City of Music (UNESCO)

About the cities

In March 2006, Seville was designated as the first City of Music. Bologna was named approximately two months later.

Seville has a "legendary Flamenco scene," and UNESCO lists Flamenco as an "intangible cultural heritage."

Hamamatsu is the founding city of musical instrument companies Yamaha, Kawai, and Roland. It has also a Museum of Musical Instruments.

Liverpool—"the city that spawned The Beatles"—earned its designation due to music's "place in the heart of the city's life." UNESCO also noted a "clearly defined" music, education, and skills strategy for young people.

Idanha-a-Nova "lives by the rhythm of music," Ghent is a "city full of culture," and Auckland is the "beating heart of New Zealand's music industry."

According to Lonely Planet, Daegu is a "pleasant and progressive place," and Leiria is an "agreeable mixture of medieval and modern".

Lonely Planet describes Adelaide as "sophisticated, cultured, and neat-casual". In 2024, after the historic pub and popular live music venue Crown and Anchor was threatened with demolition and then saved after extensive public backlash and protests, the state government introduced laws to protect live music venues in Adelaide city centre. Part of the justification for this was given as the city's status as a City of Music.

Gwalior's Mankutuhal, a historic 15th century treatise on music was complied in 1488 which later become fundamental structure for Hindustani classical music. Dhrupad was first invented in Gwalior by Man Singh. It is globally regarded as the birthplace of the first Hindustani classical gharana, the Gwalior Gharana, the oldest and one of the most influential schools of Hindustani classical music. This gharana laid down the structured form of khayal singing, which remains central to classical performances across India today. It has India's only music university named as Raja Man Singh Tomar Music University, dedicated to Indian Classical Music and other art forms along with the oldest music college in India the Madhav Music College, established in 1918. City also has several music colleges and academies solely dedicated to music.

Cities of Music

As of 2024, there are 75 Cities of Music. Nine countries have two Cities of Music, while six countries have three member cities. Colombia is the only country with four Cities of Music.

The Cities of Music are: