Mamma Mia! Sweden gets the most musicians during the pandemic
Call it the ABBA effect: More musicians migrated to Stockholm, Sweden during the pandemic than to any other place according to a new analysis released today by UCR School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development. The analysis examined a very specific labor market – musicians on Soundcloud, a major platform for sharing and distributing music online – and found that musicians after Stockholm had most likely migrated to Berlin, San Paulo, Toronto and Paris.
America’s best city, Philadelphia, ranks 7th on the list of regions that musicians have moved to the most. Overall, American cities performed relatively poorly with the 11 lowest cities on the list, either losing musicians or remaining flat, all located in the United States. In addition to Philadelphia, American cities that received musicians were Washington DC, Nashville and San Diego.
“Part of the reason for the weaker results in US subways may be due to repatriation,” he said. Patrick Adler, head of research at the Center for Forecasts, and author of the report. “If migrants had previously moved to the United States from areas such as Stockholm, Berlin and Toronto, the pandemic may have motivated them to return.”
Before the pandemic, about 30% of Soundcloud musicians were from Los Angeles, New York, London or Nashville – and this top-line number remained the same as London and Nashville gained musicians during the crisis while the other two “superstar metros” lost. .
Apart from regional differences, overall, the study finds that the pandemic did not drive musicians’ migration to any great extent. Of the 11,503 Soundcloud artists who qualified for the study, only 308 indicated that they moved to a new region between August 2019 and October 2020. “This is fully consistent with the perception that technological change that has swept other parts of the economy has been less profound. for musicians who have used remotely adapted technology longer, says Adler.
In fact, the study points out that not all knowledge-intensive work has changed due to the pandemic. “Musicians are an exciting case because the production of music is very sensitive to remotely compatible digital technology,” says Adler. “But as early users of digital production technologies, they can see subdued effects.”
The analysis is part of the Center for Forecasts’ ongoing research on changing urban assets during the pandemic. Taner Osman’s latest analysis considered the fate of densely populated urban areas across the country, and Adler is also leading a study on San Bernardino’s recovery strategy.
The complete analysis, Like A Rolling Stone? Musician migration during the pandemic, is available here.
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