Opinion: Violent Femmes' Brian Ritchie Shares What He Thinks Makes A Music City

Brian Ritchie, MONA's Music Curator and bass guitarist for Violent Femmes, shares an insider's guide to building a city that makes beautiful music together ahead of his appearance at this year's Music Cities Convention.

A music city has: musicians who aren't satisfied with what's available and start their own scenes. Don't wait for someone else to do it.

A music city has: a bustling street music and busking scene. Preferably not officially sanctioned by the nanny state. Chaos, noise and beauty interrupting people's concentration while they're circulating. Music on the street corners, subways and in the parks. Get out and play.

A music city has: official and unofficial music mentors who take young musicians under their wings and help them find their voices. A kind word at the right time can change a musician's future.

A music city has: young leaders who set a visible example for other kids and don't leave for greener pastures. Brain drain kills the smaller music cities.

A music city has: fashionistas who link in with the music scene. Make it difficult for people to tell if you're a performer or just look like one.

A music city has: musical instrument manufacturers, inventors, luthiers, violin makers, drum makers, nerds building synths and pedals, people carving flutes.

A music city has: people to repair all those instruments when they break.

A music city has: record shops that cater to all tastes and genres. You can buy music on the internet, but you will meet people in record shops who will become lifelong friends in reality. I have.

A music city has: a steady influx of immigrants and visitors. All great music cities represent crossroads and intersections of cultures.

A music city has: women who don't care what men think and go on to defy the music industry and education system. We are one of the most backwards professions. Women lead the way despite that.

A music city has: churches, cathedrals, temples and meditation centres with vibrant and joyous music pouring out the doors and windows. Choirs, organs, drums, gongs, oboes and flutes sounding for no other reason than glorifying higher forces.

A music city has: newspapers, websites, fanzines, radio and television stations who promote local music, even that of little commercial value. The airwaves are a public resource, paper is expensive, let's use it for something useful. Bonus points for television and radio broadcasting live music.

A music city has: amateur music associations, groups and events. People making music for the love of it.

A music city has: live music in every nook and cranny. Pubs, schools, boats, cafes, bridges, tunnels, gazebos, bandstands, courtyards, museums, hospitals, doorways, alleys, basements, airports, garages and playgrounds.

A music city has: a regional specialty, like New Orleans jazz, Seattle grunge, Brooklyn hip hop, Kingston reggae, Coimbra fado, Athens rembetika, Jakarta gamelan, Chennai carnatic, Chicago blues, Viennese waltz, Austin country swing. Some of the best music cities have more than one.

A music city has: educators who teach the kids the tools of the trade but leave room for them to have fun. It's called playing music for a reason. It should be playful.

A music city has: filmmakers, poets, dancers, light-show artists, painters, sculptors, puppeteers, chefs and athletes who love music and want to collaborate with musicians. We can't do it all ourselves.

A music city has: record labels documenting the music created in that city and launching it onto the world stage. This can be utterly commercial or niche as hell. The echoes of this work are heard decades later.

A music city has: festivals big and small throughout the year. Music festivals, food festivals, film festivals, literary festivals, all programming musicians.

A music city has: a symphony orchestra. Symphonic musicians anchor a music city by all their ancillary work like teaching, spin-off bands, backing up touring musicians and being visible representations that music can indeed be a job or profession.

A music city has: recording studios, big and small. Sometimes a recording studio can change the entire destiny of a music city. For example, Sun Studios in Memphis, Studio One in Kingston or Abbey Road in London. This is becoming rarer due to the collapse of the recording industry and availability of home recording gear. So support your local studio!

A music city has: tuneful animals. Cicadas, crickets, locusts, frogs, birds. Animals are some of the best musicians. Musicologists think music arose as an imitation of their sounds.

A music city has: patience. Sometimes the music of a city takes decades or even centuries to reach its apotheosis. Keep plugging away.

A music city has: last but foremost. Listeners and audiences with big and hungry ears. Music is its own reward but without an enthusiastic crowd it gets starved of oxygen.

Brian Ritchie presents My Music Cities #5: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia at Music Cities Convention Melbourne tomorrow. Head here for more info.