Impact Report 2023-24
Welcome
Welcome to the inaugural Center for Music Ecosystems Impact Report, summarizing our activity and impact over the two years of January 1 2023, to December 31, 2024.
At the Center, we undertake empirical research, and assessing our impact in tangible terms is integral to our work, which we intend to develop annually as a public‑facing annual evaluation of our work and its outcomes.
We hope our annual impact report will demonstrate CME’s commitment to global music policy and allow for a detailed and transparent examination of our output.
We are proud to showcase the work we have undertaken with and for our partners, donors, and beneficiaries. Like any charity, our goal is to work ourselves out of business. If every place leveraged music to the fullest and incorporated it into addressing the biggest challenges of our time, we wouldn’t be here. Our goal remains to make this happen and drive this change with our partners worldwide.
I also want to thank our team of consultants and board of directors for their support in 2024 and beyond. We’re just getting started.
Best wishes,
Shain Shapiro,
Executive Director, Center for Music Ecosystems
The numbers
204
case studies, interviews and roundtables we have undertaken
79
cities around the world in which we have produced research directly supporting municipalities and public and private sector charities, companies, organizations and institutions
410
expert music policy voices around the world that we have engaged with
78
global conferences, masterclasses or workshops we have contributed to
294
organisations we have partnered with
Our core projects
The Center for Music Ecosystems has launched three ongoing global projects that constitute our core work.
Music Economy Development Initiative (MEDI)
Music Policy Resilience Network (MPRN)
Organization for Recorded Culture & Arts (ORCA)
The Music Economy Development Initiative (MEDI)
Launched in the Autumn of 2024, MEDI aims to incorporate music into how international banks, funders, and national governments invest in economic and social development.
MEDI will provide economic policymakers, government actors, development finance professionals, and other stakeholders with the research, data, and evidence to support the launch of programs and initiatives that use music—and the broader creative economy—as tools to support global development, economic diversification, and livelihoods.
Impact to date
Development and publication of a paper—“Untapped opportunities for livelihood recovery in crisis and post‑crisis settings: Applying music as a use case”—alongside the UNDP, exploring the impact that music could make in development contexts.
Development and publication of a short vision paper exploring how music can help eradicate poverty. Co‑authored with Global Citizen, this vision was presented at the Global Citizen NOW conference alongside Universal Music Group (UMG) (and UNDP).
Development of a policy brief (internal) exploring the state and future of collective management of music in Kosovo, for the UNDP Kosovo Office.
Alongside UNDP Kosovo, the development of a day of conference programming focused on music ecosystem development, as part of the Pristina Music Conference.
Soft‑launch of MEDI through an MOU signed by Global Citizen and CME (in partnership with UMG), alongside a panel presentation at the Economic Development Assembly in Abidjan.
Establishment of partnerships with and support from diverse stakeholders towards project development, including partnerships with the UNDP, Global Citizen and Universal Music Group, and support from a wide range of music industry representatives and its stakeholder organizations.
“Working with the Center for Music Ecosystems to establish MEDI and further centralize music’s role in fighting extreme poverty has been a pleasure. We are looking forward to growing our partnership to show how valuable music can be worldwide.”
— Mick Sheldrick, Co‑founder and Chief Policy Officer, Global Citizen
The Music Policy Resilience Network (MPRN)
The Music Policy Resilience Network was launched in 2023, expanding on CME’s existing work in the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Alaska to encompass 11 remote, rural or small cities, including Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Torshavn (the Faroe Islands), Nuuk (Greenland), Whitehorse (Canada), Whitesburg (USA), St Johnsbury (USA), Gallup (USA), Gander (Canada), Mariehamn (Aland), Lerwick (UK) and Umea (Sweden). The program also grew to include online masterclasses with global experts in the most relevant areas of music and policy today.
Impact to date
Published 14 reports consisting of stakeholder engagement, literature review, analysis, and between 6‑10 international best practice case studies for each of the 14 reports, each of which also included at least 25 time‑based recommendations.
Lerwick, Shetland (UK) invited by the Scottish government to feed directly into cultural strategy planning as a result of the publication of their Music Policy Resilience Network report, findings and recommendations.
