Since you pretty much never go anywhere anymore without headphones blasting music into your ear holes, a city's music scene ranks pretty close to its restaurants and bars in terms of cultural goings-on. Some cities birth entire musical genres and hordes of artists, while others act like magnets that bring in eclectic acts from across the nation. Which is why we factored in local acts, historic venues, and explosive festivals to produce this indisputable ranking of the top 12 American cities for music.
We’re here to honor the country’s greatest music destinations.
The five best music cities in America make the grade for their abundance of talent, ample venues, worthy festivals and thriving music scenes.
For most intents and purposes, the music industry is constrained to Los Angeles and New York City. While both cities have proven themselves to be the leading musical locales, there are a number of up-and-coming cities with their own exceptional scenes that are worth looking out for.
First on the list is Austin, Texas. Austin is the renowned live musical capital of the world and is home to two of North America’s largest musical festival in SXSW and Austin City Limits. The city is also home to an exceptional group of local artist like Shakey Graves, Observatory, Wild Child Ghostland and an array of others.
Number two on the list is Toronto, Ontario. Before the city was coined as the six by Drake, it was home to the legendary Rush and Neil Young. Since then, there has been a musical boom of diverse talents emerging from the city. One of the biggest artist besides Drake to come out of Toronto is the Weeknd and his dark melodic twist on the RnB and & Pop genre has a had large influence on the Toronto music scene.
Nashville, TN holds the number three spot on the list. The fact that the city is on the list shouldn’t be a huge surprise as its been known as a breeding ground for some of the best country music in the world, but the indie rock scene has quickly become one of the best in the country. Nashville is home to Jack White’s Willy Wonka-esque Third Man Records while artists like Kills and the Black keys have made the move to the city.
Number four on the list is Madison, WI. The city being on this the list much less this high may be a surprise to some but those with their ears to the streets would know that Madison places second only to Austin Texas in the number of concerts per capita.
Rounding out the top five best promising music scenes is Brooklyn, NY. Although the city is already known for music, the boroughs in Brooklyn are home to some of the most exciting and interesting music scenes in New York which is proven with the annual Gigawatts Festival.
Rounding out the rest of the list is Montreal in sixth place whom much like Toronto has a diverse array of music like EDM and indie rock. Chicago, whose popular hip hop movement led by Chief Keef and Chance the rapper have taken the music scene by surprise. Washington, DC which is home to the trendy Moombahton scene at the U Street music Hall. Athens, GA like Montreal has a lively indie rock scene and holding the last spot on the list is Portland, OR where indie rock is also a booming sensation and home to some some exceptional acts in Wampire and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
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