TORONTO – Mayor Rob Ford is planning to “sell Toronto” during his trip to Austin, Texas this week.
Along with Councillors Gary Crawford, Josh Colle, Doug Ford and representatives from Toronto’s music industry, Ford will be travelling to Austin on Thursday to promote the city’s musical talent.
“Tell people how great this city is, tell them that we have the venues, tell them that we have recording studios,” Ford said at a press conference Monday.
A January report indicated that cultural spending in Toronto – including music – brought in approximately $4.1 billion in 2010. The economic impact of that spending included 67,000 jobs, $2.4 billion in wages and $1.7 billion in taxes.
According to Ford, Austin’s music industry alone generates $1.4 billion annually.
Councillor Josh Colle, whom the mayor gave credit for the idea of the trip, said Toronto’s music industry is largely unsubsidized and characterized it as an untapped economic opportunity.
“As a music fan, I sat there and thought why are we not taking advantage of this industry that we don’t have to subsidize?” Colle said. “While Austin has declared themselves the live music capital of world… we have more venues, we have more recording artists, we have more studios, so why would we not be a little more bold?”
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