MPRN identified the need for a multi‑purpose cultural space in Nuuk, Greenland. Steps are being taken towards developing a cultural house with rehearsal space, workshops, studios, offices, a cafe, business services and an exercise facility for children and young people. Nuuk reported that development can be directly linked back to the research conducted, findings, and recommendations.
Used our findings to contribute to the Nordic Culture Fund future visioning and strategic planning as a global funder.
“Being part of this project in Nuuk has been an eye‑opening experience. We've faced unique challenges in our music ecosystem, but we've gained valuable insights through collaboration and inspiration from our neighbors in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and others. The focus on creating dry venues and fostering rehearsal spaces has particularly impacted our community. This project has given us the tools and inspiration to build a stronger, more resilient music scene in Nuuk, where our local talents can thrive and connect with the wider world. I'm deeply grateful for the guidance and support from the Center for Music Ecosystems and look forward to continuing this journey.”
— Jonas L. Nilsson, Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq, Nuuk
Presented the work at Nordic Music Days (Glasgow, 2024), European Forum of Music (Sofia, 2024), Reeperbahn Festival (Hamburg, 2023 and 2024).
Facilitated two in person meetings with experts from the culture and tourism sectors and local and national government in Torshavn, the Faroes Islands (March 2023) and Nuuk, Greenland (May 2023).
Delivered over 20 expert music policy masterclasses benefitting over 40 international attendees.
The Organization for Recorded Culture and Arts (ORCA)
The Organization for Recorded Culture and Arts (ORCA) is a first‑of‑its‑kind think tank composed of leading independent music labels worldwide. ORCA aims to develop and promote research, data, and qualitative and quantitative evidence that underscore music's significant economic, social, and cultural value. ORCA’s founding members include a diverse array of the world’s most influential independent music labels that discovered and developed the long term careers of Adele, Nirvana, Christine and the Queens, The National, Mitski, ODESZA, among other leading global music artists.
Impact to date
Published ‘Setting the Stage,’ ORCA’s first report exploring how the music industry works, why it matters and the role of independent record labels.
Generated significant press coverage for the launch of ORCA, and release of ‘Setting the Stage,’ positioning ORCA as a key organization providing research on the social, economic and cultural value of music, independent labels, and the independent music ecosystem. Key press includes Billboard, Euronews, Resident Advisor, Music Business Worldwide, and more.
“This is a concept long in the making, arising from a realization of shared values above and beyond our existing collective independent activities. Music is an undervalued asset in the daily round, and we seek to translate the motivations underlying its production into an appreciation that art and commerce can live as one.”
— Martin Mills, Founder and Chairman, Beggars Group
Additional Projects
European Music Policy Exchange
In September 2023 at the Reeperbahn Festival, CME and MCN launched the MusicAIRE‑funded European Music Cities Policy Guide, a landmark, large-scale research project consisting of international best practice examples shared by over 100 policy experts across the EU. The published guide consists of chapters including Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Jobs and Skills, Education, Night‑Time Economy, Infrastructure, and more.
Impact to date
EMPE was selected as a featured project at the first EU conference on music, titled Challenges, needs and opportunities of the European music ecosystem in the European Parliament – February 2024. The conference explored how the European Union and its members support the music sector through policy steps, regulatory measures, funding, and dialogue facilitation.
European Music Policy Exchange ‘Impact and Infrastructure’ Workshop – UNESCO Cities of Music AGM – Norrkoping, Sweden
Delivered one EMPE-themed curated panel at Reeperbahn in September 2024.
European Music Policy Exchange – Reeperbahn Festival – Hamburg, Germany
European Music Policy Exchange – Music AIRE Final Event – Brussels, Belgium
“Sharing knowledge and innovative experiences between cities is a vital tool in developing smarter local policies on music, and ensuring their impact across not just music itself, but all policy areas. The European Music Cities Policy handbook shows how powerful local policies for music can be and provides actionable and scalable examples for each area. The guide brings together good practice case studies from cities across the EU on a scale that has not been seen before—it is a real source of both inspiration and practical advice.”
— Julie Hervé, Head of Culture, Eurocities
Global Leaders Institute
The Center for Music Ecosystems was delighted to deliver the Global Leaders Institute Creative Ecosystems Module in 2023 and 2024, including the delivery of six specialist music policy lectures and workshops to a global Cohort of 60 cultural change‑makers participating in the GLI’s MBA in Arts Innovation—an empowering career journey for creative sector leaders focused on social entrepreneurship, cultural management, sustainable impact, and community development. We will lead this module again in 2025.
