Meetings Strike a Chord in ‘Live Music Capital of the World
Austin, Texas, is well known as a music city. In fact, Visit Austin has officially trademarked the city as the “Live Music Capital of the World®” and has an entire division specifically devoted to promoting the local music scene and history to visitors.
As director of music marketing for Visit Austin, Omar Lozano is responsible for marketing Austin as “The Live Music Capital of the World®,” as well as marketing all the great music industry, musicians, and live-music offerings throughout the city. Lozano works closely with Austin-based musicians and live-music stakeholders in creating and promoting live events in Austin and in developing music content and securing music licensing for Visit Austin promotional assets.
Annual live-music events and festivals, including Austin City Limits Music Festival, SXSW, Levitation Music Festival, and Austin Blues Festival, and year-round live-music neighborhoods attract thousands of visitors, many extending their stay beyond the music festival.
Lozano shares how Visit Austin’s music marketing works with planners to incorporate the city’s exciting, eclectic music into an unforgettable “music and meetings” experience.
Apart from its popular music festivals, how did Austin become such a renowned music city?
Austin’s reputation as a music city became widely known back in the ‘70s, when Austin was just a sleepy college town; however, the city has an incredible story dating back to the 1800s. From German beer garden music to Tex-Mex accordion music, Chitlin circuit jazz and blues to the modern rock and soul we know today, Austin’s music scene has been thriving for some time. In fact, many renowned musicians, including Willie Nelson, Gary Clark Jr., Lucinda Williams, Spoon, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Gina Chavez, come from Austin.
How does Austin’s music notoriety help position the city as a meetings destination?
As the demographic for meeting and conference attendees continues to change, more are increasingly motivated to attend, not only because of professional development but also the unique experiences the destination has to offer. Having a deep story in music allows us to pull inspiration from our own community. Visit Austin helps planners integrate all local brands—gastronomy, thought leaders, and music—into meetings, conventions, and offsites to create unforgettable experiences. When you have your meeting in Austin, you will leave inspired by the music you hear and our hyperlocal approach to events.
Why do you feel music plays an important role in visitors’ connection to a destination?
Music and travel have an amazing capacity to create emotional connections. Being able to share this with visitors in our destination at the same time is a very special mission for Visit Austin. Having truly walkable and centralized music neighborhoods and music festivals allows visitors and conference attendees to engage organically with local live music, as well as iconic venues from our destination during their stay.
What are some unique and fun, perhaps custom, ways planners can incorporate Austin music into their events?
We love coordinating live music around many touchpoints in the visitor and meeting attendee experience. We have amazing music-based keynote speakers with stories that will leave you energized, amazing creative spaces and music venue rentals, workshops and retreats, general session house bands, as well as more simple setups, such as a solo musician welcome. We had the pleasure of working with several meetings and conferences this past year, including American Veterinary Medical Association Convention, which booked 20 bands/musicians around different attendee touchpoints, as well as National Potato Council’s Potato Expo 2024, and Jaguar Land Rover Tradeshow.
For any music needs for events or conferences in Austin, planners can connect with our music-booking support team through the Hire an Austin Musician feature available on our VisitAustin.org website.
For many attendees, part of the fun of visiting a new destination is learning about local musical styles/local artists and hearing live music at cool venues. How can planners provide this only-in-Austin “music and meetings” experience?
Let us be your resource for experiencing the city. We have just about every genre of music on stage every night of the week. We strongly encourage visitors and meeting attendees to experience our destination’s great music neighborhoods and annual music events. Many meeting planners take advantage of our iconic music venue rental options, including Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater and Austin City Limits Live at Moody Theatre, where the famous Austin City Limits TV show is filmed.
What sets Austin apart from other music cities, enticing event planners to choose/return to Austin and leaving a lasting impression on attendees?
Our “special sauce” is the emphasis on unique local brands, creatives, and musicians in our marketing and events. Many folks from our city also have a strong instinct for hospitality—whether
it is telling you their favorite taco or BBQ spot, or favorite music venue and favorite local band. We want you to have an amazing time in Austin.
