FOR ANY OF OUR, OUR VENUES WHO QUALIFY INTO THIS SPACE, UH, I WOULD SUGGEST FOLLOWING OUR SOCIALS, UM, FOR THE OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THAT DATE.

BUT I'M DEFINITELY THINKING SEPTEMBER 1ST SHOULD BE, UH, HOW THAT'S GONNA GO, UM, FOR OUR VENUES WHO WANT TO LOOK INTO THAT FOR THE NEXT APPLICATION PERIOD, UH, ON OUR SITE.

OR THEY CAN GO TO TIR.GOV, DO TEXAS.GOV TO LOOK AT ALL OF THE QUALIFICATIONS.

'CAUSE ONE THING THAT THIS BILL DID THAT I THOUGHT WAS WONDERFUL IS THAT NOW IN STATE LANGUAGE, WE CAN DEFINE WHAT QUALIFIES AS A MUSIC VENUE.

SO WE HAVE ACTUALLY FOUND A WAY TO SEPARATE OUR MUSIC VENUES FROM, YOU KNOW, OUR RESTAURANTS THAT MAYBE HAVE SOMEBODY PERFORM IN THE CORNER ONCE A WEEK.

THAT'S, WE DON'T VIEW THAT THAT'S A WONDERFUL SPACE FOR SOMEONE TO MAKE SOME MONEY AND GET EXPOSURE, BUT THAT'S NOT A MUSIC VENUE.

SO WE NOW HAVE A LANGUAGE, WHAT, AT LEAST IN THE STATES' EYES, IS A MUSIC VENUE.

AND THOSE ARE WHAT CAN QUALIFY FOR THIS REBATE PROGRAM.

SO SOMETHING WE'RE THRILLED ABOUT TO HELP OUR VENUES NOT JUST KEEP THEIR LIGHTS ON, BUT MAYBE MAKE NECESSARY UPGRADES, PAY THEIR STAFF A BIT MORE, PAY THEIR ARTISTS A BIT MORE, UM, UP TO A HUNDRED GRAND BACK IN THEIR POCKETS, I THINK IS A, A EXTRAORDINARY THING.

SO IT'S SOMETHING A LOT OF OTHER FOLKS AROUND THE COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD HAVE BEEN, UH, ANALYZING.

UM, 'CAUSE WE'RE THE ONLY STATE THAT'S DONE THIS.

UM, MUSIC EDUCATION IS SOMETHING THAT'S ALWAYS GONNA BE CLOSE TO MY HEART.

I KNOW IT'S NOT DIRECTLY TIED TO TOURISM, BUT IF WE'RE NOT HELPING SUPPORT OUR NEXT GENERATION OF MUSICIANS, THEN WE'RE DOING THIS THING WRONG.

SO WE DO HAVE, UH, A MUSIC EDUCATION, UH, AND COMMUNITY GRANT PROGRAM.

IT'S TECHNICALLY OUR LICENSE PLATE, UH, PROGRAM, WHICH YOU CAN SEE MR. LYLE LOVETT MODELING THE, THE DEMO OF OUR LICENSE PLATE.

AND BASICALLY WHAT THAT DOES IS $22 OUT OF EVERY 30 FEE FOR THE PURCHASE OF THE TEXAS MUSIC LICENSE PLATE GOES INTO TO TWO DIFFERENT CATEGORIES.

WE CAN ISSUE GRANTS TO NON-PROFITS THAT ARE HELPING, UM, PURCHASE INSTRUMENTS FOR KIDDOS WHO OTHERWISE COULDN'T GET THEM TO HELP PAY FOR MUSIC LESSONS, UH, FOR THOSE WHO OTHERWISE COULDN'T GET THEM.

AND ALSO IN OUR UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES, IF THEY'RE PUTTING ON, UH, A FREE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, UH, MUSIC EVENT, UM, THEN THEY CAN ALSO APPLY FOR A GRANT FOR THAT AS WELL.

SO I TALKED ABOUT THE MUSIC FRIENDLY PROGRAM.

THAT'S WHAT I'VE RUN, UM, FOR THE PAST FOUR AND A HALF YEARS.

AND I KNOW YOU GUYS MENTIONED KIND OF COMPETITORS IN TERMS OF AUSTIN AND THE AUSTIN MUSIC OFFICE, AND WHO ELSE HAS OFFICES LIKE THAT? AND THAT'S KIND OF MY FAULT.

UH, 'CAUSE THAT'S ESSENTIALLY WHAT I HELP DO ACROSS OUR STATE.

UH, WE'VE GROWN THIS THING TO NEARLY 60, I'M FORECASTING

[00:50:01]

70 BY END OF THIS YEAR.

THEY DO TAKE ON DIFFERENT FORMS, AND EVERY SINGLE CITY THAT'S IN OUR PROGRAM HAS TO GO THROUGH A CERTIFICATION PROCESS.

AND THE SUPER SHORT OF THE LONG IS REALLY THEY ARE HELPING ESTABLISH SATELLITE OFFICES OF WHAT WE DO, UM, IN CITIES ALL ACROSS OUR STATE.

SOMETIMES THEY'RE TIED TO CITY GOVERNMENT, UM, LIKE THE CITY OF HOUSTON, IT'S THROUGH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS.

SOME ARE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE, SOME ARE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS, BUT A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER ARE, UH, WITH OUR CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAUS.

SO YES, FORT WORTH VISIT, FORT WORTH IS THE HOME OF MUSIC FRIENDLY IN FORT WORTH, WHO TECHNICALLY DO HAVE AN OFFICIAL MUSIC OFFICE THAT'S SEPARATE FROM FILM.

UM, UH, DALLAS IS ALSO ANNOUNCING, THEY HAVE FINALLY CREATED A MUSIC OFFICE.

SO THEY HAVE SEPARATED FILM AND MUSIC AND, UH, JUST OFFICIALLY HIRED A, A A NEW PERSON TO RUN THAT A FEW WEEKS AGO.

SO WE'RE SEEING CITIES TAKE A, A, A MUCH BIGGER LOOK AT WHAT THEY SHOULD BE DOING TO SUPPORT THEIR LOCAL MUSIC ECONOMY.

AND THAT TRANSLATES TO TOURISM.

YOU WANT YOUR VENUES FULL, AND, AND THIS IS, YOU KNOW, A WAY FOR THEM TO BETTER UNDERSTAND AND TAKE A LOOK AT WHO THEY HAVE LOCALLY, WHO THEIR MUSICIANS ARE, WHO THEIR VENUES ARE, WHAT DO THEY HAVE, UM, AND TO FIND BETTER WAYS TO SUPPORT THAT.

UH, EVERY CITY HAS A, A MUSIC ADVISORY BOARD THAT THEY HAVE TO, TO FORM THAT MEETS ON A REGULAR BASIS.

UM, THEY HAVE TO HELP US KEEP THAT DIRECTORY UP TO DATE ONCE A YEAR.

SO THERE'S LOTS OF STEPS.

IT'S NOT JUST US HANDING OUT, HEY, YOU, YOU LIKE MUSIC AND HERE'S A CERTIFICATE.

IT'S TRUE WORK THAT THEY COULD TECHNICALLY LOSE THEIR CERTIFICATION.

BUT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT CITIES LIKE AUSTIN AND FORT WORTH AND HOUSTON AND SAN ANTONIO SHOWING HOW IT CAN BE DONE, RIGHT.

UM, WHAT THIS PROGRAM REALLY HAS DONE IS HELPED BUILD A FIRST WITH KIND NETWORK OF CONNECTED MUSIC CITIES.

'CAUSE REALLY WHAT WE WANT IS, AND THIS WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW IS THE SHARING OF THESE IDEAS.

UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S GONNA MAKE TEXAS AND OUR MUSIC INDUSTRY STRONGER IS BY WORKING TOGETHER.

AND SURE, WE'RE, WE ARE THE, THE LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD, BUT TEXAS HAS EXTRAORDINARY MUSIC INDUSTRY ALL ACROSS THE STATE.

AND SO, UNLIKE A, A TENNESSEE THAT'S ALL ABOUT NASHVILLE, I LIKE THAT TEXAS IS REALLY ALL ABOUT TEXAS.

SO I'VE KIND OF GONE THROUGH MOST OF THIS, BUT, YOU KNOW, REALLY MUSIC FRIENDLY IS HELPING EACH CITY CREATE A SYSTEM WHERE THEY CAN LISTEN TO AND REACT TO THEIR LOCAL MUSIC INDUSTRY.

IT'S ESSENTIALLY CREATING A, A LISTENING POST IN EACH CITY, UM, TO LISTEN TO AND LEARN AND FIND WAYS TO BETTER SERVE THEIR MUSICIANS.

AND IT COULD BE SIMPLE THINGS LIKE PARKING AND SOUND ORDINANCES, BUT WHEN YOU'VE GOT FRUSTRATED MUSICIANS AND ANGRY VENUE OWNERS, OWNERS JUST SHOUTING AT THE CITY AS WE KNOW, THAT GETS NOTHING DONE.

SO HELPING OUR CITIES FORM THESE MUSIC OFFICES GIVES THEM A LIAISON BETWEEN THE BUSINESSES AND MUSICIANS AND CITY GOVERNMENT TO FIND CONSTRUCTIVE PATHS TO MAKE THINGS BETTER.

AND AGAIN, THE STATEWIDE NETWORK, IT'S BEEN TRULY WONDERFUL TO WATCH THESE SHARING OF IDEAS.

AND WHAT WE'VE DONE THIS YEAR IS BROKEN TEXAS INTO FOUR REGIONS, ESSENTIALLY CHAPTERS, AND IT'S EVENTUALLY GONNA BE FIVE, UM, TO HELP MAKE, UH, IT EASIER FOR OUR CITIES TO COMMUNICATE.

SO ONCE A MONTH, WE GET EACH REGION TOGETHER ON A, A ZOOM CALL OR A TEAMS CALL JUST TO TALK ABOUT, HEY, HERE'S SOME PROGRAMS WE'RE WORKING ON.

HAVE YOU TRIED THIS YET? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS YOU COULD SHARE WITH US? AND THEY, THEY'LL, THESE CAN GO FOR 30 MINUTES, THEY CAN GO FOR TWO HOURS.

AND I THINK IT'S A PART OF US BEING TEXANS AS BEING SUPPORTIVE AND OPEN.

SO I LOVE THAT NONE OF OUR CITIES, I FELT, HAVE EVER PUT JUST A BLOCKADE AROUND THEIR IDEAS THEY WANT TO SHARE WITH EACH OTHER.

AND IT'S REALLY HELPED CITIES BECOME EXTRAORDINARY LOOKING AT LIKE A, A MCKINNEY.

I MEAN, I GREW UP IN NORTH TEXAS AND I NEVER THOUGHT, HEY, I'D BE TRUCKING UP TO, TO MCKINNEY TO WATCH A SHOW AT AN AMPHITHEATER.

AND THROUGH THE MUSIC FRIENDLY DESIGNATION, THE CITY BETTER UNDERSTANDING WHAT THEY'RE, WHAT THEY'VE GOT AND HOW TO SUPPORT IT.

NOW THEY'VE GOT DEVELOPERS WANTING TO COME IN AND, AND PUT IN THINGS LIKE A BRAND NEW, GOSH, I THINK IT'S LIKE A 25,000 CAPACITY AMPHITHEATER IN MCKINNEY.

SO IT JUST SHOWS FROM AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STANDPOINT, WHEN YOU HELP YOUR CITIES LEARN, UH, GREAT THINGS CAN DEFINITELY HAPPEN.

UM, EXAMPLES OF WHAT HAVE, HAVE BEEN DONE UNDER THIS PROGRAM, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I'M A TCU GRAD.

I'M NOT GONNA BEAT AROUND THE BUSH.

FORT WORTH IS AN IMPORTANT CITY FOR ME.

AND SO IT'S BEEN FUN WATCHING THEM GROW FROM A CITY IN THE NINETIES THAT HAD NO SUPPORT STRUCTURE TO ONE THAT, THAT IS KIND OF CREEPING UP ON WHAT WE DO HERE, WHICH I THINK IS WONDERFUL.

AND AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT THEY JUST ANNOUNCED A FEW WEEKS AGO IS A, A PROGRAM CALLED SOUND CARE.

AND THEY'VE PARTNERED WITH THE JPS HEALTH NETWORK AND NOW THEY HAVE A SYSTEM TO PROVIDE, UM, THEIR LOCAL MUSICIANS WITH AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE.

AND NOT ONLY IS THAT FOR FORT WORTH, THAT'S FOR ALL OF TARRANT COUNTY.

UM, IT'S A CITY THAT'S BEEN WORKING AT THIS FOR EIGHT YEARS.

UM, BUT AGAIN, IT JUST SHOWS, AGAIN, GIVING A CITY A PLATFORM AND STRUCTURE TO START LEARNING WHAT THEY CAN ACCOMPLISH.

UM, AND JUST FROM AN EDUCATION STANDPOINT, UM, TEACHING OUR MUSICIANS BETTER WAYS TO RUN THEIR CAREERS LIKE A BUSINESS, BETTER WAYS TO MARKET THEMSELVES, UM, THAT'S SOMETHING WE'VE SEEN SO MANY OF OUR CITIES, UH, CREATE, YOU KNOW, WHETHER THEY'RE MONTHLY OR QUARTERLY EVENTS

[00:55:01]

TO HELP ENGAGE WITH THEIR LOCAL MUSIC COMMUNITY TO TEACH.

AND THAT'S SOMETHING LIKE WITH LUBBOCK, UH, WITH THEIR BUFFALO GRASS FEST.

UH, ARLINGTON HAS, UH, THE ARLINGTON AMPLIFIED, UM, SAN MARCUS, EL PASO.

IT'S SPREADING ALL OVER THE STATE, UM, WHICH I THINK IS JUST, IT'S EXTRAORDINARY.

UM, GOING BACK TO TOURISM AND OUR CONVENTION OF VISITORS BUREAUS, UM, OUR FRIENDS IN CORPUS CHRISTI, AGAIN, KIND OF SAW THE NEED TO EDUCATE THEIR MUSICIANS AND THEIR BUSINESSES A BIT MORE.

AND SO VISIT CORPUS LAUNCHED THE, UH, COASTAL BEND MUSIC SYMPOSIUM.