Impact to date
132 MBA Fellows have completed the Creative Ecosystems Module, producing 34 policy proposals that tackle cultural challenges in diverse regions. These reports showcase practical solutions informed by stakeholder engagement, data analysis, and global case studies, reflecting the creativity and leadership required in cultural innovation.
“The Center for Music Ecosystems has become an invaluable collaborator of The Global Leaders Institute. Their three‑week module within our MBA in Arts Innovation, delivered to 60 international fellows annually, combines exceptional teaching with insights from global experts across the Americas, Europe, and Oceania. Their work equips our MBA Fellows with innovative strategies to leverage the arts for economic growth, social progress, and human development, preparing them to lead and create meaningful impact in the sector.”
— Pedro Zenteno, GLI Academic Director
“This module was eye‑opening. Engaging with real‑life case studies from the US, Australia, and France really brought the theory to life for me. The sessions in the module felt equal parts practical and inspiring.”
— Safira Antzus, GLI Alum
Recommendations For Live Performance Pay and Professional Protections For Working US-Based Musicians
The focus of this work was to inform advocacy and program development for Whippoorwill Arts and 4AArts, with data and suggestions relevant to local and state jurisdictions across the USA. How can collective effort support & increase musicians’ financial stability and well‑being, nurture their creativity, and serve the social good? In this project, CME called on leading music employment lawyers, an advisory board of six independent musicians from diverse backgrounds, and members of its International Advisory Network.
Impact to date
The research has been presented at the Association for Performing Arts Professionals Conference, Californians for the Arts Summit, Country Soul Songbook Summit, and the Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association – spaces where the project was the primary voice representing artists' perspectives and issues of artist pay.
The City of Oakland’s Cultural Funding Program adopted these recommendations as a pay standard for all artists employed through grant‑funded arts and culture activities in the city.
“Our work on these pay guidelines addresses the urgent need to update freelance musician compensation, ensuring it reflects the true value of their artistry. For decades, hourly pay rates have stagnated, with many musicians still earning $100 per hour—a figure unchanged since the 1970s. Adjusted for inflation, that rate would be nearly $800 today. These guidelines aim to set a fair standard and advocate for the financial sustainability of musicians' careers.”
— Whitney Christiansen, Director of Messaging, 4AArts
These guidelines ground advocacy work in the Fair Play Initiative, seeking to ensure that when public dollars are spent on live music, the money actually gets to the musicians playing it, in accordance with fair and equitable pay standards.
In September 2024, the project’s Advisory Committee reconvened to collectively brainstorm how to continue to most effectively disseminate and integrate these pay standards into the music ecosystem.
“These recommendations supported Whippoorwill Arts' efforts to build a diverse coalition of working musicians and have been a vital tool as we've spoken to policymakers, arts funders, and presenters across the ecosystem. It carefully breaks down individual considerations to shed light on what it takes to sustain a livelihood as a musician and unravels some of the harmful mythologies associated with life as a working artist.”
— Tiara Mir, Co-Director, Whippoorwill Arts
UNDP & CME Collaboration: Intellectual Property Models for Sustainable Development
Since the launch of the UNDP Accelerator Labs Network in 2019, a persistent challenge has been how Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are incorporated into the Accelerator Labs' work.
In this context, in 2022-2023, UNDP collaborated with the Center for Music Ecosystems (CME) to conduct a body of research on the current IPR setup in UNDP that governs the UNDP Accelerator Labs Network and identify findings inspired on other leading industries with regards to IPR management. The result of the research is a set of findings that challenges the current IPR setup in the organization, striving to optimize the benefits and cooperation with all parties involved (UN agencies; governments; UNDP Accelerator Labs; grassroots innovators; startups; universities and others), based both on the IPR administration model in the music industries but also on the current IPR management setup in multiple instances in the UN System.
Impact to date
Identified and analyzed IP pain points in‑depth across the UNDP’s Accelerator Labs in Mexico, the Philippines, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Published the first-ever report linking music to crisis and livelihoods recovery “Untapped opportunities for livelihood recovery in crisis and post-crisis settings: Applying music as a use case”—alongside the UNDP exploring the impact that music could make in development contexts.
