TMO Launches First Music Friendly Communities Workshop
On Thursday, July 20, TMO Director Brendon Anthony (pictured right) presented the first “Music Friendly Communities” workshop in Fort Worth, with the assistance of the Fort Worth Convention and Visitor's Bureau. More than 50 music business professionals from the Fort Worth community turned out to learn about the new Texas Music Office program that seeks to foster music business economic development in Texas cities and communities, as well as to develop the interconnection of these communities.
"Tourism in Fort Worth is a $2 billion industry, supports more than 22,000 jobs," said Mitch Whitten, vice president of marketing for the Fort Worth Convention and Visitor's Bureau (CVB) during an interview with NBC 5 Dallas. "We think music is an important part of that and will continue to help us grow the tourism business."
The Fort Worth CVB helped start the initiative "Hear Fort Worth" to promote the local Fort Worth music scene around the world, and are now partnering with the Texas Music Office.
"We want to be the first city (receiving the official 'Music Friendly Community' designation)," said Tom Martens, creative director for the Fort Worth CVB, and a "Hear Fort Worth" board member.
The Music Friendly Communities workshop mission statement:
“The Texas Music Office believes that it is essential to the well-being of our statewide music industry that we become a more interconnected and organized community. Every city in Texas has its own identity and contribution to our unique industry landscape. We want to work with all of them to help grow their local music industry economies. By establishing a single point of contact within a city organization to service the concerns of the local music industry, cities can more effectively communicate with industry professionals and articulate industry issues that may need to be addressed by city leadership. These strategies will greatly benefit music industry professionals statewide, and will allow each city to better market itself globally. As the TMO works to expand the Music Friendly Communities program, we will also work to connect these points of contact with one another to share best practice concepts. It is our firm belief that by sharing information about industry successes, as well as missteps, we will make Texas a more productive and profitable music industry and a more strategically-placed player in the international music industry landscape.”