UH, THEY'VE DONE THIS TWO YEARS IN A ROW NOW, AND I'VE BEEN LUCKY TO GO DOWN AND, AND SPEAK IN BOTH OF THOSE.

BUT IT'S JUST A DAY OF, OF PANELS BRINGING IN FOLKS FROM CSAC AND BMI AND DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES, UM, JUST TO, TO TEACH.

YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S SOMETHING THAT ALL REGIONS OF OUR STATE SHOULD HELP GIVE THEIR MUSICIANS TO, YOU KNOW, TO FIND BETTER WAYS TO, TO GROW THEIR CAREERS.

YOU'VE GOT MUSICIANS WHO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW TO, TO RUN THEIR CAREERS.

THEY'RE GONNA HAVE LONGER CAREERS THAT ARE GONNA GET ON THE ROAD AND TOUR OUR STATE AND TOUR THE COUNTRY, HOPEFULLY POINTING THEM BACK TO THEIR HOMETOWNS AND BRINGING THEM HERE, AND THAT'S TOURISM.

SO THAT'S KIND OF WHAT I'VE GOT FOR YOU GUYS TODAY.

UM, YOU KNOW, I, AGAIN, I'M TWO DAYS INTO THIS, SO, UM, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER WHAT QUESTIONS Y'ALL HAVE.

AND ONE THING I WILL SAY TOO, IF THERE'S THINGS THAT I DON'T HAVE ANSWERS FOR TODAY, PLEASE JOT DOWN, UH, MY CONTACT INFO AND I'M HAPPY TO GET BACK TO YOU.

SO ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? THANK YOU MR. ADAMS FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR THE SPEAKER? COMMISSIONER REY? YEAH.

HEY, THANKS.

HEY, UM, YOU MENTIONED JUST A COUPLE SECONDS AGO, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR INDIVIDUAL MUSICIANS.

UM, CAN YOU SAY MORE ABOUT THE OUTREACH FOR THAT, HOW YOU REACH THOSE MUSICIANS AND, AND MAYBE WHERE I MIGHT GO TO CONNECT SOME OF THE MUSICIANS I WORK WITH.

SO REALLY WHAT IT'S BEEN, HAS BEEN THROUGH THE CITIES THAT I'VE WORKED WITH, THEY'VE SEEN THAT THAT WAS A, AN OPPORTUNITY THAT NEEDED TO BE TAKEN CARE OF.

AND I THINK THAT THE PANDEMIC REALLY SHOWN US A BRIGHT LIGHT ON THAT KIND OF EDUCATION WAS IMPORTANT.

UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, THESE IDEAS HAVE COME DIRECTLY FROM OUR CITIES.

THEY'VE, THEY'VE COME TO, TO ME FOR HELP WHEN THEY NEED SPEAKERS.

SO IF THEY WOULD, LIKE, IF THE TOPIC'S GONNA BE PUBLIC RELATIONS, I CAN, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT SO MANY EXTRAORDINARY PR EXPERTS JUST IN AUSTIN ALONE, SO I CAN CONNECT THEM WITH A HALF A DOZEN PEOPLE TO GET THEM TO EL PASO, AMARILLO, WHEREVER IN THE STATE THEY NEED TO BE.

SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE REALLY AREN'T THE ONES THAT ARE CREATING THOSE OPPORTUNITIES.

IT'S JUST SOMETHING THAT THROUGH THE PROGRAM, AND I THINK AS OUR CITIES HERE THAT, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, LIKE A FORT WORTH IS DOING THAT, UH, DALLAS WANTS TO DO THAT AND ALL THESE CALLS, AND ONCE DALLAS IS DOING IT, THEY HEAR NOW GRAND PRAIRIE AND DOWN TO MANSFIELD, THEY WANT TO DO THESE KINDS OF THINGS.

SO IT'S BEEN A, A REALLY ORGANIC PROCESS.

BUT I, I VIEW OUR ROLE AT THIS POINT IS JUST TO HELP CONNECT THOSE DOTS FOR OUR CITIES WHEN THEY WANT TO HAVE THIS, THAT KIND OF PROGRAMMING.

WHO CAN WE HELP BRING IN? CAN WE FLY IN SOMEBODY FROM CSAC, FROM NASHVILLE? YOU KNOW? SO THAT'S, THAT'S KINDA THE ROLE I TAKE.

BUT AGAIN, FROM OUR CITIES LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER, WE'RE SEEING THE OTHER OTHER FOLKS ARE WANTING TO, TO COPY THAT KIND OF PROGRAMMING.

THANKS.

COMMISSIONER BAILEY, VICE CHAIR BAILEY.

EXCUSE ME.

THAT'S OKAY.

UM, SO I'M LOOKING AT THE, THE, THE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH THAT IN THE, IN THE COMMUNITIES THAT ARE NOW ADOPTING, YOU KNOW, A MUSIC FORWARD BUSINESS MODEL, I GUESS YOU WILL.

CBB BASED OR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION BASED, THAT'S WHAT THEY WOULD LOVE TO SEE.

, I'M CURIOUS, WHEN YOU LOOK AT, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE ECONOMIC IMPACT, UH, OF THE OFFICE, AND I KNOW A LOT OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH EMPLOYMENT, BUT I'M, I'M TRYING TO GET A SENSE OF, FOR THESE, ALL THESE CITIES TO SAY WE WANT, WE WANT IT TO, TO DEVELOP OUR OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR MARKET, THERE HAS TO BE A FINANCIAL IMPACT BEHIND IT.

SO I, I'M TRYING TO GET A FEEL FOR HOW DOES HOT TAX OR THE IMPACT OF VISITORSHIP TO THESE CITIES, HOW MUCH DOES THAT WEIGHT, THE MOTIVATION? I MEAN, I GET COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, I GET DEVELOPING YOUR ARTIST COMMUNITY.

I, I, I SEE THAT AS A STRONG RATIONALE RIGHT THERE, BUT I'M JUST TRYING TO DIG IN A A LITTLE BIT TO SEE, SINCE YOU ARE IN THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND YOU SIT NEXT TO TOURISM, EVEN IF THIS IS ANECDOTAL, WHAT YOU'RE FEELING IS OF HOW OVERNIGHT STAYS OR VISITORSHIP TO MARKETS ARE, ARE, WHAT ARE THE PILLARS, IF YOU WILL, OF WHY SURE.

WHY DO A MUSIC PROGRAM IN, IN CORSET CANADA? UH, I AGREE.

I AGREE.

THEN THAT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION AND A GOOD POINT.

AND I THINK WHAT THE PROGRAM HAS SHOWN IT REALLY IS THAT ANY CITY THAT, THAT WANTS TO DO THE WORK, UM, AND IT'S REALLY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FROM THE GROUND UP, IT DOES START WITH COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT.

THAT'S A HUNDRED PERCENT WHERE YOU'RE LAYING THAT, THAT FIRST LAYER.

UM, BUT ONCE THE CITIES GET INVOLVED, AND ESPECIALLY IN OUR CITIES THAT ARE

[01:00:01]

SO LET'S TAKE ONE OF OUR SMALLER CITIES LIKE A, A SODO FOR EXAMPLE, WHO, THAT'S A SMALL TOWN THAT REALLY HAS NOT HAD MUCH OF A PULSE OF A MUSIC SCENE.

THEY'VE HAD A, A HANDFUL OF MUSICIANS AND MAYBE A PLACE TO PLAY.

UM, THEIR FIRST STEP WAS DEVELOPING THEIR, THEIR BOARD, THEIR ADVISORY BOARD JUST TO, TO GET TOGETHER ONCE A MONTH OR EVERY OTHER MONTH TO TALK ABOUT, HEY, HOW CAN WE COLLABORATE AND MAKE THIS THING GROW? AND THEY PICKED A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES OF, OF KINDS OF THINGS THEY WANTED TO DO.

SAY, LET'S, WE WANNA THROW A, A FESTIVAL TIED TO A CERTAIN EVENT IN OUR DOWNTOWN MAIN STREET, AND LET'S MARKET THAT.

PULLING FROM AUSTIN, PULLING FROM THE SURROUNDING AREAS, PEOPLE COMING TOLEDO FOR THE DAY, MAYBE THE NIGHT, AS THEIR TOURISM NUMBERS STARTED TO GROW, THEY'VE ACTUALLY STARTED TO ATTRACT MUSIC VENUES.

IN FACT, IT WAS INTERESTING DURING THE PANDEMIC WATCHING NUMBERS FROM SOME CITIES START TO DROP IN TERMS OF VENUES.

AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, AGAIN, A A SMALL TOWN THAT WENT FROM ONE PLACE TO PLAY TO HALF A DOZEN AND GROWING.

UM, SO I THINK THAT'S KIND OF THE, THE BEAUTY OF THE MUSIC FRIENDLY PROGRAM.

AND THAT'S WHY I REALLY, WHEN WE BUILT THIS, I WANTED TO, TO WORK FOR CITIES OF, SORRY ABOUT THAT, OF ALL SIZES.

UM, FROM THE SMALLEST, AGAIN, JUST TO FIND WAYS TO MARKET THEMSELVES.

AND IT MIGHT NOT BE HOT FUNDS OVERNIGHT, IT MIGHT NOT BE HOTEL STAYS OVERNIGHT, BUT THAT'S THE END GOAL.

UM, SO AGAIN, LIKE A MCKINNEY WHO, THEIR DOWNTOWN SQUARE IS WONDERFUL, WERE THEY GETTING OVERNIGHT STAYS? PROBABLY NOT.

BUT THEY'VE BEEN SUPPORTING THEIR MUSIC SCENE AGGRESSIVELY.

AND IF ONLY DID ATTRACT THE DEVELOPER TO COME IN TO PUT AN AMPHITHEATER.

SO NOW, YOU KNOW, FOLKS FROM AROUND THE METROPLEX LIKELY WILL BE TRAVELING IN FOR SHOWS GOING THERE.

AND IF I'M FROM FORT WORTH OR ON THE TERRANCE SIDE, I'M DRIVING CLEAR TO MCKINNEY FOR A SHOW.

I'M, I'M NOT GOING HOME THAT NIGHT.

AND SO I THINK FOR CITIES LIKE THAT, IT SHOWS IN TIME AND THAT IT'S A CITY THAT'S BEEN IN OUR PROGRAM FOR ALMOST FOUR YEARS NOW.

UM, IT'S SLOW GROWTH SOMETIMES, BUT I THINK THAT'S THE, THE MOST IMPORTANT PART IS BETTER UNDERSTANDING AND LEARNING HOW TO SUPPORT.

ONCE YOU SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH IT TO MARKET IT BETTER, THEN TOURISM CAN BE ATTRACTED.

SO ARE THEY, FROM WHAT YOU CAN SEE, SOME OF THE MAYBE MORE MATURE ONES OR THE MORE BIGGER, HAVE BIGGER GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE, ARE THEY TRACKING? I MEAN, AFTER A YEAR SOMEBODY SAYS, LOOK, WE HAD THIS MANY VISITORS COME DIRECTLY AS AN IMPACT THAT, AND THEY DO THEIR OWN ECONOMIC IMPACT FOR THE TOWN.

I MEAN, I'M LOOKING AT, I MEAN, I'VE BEEN DOING A LOT OF THINKING 'CAUSE I WENT UP TO GEORGETOWN FOR THE TWO STEP FESTIVAL, WHICH OF COURSE C3 IS A BIG IMPACT HERE.

BUT I THOUGHT, I WAS JUST LOOKING AROUND LIKE, WHAT AN IMPACT ON GEORGETOWN.

HUGE.

I MEAN, I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT.

AND SO I'M THINKING, OKAY, THERE'S MAYBE, MAYBE C3 WENT TO THEM, MAYBE THEY WENT TO C3.

WHO KNOWS? I, I DON'T KNOW THE BACKSTORY, BUT I CERTAINLY CAN TELL THAT THAT IS A GAME CHANGER FOR GEORGETOWN TO HAVE A FESTIVAL OF THAT SIZE THERE.

AND IT WOULD BE FOR SOME OF THESE COMMUNITIES TO EVEN HAVE EVEN SOMETHING FRACTIONALLY.

THAT BIG.

I CAN TELL YOU, SOME OF OUR BIGGER CITIES HAVE DONE ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDIES, BUT THEY ARE COSTLY.

AND SO IT'S BEEN KIND OF PROHIBITIVE FOR SOME OF OUR CITIES TO DIVE INTO THAT.

BUT THE GOAL, I THINK AT THIS POINT, AS SOME OF OUR MID-SIZE CITIES, THEY HAVE EMBRACED MUSIC.

THEY'VE SHOWN THEIR CITIES THAT THIS IS SOMETHING WE WANT TO GET BEHIND.

THEY'RE STARTING TO, TO PUSH BUDGET ASIDE TO MAKE THAT INVESTMENT.

SO I'M REALLY HOPING IN THE NEXT ONE TO TWO YEARS THAT WE START TO HAVE MORE DATA FROM, SPECIFICALLY FROM OUR CITY.

SO AGAIN, IT'S, IT'S LONG-TERM VISION, YOU KNOW, BUT THAT'S DEFINITELY WHAT I'D LOVE TO SEE.

VICE CHAIR BAILEY, COMMISSIONER IAN.

UM, YOU KNOW, GEORGETOWN WE'RE STILL WORKING ON.

UH, THANK YOU MR. ADAMS. UM, APPRECIATE YOU COMING OUT AND ENJOYED THE PRESENTATION.

I, I'M REALLY CURIOUS, UM, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THE IMPACT BY REGION.

'CAUSE I THINK THAT WOULD GIVE US A LOT MORE DATA YEAH.

TO, UM, ABSORB.

AND I, THIS IS KIND OF A QUESTION I'M CURIOUS ABOUT BECAUSE YOU JUST BROUGHT UP THAT FESTIVAL.

MY ORIGINAL THOUGHT WAS HOW MUCH WEIGHT, UM, DOES THE ARTIST CARRY IN BRINGING THE ECONOMIC IMPACT TO A CITY AND PUTTING IT ON THE MAP, RIGHT? 'CAUSE THE SMALLER VENUES AND, UM, CITIES AREN'T GONNA HAVE THE TOP NAMES.

BUT I WAS JUST KIND OF WONDERING WHAT THE TREND IS.

