Through working with a community group that represents the interests of park users, I have found a problem around the conflicting interests of a place and how it is being valued and used. A place that has been traditionally recognised as a cricket field within a large city-centre park, is for two months a year now an open-air music venue. It was booked as a venue by the local Council. I witnessed this decision to be rooted from an existing relationship that the Council has with event promoters and a need to balance the books following austerity.
There has been media coverage discussing the conflict and it has been spoken about in Council meetings, some of the quotes include:
“The need to follow the correct legal process is paramount – we can’t have the commercial partners of the council just doing what they want, when they want, where they want, and how they want.” Community campaigner Jeremy Sparkes .
“We welcome artists such as Stevie Wonder playing in Cardiff, but in the future commercial events should be held in commercial venues.” Open community letter by Cardiff Civic Society and Friends of Bute Park .
“In terms of the future for cricket in Blackweir or at least for Bay Dragons if Blackweir Live has to exist then we need to learn to coexist but we would like some support from the council and Blackweir Live.” The Chairman of Bay Dragons Cricket Club, Syed Abbas .
“Cabinet Member for Culture, Parks and Events, Cllr Jennifer Burke, said: ‘The Blackweir Live concerts contributed to an incredible summer of music in Cardiff and it’s clear that not only do they have the support of the majority of residents, they can also help us to continue delivering on our music strategy, support our work to improve the city’s green spaces and bring millions of pounds worth of economic benefits to the city.'”
In this workbook, which will be a series of blog posts, I will look a bit deeper into this problem and: how the business model for large audience music events in public parks is structured and I will speculate future potential innovation. In the following posts, I will explore the different perspectives of the problem and try to realise perspectives that are out of my view currently.
From my perspective at this point, the following topics emerge when considering what’s below the surface.
Music Cities and music eco-systems
There seem to be good points on both sides of the conflict, and cohesion might be around the value for music culture. The potential for innovation could be in this point of cohesion. That everyone seems to agree that music is good. We might want to ask therefore: how might the city council best promote music culture?
It is possibly too simplistic to say that the presence of many music events displays a healthy music eco-system, or a city of music! As Cardiff claims to be.
The music that we play or hear and the instruments we choose to play or know about, are largely influenced by global or local governance and the private sector . A city’s music eco-system will influence popular culture and it has the potential for delivering sustainable development and an inclusive society, or alternatively the reverse . In addition to the noise or traffic complaints, we can question the line-up and whether the events are negatively influencing the popular culture of the area. I observe that the large event’s line-up was in English language only with bands that play USA genre music, and propose that this may be influencing people to forget (or imagine a lower value for) the culture that they identify with.
Local governance has the responsibility (therefore) to set a strategy or policy which creates the environment for an inclusive society. This is recognised by the UN Sustainable Development Goal 11 of Sustainable Cities and Communities. There are some systems that can support, like the UNESCO Cities of Music Network and Music City Events’ resources. Liverpool City Council (Culture Liverpool) have an example of following these in their vision for cultural life that has three principles with goals around collaboration & resilience, equality & inclusivity, and environment sustainability. They could probably go further, but that attempt to understand the multiple perspective and multidisciplinary skills need (that might include placemaking or urban planning, and social science), seems to be a positive approach for the future of music in cities.
Glastonburyfication
The set-up of the gigs reminds me of festivals like Glastonbury that are experiencing popularity, and I wonder whether there is an appeal (or perceived appeal) to having the stage in a green space just because of this. That nature is being used as a prop for commercial gain.
Connection commodified
One of the five well-being elements is to connect with those around us like our family or the local community. To think of them as ‘the cornerstones of your life and [to] invest time in developing’ these connections . Like attending an event with them.
To say that large audience music events are a benefit to the economy (quote by Cllr Jennifer Burke as an example) as one of the main benefits, seems to recognise them for their financial worth as a commodity. To commodify and find financial value in well-being.
At the same time, the advertising, appeal of the setting, and nostalgic line-up seems like consumerist tactic. Consumerism can be defined by consumption to show ‘one’s position in society or peers’ and to keep up with others and driven by anxiety (‘social striving for position or belonging through goods’) and novelty (stimulation as reward). Observation of the impact of consumerism suggests that individual consumers are not making ‘free choices’. The antidote to consumerism might be to commit to the future – to repair items when possible, make gifts, or take actions that benefit a time after you exist .
Improved well-being through connection does not need to cost. Companies organising events do not need to charge large amounts for their service. Sometimes advertising makes people feel that they need to buy something or be somewhere to fit in, taking away their agency.
It seems to me that the value of music events to the attendee should be about improved well-being, and in the endeavour to provide these opportunities we would do better by considering impact through other means than financial (such as social) and build in mechanisms which prioritise well-being and commitments to the future.
Democratic capacity
These decisions are being made in the context of austerity (public spending and services being cut as a strategy) and high levels of poverty, with increasing number of people turning to food banks and unable to heat their homes , with parks and the arts budgets seeing higher cuts than other areas, and not seen as a priority .
In this context, it is possible that there can be only one position for the decision makers when presented with a large (but undisclosed to the public) sum for an event hire. The sum means the continuation of the service that they are proud of (it would otherwise be cut), their jobs, and the jobs of people they know well. It might be that the business model (of the events in the park) depends on this low position of power.
Challenging my assumptions and next steps
Those points above may go deeper into the subject from my point of view, however I need to gain new insights from the multiple perspectives of the problem. In the following posts, I will explore the social, environmental, commercial, and policy perspectives and try to gain novel insights through primary research such as interviews and observations.