In Wednesday’s (10/19) Plain Dealer (Cleveland), Steven Litt writes, “Attending a rock concert at The Q or an opera at Severance Hall is a way to thrill the ears, stir the soul and enjoy an art that makes life worth living. It’s also a way to boost the local economy. A new study to be released Wednesday by the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture shows that music in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County is an industry with a 2009 payroll of $115 million and 2,718 workers in ‘core’ positions in performance, promotion, recording and related disciplines. Collectively, they comprise 0.4 percent of the county’s work force. But those core workers, including 378 musicians, helped generate an additional 3,492 jobs in everything from retail and wholesale to education, with a total economic impact of $840 million, defined as the total value of goods and services generated by musical and music-related activities. … The 212-page study, entitled ‘Remix Cleveland,’ was led by economist Iryna Lendel at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. … The report also says that public policies, perhaps modeled on those of regional music centers such as Austin, Texas; Seattle; Chicago; and Nashville, Tenn., could benefit Cleveland.”
Posted October 20, 2011