YOUR THOUGHTS ARE ON ONE ARTIST COMING OUT AND PERFORMING AND BEING A BIG NAME LIKE A TAYLOR SWIFT OR A BEYONCE, AND COMPARING THAT TO A FESTIVAL THAT HAS MAYBE, UH, NOT AS WELL KNOWN ARTISTS, BUT, YOU KNOW, LESSER KNOWN ARTISTS, BUT MULTIPLE ARTISTS IN A FESTIVAL SETTING.

WHAT, WHAT'S BEEN KIND OF THE TREND THAT YOU'RE SEEING IN TEXAS? AGAIN, WITH SO MUCH OF MY WORK, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, IT'S BEEN DONE WITH OUR SMALLER AND AND MIDSIZE CITIES IN THE, HOUSTON WAS THE LAST LARGE MARKET TO COME INTO OUR PROGRAM.

BUT PRETTY MUCH EVERYBODY ELSE WAS, YOU KNOW, FIRST 10 OR SO CITIES.

SO IN MY FOUR AND A HALF, IT'S BEEN A LOT OF YOUR, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT DFW, YOUR ARLINGTON GRAND PRAIRIES, YOU'RE LOOKING DOWN HERE, YOU KNOW, GETTING,

[01:05:01]

BUT, YOU KNOW, UH, AGAIN, SMALL AND MID IN, IN OUR MID-SIZED CITIES.

SO THEY'RE NOT GETTING THE, THE TAILORS.

UM, THE FESTIVALS ARE A HUGE, HUGE BOOM FOR THOSE CITIES.

I KEEP GOING BACK TO MCKINNEY 'CAUSE I JUST SPOKE WITH THEM TODAY.

UM, BUT THEY'VE HAD MULTIPLE FESTIVALS COME THROUGH, UM, MCKINNEY.

AND SO THAT IS A HUGE ECONOMIC DRIVER FOR THEM.

UM, BUT FOR MOST OF OUR CITIES, HONESTLY, I WOULD SAY IT'S CONSISTENCY.

AND IT IS, AGAIN, HIGHLIGHTING THEIR, THEIR LOCAL MUSICIANS MUCH BETTER WORKING WITH THEIR NEIGHBORING CITIES TO START DEVELOPING ARTIST IMPORT EXPORT PROGRAMS. SO IF YOU'RE DOING GREAT IN BRYAN COLLEGE STATION, LET'S GET YOU DOWN TO BASTROP AND DEVELOPING THESE, THESE ALMOST MICRO REGIONAL TOUR ROUTES.

SO THAT'S REALLY, WHAT WE'RE, I, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, WHICH ONES WEIGHTED STRONGER? I DON'T REALLY HAVE AN ANSWER ON THAT.

UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU LOOK AT OUR ECONOMIC IMPACT REPORTS, THOSE, UM, FESTIVAL DATES ARE INCLUDED.

ANYTHING THAT WE SEE AS A, AN ANNUAL EVENT IS PUT INTO THAT IMPACT STUDY.

SO WHILE OUR DATA MIGHT NOT SHOW A TAYLOR SWIFT SHOW, UM, YOU KNOW, AT AT NRG STADIUM IN HOUSTON SPECIFICALLY, UM, IT WILL SHOW A FESTIVAL.

SO LIKE AN ACL IS GONNA POP UP ON THAT.

SO AGAIN, WE'RE STILL TRYING TO, TO BROADEN THE POOL, WE PULL THAT INFORMATION FROM, WHICH I'M EXCITED ABOUT.

UM, WE'RE LOOKING AT NEW DATA SOURCES TO START TRACKING TICKET SALES.

SO HOPEFULLY THAT'LL GIVE US A MUCH BETTER LOOK.

SO HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, MAYBE BY THE TIME I SPEAK WITH Y'ALL NEXT, I MIGHT ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO ANSWER THAT MUCH MORE CLEARLY.

'CAUSE, YOU KNOW, THE IMPACT STUDY WAS BASED OFF OF A SYSTEM THAT HAS, WAS RUN FOR A DIFFERENT PURPOSE, AND NOW WE'RE FINALLY ABLE TO RECONSTRUCT IT TO HOPEFULLY HAVE MUCH MORE CLEAR DATA TO GIVE THE NUMBER CRUNCHERS WHO ARE MUCH BETTER AT THAT THAN I AM TO GIVE US MUCH CLEARER DATA.

SO, UH, AGAIN, WHEN THAT'S PUBLISHED, IT WILL BE, WE'LL DO A PRESS RELEASE ON IT.

THAT DATA IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AND DOWNLOADABLE, SO HOPEFULLY COME EARLY, EARLY NEXT YEAR.

UM, THAT'LL BE SOMETHING WE CAN LOOK AT.

COMMISSIONER MATHIS, WHEN IT COMES TO SOME OF THAT DATA, YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET IT FROM, UM, BECAUSE A LOT OF THOSE RESERVATIONS FOR THESE SMALLER, UM, CITIES AND EVENTS LIKE THIS ARE GONNA BE COMING IN THROUGH EXPEDIAS AND BOOKING DOT COMS. AND, UM, AT LEAST THE CITY WOULD BE ABLE TO, AND HOTELIERS ALSO FOR SURE COULD CALL THOSE REPS.

UM, AND THE REPS WOULD WANT THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAY, HEY, I'M GONNA TRY TO SELL YOU HIGHER PLACEMENT.

UM, AND THEN YOU COULD SAY, GREAT, WELL, TELL ME ABOUT THIS LAST EVENT AND WHAT MY FEEDER MARKETS WERE AND HOW THAT SPIKED.

SO YOU CAN GET THAT INFORMATION.

SOMEBODY HAS IT, BRANDS MAYBE WOULDN'T WANT GIVE IT TO YOU.

BUT FOR AN EXAMPLE, LIKE A SMALL TOWN LIKE BROWNWOOD, TEXAS, I HAVE A LOT OF FAMILY FROM SMALL TOWN TEXAS, LITTLE BITTY TOWNS AROUND THERE, LIKE THE BANGS AND THE MAZE.

YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU DRIVE THROUGH AND YOU KIND OF STOP BECAUSE YOU'RE LIKE, IF I DON'T STOP, I'M GONNA GET A TICKET.

BUT THEN HERE YOU GO.

AND LIKE THOSE TOWNS WILL FEED INTO A PLACE LIKE BROWNWOOD TO GO SEE A BAND.

AND SOME OF THEM WILL STAY OVERNIGHT AND STAY IN THIS AND BECAUSE BROWNWOOD WILL HAVE MORE RESTAURANTS AND LIKE, IT'S DATE NIGHT, YAHOO.

AND WE'RE GONNA GO AND HAVE A GREAT DINNER AND WE'RE GONNA STAY, UM, THERE.

AND SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT WHAT YOU DO.

AND EVEN THOUGH I KIND OF DO THINK THAT FORT WORTH SHOULD PROBABLY JUST ONLY MARKET THOSE STOCKYARDS, , THE SMALL TOWNS, THAT DOESN'T BOTHER ME AS MUCH.

AND SO, YOU KNOW, MUSIC IS SO IMPORTANT TO TOURISM, AND THEN ALL OF THE VENUES JUST TALKING TO PEOPLE IN DRIPPING SPRINGS.

UM, UM, IF THERE WEREN'T MUSICIANS PLAYING FOR THESE WEDDINGS, THEN THERE WE JUST HAVE DJS, YOU KNOW, AND THAT'D BE A SAD WEDDING, YOU KNOW? TRUE.

SO THANK GOODNESS FOR TRUE FOR WHAT OUR, OUR MUSIC COMMUNITY BRINGS TO ALL OF US HERE IN OUR STATE.

YOU KNOW, AND, AND IN THAT SPACE TOO, TALKING ABOUT GETTING DATA FROM, FROM, YOU KNOW, OUR HOTELS.

YOU KNOW, ONE THING I I'VE WANTED TO DO NOW THAT I'VE, AGAIN, I'M DAY TWO INTO THIS ROLE, BUT IS TO PARTNER MORE WITH OUR, OUR TRAVEL TEXAS FRIENDS, LITERALLY DOWN THE HALLWAY MM-HMM.

TO SEE WHAT DATA THEY CAN START FEEDING US AS WELL.

UM, SO AGAIN, THIS IS A BRAND NEW SPACE FOR ME, BUT I SEE A LOT OF AREA FOR MORE DATA AND, AND GROWTH.

UM, SO YEAH, I AGREE.

KEEP AUSTIN AS YOUR FAVORITE THOUGH.

OKAY.

THAT'S WHY I HAVEN'T LEFT.

I, I CAN TELL YOU, AS SOMEONE WHO IS A KID, AND WE MOVED MY DAD, HIS JOB, WE HAD TO MOVE EVERY FOUR YEARS.

HE WAS LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THAT WAS JUST A PART OF WHAT THEY HAD TO DO.

SO EVERY FOUR YEARS I WAS IN A NEW HOME.

SO ATLANTA AND HOUSTON AND DFW AND I'VE DONE LA AND NEW YORK, AND I'VE BEEN HERE FOR 16 SO LONG AS I'VE EVER STAYED PUT.

SO THIS IS, THIS IS HOME .

LOVE IT.

LIVED HERE A WHILE, YOU MAY NOT BE AWARE OF THIS DATA POINT, BUT PRIOR TO THE ACL FESTIVAL COMING, THERE WASN'T A SPACE IN THIS TOWN THAT COULD HOLD A MAJOR OR LIKE STADIUM SHOW, RIGHT BEFORE CODA, BEFORE ACL FEST AND NOW THE MOODY CENTER, WE WERE CONSIDERED THE FLYOVER CITY.

VICE CHAIR BAILEY.

I JUST WANNA MAKE A COMMENT FOR ADD TO THIS DISCUSSION THERE.

THERE'S A, THE, THE AUSTIN HAS SHIFTED IN WAYS THAT MANY, IF YOU HAVEN'T

[01:10:01]

THE BIG TOURS WENT TO HOUSTON AND DALLAS.

YOU DIDN'T, YOU'RE NOT GONNA SEE HARRY STELLA FOR THREE NIGHTS.

YOU'RE THE FACT THAT TAYLOR DID HOUSTON, WE ALL, I DIDN'T, BUT EVERYBODY WENT TO HOUSTON, RIGHT.

OR WHATEVER.

SO THAT THE DYNAMICS OF THE, THE GROWTH OF THIS TOWN AND THE, AND PURPOSE-BUILT FACILITIES THAT NOW CAN GET THE BIGGEST HEADLINER BANDS IN THE WORLD.

AUSTIN CHANGED ITS POSITIONING AND ITS COST.

DALLAS AND HOUSTON, BECAUSE WE STEPPED UP AND THESE THINGS GOT CREATED IN THIS TOWN.

BUT, SO, AND, AND WITH IT, THE HOTEL COMMUNITY GREW TOO.

THE THINGS THAT I'M MENTIONING, IT GREW.

DEVELOPERS CAME TO BUILD HOTELS BECAUSE WE NOW WERE CAPTURING THAT DESTINATION MUSIC TRAVELER WHO WOULD COME AND SPEND THE NIGHT HERE TO SEE PEARL JAM.

PEARL JAM WASN'T GONNA PLAY AUSTIN, TEXAS BEFORE.

COLDPLAY WASN'T GONNA PLAY AUSTIN, TEXAS BEFORE BEYONCE, NOT A SHOT.

SO I'M JUST LAYING INTO THIS CONVERSATION HOW THIS TOWN'S FACILITIES AND THE PROMOTERS THAT HAPPENED, C3 HAPPENED.

THEY WERE, THEY HAVEN'T ALWAYS BEEN HERE.

AND THEY, THEY'RE, IT'S ALL PART OF AN ECOSYSTEM THAT GREW.

AND THE MOODY CENTER IS NOW DELIVERING ON THAT PROMISE FROM THE SCALE OF SHOWS THAT THEY'RE PUTTING IN THAT BUILDING.

IT'S EXTRAORDINARY.

AND I CAN JUST FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, AND I HAVE DFW FAMILY COMING TO AUSTIN BECAUSE THEY WOULD RATHER GO TO THE MOODY CENTER.

MY SISTER CAME UP TO WATCH PETER GABRIEL AT THE MOODY CENTER, NOT IN DALLAS.

SO IT'S AN EXTRAORDINARY PLACE.

AND MY DAUGHTER WAS MORE THAN THRILLED TO GO SEE HARRY STYLE AND STYLES IN AUSTIN.

VICE CHAIR BAILEY, WE HAVE ANOTHER COMMENT FROM COMMISSIONER CHAPEL.

UH, THANK YOU, DIRECTOR ADAMS. UM, AND I THINK IT'S GREAT THAT THE PATHWAYS THAT YOU'RE MAKING, I'LL CALL THEM ECONOMIC PATHWAYS, KIND OF THESE MID, UM, TOWNS, WHICH I THINK IS PHENOMENAL.

AND THAT'S THE ECOSYSTEM.

AND I THINK THAT'S KIND OF RIGHT.

THE DAILY DISCIPLINE OF THE ECONOMIC ENGINE.

BEYONCE'S GREAT TAYLOR SWIFT, IT'S GREAT.

BUT YOU KNOW, I THINK WE NEED TO MOVE FROM OUR LOW END VENUES TO MIDDLE EARNER VENUES, RIGHT? SO HOW CAN EVERYONE UPSCALE? AND TO THAT POINT, UM, IS FOR THE GRANT PROGRAM, THEY'RE UNDER 3000, UM, AUDIENCE MEMBERS.

BUT DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF SORT OF LIKE A MISSING VENUE SIZE OR, UM, ANY DYNAMICS AROUND, UM, VENUES AND WHAT WE'RE LACKING? 'CAUSE I THINK WE'RE ALL GETTING THE DRAWS OF MUSICIANS AND BIG MUSICIANS, UM, BUT I THINK WE NEED TO STAY FOCUSED ON, WE COME AND VISIT A PLACE BECAUSE OF ITS DIFFERENTIATORS.

AND MUSIC IS JUST ONE OF THOSE ASPECTS.

AND SO THERE'S THINGS THAT ARE VERY UNIQUE TO AUSTIN.

