On August 29, 1991, the Austin City Council passed a resolution most of us here either ignored or laughed away as yet another example of concentrating on the meaningless, while important issues languished. The resolution was ridiculous: Austin would now be called the "Live Music Capital of the World." C'mon, we said, there are certainly other places on earth that deserved that moniker.
On Thursday the City will celebrate the 20th anniversary of that event. Marcia Ball will play inside council chambers, and resolutions will be read, because, somehow, the title stuck.
It all started when Lillian Standfield, an Austin musician at the time, thought the city should have a slogan promoting the music scene. She came up with "Music Capital of the USA." Kinda catchy... not.
The City researched the idea and low and behold, discovered that Austin contained more live music venues per capita than anywhere else. Amazing. More than Nashville, Memphis, L.A., Vegas or New York. So, "Music Capital of the USA" wasn't big enough. Austin went with "Live Music Capital of the World."
Once the giggling stopped, we largely forgot about it. However, the City Council did not. In the last 20 years, Austin has committed to music and culture more than any other city. We have HAAM, SIMS, the Creative Industries Loan Guarantee Program and a Live Music Task Force. We have ACL Music Fest and Fun Fun Fun Fest and too many more to name. On any given night we can walk through the Warehouse district or 6th Street and hear live music wafting through the air.
In 2001, the City of Austin found the music industry added over $600 million to Austin’s economy and 11,000 jobs. Another study in 2005 tallied Austin music receipts at $419 million and music-related tourism at $580 million in economic impact. That's $1 billion dollars into Austin. Real money.
Live music defines Austin, and the work of Council member (and former street flower sales guy) Max Nofziger and the 1991 Austin City Council was both smart and appropriate. It's not funny, it's just true.
That's worth celebrating.
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The public is invited to Austin City hall for the anniversary event. Marcia Ball will play at 5:30 pm Thursday night followed by resolutions and honors given to the 1991 City Council and the 1991 Austin Music Commission. The celebration is free, a reception will follow the event in the City Hall atrium.