Entertainment
LONDON’S music scene has traversed a diverse journey, from the tunes of Chas & Dave to the rebellious sounds of the Sex Pistols, and later, to the eclectic beats of Congo Natty, only to circle back once more. Throughout this evolution, the city has resonated with iconic artists like The Who and witnessed historic moments such as Jimi Hendrix’s final performance.
With this in mind, the experts at SeatPick analysed global cities renowned for their music scene to establish the best cities for music lovers to visit.
Highlights from the research:
- London, UK is the top global music hotspot, scoring 9.3/10.
- London has the highest number of concerts planned out of all cities – 1,906.
- Chicago has the most music venues in the US and the second-highest number of scheduled music festivals.
- New York City is the ‘birthplace’ of music, with over 3,000 artists/bands originating from the Big Apple.
- Fans of Vinyl records should head to Tokyo, which has the most Record Stores – 224.
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The 10 best cities for music lovers
| # | City | Country | Number of Music Venues | Number of Music Festivals Planned | Number of live concerts planned | Number of Record Stores | Number of Musical Instrument Stores | Number of Artists/Bands from each city | Score/10 |
| 1 | London | England | 77 | 21 | 1906 | 110 | 19 | 2850 | 9.30 |
| 2 | Los Angeles | United States | 135 | 3 | 1575 | 95 | 41 | 2516 | 9.14 |
| 3 | Chicago | United States | 151 | 11 | 1347 | 56 | 9 | 1795 | 8.91 |
| 4 | New York | United States | 124 | 2 | 1552 | 72 | 38 | 3061 | 8.87 |
| 5 | Nashville | United States | 74 | 3 | 1211 | 53 | 42 | 479 | 8.72 |
| 6 | Seattle | United States | 58 | 4 | 1197 | 38 | 38 | 579 | 8.55 |
| 7 | Austin | United States | 99 | 8 | 856 | 38 | 17 | 393 | 8.44 |
| 8= | Denver | United States | 69 | 5 | 1186 | 20 | 56 | 181 | 8.34 |
| 8= | Boston | United States | 72 | 4 | 1080 | 42 | 17 | 753 | 8.34 |
| 10 | Atlanta | United States | 112 | 4 | 1041 | 9 | 98 | 551 | 8.30 |
SeatPick can reveal that London is the world’s best music hotspot, with a score of 9.3 out of 10. The British capital fares highly on the number of concerts, vinyl record stores and the number of artists/bands originating from the city. 1,906 live concerts are planned within the next year, including Taylor Swift’s five-night run at Wembley Stadium. Other iconic London venues include the O2 arena, Royal Albert Hall and Alexandra Palace.
2,850 bands and artists were born here, including Adele, Amy Winehouse and the legendary Rolling Stones, second only to New York, which gave birth to over 3,000 artists.
In second place is Los Angeles, scoring 9.14 out of 10. LA scores higher than London on the number of music venues and instrument stores, with venues such as the Staples Center and the Hollywood attracting the biggest names in music to its stages. Unforgettable bands such as Guns’N’Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against The Machine all originated from the City of Angels.
In third place is Chicago, Illinois, scoring 8.9 out of 10. The Windy City, known for their Deep Dish Pizza is also known for producing musical acts such as Earth, Wind and Fire and Fall Out Boy. It has 151 music venues – the highest number of music venues across the world, such as Lincoln Hall and the United Center, for fans of bigger artists. Chicago has the most scheduled music festivals in the US (11) fans should visit for their annual Lollapalooza and Chicago Jazz Festivals.
In fourth place is New York City, scoring 8.87 out of 10. The Big Apple has 124 music venues, partly due to being the home of Broadway, but it is also the home of the legendary Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and Beacon Theater. Most artists and bands across the world come from New York, from pop superstar Lady Gaga to rapper Jay-Z and Billy Joel.
In the fifth spot is Nashville, known as the birthplace of Country Music. Fans of live music can visit the iconic Bluebird Cafe, known for jumpstarting the careers of the likes of Taylor Swift and Garth Brooks.
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Methodology:
1. SeatPick conducted a study to find the best music hotspots across the world.
2. A seed list of the top 50 cities known for music was taken from ListChallenges.
3. The number of music festivals across 2023 and 2024 was analysed from Music Festival Wizard.
4. The number of live concerts across 2023 and 2024 was analysed from Songkick.
5. Data for music venues, Vinyl Record stores and music instrument stores were sourced from websites such as Yelp, Google Places and VinylWorld.
6. This data was then percent ranked to provide a total score out of 10 and ranked in order of highest to lowest scoring.
7. Data is correct as of 29 June 2023 and is subject to change.
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