UM, AND SOME OF THAT I THINK IS HOW WE INCENTIVIZE OUR VENUES AND OUR MUSICIANS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

AND SO FOR THE COLLABORATION, I THINK THAT'S FANTASTIC.

AND TO YOUR POINT, RIGHT, IF YOU HAD A BAND OR YOU WERE TOURING AND NOW YOU'VE GOT SOMEBODY ELSE CAN WALK UP AND TAKE THAT EXACT SAME TOUR WITH THOSE EXACT SAME VENUES AND RIGHT.

SO YOU'VE ALREADY DONE THE LEGWORK.

UM, BUT WHAT ARE WE MISSING? SO WHAT SIZE VENUES ARE, ARE WE MISSING? I FEEL WE'RE A LITTLE TOO DEPENDENT ON THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOR THEIR VENUES.

AND SO WHAT'S, JUST FROM YOUR INSIGHT, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY OR SPEAK ON THAT? THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION.

AND HONESTLY, YOU KNOW, OUTSIDE OF US NOT BEING ABLE TO PULL IN A TAYLOR AT THE MOMENT, YOU KNOW, TAYLOR PERFORMED HERE AT THE FORMULA ONE, UH, VET IN 2016.

THAT'S RIGHT.

AND SHE HAD OVER 80,000 FANS, HORSE THAT CAME FROM DALLAS, HOUSTON, AND SEVERAL ADJACENT STATES.

14-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, BUT SOMEBODY WHO'S BEEN IN THE INDUSTRY FOR A LONG TIME, AND THE BANDS THAT I WANT TO SEE, IT'S BEEN THRILLING TO SEE THEM NO LONGER JUST DOING THE, WE'RE GONNA HIT DALLAS, WE'RE GONNA SWOOP THROUGH INTO HOUSTON AND OUT, MAYBE STOP THROUGH SAN ANTONIO, BUT PROBABLY NOT.

COMMISSIONER POSI FOR THE BACKGROUND.

, YOU KNOW, MESSING.

UH, I THINK WE'VE, COMMISSIONER CHAPPEL, DID YOU WANT CONTINUE YOUR LINE OF QUESTIONING? OH, SURE.

MR. ADAMS. YEAH.

UH, THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION.

AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK BROADLY WE'VE GOT OUR BASES PRETTY WELL COVERED.

WHEN YOU LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, I COME FROM AN INDIE ROCK BACKGROUND, AND SO LOOKING AT THE ARTISTS THAT I WANT TO SEE, AND THAT'S FROM BABY BANDS UP TO, YOU KNOW, ESSENTIALLY ARENA SIZED.

AND THANKS TO THE MOODY NOW, AND THANKS TO ACL LIVE PLUS, YOU KNOW, OUR MOHAWKS AND OUR CHEER UPS, LIKE, WE'VE GOT OUR LISTENING ROOMS, WE'VE GOT OUR PLACES WHERE THAT FALL INTO OUR REBATE PROGRAM.

UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE'RE DOING PRETTY DARN GOOD.

UH, I'M DEFINITELY NOT A, A BOOKING EXPERT, SO I'M NOT GONNA BE THE, THE BEST PERSON TO ASK.

BUT AS A CONSUMER WITH A

[01:15:01]

AND THE FACT THAT AN EXAMPLES OF, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA GO ON SUNDAY TO GO SEE A SHOEGAZE BAND THAT I FELL IN LOVE WITH WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL THAT I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD GET TO SEE.

AND THIS PLANET ACL LIVE ON SUNDAY, WHICH THANK GOODNESS, MY WIFE IS A HUGE FAN.

SO MOTHER'S DAY IS TAKEN CARE OF.

BUT THE FACT THAT WE HAVE SPACES, WE HAVE THE INDUSTRY TO BRING THOSE FOLKS HERE, THE BOOKING AGENTS TO BRING THOSE FOLKS HERE, I THINK THAT'S SUCH A KEY PART AS WELL, TO SHOW THAT WE DO HAVE AN AUDIENCE.

THIS IS A VERY HUNGRY MUSIC TOWN THAT WANTS TO SEE THOSE SHOWS.

UM, I HAVE COUNTLESS STORIES ON THE SHOWS THAT I'VE BROUGHT MY KIDDO TO THAT WASN'T QUITE HER, HER FLAVOR.

SO LIKE, SUNDAY, WE'RE NOT BRINGING HER TO WATCH A EARLY NINETIES SHOEGAZE BAND.

BUT, UM, THAT'S REALLY NOT A QUESTION FOR ME.

'CAUSE IN TERMS OF AS A, FOR ME AS A CONSUMER, UM, I'M SEEING WHO I WANNA SEE OUTSIDE OF, AGAIN, I, WE DID GO TO HOUSTON FOR, FOR TAYLOR.

I THINK THAT'S THE ONLY TIME WE'VE HAD TO LEAVE THE CITY FOR A SHOW RECENTLY.

SO I KNOW IT'S NOT HORRIBLY CONSTRUCTIVE, BUT I'M COMING AT IT MORE AS A, A TICKET BUYER AND NOT AS, YOU KNOW, SOMEONE WHO'S LOOKING AT, MAN, WHAT ARE WE MISSING? 'CAUSE YOU KNOW, FOR ME TOO, IT'S BEEN EXCITING WATCHING OUR VENUES.

WE STILL HAVE OUR CORE, WE'VE GOT OUR RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT, BUT IT'S GREAT TO SEE OUR VENUES STARTING TO BRANCH OUT.

MM-HMM, , UM, THE FAR OUT LOUNGE WOULD BE A, A PRIME EXAMPLE TO TAKE, YOU KNOW, PSYCH FEST AND MOVE THAT TO SOUTH AUSTIN.

I LIVE IN SOUTHWEST, SO I LOVE HAVING A SPOT THAT'S CLOSER TO MY PLACE WHERE I CAN GO AND SEE BOTH UP AND COMERS, BUT ALSO FESTIVAL EVENTS.

AND SO IF THERE'S ANYTHING I'D SAY IS, I THINK THAT CONTINUAL EXPANSION OF WHERE OUR MUSIC IS, I THINK IS IMPORTANT.

UM, YOU KNOW, SO AS I LOOK TOWARDS, AS MY KID IS TWO YEARS AWAY FROM DRIVING AND WHERE DO I WANT HER GOING AT A YOUNGER AGE WHEN I KNOW SHE'S GONNA WANT TO GO TO SHOWS AND IT'S NICE TO HAVE SOME OPTIONS.

SO, TO ME, NO.

AND I THINK TO YOUR POINT, KEEPING EVERYONE CONNECTED IN YOUR ECOSYSTEM WITH COMMUNICATIONS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

THIS, AND THAT'S ONE THING I'LL GIVE OFTEN.

IT'S A VERY TIGHT KNIT COMMUNITY, YOU KNOW, SO THAT'S, THAT'S DEFINITELY A BONUS THAT SOMETHING WE'RE TRYING TO INSTILL IN ALL THESE MUSIC FRIENDLY CITIES THAT, THAT COLLABORATIVE SPIRIT IS, IS CATCHING ON.

BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN IN HERE FOR A LONG TIME.

NO, AND I GUESS FOR PUBLIC RECORD, 'CAUSE I'M TRAVELING TO UTAH, TO SALT LAKE CITY FOR A KIRBY BLOCK PARTY, WHICH IS A FESTIVAL.

SO I'LL BE SPENDING MY MONEY AT SALT LAKE OVER THE NEXT FIVE DAYS.

, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S ACCEPTABLE.

NO.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, UH, CHAPEL AND COMMISSIONER CHAPEL AND OTHER COMMISSIONERS FOR SHARING YOUR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS.

UH, MR. ADAMS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR, UH, PRESENTATION THIS AFTERNOON.

YOUR INSIGHT INTO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY ACROSS TEXAS AND WHAT YOU'RE DOING TO PROMOTE, UH, MUSICIANS AS WELL AS OTHER MUSICAL ARTISTS AND ACTS.

UH, WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR WORK.

GREAT, THANK YOU.

AND ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO HELP, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT.

BUT THANKS AGAIN FOR HAVING ME AND LIKEWISE ON THE SIDE.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

UP, UM, A VENUE OWNER, A MAN BY THE NAME OF WILL BRIDGES, UH, ONE OF THE CO-OWNERS OF ANTONE'S NIGHTCLUB, UH, THE HISTORIC VENUE HERE, UH, TO DISCUSS THE MUSIC ECONOMY FROM THE VANTAGE POINT OF AUSTIN MUSIC VENUES.

ALL RIGHT.

WITH THAT, WE HAD A MENTION OF FAR OUT LOUNGE.

WE'RE ACTUALLY BRINGING

[5. Presentation by Will Bridges, Co-Owner of Antone’s Nightclub regarding the Music Economy from the vantage point of Austin Music Venues. ]

THANK YOU SO MUCH, UH, MR. BRIDGES FOR COMING TODAY.

THANK YOU ALL FOR HAVING US.

UM, FOR THOSE OF YOU FAMILIAR WITH ANTONE'S HISTORY, I'M CHANNELING MY INNER CLIFFORD ANTONE TODAY BECAUSE, UH, HE SPOKE OFTEN ABOUT THE AUSTIN MUSIC ECONOMY, BUT I DON'T THINK HE EVER HAD A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION.

UM, SO I DON'T WANNA BREAK TRADITION.

UM, AND OF COURSE I CAN SPEAK ABOUT LIVE MUSIC IN AUSTIN FOR HOURS, BUT DISTILLING IT INTO 10 MINUTES IS TERRIFYING.

SO PLEASE CONSIDER THIS THE START OF A CONVERSATION.

I'M HONORED TO BE HERE AND FULLY COMMITTED TO THE LONG-TERM SUCCESS OF OUR MU OUR CITY'S MUSIC ECONOMY.

UH, I'LL BE GIVEN A TAKE THAT'S A LITTLE LESS DATA DRIVEN AND A LITTLE MORE BASED ON FEEL OF OPERATING IN THE MARKET.

SO I'M WILL BRIDGES, I'M CO-OWNER OF ANTON'S NIGHTCLUB, AS WELL AS SOME OTHER AUSTIN RESTAURANTS AND BARS, UH, LAMBERTS, DOWNTOWN BARBECUE, ARLAN STUDIOS, DEEP EDDIE CABARET AND POOL BURGER, CISCO'S RESTAURANT, BAKERY AND BAR, AND CISCO'S MUNI CAFE.

AND MOST RECENTLY, CO-FOUNDER OF AUSTIN BLUES FESTIVAL, WHICH WE JUST HOSTED WEEKEND BEFORE LAST, AND ITS SECOND YEAR AT MOODY AMPHITHEATER AT WATERLOO PARK.

I ALSO SERVE ON THE BOARDS OF VISIT AUSTIN, PRESERVATION AUSTIN, THE SIMS FOUNDATION, AND THE CLIFFORD ANTONE FOUNDATION.

UM, THANK YOU, THANK YOU DANIEL AND ED FOR INVITING ME TO SPEAK AND TO OMAR AND SHIP FOR THEIR PRESENTATIONS IN THEIR WORK IN THE AUSTIN MUSIC COMMUNITY.

SO MY GOAL TODAY IS TO GIVE YOU A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE AUSTIN MUSIC ECONOMY, FROM THE VANTAGE POINT OF AUSTIN MUSIC VENUES, WHAT OUR CHALLENGES ARE, WHAT'S GOING WELL, AND HOW TOURISM AND MUSIC INTERACT, UH, AT THE LITERAL PEDESTRIAN STREET LEVEL IN OUR CITY.

SO, WHILE MY COLLEAGUES HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THE MACRO INITIATIVES, I'M GONNA BE FOCUSED MORE ON THE GRANULAR AND WHAT COULD BE PERCEIVED AS THE MORE ELUSIVE FACTORS

[01:20:01]

THAT DRIVE A MARKET'S MUSIC ECONOMY.

UM, AS AN AUSTIN NATIVE AND LIVE MUSIC ADVOCATE AND INDEPENDENT PROMOTER, PART OF MY JOB IS TO BE AN OPTIMIST.

BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T HAVE A CAN-DO ATTITUDE, YOU REALLY PROBABLY SHOULDN'T BE ATTEMPTING TO DO BARS OR RESTAURANTS OR MUSIC VENUES AT ALL.

I ALWAYS SAY THAT MUSIC VENUES ARE THE WORST BUSINESS MODEL EVER INVENTED BECAUSE YOU HAVE THIS HUGE EMPTY SPACE YOU'RE PAYING RENT ON.

YOU HAVE FOLKS SHOWING UP EARLY IN THE DAY, UNLOADING TONS OF EQUIPMENT, PRODUCT, EVERYBODY'S ON THE CLOCK, SETTING UP SOUND CHECKING, CLEANING, TESTING, EVERYTHING.

IT'S NOT UNTIL HOURS LATER THAT YOU THEN HAND OVER THE CONTROLS TO SOME FOLKS YOU JUST SLEPT ON A BUS, HOPE THEY'RE IN A GOOD MOOD, AND THEN JAM AS MANY PEOPLE INTO THE SPACE AS POP POSSIBLE, SELL THEM A BUNCH OF ALCOHOL, HOPE NOTHING GOES WRONG.

AND THEN AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF, TWO HOURS, YOU KICK 'EM ALL OUT.

UH, AND THEN YOU JUST DO THAT OVER AND OVER AGAIN AS MANY TIMES AS POSSIBLE.

SO OBVIOUSLY YOU'VE GOTTA REALLY LOVE MUSIC TO BE IN THAT BUSINESS.

BUT FORTUNATELY, ESPECIALLY IN A CITY LIKE AUSTIN, THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO REALLY LOVE MUSIC TOO, AND PLACE A HIGH VALUE ON THEIR ABILITY TO HAVE ACCESS TO AUTHENTIC LIVE MUSIC EXPERIENCES.

AND TO MANY FOLKS, IT'S SUCH AN IMPORTANT EXPERIENCE THAT IT IMPACTS THE CITY THEY LIVE IN AND WHAT CITIES THEY VISIT WHEN THEY TRAVEL.

SO WHAT IS THE CURRENT LIVE MUSIC VENUE CULTURE LIKE IN AUSTIN? WELL, IN SOME WAYS IT HASN'T CHANGED MUCH OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS.

