CEDAR RAPIDS — Nashville, dubbed the Music City, is known for its honky-tonk tunes as the birthplace of country. New Orleans is associated with the soulful swing and blue notes of jazz. Now, Cedar Rapids partners are pursuing an initiative to enhance the city’s own local music ecosystem.
The city announced Thursday it is launching the Cedar Rapids Music Census, a civic-led initiative aimed at collecting data and gaining a comprehensive understanding of the current strengths, opportunities and needs of the local music community.
The census is set to open in September and will run for four weeks. Cedar Rapids partners enlisted Sound Music Cities, the leading civic-oriented music ecosystem firm, to administer the survey.
The city is collaborating with the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, VenuWorks venue management company and the Cedar Rapids Tourism Office on the effort.
The census seeks to capture information including data on demographics, occupation types, economic opportunities, professional development, affordability, music-friendly regulations, funding support and the sense of culture and belonging within the community.
“Music is a vital part of who we are. Musicians, venues, educators, technicians and promoters are all part of our music ecosystem, and we need to support these professionals in order to enhance our local music scene and demonstrate the community’s commitment to the arts,” Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said in a statement. “The Cedar Rapids Music Census enables us to understand our music ecosystem so that we can support broader efforts to make our live and local music scene even stronger than it already is.”
How to participate in the Cedar Rapids Music Census
For more information or to become a community engagement partner or ambassador, visit CedarRapidsMusic.com.
The census will cover the Cedar Rapids metro, including Linn, Benton and Jones counties. Anyone ages 18 and older who is part of the Cedar Rapids music ecosystem, regardless of residence, may participate when the census opens in September.
With this data, city leaders and the broader community can make data-driven decisions to support and grow Cedar Rapids’ music scene.
Don Pitts, founder and president of Sound Music Cities, told The Gazette this data will be used to form an action plan this fall guiding Cedar Rapids’ steps forward. It involves examining regulatory practices and funding, and helps local organizations understand their role in contributing to a thriving music industry.
“The Music Census will be a significant milestone in enhancing our local music scene and demonstrating the community’s commitment to the arts,” City Manager Jeff Pomeranz said in a statement. “It will reveal opportunities to better support local musicians and venues, increasing access to live music in Cedar Rapids.”
City seeks participation from community partners
The Cedar Rapids Music Census team is asking for community engagement partners and ambassadors to help conduct an extensive survey of the Cedar Rapids music and live entertainment ecosystem.
The project invites civic organizations, media, public sector, companies, music educators, arts organizations, festivals, bands and individual musicians to become a partner and spread the word about the upcoming music census. Those interested in becoming a community partner or ambassador may do so by signing up at CedarRapidsMusic.com.
Data collection and direct feedback from music industry stakeholders helps understand the struggles facing venues and musicians, Pitts said. For instance, data could signal regulatory challenges and other hurdles that city government could change.
“There is a scene there,” Pitts said. “ … It’s just never been asked, what do they need?”
Pitts brings 30 years of experience in the music and entertainment industry to his work. He earned the nickname “The Sound Whisperer” while he was head of the city of Austin’s Economic Development Department’s Music and Entertainment Division, where he reduced sound complaints by over 70 percent.
Sound Music Cities has now helped communities nationwide including Nashville, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. conduct similar censuses.
Music will bring community ‘together’
Too often, Pitts said those in the music scene are “invisible,” especially as cities emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I don’t think cities really understand or can experience the value of it until it’s gone,” he said. “ … It does take a village to reach out, connect to a lot of these folks.”
So far, Sound Music Cities has done initial small group sessions with music ecosystem participants including venue owners, musicians and other industry people in Cedar Rapids, both virtual and in person to gain a baseline understanding of the city’s music scene. More meetings will take place this fall after collecting the census data as the action plan is created.
This process will help decision-makers understand where music infrastructure is needed. It will provide “opportunity in every aspect from up-and-coming artists to midlevel artists that are touring the region that live in Cedar Rapids,” Pitts said.
While the census looks at the ecosystem beyond downtown, this effort aligns with the city’s new Downtown Vision Plan calling for more entertainment and a vibrant mixed-use urban core. The Downtown Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District Commission, which represents downtown property owners who pay a tax toward district improvements, also set a goal this year to increase live music in the city center.
Pitts said Cedar Rapids could host a music festival downtown featuring all local artists, a way to both draw people to the heart of the city and promote homegrown talent.
Downtown Cedar Rapids is seeing many conversions of vacant offices — emptied by the pandemic’s lasting changes to work patterns — into housing and other uses. As the city center is redeveloped, Pitts said growing entertainment districts and residential uses can pose a challenge.
From his experience in Austin, Pitts said changing a city’s sound ordinance can go a long way to help. He said it’s important to foster communication, outreach and education on both sides — among residents and music industry stakeholders alike.
Residents felt empowered by a dashboard the city there used during festivals showing the decibel level, for example. In Cedar Rapids, he said perhaps a sound curtain at the McGrath Amphitheatre on First Street SW could keep the bass from hitting Cedar River waters and carrying sound across the river to downtown residents.
Ultimately, he said, Cedar Rapids’ endeavor is about building a community around music.
“Music does bring people together,” Pitts said.
Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com