Where is the best place in your opinion to live and work as a Musician in the Uk ?

[frannie01]

Hi I've been thinking about re locating from the the southeast,having been here all my life,but would really like to know musicians thoughts on the subject including best work opportunities including music teaching local music schools, night life, avoid areas, cheaper housing, travel, infrastructure etc... its  big subject but I would welcome any comments Thanks Paul F 

Edited May 10, 2018 by frannie01

[mentalextra]

I thought all the 'cool dudes' were moving to Brighton these days?

[Daz39]

Just now, mentalextra said:

I thought all the 'cool dudes' were moving to Brighton these days?

London-on-sea, good luck affording anything there though!

[mentalextra]

1 minute ago, Daz39 said:

London-on-sea, good luck affording anything there though!

Have you been there recently?

[Daz39]

5 minutes ago, mentalextra said:

Have you been there recently?

Yep. My brother lived there for years but he just couldn’t afford to buy and rents were crazy.

 

[mentalextra]

Just now, Daz39 said:

Yep. My brother lived there for years but he just couldn’t afford to buy and rents were crazy.

 

Makes you wonder why it's so popular with the young trendy types. They can't all be millionaires from London?

[Skol303]

Hard to answer this question unless you’re someone who’s moved about a lot... most folks will only know the pros and cons of their own yard.

Common sense would suggest to me any of the bigger cities. More people usually = more opportunities.

The music is industry is itself very London-centric. And I hear the streets there are also paved with gold  

[lozkerr]

1 hour ago, Skol303 said:

The music is industry is itself very London-centric. And I hear the streets there are also paved with gold  

Not unless dog poo and McDonalds packaging is made from gold...

[chris_b]

I knew a drummer who moved from London to Manchester because the gig scene was better up there.

I've done OK over the years in the South East but there are good music scenes all over the country..

[peteb]

Of you are thinking of moving to the frozen north, I would suggest Newcastle or Manchester. Sheffield might be worth a look as well...

[ambient]

Birmingham. Just an hour and a half from London, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool. Great motorway access, excellent railway access.

[Phil Starr]

I think it's as simple as knowing the population size, the more people the more they need entertainment and the arts. the bigger the market the greater the opportunities. Every now and then there's a lucky coincidence of great musicians that come together and a 'scene' arises in one town. London and Liverpool in the early 60's, Coventry in the late 70's Manchester in the 80's but you can't really plan for that. 

No-one has mentioned Bristol yet so I will, lively musically with a bit of an alternative feel. 

good Luck

[bartelby]

18 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

Coventry in the late 70's

Coventry and Birmingham in the mid to late 80s, with the rise of crust, grindcore and death metal, were pretty lively.

 

And yeah, Bristol has a massive music scene at the moment.

[chris_b]

The problem with moving from here to there is the cliquishness of musicians. It's very difficult to move from being an outsider to an insider in many areas.

[lozkerr]

15 hours ago, frannie01 said:

Hi I've been thinking about re locating from the the southeast,having been here all my life,but would really like to know musicians thoughts on the subject including best work opportunities including music teaching local music schools, night life, avoid areas, cheaper housing, travel, infrastructure etc... its  big subject but I would welcome any comments Thanks Paul F 

You could think about Edinburgh - the money you'd get from a house in Bournemouth would buy you a nice place here. I moved here a couple of years ago - the Berkhamsted location is just while I'm still working in London - and it was the best move I've ever made. It does help that I was born in Auld Reekie, though 

There certainly are dodgy parts of the city - steer clear of places like Niddrie and Craigmillar - but there are a lot of nice areas too. It's easy to get about, even though Lothian Buses haven't discovered card payments yet and the tram comes to an abrupt halt in York Place. Decent night life, too.

On the downside, the centre gets absolutely rammed during the tourist season. It's far worse than Bournemouth. My own home is on the Royal Mile and just getting to the supermarket when the festival's on can be like struggling through a crowded Tube station. But all in all, Edinburgh's a great place to live!

[frannie01]

Hi yes Iv'e briefly looked that way but will investigate further! there were some lovely cheapish places on the "borders" but wondered if it was comutable to Edinburgh.Thanks so much for your comments,ya never know I may end up moving there so we could hopefully say" Hi"

[frannie01]

1 hour ago, bartelby said:

Coventry and Birmingham in the mid to late 80s, with the rise of crust, grindcore and death metal, were pretty lively.

 

And yeah, Bristol has a massive music scene at the moment.

Yes The Midlands has been there since "Sabbath" but I never new that about Bristol. I'm about 2 hours away and barely get to visit or work there. I think the problem maybe that Facebook users promoting gigs bands etc...only seem reach out locally  So that anyone outside any particular county, never get to hear about what's going on.

[frannie01]

2 hours ago, chris_b said:

The problem with moving from here to there is the cliquishness of musicians. It's very difficult to move from being an outsider to an insider in many areas.