WE HAVE A LOT OF SMALL VENUES, UH, AND YOU WOULD MORE ACCURATELY DESCRIBE THEM AS CLUBS.

AUSTIN IS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN A CLUB TOWN.

AND AS I WILL EXPLAIN THAT IS MOSTLY A VERY GOOD THING.

A CLUB TYPICALLY DESCRIBES A SMALLER VENUE, LESS THAN 2000 CAPACITIES.

SO WE HAVE REALLY SMALL CLUBS.

UH, A CLUB IS OPEN ALMOST EVERY NIGHT OF THE WEEK.

IT HAS A CONSISTENT STAFF, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT HAS AN IDENTITY.

MOST CLUBS, BUT NOT ALL HAVE A FOCUS GENRE WISE.

SO MAYBE IT'S A ROCK CLUB OR A JAZZ CLUB OR A BLUES CLUB FOR COUNTRY MUSIC, WE DON'T CALL IT A COUNTRY CLUB 'CAUSE THAT WOULD BE CONFUSING.

SO WE CALL IT A HONKY TONK.

UM, AND THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN'T DEVIATE FROM THOSE GENRES, BUT IT GIVES YOU A SENSE OF PURPOSE BECAUSE A GOOD CLUB HAS INTEGRITY TO WHAT IT PUTS ON THE MARQUEE AND ON ITS STAGE.

SO IF STEVE AT CONTINENTAL CLUB HAS A BAND THAT REALLY STINKS UP THE JOINT, THAT'S ALMOST LIKE A NEGATIVE REFLECTION ON HIM AND HIS TASTE IN MUSIC.

SO THERE'S ACCOUNTABILITY THERE, WHICH IS ALSO A GOOD THING.

AND BY HAVING A FOCUS IN THIS TYPE OF MUSIC YOU PRESENT, YOU BUILD CONSISTENCY THAT FILLS OUT YOUR WEEK WITH REGULAR PATRONS, REGULAR BANDS, AND YOU CREATE A SETTING AND A VIBE THAT PEOPLE CAN COUNT ON AND COME TO WHEN THEY'RE NOT LOOKING FOR JUST, UH, MAYBE A HUGE SHOW OR NATIONAL TOURING ACT, BUT IT'S JUST A TUESDAY OR THURSDAY NIGHT AND THEY WANNA GO OUT AND SEE SOME LIVE MUSIC.

UM, AUSTIN'S HISTORICALLY BEEN A SATURATED MARKET, AND I LIKE TO CALL THIS A SPOILED MARKET.

AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS, AUSTIN'S A COOL TOWN.

WE'RE KNOWN AS A MUSIC TOWN, AND SO BANDS WANT TO PLAY HERE.

AND WHEN THEY DO, IT'S OFTEN LESS ABOUT SELLING AS MANY TICKETS AS POSSIBLE AND MORE ABOUT PLAYING THE RIGHT VENUE AND HOPEFULLY SELLING IT OUT.

IN FACT, MOST EMERGING ARTISTS WOULD RATHER PLAY A SMALLER VENUE AND SELL IT OUT FOR THE CACHET OF THE SELLOUT, UM, RATHER THAN PLAY A SLIGHTLY LARGER VENUE, UH, WITHOUT GETTING THAT SAME CACHET.

WE'RE SUCH A SPOILED MARKET THAT AS A PROMOTER, SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE YOU CAN'T EVEN GET ANYONE'S ATTENTION UNTIL IT'S SOLD OUT AND THEN EVERYBODY WANTS TO COME.

UM, AND THAT'S A GOOD THING BECAUSE, UH, IT MEANS WE STILL HAVE A SEMBLANCE OF A SCENE.

SCENE IS REALLY THE MOST COVETED THING OF ANY MUSIC MARKET, AND WE ARE INCREDIBLY LUCKY THAT WE STILL HAVE A SENSE OF SCENE.

A SCENE TO ME MEANS PEOPLE GOING TO SEE LIVE MUSIC REGULARLY AT SMALL CLUBS, WHICH, WHICH NATIONALLY COULD BE, UH, ANYTHING, LIKE I SAID, SMALLER THAN A THOUSAND, 2000 CAPACITY.

UH, AND WE HAVE, AGAIN, LOTS OF THOSE.

UH, SO ALL OF THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AS IT PERTAINS TO TOURISM, BECAUSE TYPICALLY WHEN TRAVELERS ARE IN ANOTHER CITY, AND IF IT'S AUSTIN, AND IF THEY'RE NOT HERE FOR ACL FEST OR SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST OR NOW A SHOW AT THE MOODY CENTER, UM, THEY, UH, OR A CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS IS ANOTHER OR OTHER LARGER VENUE.

UM, NOT TO SAY THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN.

SOME FOLKS, AS WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, UH, MIGHT PLAN A TRIP FOR A SPECIAL SHOW BECAUSE THEY LOVE THAT BAND, OR THEY MIGHT JUST GET LUCKY.

AND A BAND THEY LOVE HAPPENS TO BE PLAYING WHEN THEY'RE TOURING THROUGH TOWN.

BUT I'M SURE MANY OF YOU WILL AGREE WHAT IS BEEN MO MOST COMMON HISTORICALLY IS THAT SOMEBODY'S TRAVELING, THEY WANNA GO SEE THE LOCAL SITES, GO TO SOME GOOD RESTAURANTS, AND IF THEY'RE LOOKING FOR NIGHTLIFE, THEY WANNA DO SOMETHING AUTHENTIC THAT THE LOCALS WOULD DO, TAP INTO THE LOCAL FAIR OF NIGHTLIFE CULTURE.

AND THAT IS WHERE AUSTIN HAS ALWAYS EXCELLED AND WHY WE STILL CALL OURSELVES THE LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.

I'VE HEARD VARYING DEGREES OF SCOFFING AT THAT MONIKER OVER THE YEARS.

AND WHEN I WAS YOUNGER, I USED TO QUESTION IT MYSELF.

BUT THE OLDER I'VE GOTTEN AND THE MORE I'VE BEEN ABLE TO TRAVEL, THE MORE I BELIEVE IT'S TRUE.

SADLY, IT HAS MORE TO DO WITH THE SHRINKING OF MUSIC ECOSYSTEMS AND SCENES AROUND THE COUNTRY AND AROUND THE WORLD THAN ANYTHING ELSE.

BUT IT'S ALSO REASON TO BE PROUD BECAUSE IT MEANS THAT SOMEHOW WE ARE OUTPERFORMING THE NORM WHEN IT COMES TO SUSTAINING OUR LIVE MUSIC ECONOMY, PARTICULARLY AT THE CLUB LEVEL.

THE BIGGEST THING WE'VE GOT GOING FOR US IS PEOPLE SHOW UP.

A LOT OF FOLKS VISIT AUSTIN FOR THE CULTURE AND WEATHER AND

[01:25:01]

OUR RESTAURANT AND MUSIC SCENE, UH, SEEMS TO BE THE DEAL CLOSER BEING FROM HERE ORIGINALLY AND LIVING HERE ALL MY LIFE, I STILL THINK IT'S CRAZY SOMETIMES MEETING FOLKS WHO HAVE COME FROM EUROPE OR ASIA, UH, WHO SAY THEY'RE HERE.

THEY'VE COME HERE TO PAY HOMAGE TO OUR MUSIC SCENE WHERE WILLIE NELSON OR STEVE RAY VAUGHN GOT THEIR START, BUT WE HEAR IT ALL THE TIME.

AND AUSTIN GROWS MORE AND BECOMES A MORE SOPHISTICATED MARKET.

WE'RE WE ARE GOING TO KEEP HEARING IT MORE AND MORE.

THAT'S ONLY GOING TO INCREASE.

SO HOW DO WE CONTINUE TO BOLSTER AND SUPPORT THAT? AND IN DOING SO, INCREASE HEADS AND BEDS AND HOT FUNDS, WHICH THEN ALLOW US TO SUPPORT SU UH, TO MAKE THAT SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE AND KEEP GROWING THE WHOLE THING.

FOR A LONG TIME, THE AUSTIN MUSIC ECONOMY TENDED TO ALWAYS FOCUS ON WHAT WE LACKED.

WE WATCHED LA AND NASHVILLE AND NEW YORK AND ALL AND THOUGHT IF WE COULD ONLY BE MORE LIKE THOSE CITIES, NOW THOSE CITIES, THEIR MUSIC SCENES AT LEAST WISH THEY COULD BE MORE LIKE AUSTIN UNTIL MOODY CENTER AUSTIN DID NOT HAVE THE MODERN MUSIC INFRASTRUCTURE TO HOST THE BIGGEST NAMES IN MUSIC IN THE WORLD.

NOW WE'VE DUE AND WE'VE SEEN WHAT A GAME CHANGER THAT'S BEEN UNTIL MOODY AMPHITHEATER AUSTIN, NOT AUSTIN, DID NOT HAVE A SINGLE MUSIC VENUE BETWEEN 2,600 CAPACITY AND 9,600 CAPACITY.

SO THAT WAS A HUGE VOID THAT HAS BEEN FILLED.

UH, AND AUSTIN IS STILL GROWING INTO THAT ONE BECAUSE IT'S ALSO AN AMAZING CITY PARK.

UM, BUT THAT IS WHAT HAS ALLOWED AN INDEPENDENT MUSIC PROMOTER LIKE MYSELF TO CREATE A FESTIVAL STARTUP LIKE AUSTIN BLUES FESTIVAL INSIDE THE CITY.

WE STILL DO NOT HAVE AN INDOOR STANDING ROOM VENUE BETWEEN 400 CAPACITY AND 1800 CAPACITY, WHICH IS ANOTHER VOID WE HAVE TO FILL.

WE USED TO HAVE SEVERAL LAONA, ROSA LIBERTY LUNCH, AUSTIN MUSIC HALL ARMOR, OIL WORLD, WORLD HEADQUARTERS, AUSTIN OPERA HOUSE.

BUT INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON OUR WEAKNESSES, NOW IS THE TIME TO FOCUS ON OUR STRENGTHS, DOUBLING DOWN ON OUR SMALL CLUB CULTURE, REINFORCING AND STRENGTHENING THE SCENE, AND CONTINUING TO MAKE AUSTIN A CITY.

PEOPLE WANT TO COME FOR THE FULL PACKAGE IN WHICH MUSIC IS A KEY INGREDIENT, SHOULD BE THE GOAL.

SO HOW DO WE DO THAT? AFTER A DECADE OF DISCUSSION, WE'RE FINALLY STARTING TO SEE A LOT OF SUPPORTIVE INITIATIVES LAUNCH AND TAKE SHAPE OVER THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS THAT ARE DIRECTLY SUPPORTING SMALL CLUBS AND MUSICIANS, THE CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND, AUSTIN CULTURAL TRUST, CREATION OF MUSIC VENUE ALLIANCE, AUSTIN, CULTURAL FUNDING PROGRAMS LIKE THRIVE ELEVATE AND NEXUS GRANTS.

AND ON A STATE LEVEL, THE TEXAS MUSIC INCUBATOR REBATE PROGRAM.

AND BY THE WAY, SUPPORTING MUSICIANS IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT TO EVERYTHING I'M TALKING ABOUT TODAY, AND IT'S A WHOLE OTHER BALL OF WAX.

BUT I'M A FIRM, FIRM BELIEVER THAT A HEALTHY VENUE ECOSYSTEM IS ALWAYS A PREREQUISITE FOR THE SUCCESS OF LOCAL MUSICIANS.

OUR VENUES ARE LIKE THE CORAL REEF.

IF THEY'RE HEALTHY, THE FISH WILL BE HEALTHY.

IF YOU LOSE THE REEF, THE FISH WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES AND THEY'LL, THEY'LL EITHER ADHERE TO THE HEALTH OF THEIR ENVIRONMENT OR HAVE TO MOVE TO A HEALTHIER ONE.

MY OTHER FAVORITE ANALOGY IS THAT MUSIC VENUES ARE THE ECONOMIC ENGINES OF THE LIVE MUSIC ECONOMY.

SO THEY PUT EVERYONE TO WORK AND ACT AS THE POINT OF SALE FOR MUSIC.

AND YOU NEED THAT INFRASTRUCTURE RUNNING IN TIP TOP SHAPE BECAUSE IDEALLY, UM, THE ROI AND THAT IS SUPER HIGH, WHEN VENUES ARE INCENTIVIZED TO FEATURE LOCAL MUSICIANS, THAT MONEY THEN STAYS IN THE ECONOMY AND TRICKLES DOWN TO HOUSING AND FOOD AND EVERYTHING ELSE.

AND THE SAME OF COURSE GOES FOR MUSIC INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS.

WE WANT THE VENUES TO BE STRONG GENERATORS OF REVENUE THAT WILL STAY IN THE CO ECONOMY TO SUPPORT OTHER SECTORS.

THE MAIN CHALLENGES WE FACE ARE THE MOST OBVIOUS AFFORDABILITY, AFFORDABILITY AS IT PERTAINS TO MUSIC INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS BEING ABLE TO LIVE IN AUSTIN AND DEVELOP LONG TERM CAREERS, LOCAL MUSICIANS BEING ABLE TO DO THE SAME FOR MUSIC VENUES.

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO REAL ESTATE PRICES.

RENT PRICES ARE TOUGH, BUT YOU CAN SOMETIMES FIND A LANDLORD WHO SEES THE GREATER VALUE IN, IN GOODWILL IN HELPING MAKE A MUSIC VENUE SUSTAINABLE.

UH, TRY TELLING THAT TO THE TRAVIS COUNTY APPRAISAL DISTRICT.

OUR PROPERTY TAX AT ANTONES, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS INCREASED BY ALMOST 700% SINCE WE MOVED INTO OUR CURRENT BUILDING IN 2015.

SO THE MAIN TAKEAWAY IS HOW DO WE SUPPORT THE AUSTIN MUSIC ECONOMY IN A WAY THAT WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE US A DESTINATION FOR TOURISM? WHEN YOU GET OFF YOUR FLIGHT AT THE AUSTIN AIRPORT, YOU MIGHT BE LUCKY ENOUGH TO SEE ONE OF THE OLD LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD PLAQUES ON THE WALL, UH, BUT THEN YOU'RE KIND OF ON YOUR OWN.

