The Most Influential Music Cities In The World

Atlanta - The most influential music city

When we think of music cities, the ones that most often come to mind are Los Angeles, New York, Nashville and London, but it turns out that there are smaller cities that actually have more influence on the music of today and tomorrow. A study called the Geographic Flow of Music shows that sometimes our perceptions don't always match reality. Here are the top 20 music cities in the US according to the study.

Most Influential Music Cities In North America
1. Atlanta
2. Chicago
3. Montreal
4. Pittsburg
5. Houston
6. Toronto
7. Philadelphia
8. Richmond
9. Columbus
10. Los Angeles
11. San Diego
12. Austin
13. Minneapolis
14. New York
15. Vancouver
16. Boston
17. Denver, San Francisco, Seattle/Portland (tie)

When it comes to indie music only, Montreal, Toronto and Los Angeles are the top 3 with Denver and Seattle (surprisingly) at the bottom. For hip hop only, Atlanta, Toronto and Chicago are the top 3 with New York, Portland and Austin coming in last.

In Europe, the differences are even more stark. Here are the top 20 most influential European cities, according to the study.

Most Influential Music Cities In Europe
1. Oslo
2. Stockholm
3. Hamburg
4. Dublin
5. Birmingham
6. Leeds
7. Paris
8. Berlin
9. Brighton
10. London
11. Madrid
12. Bristol
13. Vienna
14. Barcelona
15. Manchester
16. Milan
17. Munich
18. Istanbul
19. Cracow
20. Warsaw

What's interesting is that 7 of these cities are in the United Kingdom, and 3 are in Germany, but who would've thought that Oslo would be the most influential of all?

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