Led to a UN‑wide review and rewriting of UNDP’s holistic IP policy, a first of its kind in the UN system.
Lila Music
Lila Music launched in June 2024 with a mission to amplify South Asian voices and representation in the UK music industry. Their inaugural initiative, ARRIVALS, made history as the first-ever Glastonbury stage dedicated to showcasing South Asian talent.
Impact to date
Featured 30 South Asian artists and 20 South Asian industry professionals over four days.
Highlighted by BBC News and documented in a PRS‑funded mini‑documentary alongside 43 news articles.
For a debut stage, achieved an unprecedented 1.7 billion media impressions.
Initiated the development of the first‑ever survey quantifying South Asian representation in the UK music industry.
“2024 marked not just the launch of Lila but a defining moment for South Asian music on the global stage. The groundbreaking success of artists like Diljit Dosanjh and Karan Aujla, combined with the incredible reception of our stage at Glastonbury—featured prominently by the BBC—showcased the undeniable impact of our culture worldwide. Being part of this global movement alongside CME is truly inspiring, and we’re eager to build on this momentum as we head into 2025.”
— Vikram Gudi, Founder, Lila
A huge thanks to our partners and collaborators
Music Policy Resilience Network
Levitt Foundation
Sound Diplomacy
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Yukon Music, Whitehorse, Canada
Nordisk Kulturfund
Music Newfoundland
Cowan Community Center, Whitesburg, Kentucky, USA
Nuuk, Greenland
Torshavn, Faroe Islands
Juneau Alaska
Humlan, Umeå, Sweden
Mariehamn
Kolfest, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Gallup Main Street, New Mexico, USA
St Johnsbury, Vermont, USA
Lerwick, Shetland, UK
Gander, Newfoundland, Canada
Folkestone, UK
Darwin, Australia
Cuenca, Ecuador
Ede, Nigeria
Homer, Alaska, USA
South Tarawa, Kiribati
Dera Ismail Khan
Cumberland, Maryland, USA
Galva, Illinois, USA
Middlesboro, Kentucky, USA
European Music Policy Exchange
ORCA
Music Economy Development Initiative
LILA
Global Leaders Institute
Recommendations for live performance pay and professional protections for working US-based musicians
Conferences
Plus
Center for Music Ecosystems Board of Trustees
c/o Pop, Cologne, Germany
Supersonic, UK Fat Out Festival, UK
Airwaves, Iceland
Arctic Sounds, Greenland
Tremor Festival, Azores, Portugal
Rainforest Festival, Indonesia
City of Girona, Catalonia, Spain
Cultuur Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Sound and Music, UK
Music Export Memphis, USA
Faroes Music Export, Faroes
Pictish Trail, UK
Kolfest International Arts and Music Festival, Kyrgyzstan
Shetland Folk Festival, Shetland, UK
Kabardock, La Reunion, France
AB, Brussels, Belgium,
Gut Level, Sheffield, UK
Gretchen, Berlin, Germany
Performing Rights Society Foundation (PRSF), UK
Manitoba Music, Canada
Edmonton Arts Council, Canada
Streetwise Opera, UK
National Academy of Social Prescribing, UK
Music Forward Foundation, USA
Upbeat Gainesville, Florida, USA
Ottawa Bluesfest, Canada
Attitude is Everything, UK
European Music Council
City of Music Shoals, Alabama, USA
Ottawa Music Industry Coalition, Ottawa, Canada
City of Monroe, LA
City of Huntsville, Alabama, USA
Trempo, Nantes, France
Performing Arts Readiness – Art of Mass Gatherings
National Sawdust, Brooklyn
Music GNV
Sound Found Nation/One Beat Exchange
Crosstown Arts
Wavelengths Toronto
Music Venue Trust, UK
Confluències, Spain
International Music Council
Distritos Culturales Bogotá, Colombia
Worm, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Freezer, Rifi, Iceland
Glad Cafe, Glasgow, UK
Unison Rights, Barcelona, Spain
What’s next for 2025?
Launch of the Music Economy Development Initiative and continued partnership with Global Citizen and others
Expansion of the Music Policy Resilience Network
ORCA’s continued development and publication of a new large-scale, multi-stakeholder research project
The next phase of the European Music Policy Exchange
Continuing partnership with the Global Leaders Institute.