UM, THERE'S OF COURSE THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE AND WEBSITES LIKE DO 5 1 2, AND SOME OF THE INITIATIVES THAT VISIT AUSTIN ARE CREATING TO HELP EDUCATE NEWCOMERS ON WHAT THEY SHOULD DO REGARDING LIVE MUSIC.

BUT EVEN THAT CAN BE INTIMIDATING TO SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW THE MARKET.

SO I THINK WE CAN MAKE IT EVEN EASIER FOR FOLKS TO IMMERSE THEMSELVES INTO AN AUTHENTIC AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC EXPERIENCE.

UM, CONTINUE SUPPORTING LIVE MUSIC INITIATIVES, SPECIFICALLY THOSE AIMED TOWARDS SMALLER CLUBS WITH NIGHTLY PROGRAMMING AND WHO BOOK LOCAL MUSICIANS.

THE BIGGER VENUES DO ELEVATE THE ECOSYSTEM, BUT THEY'RE ALSO, UM, A BIT OF A COMMODITY IN TERMS OF THE TOURS THAT THEY'RE BOOKING.

UM, YOU KNOW, THAT BUSINESS IS GONNA GO WHEREVER THE NEW SHINY INFRASTRUCTURE IS, UH, AND IT CAN BE FLEETING AT TIMES, AND IT DOES NOT NECESSARILY HAVE A TRICKLE DOWN EFFECT TO THE MORE GRANULAR ECONOMY UNDERNEATH.

IT'S

[01:30:01]

THE, IT'S THAT ECONOMY THAT IS THE BACKBONE AND IS RARE AND UNIQUE AND IRREPLACEABLE.

IT'S NOT A CON A COMMODITY AND IT CAN'T BE BOUGHT.

IT TAKES MANY DECADES TO DEVELOP.

AND THERE ARE MANY OTHER MARKETS THAT WISH THEY HAD THE MAGIC OF THE AUSTIN MUSIC SCENE CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AN OFFICIAL LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.

TOURISM MAP, LIKE THE ONE OMAR DESCRIBED THAT QUICKLY GIVES VISITORS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE LAY OF THE LAND.

DOWNTOWN EAST AUSTIN, SOUTH CONGRESS, RED RIVER DISTRICT, THAT ALSO HIGHLIGHTS THE ACCREDITED AUTHENTIC GOOD ACTOR CLUBS AND VENUES THAT WE KNOW ARE REPRESENTING OUR CITY'S MUSIC, ECON ECONOMY AT ITS HIGHEST LEVEL.

THAT WOULD ALSO BE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE INCENTIVES FOR PARTICULAR, PARTICULAR VENUES SO THAT WHEN AUSTIN WINS, THEY WIN AND VICE VERSA.

WHEN YOU GO TO A HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT TOWN LIKE BOSTON, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU INEVITABLY WILL PICK UP A MAP SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY THAT SHOWS YOU ALL THE RELEVANT SITES, HOW TO GET TO THEM WHEN THEY'RE OPEN, WHAT THEY FEATURE, ET CETERA.

AND AS YOU TOUR THE CITY, YOU'LL SEE WAY FINDING SIGNAGE THAT HAS A CONSISTENT MOTIF AND LETS YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT LOST, YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT PATH, AND BASICALLY JUST GIVES YOU CONFIDENCE AND FREEDOM TO EXPLORE AND EXPERIENCE THE CITY IN A WAY YOU MIGHT NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE DOING.

SO OTHERWISE.

AND FOCUS ON AUTHENTICITY, FOCUS ON LOCAL WHEN YOU REALLY BOIL IT DOWN AND ASK, WHAT IS OUR GOAL, UM, OF OUR CITY AS A MUSIC ECONOMY? THE ANSWER I'VE COME UP WITH AFTER YEARS OF WORKING GROUPS AND SYMPOSIUMS IS WE WANT TO BE A CITY WHERE MUSICIANS FEEL THEY CAN BE SUCCESSFUL.

AND THAT IS A SUPER SIMPLE STATEMENT, BUT ENCOMPASSED, BUT IT ENCOMPASSES AN ENTIRE CONTINUUM OF MUSICIANS RANGING FROM THE GIGGING MUSICIAN WHO WANTS TO BE A FULL TIME, UH, YOU KNOW, JUST MUSICIAN, PLAY OUT FIVE, SIX TIMES PER WEEK, LIVE IN THE CITY, PERHAPS OWN A HOME, START A FAMILY, ALL THE WAY TO THE TYPE OF MUSICIAN WHO WANTS TO CALL AUSTIN HOME.

BUT ONCE TO RISE TO THE LEVEL OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION, TOUR THE WORLD, BE THE NEXT HUGE NAME OUT OF AUSTIN.

AUSTIN HAS LONG BEEN A BEEN A CITY THAT IS ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC, BUT IN ORDER TO SUCCESSFULLY INITIATE THE NEXT CHAPTER OF OUR MUSICAL HISTORY, I BELIEVE THAT AUSTIN NEEDS TO BECOME A CITY THAT IS ALL ABOUT THE SONG.

THIS IS A PRETTY OPEN-ENDED GOAL, BUT WE'RE ALREADY SEEING THIS SHIFT TAKE PLACE WITH BMI, TAKING A PERMANENT OFFICE HERE.

AND MORE ARTISTS REPRESENT REPRESENTATION COMPANIES STARTING TO CREATE A PRESENCE HERE.

IN OTHER WORDS, WE NEED TO SUPPORT THE CREATIVE PROCESS AT ITS MOST GRANULAR LEVEL SO THAT WE'RE INVESTING IN THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF MUSIC AND NOT JUST THE PERFORMANCE AND ENTERTAINMENT SIDE OF THE INDUSTRY.

AND WITH THAT, I WANNA MAKE SURE I LEAVE SOME TIME FOR QUESTIONS.

THANK YOU, MR. BRIDGES, YOU'RE PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST ELOQUENT SPEAKERS WE'VE HAD, UH, SPEAK TO THEIR OWN NOTES.

SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON THE MUSIC INDUSTRY HERE IN AUSTIN AND YOUR ROLE IN IT.

UH, WITH THAT, I WOULD LIKE TO NOTE, UH, GENERALLY THAT, UH, COMMISSIONER MCGEE HAS JOINED US, UM, DURING OUR LAST SPEAKER AND ALSO WE'VE HAD COMMISSIONER CHAPEL LEAVE AND RETURN TO THE DAIS.

SO THANK YOU FOR THE RECORD.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? COMMISSIONER REEDY.

HEY, MR. BRIDGES.

GOOD TO SEE YOU.

NICE TO SEE YOU.

UM, I WANNA ASK YOU ABOUT THE THREE LOCAL PROGRAMS YOU MENTIONED.

UM, YOU AND I HAVE BOTH BEEN IN THE TRENCHES TO GET THOSE GOING, AND I'M JUST CURIOUS HOW THEY'RE WORKING FOR YOU.

UM, THAT WOULD BE CSAP, THE CULTURAL TRUST AND THE LIVE MUSIC FUND.

UM, I AM HONORED TO HAVE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET INVOLVED WITH ANTONE'S AND THOSE WHO KNOW ME AND MY PARTNERS.

IT WAS A CALLING OF SORTS AND, UH, INTIMIDATING ONE TO BE HANDED THAT BATON.

UH, BUT IT'S ALSO, UM, A, UH, HUGE PRIVILEGE THAT SAID, WE'RE THE LUCKY ONES BECAUSE WE'RE A FAMILIAR NAME WITH A LOT OF HISTORY HERE.

UM, AND, UH, IT STILL TAKES A LOT OF WORK AND TIME TO, UH, YOU KNOW, WORK ON ALL THOSE APPLICATIONS AND MAKE A COMPELLING CASE, UH, EVEN IN A SCENARIO WHERE WE KNOW WE'RE DOING THE RIGHT THINGS, WE KNOW WE'RE DOING THE WORK.

UM, THOSE, SOME OF THOSE PROGRAMS JUST SEEM CUSTOM TAILORED FOR US.

WE, IT, IT, IT IT'S LIKE, IT'S SO SERENDIPITOUS, YOU KNOW, THE THE RUNWAY IS KIND OF BEING BUILT, UH, IN FRONT OF US RIGHT NOW BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE'D BE WITHOUT 'EM, YOU KNOW, THANK GOODNESS.

I MEAN, UM, IT HAS BEEN, IT CHALLENGE, UM, IT WAS A CHALLENGE BEFORE THE PANDEMIC AND THEN SURVIVING THE PANDEMIC WAS A CHALLENGE.

AND NOW, UM, I WOULD SUMMARIZE IN JUST A KIND OF RISING COST ENVIRONMENT.

UM, I DON'T KNOW A SINGLE MUSIC VENUE OWNER OR OPERATOR WHO,

[01:35:01]

UM, THIS IS NOT THE ICING ON THE CAKE.

THIS IS THE, THE FLOUR, YOU KNOW, THIS IS THE, THESE ARE THE CORE INGREDIENTS THAT ARE ALLOWING US TO BASICALLY CONTINUE TO GROW.

UM, YOU KNOW, WE TALK A LOT ABOUT MUSICIANS AND AGAIN, THAT IS THE END GOAL, SUPPORTING THE MUSICIAN AND, AND THE ART.

ANOTHER THING WE TALKED NOT AS MUCH ABOUT IN AUSTIN OR MUSIC INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS.

ME GROWING UP IN AUSTIN, IT WAS KIND OF, YOU KNOW, WORKING AT A MUSIC VENUE WAS KIND OF LIKE A THING YOU DID UNTIL YOU FIGURED OUT WHAT YOU WERE REALLY GONNA DO.

BUT THAT CAN'T BE THE MINDSET IF WE'RE GONNA BECOME A SOPHISTICATED MUSIC MARKET OR CONTINUE TO DEVELOP BECAUSE, UH, WHAT DO YOU, WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU'VE GOTTA, AND SO AS AN OPERATOR, WHEN YOU HAVE FOLKS WORKING FOR YOU AND PEOPLE ARE BUYING HOUSES AND HAVING FAMILIES, AND, AND THEY, THEY'RE NOT GONNA, SOMEBODY WORKS FOR YOU FOR 10 YEARS.

I MEAN, THEY'RE EVERYONE, YOU KNOW, COST OF LIVING'S GOING UP AND EVERYONE DESERVES RAISES AND TO BE REWARDED.

AND, UM, IT JUST FEELS VERY OFTEN LIKE WE'RE RUNNING IN QUICKSAND BECAUSE THE PROGRESS WE MAKE GETS QUICKLY.

YOU SERVED BY USUALLY PROPERTY TAX AND RAISING COSTS, UH, RISING COSTS.

SO THE GRANTS ARE WHAT ALLOW US TO GROW.

OTHERWISE, WE WOULD JUST, I THINK, FEEL STUCK.

AND I THINK YOU WOULD SEE, UNFORTUNATELY JUST, UM, HIGHER TURNOVER AND, AND YOU WOULD, YOU WOULD BE KIND OF, UH, BACK TO THE REVOLVING DOOR OF THOSE, UH, INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL ROLES.

THAT IS ONE AREA WHERE I FEEL LIKE WE HAVE SEEN GROWTH, UH, OVER THE LAST THREE, FOUR YEARS.

AND THAT'S VERY PROMISING.

BUT, UM, IT'S ALWAYS KIND OF SCARY BECAUSE YOU'RE JUST WAITING TO SEE, OKAY, I HOPE THAT HAPPENS AGAIN NEXT YEAR.

WELL, WHICH, UH, WHICH PROGRAMS HAVE YOU, UM, RECEIVED SUPPORT FROM? WELL, UH, CREATIVE SPACE, CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, UM, WE, UM, APPLIED IN THE KIND OF INAUGURAL YEAR PRE PANDEMIC.

IT WAS RETOOLED DURING THE PANDEMIC.

AND THEN, UM, AND THEN WE, UH, FINALLY GOT THE MAX AMOUNT ACTUALLY LAST YEAR.

UM, THE CLIFFORD ANTONE FOUNDATION, WHICH IS OUR SISTER NONPROFIT, UH, WAS ABLE TO, UH, WE WERE GIVEN AN AWARD FROM THE ELEVATE FUND LAST YEAR.

OH, NICE.

THAT ACTUALLY WENT TOWARDS AUSTIN BLUES FESTIVAL.

UM, AND THOSE ARE THE ONLY OF THOSE.

AND THEN WE ALSO, UH, WERE A RECIPIENT FROM THE TEXAS MUSIC INCUBATOR REBO REWRITE PROGRAM, WHICH IS STATE LEVEL.

AND FINALLY, ARE YOU, UM, ARE YOU AWARE OF THE ICONIC VENUE FUND? YES.

UM, AND ALSO, WELL, AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT IT SITS, UH, KIND OF UNDERNEATH THE UMBRELLA OF THE AUSTIN CULTURAL TRUST.

THAT'S RIGHT.

OPERATORS THAT WANT TO COME IN AND RUN VENUES.

YES.

SO I'M VERY WELL OF THAT.

AND, UM, AND WE HAVE EDUCATED OURSELVES IN THAT AND ARE PARTICIPATING IN SOME OF THOSE PROCESSES.

BUT, UM, THAT IS A VERY NUANCED, I I THINK THAT IS A VERY, UH, IMPORTANT PROGRAM.

AND IN A NUTSHELL, WHAT IT MEANS TO A MUSIC VENUE, UM, IS, LET'S SAY YOU HAVE A BUILDING THAT IS A KNOWN MUSIC VENUE LIKE ANTONE'S, AND YOU HAVE A LEASE THAT GOES TO A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME.

UM, I THINK THE PROGRAM WAS, UM, BASED ON SOME PROGRAMS IN OTHER MARKETS WHERE THE IDEA WAS YOU COULD BUY THAT PROPERTY AND PUT IT IN A TRUST SO THAT EVEN IF THOSE OPERATORS WANTED TO SELL IT SOME DAY, OR EVEN IF, UM, THEY RAN OUT OF BUSINESS OR WHATEVER, THAT IT'S, IT'S ALMOST LESS ABOUT THE BRAND OF THE, UH, THAT BUILDING AND MORE ABOUT THE INFRASTRUCTURE.

I CALL 'EM RECTANGLES.

