The Economic Impact of Seattle’s Music Industry

Authors: W. Beyers, A. Bonds, A. Wenzl, P. Sommers, University of Washington

Study Link: https://web.williams.edu/Economics/ArtsEcon/Documents/Seattle_Music_StudyFinal.pdf

This report provides a preliminary inventory of music as an industry in the city of Seattle. Music is an activity that enters our daily lives in many ways, surrounded as we are by music of various kinds in our homes, when we drive, when we work, when we shop, and when we recreate. Music is also an activity that creates jobs in many industries in our city. Unlike some industries–such as medical equipment manufacture—that are confined to narrowly defined industrial categories, the music-related business has a complex and multifaceted industrial structure. It is not confined to easily measured industrial classifications, and its participants range from very large businesses such as the Experience Music Project or the Seattle Opera to many small one-person businesses that are a part-time economic activity for an individual.

Category: Economy