Yes thats true,I'm finding that a problem here in Dorset...I'm kind of fed up with that and just want to make "good music" but also have a better quality of life in general, Thanks mate....

[frannie01]

3 hours ago, Phil Starr said:

I think it's as simple as knowing the population size, the more people the more they need entertainment and the arts. the bigger the market the greater the opportunities. Every now and then there's a lucky coincidence of great musicians that come together and a 'scene' arises in one town. London and Liverpool in the early 60's, Coventry in the late 70's Manchester in the 80's but you can't really plan for that. 

No-one has mentioned Bristol yet so I will, lively musically with a bit of an alternative feel. 

good Luck

 

[frannie01]

16 minutes ago, frannie01 said:

 

Hi Thanks for the info I'll give  a more detailed reply soon as I'm all quoted out Cheers

 

 

PF  -:) 

[EliasMooseblaster]

You may find that the genre of music you want to make is another source of head-scratching. There are indeed lots of lively scenes up and down the country, but some of them are very heavily biased towards particular styles. We're good friends with a Cambridge-based group, who regularly complain that they struggle to get a look-in locally because they don't sit on the spectrum between Folk and Nausiatingly Twee Acoustic. I hear there's a similarly narrow focus throughout much of Oxford. In a similar (but perhaps not unexpected) way. Brighton seems to favour those who fall under the trendier corners of the "Alternative" musical umbrella, and Leeds seems to be dominated by Generic Indie Masquerading As Garage Punk.

[frannie01]

Just now, frannie01 said:

 

Hi, yes all true...Liverpool was lucky enough to have the docks and that allowed an influx of musical influences outside of the uk to slowly become part of our cultural norm.On the flip side London these days is outside of the price range (in terms of housing and renting) for most working musicians (who don't have the support of the Bank of "Mum & Dad") It harbours a "closed shop" mentality regarding any new (or old for that matter) musicians trying to break into the music scene has lots of live music venues but pays very little.I'd like to think there is an alternative to that..Hopefully.....Cheers PF 

[frannie01]

4 hours ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

You may find that the genre of music you want to make is another source of head-scratching. There are indeed lots of lively scenes up and down the country, but some of them are very heavily biased towards particular styles. We're good friends with a Cambridge-based group, who regularly complain that they struggle to get a look-in locally because they don't sit on the spectrum between Folk and Nausiatingly Twee Acoustic. I hear there's a similarly narrow focus throughout much of Oxford. In a similar (but perhaps not unexpected) way. Brighton seems to favour those who fall under the trendier corners of the "Alternative" musical umbrella, and Leeds seems to be dominated by Generic Indie Masquerading As Garage Punk.

Hi Thanks for that a valid point.I'm more interested  now as I get older in making music defined by my instruments not necessarily the genre although obviously that is an important part.I'd like to be somewhere that has a national stake in its artistic heritage possibly Scotland or Ireland.Another mitigating factor would be the "cost of living".I know I may taking a naive approach but its something I feel I have to investigate.

 

Thanks again Paul

[LukeFRC]

22 hours ago, lozkerr said:

You could think about Edinburgh - the money you'd get from a house in Bournemouth would buy you a nice place here. I moved here a couple of years ago - the Berkhamsted location is just while I'm still working in London - and it was the best move I've ever made. It does help that I was born in Auld Reekie, though 

There certainly are dodgy parts of the city - steer clear of places like Niddrie and Craigmillar - but there are a lot of nice areas too. It's easy to get about, even though Lothian Buses haven't discovered card payments yet and the tram comes to an abrupt halt in York Place. Decent night life, too.

On the downside, the centre gets absolutely rammed during the tourist season. It's far worse than Bournemouth. My own home is on the Royal Mile and just getting to the supermarket when the festival's on can be like struggling through a crowded Tube station. But all in all, Edinburgh's a great place to live!

Edinburgh is an amazing place to live... but only IME if you're a student, or have a decent paying income. If you're in the lower pay grades it's not that amazing as you'll have a good quality of life, but kinda no be saving very much. Plus if it's music opportunities surely it would be Glasgow you would move too? Way more open city to blow-ins too - Edinburgh can be a bit cliquey sometimes. 
On the plus side if you do similar to lozkerr and buy somewhere on the royal mile, factor going on holiday every august.... the rent from letting your flat out will pay for the month holiday, plus the whole year of mortgage payments! 

On 5/11/2018 at 00:22, peteb said:

Of you are thinking of moving to the frozen north, I would suggest Newcastle or Manchester. Sheffield might be worth a look as well...

Halifax - super cheap and easy distance from Leeds, Manchester and at a push Sheffield
Hebdon Bridge if you've a bit more money and want people to *know* you're a musician...

[lozkerr]

6 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

On the plus side if you do similar to lozkerr and buy somewhere on the royal mile, factor going on holiday every august.... the rent from letting your flat out will pay for the month holiday, plus the whole year of mortgage payments!

That's no far off the truth - you can earn ridiculous money during the festival and Hogmanay if you let your place out.