Winnipeg Tied With Austin for Music

Martin Prosperity Insights, which is led by the fascinating Richard Florida, has recently come out with an interesting study of the music industry. The piece begins with a bit about how technological advances have meant that bulk of music business costs are incurred by "creative work" rather than manufacturing and distribution. It goes on to explore the differences between the Canadian and U.S. music industries and measure the per capita concentration of music industry in Canadian and U.S. cities.

On a per capita basis, Canada’s music industry dramatically outperforms the US when it comes to the presence of music business establishments (this category includes record labels, distributors, recording studios, and music publishers). Canada has 5.9 recording industry establishments per 100,000 residents, about five times the US figure of 1.2.

Winnipeg is tied with Austin, Texas with a location quotient of 1.43 and sits just below the midway point on the 15-city graph, which is topped most dramatically by Nashville. Locations quotients aside, the U.S. industry still makes millions more than the Canadian industry. Also, I have used the term "location quotient" for the first (and second) time and feel smarter for it."

Click here to read the study.