YOU KNOW, RECTANGLES ARE AN ENDANGERED SPECIES IN DOWNTOWN AND KIND OF ROS AND THE BIG OPEN RECTANGLES.

'CAUSE ONCE SOMEBODY PUTS OFFICE OR RESIDENTIAL OR RESTAURANT IN IT, IT'S KIND OF COST PROHIBITIVE TO GO IN AND RIP THAT OUT.

NOW IT'S BEING PRICED AND VALUED AT A DIFFERENT USE FOR A DIFFERENT USE CASE.

SO WHAT IT'S DOING IS, UH, PRESERVING THAT BASE INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, SO THAT IF THERE WAS A CHANGE IN HANDS OF OPERATOR BEFORE THE MARKET FORCES AND EXTERNAL PEOPLE COULD JUST COME IN AND BID ON IT, TURN TO SOMETHING ELSE, IT KIND OF GIVES THE CITY, UH, BASED PROGRAM AN OPPORTUNITY TO TIME OUT.

WE STILL HAVE CONTROL.

UM, BECAUSE WHAT IT'S SHIFTED TO IN AUSTIN IS MORE OF THOSE ARE LOOKING LIKE LONG-TERM LEASE SCENARIOS BECAUSE REAL ESTATE IS JUST SO EXPENSIVE.

BUT IT KIND OF, UH, CREATES A BACKUP KIND OF A SAFETY NET WHERE THE LEASE ISN'T IN DEFAULT AND IT GIVES SOMEBODY ELSE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SAY, HEY, HERE'S A RECTANGLE.

HERE'S INFRASTRUCTURE.

WE'VE GOT, UH, INTERESTED, HUNGRY ENTREPRENEURIAL

[01:40:01]

SO LET'S PAIR THEM, SORRY, UM, PAIR THEM IN THE MARKET, UH, BEF AND, AND, UH, RETAIN THAT, THAT MUSIC VENUE INFRASTRUCTURE.

WELL, I'M GLAD THIS STUFF IS POSITIVE FOR Y'ALL.

IT WAS A GREAT PRESENTATION.

UM, THANKS FOR ALL THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING AS WELL.

AND I THINK WE ALL KIND OF TRY, HOW DO WE CATER TO THE MUSICIANS AND KEEP THIS GOING? UM, I THINK, RIGHT, WE ALL TALK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF MUSIC IN AUSTIN AND WILLIE NELSON AND, AND SOME OF THE OTHERS.

AND I THINK THE PLAYLISTS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THEN.

IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND SHARING, LIKE, WHO ARE SOME BANDS THAT YOU ENJOY RIGHT NOW OR SOME ARTISTS YOU THINK WE SHOULD START PAYING ATTENTION TO? UH, GONNA GET ME IN TROUBLE.

UM, THERE ARE SO MANY, UM, OR A VENUE THAT'S NOT ANTOINE THAT YOU WOULD RECOMMEND A SHOW GO TO, TO VISIT, SEE A SHOW, PERHAPS ONE BETWEEN 400 AND 1800 IN CAPACITY .

UM, WELL, UM, I KIND OF, THE 400 TO 1800 GAP IS LIMITED TO INDOOR STANDING ROOMS. SO WE DO HAVE GR LOTS OF GREAT VENUES, UM, MOHAWK AND SCOOT IN AND EMPIRE GARAGE, UM, KIND OF SOME GO-TOS THERE.

UH, IT IS GETTING A LITTLE HARDER TO OPERATE OUTDOOR VENUES THESE DAYS BECAUSE, UH, THE WEATHER IN AUSTIN IS JUST A LITTLE MORE VOLATILE.

UM, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, RUNNING A BLUES CLUB, WHAT WE GET REAL EXCITED ABOUT, UM, BECAUSE THAT'S KIND OF OUR, OUR MISSION, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE VERY DIVERSE, UH, ECLECTIC, UH, OFFERINGS OF MUSIC, BUT BLUES IS KIND OF CORE TO OUR, OUR MISSION OBVIOUSLY, AND IT WAS TO, TO CLIFFORD.

AND, UM, WE DO, WE, WE LOVE SEEING THIS YOUNG AUDIENCE SHOWING UP TO SEE WHAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED SOME, UM, OLDER GENRES.

SO ZYDECO, GOSPEL, R AND B, UM, BLUES, BLUES ROCK, AND YOU'RE SEEING A LOT OF YOUNGER ARTISTS KIND OF, UH, CARRYING ON THOSE TRADITIONS AND, UH, PLAYING THAT TYPE OF MUSIC.

UM, UH, LINDSAY BEAVER, UM, IS ONE OF OUR KIND OF ANTONE'S FAMILY ARTISTS THAT COMES TO MIND THAT IS AMAZING.

AND, UM, YOU KNOW, SHE COULD PLAY ANY TYPE OF MUSIC SHE WANTS.

SHE PLAYS EVERY INSTRUMENT, HAS AN AMAZING VOICE, AMAZING SONGWRITER, BUT SHE CHOSE THE BLUES.

AND SHE'S, UH, REALLY, UM, PAYING, PAYING HOMAGE TO THE BLUES IN KIND OF THE MOST, UH, HONORABLE OF WAYS.

AND, UH, GARNERING AN AUDIENCE THAT IS RECEPTIVE TO THAT MUSIC.

UH, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE ARE HEARING THOSE SOUNDS AND, UH, THOSE GENRES FOR THE FIRST TIME.

AND NOT EVEN NECESSARILY KNOWING THAT IT'S OLD.

I I GUESS YOU COULD SAY, UH, THE BLUES HAS, YOU KNOW, NOSTALGIA IS KIND OF ON TREND IN SOME WAYS, AND SO THE BLUES IS BENEFITING FROM THAT.

AND SO SEEING OUR COLLEAGUES AT CONTINENTAL CLUB AND SEA BOYS WITH THESE YOUNG AUDIENCES, UM, IN FRONT OF THOSE TYPES OF GENRES IS REALLY REFRESHING.

AND WE'RE, WE'RE SEEING IT KIND OF IN THE DAY-TO-DAY IN AUSTIN.

WE'RE ALSO SEEING IT DURING SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, UM, WHICH IS COOL.

A LOT OF, UH, A LOT OF THE, THE BUZZY, UM, SHOWS AND, AND BANDS THIS YEAR WERE NOT JUST POP OR, UH, PUNK OR ELECTRIC, MORE WHAT MIGHT BE CONSIDERED MORE MODERN GENRES.

IT WAS SOME VERY SOULFUL AND, UH, ROOT GENRES BEING FEATURED.

I GUESS WE'LL STICK WITH STEVIE RAY VAUGHN AND WILLIE NELSON FOR NOW.

ALL RIGHT.

THANKS WILL .

COMMISSIONER CHAP, COMMISSIONER MCGEE.

AYE, THANK YOU.

I ALSO ENJOYED YOUR PRESENTATION 'CAUSE I THINK YOU'RE THE FIRST PERSON I'VE HEARD PRESENT THAT TALKED ABOUT THE WHOLE ECOSYSTEM AND MENTIONED MORE THAN ONCE MUSIC PROFESSIONALS.

SO NOT JUST FOCUSED ON THE VENUES, WHICH IS REALLY IMPORTANT, OR THE ARTISTS, WHICH IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT, BUT ALL OF THOSE PROFESSIONALS THAT HELP SUPPORT THE ACT SO THAT IT CAN TAKE PLACE.

UM, AND I WONDER IF YOU COULD SPEAK TO, I MEAN, YOU MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO KEEP EVERYBODY HEALTHY AND, UH, TO KEEP THAT ECOSYSTEM STABLE AND ALLOW GROWTH.

AND YOU MENTIONED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE PROBLEMS OF AFFORDABILITY IN AUSTIN AND HOW THAT CAN CREATE A REVOLVING DOOR WITH MUSIC PROFESSIONALS.

[01:45:01]

AND IN MY MIND, MUSIC PROFESSIONALS COVERS, YOU KNOW, YOUR STAGE HANDS LOADING IN ALL THE WAY TO THE PEOPLE OPERATING, UM, THE TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT FOR WHETHER IT BE AUDIO LIGHTS, WHATEVER, UM, DURING THE SHOW.

CAN YOU TALK A BIT ABOUT, UM, WHAT YOU HAVE, UM, BEEN ABLE TO DO TO, UM, ADDRESS, UM, THAT REVOLVE THAT REVOLVING DOOR OF MU MUSIC PROFESSIONALS OR WHAT YOU'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO TO SUPPORT MUSIC PROFESSIONALS AND KEEP THEM HERE IN AUSTIN AND KEEP THEM IN THE INDUSTRY, UM, YOU KNOW, UM, TO WHERE, YOU KNOW, THEY CAN AFFORD TO BE HERE? AND CAN YOU ALSO SPEAK TO, UM, WHAT YOU THINK OTHERS COULD BE DOING AND WHO THOSE FOLKS MIGHT BE, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT'S A VENUE OR MANAGERS OR WHATEVER TO, UH, ASSIST WITH THAT.

UM, FOR EXAMPLE, I KNOW FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, UM, OBVIOUSLY THE CITY HAS SAID THAT $20 AN HOUR IS A LIVING WAGE.

AND I ALWAYS THINK OF THAT AS, YEAH, $20 AN HOUR FOR FULL-TIME WAGE, BUT A LOT OF MUSIC PROFESSIONALS WORK VERY SHORT, UM, AD HOC HOURS AND DON'T EVEN GET CLOSE TO THAT FOR HOURLY.

AND THEN THERE'S NO HEALTH BENEFITS OR PLANS FOR RETIREMENT, AND THOSE ALL START TO IMPACT AS YOU GET OLDER OR YOU WANNA START A FAMILY OR YOU, YOU KNOW, OR JUST YOUR RENT KEEPS GOING UP.

SO IF YOU COULD SPEAK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, WHAT YOU'VE DONE, UM, TO HELP ADDRESS THAT AND WHAT YOU THINK OTHERS COULD DO, OR HOW WE COULD, UM, SOMEHOW HELP WITH THAT ISSUE.

WELL, I CAN ONLY SPEAK FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE, OF COURSE.

AND, UM, THE, THE MAIN ANSWER IS IT'S NOT EASY.

AND I, AGAIN, I COME FROM IT FROM THE VANTAGE POINT OF FEELING LIKE WE ALREADY HAVE A LEG UP BECAUSE IT'S A NAME THAT PEOPLE RECOGNIZE.

SO EVEN WHEN WE DON'T HAVE A BIG NAME ON THE STAGE OR, OR A TOURING SHOW, UH, FOLKS COME TO ANTONE'S JUST TO, BECAUSE WE'RE DOWNTOWN, THEY'VE, THEY'VE HEARD THE NAME, THEY COME JUST TO SEE WHATEVER BAND'S PLAYING.

UM, SO, YOU KNOW, I WISH THERE WAS SOME, UH, WIGGLE ROOM OR SOME, UH, MAGIC SOLUTION IN THE ECONOMICS OF IT, BUT IT'S PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD.

I MEAN, FOLKS, COST OF LIVING IS GOING UP AND EVERY YEAR.

AND SO, AND YOU KNOW, MY, I'M, I HAVE AN AMAZING TEAM.

I THINK THAT AT ANTON'S WE HAVE THE BEST TEAM IN THE COUNTRY OF ANY CLUB OUR SIZE, AND WE GET TOLD THAT OFTEN BY FOLKS THAT ARE TOURING EVERY MARKET AND KNOW ALL THOSE VENUES OF THAT SAME SIZE.

AND, UM, AND YOU KNOW, I, I FEEL FOR THEM, THEY, UM, THEY'LL COME TO ME AND WE'LL JUST KIND OF WALK THROUGH THEIR FINANCES, YOU KNOW, AND THIS IS WHERE I WAS LAST YEAR.

OKAY, I MOVED, HAD TO MOVE APARTMENTS.

THIS IS KINDA WHERE I'M AT NOW.

AND, UM, SO I DON'T GET THE LUXURY OF MAYBE SAYING, WELL, HERE'S OUR BUDGET AND THIS IS WHAT WE CAN AFFORD.

AND I, I SAY, YOU, I NEED YOU AND YOU'RE AWESOME, AND I'M NOT GONNA RISK LOSING YOU.

AND YOU DE YOU DESERVE TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A HEALTHY LIFE HERE.

AND SO THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED.

AND NOW IT'S MY JOB AS THE OPERATOR TO GO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THAT WORK.

UM, THAT ONE OF THE TRICKY THINGS ABOUT MUSIC IS THAT WE CAN'T, UM, YOU KNOW, THE TWO THINGS THAT WE'RE SELLING ARE THE PRICE OF THE MUSIC AND, UH, REFRESHMENTS AND THE PRICE OF THE MUSIC IS INFLUENCED BY THE ARTISTS, AND THEY WANNA KEEP THOSE PRICES ACCESSIBLE.

THEY DON'T WANNA PRICE OUT THEIR FANS, WHICH WE DON'T WANNA DO THAT EITHER.

SO IT KIND OF PUTS SOME LIMIT ON WHAT WE CAN CHARGE THERE, WHAT WE, WHAT, UH, HOW MUCH WE CAN INCREASE THOSE PRICES YEAR AFTER YEAR, FOR EXAMPLE.

AND THEN SAME WITH THE REFRESHMENTS, BECAUSE FOLKS ARE COMING THERE FOR A BAN.

THEY'RE NOT COMING THERE FOR YOUR COCKTAIL BAR OR YOUR RESTAURANT.

IT'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT WITH RESTAURANTS 'CAUSE YOU'RE MAKING THAT CHOICE.

AND SO IF YOU DON'T, IF YOU THINK IT'S PRICED TOO HIGH, YOU DON'T HAVE TO COME BACK.

BUT, UH, FOR US, THE CON THE CONCESSIONS ARE AN AMENITY TO THE PERFORMANCE.

AND SO WE'RE, THERE'S A LITTLE MORE PRESSURE ON US TO, UH, KEEP THAT ACCESS ACCESSIBLE AS WELL.

AND SO THAT'S THE, THAT'S WHERE WE FEEL KIND OF SQUEEZED SOMETIMES THAT IT, WE, THE EASY ANSWER, AND I THINK WHAT MOST SECTORS WOULD SAY IS, OUR LABOR'S COSTING US X AND OUR PRODUCT IS COSTING US Y AND AS A FACTOR OF THAT, WE'VE GOTTA CHARGE THIS AMOUNT.

