Conceptualizing the management and consumption of live music in urban space

This paper examines how live music performed outdoors contributes to an overall urban servicescape capable of transforming perceptions of urban environments. A broad spectrum of outdoor musical performance is discussed ranging from major festivals to busking. The benefits of live music in urban space are highlighted in terms of benefits to the local economy and widening arts engagement. Key issues are discussed within the context of the wider place marketing literature, and it is proposed that the role of music in the marketing of specifically urban places may be conceptualized in terms of three distinct continua – managed/spontaneous, spectacular/mundane, and exclusive/inclusive. As jazz has been consistently identified as an urban genre, each continuum is discussed with reference to jazz performances within the context of a specific urban space – St.