Sunderland bids for Music City status to bring cultural and economic benefits to Wearside

Sunderland is tuning up to become a globally recognised Music City, bringing economic and cultural benefits to Wearside.

A partnership led by Sunderland Music, Arts and Culture (MAC) Trust aims to brand Sunderland as part of a worldwide network of Music Cities.

Using music, musicians, audiences and venues, the Sunderland Music City Partnership plans to build on the city’s proud music heritage to:

:: Change people’s cultural experience in the city and the region

:: Change cultural expectations, aspirations and ambitions and make Sunderland a place where musical talent wants to study, live and thrive; and in doing so...

:: Change Sunderland as a place, making it more vibrant and creative and recognised for its music.

The Music City project has already received £337,000 in grants.

Launching the initiative at The Fire Station, Paul Callaghan, chair of the MAC Trust, said: “To achieve our ambition the involvement and buy-in of the local music community is vital.

“We’ll encourage, promote and deliver collaboration across the different sectors of our music community.

"Evidence shows co-operation and collaboration can lead to significant improvements in the provision and operation of the music industry in the city.

"So Music City will create opportunities for networking, mentoring and education to build relationships and trust within the music community.

“In doing so, we will seek consensus on common issues that will deliver broad benefits across the sector locally. While regionally and nationally we’ll develop strong relationships with all levels of government.”

Michelle Daurat, MAC Trust chief executive, added: “A vibrant music economy will help drive the city in several important ways through job creation, economic growth, tourism development, city reputation, brand building and artistic growth.

"In looking at other cities throughout the world that have developed as Music Cities, they have been seen to attract other commercial investment, along with talent attraction and retention in education and employment.”

The  Music Cities Network  is a worldwide non-profit association uniting music cities and policy makers around the globe.

It aims to create more business opportunities locally and internationally, bridge the gaps between music scenes and persuade decision makers recognise the importance of music.

The founding cities of the Music Cities Network are Manchester, Aarhus, Bergen, Berlin, Hamburg, Gothenburg, Groningen, Nantes, Reykjavik and Sydney.

To join the Sunderland Music City Partnership, visit www.MusicCity.uk.