AND, UH, THERE'S A EMOTIONAL ELEMENT WITH MUSIC WHERE WE FEEL LIKE IT, PEOPLE DESERVE ACCESS TO IT, AND WE CAN'T PRICE PEOPLE OUT.

THAT JUST MAKES THAT A LITTLE TRICKIER.

SO THERE ISN'T A, A, GOING BACK TO JOHN'S, UH, QUESTION AND POINT, UM, WHAT HAS ALLOWED US TO GROW SOME OF THE CAREERS OF BOTH OUR, UH,

[01:50:01]

INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS AND THE ARTISTS KIND OF IN OUR INNER CIRCLE HAS BEEN, UH, SOME OF THESE SUPPORT INITIATIVES DIRECTLY THROUGH US AS WELL AS DIRECTLY TO THEM.

SO, HAM, SIMS FOUNDATION, UM, AUSTIN, TEXAS, MUSICIANS AND OTHER RESOURCES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO THEM.

IT, BUT IT, IT TAKES THAT COLLECTIVE NETWORK REALLY JUST TO KINDA GET, GET BY AND, UH, YOU KNOW, LIKE WE WERE, LIKE I SAID EARLIER, THEN HOPE THAT THOSE RESOURCES STAY ONLINE.

THANK YOU MR. RICHES.

THANK YOU COMMISSIONER MCKEE.

WE HAVE ONE MORE COMMENT AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO MOVE ON, COMMISSIONER, UH, BUT RATHER VICE CHAIR BAILEY.

UM, THANK YOU WILL FOR THE PRESENTATION.

IT WAS REALLY PROVOCATIVE AND INFORMATIVE AND YOU SHOW A LOT OF LOVE FOR THIS TOWN.

AND, UH, I THINK WE'RE LUCKY TO HAVE OPERATORS LIKE YOU IN THE CITY LEADING.

UM, THE QUESTION I HAVE IS, WHAT CAN THE TOURISM COMMISSION DO FOR YOU? WE'RE HERE, WE'RE HERE TO SERVE.

WHAT, WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP YOU? WELL, I THINK THAT THINGS ARE HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION IN A LOT OF WAYS AND SO I THINK, UM, TO THE CAPACITY THAT Y'ALL CAN CONTINUE TO ADVOCATE FOR THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC, UM, AND NOT JUST AS, UM, NOT JUST AS A, A MARKETING TAGLINE TO GET FOLKS ON THE, THE FLIGHT HERE, BUT, UM, TO INFLUENCE THEIR BEHAVIOR THEN ONCE THEY'RE IN MARKET.

UM, I REALLY BELIEVE, AND I'M EXCITED ABOUT, UH, SOME OF THE THINGS OMAR IS WORKING ON, UH, WITHIN VISIT AUSTIN ABOUT CREATING THIS WAY, FINDING, UM, AND INFORMATIONAL KIND OF NETWORK OF, UH, I THINK IT'S POWER OF SUGGESTION.

UM, I, I THINK, UM, IT CAN BE INTIMIDATING TO FOLKS TO JUST KIND OF HAVE TO LOOK THAT UP THEMSELVES.

SO THE MORE WE CAN CURATE EXPERIENCES, AND AS YOU START TO DO THAT AND CREATE VALUE THERE, I THINK THAT'S WHEN, UM, YOU COULD SEE SOME OF THESE, YOU KNOW, PARTNERSHIPS WITH HOTELS AND PACKAGES AND THINGS.

UM, WE, WE ARE, UH, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE A LOT OF FOLKS WITH DISPOSABLE INCOME THAT WANT TO COME SPEND IT IN AUSTIN.

AND SO THAT'S THE GOOD THING WE'VE GOT GOING FOR US WHERE MUSIC SOMETIMES IS A LITTLE TOO OFF, SHUCKS, IS WE DON'T ALWAYS CREATE THE RECEPTACLE FOR PEOPLE TO STICK THE MONEY.

I ALWAYS SAY, YOU KNOW, WE COMPLAIN ABOUT NOT GETTING IT, BUT IT'S LIKE, DO WE REALLY HAVE THE RECEPTACLE? LIKE WHERE ARE WE, WHERE, WHERE ARE WE STICKING IT? I THINK YOU HAVE TO CREATE UPSELL OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOLKS THAT WANT THOSE TURNKEY EXPERIENCES.

UM, I THINK ALSO, UM, THIS ISN'T SO MUCH A TOURISM THING, BUT I THINK AS INDUSTRY MOVES TO AUSTIN, YOU KNOW, I ALWAYS LIKE TO SAY THERE'S NOT A RECRUITMENT DECK, UH, OUT THERE THAT DOESN'T HAVE THE GUY WITH THE GUITAR ON, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE SLIDES BECAUSE THAT'S PART OF OUR, UH, QUALITY OF LIFE HERE.

AND SO COMPANIES ARE RECRUITING ON THAT AND THEY'RE BUILDING COMP.

THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE BUILDING SUCCESS FROM THAT.

UM, ARE WE HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE KIND OF PAYING BACK INTO THE SYSTEM TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT THING THAT THEY, UH, WAS PART OF THEIR PITCH IS GETTING THE SUPPORT IT NEEDS.

UM, SO TO, TO, IN, I WOULD LOVE , I WOULD LOVE TO FOLLOW UP OPPORTUNITIES.

AND THAT ONE IS TO ED'S QUESTION.

THE OTHER IS TO PROVIDE Y'ALL A LIST OF ARTISTS THAT, UH, EVERYBODY SHOULD GO OUT AND SEE SO THAT I DON'T, UH, MISS ANY OR UPSET ANYBODY.

UM, BUT IN SUMMARY, I THINK IT'S JUST, UM, CONTINUING TO EDUCATE, INFORM, AND EDUCATE, UM, AND INFLUENCE, UM, NOT JUST FOLKS COMING HERE, BUT HOW TO BEHAVE WHEN THEY COME HERE AND CREATE A NETWORK EFFECT, UH, THAT SUPPORTS THAT.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, MR. BRIDGES.

UH, WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS THIS AFTERNOON.

AND, UH, ALONG THE LINES OF THAT NETWORK EFFECT, ONE OF YOUR METAPHORS THAT YOU BROUGHT TO THIS COMMISSION TODAY, THE CORAL REEF WILL STICK WITH ME.

I KNOW, UH, PERSONALLY, AND, UH, WHATEVER WE CAN DO TO ADD COLOR TO OUR MANY DYING REEFS, ACROSS THIS WORLD, UH, HERE LOCALLY, UH, I KNOW THAT WE'RE DOING THAT, AND MUCH OF THAT IS BASED ON THE EFFORTS THAT YOU AND AND YOUR COLLEAGUES HAVE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THAT WE CONTINUE TO BE, UM, A CITY CENTERED ON MUSIC AND CULTURE.

AND WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS.

THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

AND WITH THAT, UM, WE'LL BE MOVING

[01:55:01]

[6. Update from the Short-Term Rental Working Group on any new reports regarding the STRs recommendation and efforts with city council. ]

ON QUICKLY TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER SIX, UH, A BRIEF, UH, UPDATE ON SHORT-TERM, UH, RENTALS WORKING GROUP COMMISSIONER CHAPPEL.

THANK YOU, CHAIRMAN CHAIR, BRIAN.

SO I'M JUST GONNA DO A QUICK UPDATE ON THE TARA WORKING GROUP AND KIND OF BRING THIS PANEL, UM, UPDATE SPEED OF WHERE WE'VE BEEN AT.

SO, EXCUSE ME.

FOLLOWING A DILIGENT ROADSHOW INITIATIVE, THE SHORT TERM WORKING GROUP HAS SUCCESSFULLY MET WITH THE OFFICES OF NEARLY ALL CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, WITH THE EXCEPTIONS OF DISTRICT THREE AND DISTRICT 10, REPRESENTED BY JOSE VELASQUEZ AND ALLISON ALTER.

OUR EFFORTS HAVE NOT ONLY BEEN MET WITH OPENNESS, BUT ALSO WITH POSSIBLE SPONSORSHIP FROM INFLUENTIAL CITY LEADERS, INCLUDING MAYOR KIRK WATSON, DISTRICT TWO, FUENTES, DISTRICT FOUR, JOSE VELA, DISTRICT FIVE, RYAN ALTER, DISTRICT SIX, MCKENZIE KELLY, DISTRICT H, PAGE ALEX, AND DISTRICT NINE IS SO QUADRI SHOWCASING, BROADEN AND DIVERSE SUPPORT FOR OUR PROPOSED MEASURES.

DESPITE THIS MOMENTUM, A SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE LOOMS IS THE WORKING GROUP ENDEAVORS TO PRIORITIZE THE SDR RECOMMENDATIONS.

AMONGST THE COUNCIL'S FOCUS ON CURRENT LAND INITIATIVES, PARTICULARLY THE HOME PROPOSAL, IT'S CRUCIAL TO UNDERSCORE THAT OUR RECOMMENDATION SEEKS TO STREAMLINE THE OPERATIONAL ASPECTS OF EXISTING LAWS, NOTABLY BY ENABLING PLATFORMS TO ENFORCE COMPLIANCE WITH LICENSING REQUIREMENTS IN ENSURING EFFICIENT HOTEL SPEED TAX COLLECTION.

THESE MEASURES CENTERED ON ENHANCING COMPLIANCE, LICENSE ADOPTION AND COMMUNICATION ARE NOT ABOUT LAND USE, BUT ABOUT FOSTERING RESPONSIBLE AND FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABLE SDR SECTOR IN AUSTIN.

SO, KEY CONCERNS, UM, BROUGHT TO LIGHT ESTIMATED 11,000 UNLICENSED SDRS RESULTING IN REVENUE LOSSES BETWEEN 15 AND 35 MILLION ANNUALLY DUE TO UNCOLLECTED HOT IN ADEQUATE ENFORCEMENT CAPABILITIES ATTRIBUTED TO STAFF SHORTAGES AND LIMITED AUTHORITY WITHIN THE SHORT-TERM ENFORCEMENT TEAM, COMPLIANT COMPLICATING EFFORTS TO ADDRESS SAFETY, HEALTH, AND COMPLIANCE ISSUES.

EFFECTIVELY, THE ABSENCE OF ROBUST ENFORCEMENT AND REGULATORY MEASURES FOR SDRS HAS A BROADER IMPLICATIONS FOR AUSTIN'S CULTURE, ARTS, AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION SECTORS, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE ANTICIPATED DECLINES IN HOTEL BOOKINGS NEXT YEAR.

DUE TO THE CONVENTION CENTER CLOSURE.

IN TANGIBLE TERMS, THE CITY TEND TO LOSE A CRITICAL FUNDING SOURCE THAT SUPPORTS THESE VITAL COMMUNITY ASSETS.

IN THE FACE OF THESE CHALLENGES, THE SR WORKING GROUP REMAINS COMMITTED TO STEERING, CONSTRUCTIVE TO STEERING CONSTRUCTIVE DISCUSSIONS AND ACTIONS TOWARDS ENHANCING THE STR SECTOR.

BY FOSTERING COLLABORATION AND MAINTAINING OUR COLLECTIVE MOMENTUM, WHERE CONFIDENT IN OUR ABILITY TO IMPLEMENT THE NECESSARY POLICY CHANGES THAT LEAD TO A PROSPEROUS, COMPLIANT AND VIBRANT SGR ECOSYSTEM IN AUSTIN, THE WORKING GROUP HAS RECEIVED BROAD AND VARIED SUPPORT, INCLUDING AIRBNB AND VRBO FOR ITS INITIATIVES, WHICH HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF OBTAINING A VALID LICENSE FOR SHORT-TERM RENTALS THROUGH A MORE COMPREHENSIVE LICENSE APPLICATION PROCESS.

IT'S ESSENTIAL TO NOTE THAT REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME OF HOME OR THE NUMBER OF SHORT TERM RENTALS ONE MAY HAVE ON A NEW, ON A NET NEW PARCEL, THEY ALL NEED A VAL A VALID LICENSE TO OPERATE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS TO MAKE IT FORT WORTH STYLE.

Y'ALL NEED A LICENSE.

ALRIGHT, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT UPDATE.

COMMISSIONER CHAPPEL.

IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT OUR JUNE 12TH MEETING WILL BE HAPPENING FROM THREE TO FIVE IN THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ROOM HERE AT CITY HALL.

ANY ANY QUESTIONS? SORRY IF ANYONE ELSE NOTING THE TIME, UM, I'D LIKE TO END THIS MEETING AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.

ARE THERE ANY COMMENTS FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER? UM, I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT THANK YOU COMMISSIONER CHAPPEL.

MOVING ON TO THE NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA.

WE'RE WE ARE SKIPPING, UM, DISCUSSION ITEM NUMBER SEVEN BECAUSE COMMISSIONER KANATI IS NOT HERE TODAY AND HE SENDS HIS REGRETS FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS.

[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]

UH, AN ADDITIONAL REMINDER TO COMMISSIONERS TO FILL OUT THEIR SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINING IF THEY HAVE NOT BY THE END OF THE WEEK, IT IS DUE THIS WEEK.

UM, AND LASTLY, ON A MORE PERSONAL NOTE, I'D LIKE TO, UM, CELEBRATE, UH, MS. ALICIA OJEDA AS OUR STAFF LIAISON AND ALSO SHARE THE GREAT NEWS THAT SHE HAS BEEN ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED.

OH, YAY.

UM, AND, UH, AS SHE HAS STATED TO ME, UH, WILL BE COMING INTO OUR JULY MEETING AS A MARRIED WOMAN .

SO, UM, WE THANK, UH, MS. OJEDA FOR ALL OF HER WORK WITH THE COMMISSION AND, UH, CONTINUED ASSISTANCE IN ENSURING THESE MEETINGS ARE, UH, WELL ORGANIZED AND PUT TOGETHER.

SO THANK YOU SO MUCH, UM, ALICIA.

AND, UM, WITH THAT, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO ADJOURN THIS MEETING? SO MOVED BY COMMISSIONER CHEN SECOND.

SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER PINOCCIO.