Best Cities With Great Music Scenes

[Division Monarchy]

So here's the deal... I'm looking to relocate somewhere (preferably outside the US) & want to get some ideas of what cities people like & for what reasons. Ideally a nice music scene & busking possibilities should be there. I was just living in Berlin for a couple years & found it to be completely over-hyped. I really like London & Paris but am unsure of how the music scenes are. I'm leaning towards somewhere in the UK, but will go anywhere that feels right. Thoughts? Advice? The music I make is electro/rock/goth/postpunk/wave if that matters...

[TomViolenz]

So here's the deal... I'm looking to relocate somewhere (preferably outside the US) & want to get some ideas of what cities people like & for what reasons. Ideally a nice music scene & busking possibilities should be there. I was just living in Berlin for a couple years & found it to be completely over-hyped.

Not that I disagree, but if being over-hyped is what bothers you then I don't think London will make you any happier.
And Paris?! I wasn't aware they even still had a music scene....

[Division Monarchy]

Maybe overhyped is not the right word. My expectations of Berlin were a bit short, given all the great music technology that comes from there in companies like Ableton & Native Instruments, I was expecting more a more cutting edge music scene from there & in my own opinion it sucked. Great place to go out getting wasted & fucking a stranger, but to actually do music there was not so much... London might not be the best music place in the UK, but when you take into consideration how many UK bands & artists are renown as opposed to German ones, it is really no comparison... I'm just curious as to which cities in Europe have great music scenes not including Berlin (AKA Wannabe Brooklyn).

[TomViolenz]

Maybe overhyped is not the right word. My expectations of Berlin were a bit short, given all the great music technology that comes from there in companies like Ableton & Native Instruments, I was expecting more a more cutting edge music scene from there & in my own opinion it sucked. Great place to go out getting wasted & fucking a stranger, but to actually do music there was not so much...

What specifically did you look for? Venues where you could play out, other artists to colaborate with, ways to work with/in music?!
Because these things exist. You just have to look for them and be open.
It's true the mainstream clubs (and yes I already mean places like Berghain etc.) are not about the music. They are about that stupid Berlin hype and tourists wanting to get a piece of it. But they can be easily avoided (In the case of Berghain that's even easier than most would like it to be ).

Show me another place in the world right now where you can get by with so little money, be welcome (granted in that special Berlin kind of way ) and meet so many other artists and musicians and locations where you can organize parties.

You want to find a new scene?! Make one! Berlin provides easy foundations for it. Or you can be just another tourist, your choice. But hurry up, the way it is now is already much worse than it was 10 years ago (not even speaking of 20 years ago ), the capitalists are taking over this city too until all of that was special about it is gone.
Look at Paris, that's exactly what happened there.

Berlin (AKA Wannabe Brooklyn)

Try it the other way around....

[Division Monarchy]

The city def has perks as far as low rent goes but that is changing. I think it tries too hard to be London or NYC, but falls way short in the same opportunities because the ceiling there is very low. Plus the winters are dark & dreadful, although I find a charm to the UK rain... The point of my post is to find out what other cities have a cool creative vibe with a somewhat international culture... I had a lot of fun in Berlin & it was the first city I moved to abroad, but do not wish to return there, which is why I am specifically saying cities other than Berlin.

[derzai]

Trondheim is great, especially in winter. Summer too much muskitos. Also in winter they give you more money for busking.

OP is a whiner.

[Division Monarchy]

OP is a whiner.

Go fuck yourself if you want to get into name calling. You don't know a fucking thing about me. So go piss off with whatever shitty music you make.

[Division Monarchy]

If people can't just be cool & answer questions without being snide, then don't say anything. Go back to twiddling knobs while pretending to be a musician, because that's all most computer "musicians" are.

[derzai]

If people can't just be cool & answer questions without being snide, then don't say anything. Go back to twiddling knobs while pretending to be a musician, because that's all most computer "musicians" are.

^^^strawman.

go find a job man.

[derzai]

i get so tired of these cliches like "best cities" and "great music scenes".

i'm from amsterdam and there's buckets full of buskers here.

and very international too.

but brussels is cool too, as is antwerp, or bordeaux, or porto, or ljubliana, or stuttgart or wherever.

do a google and make your mind up.

there is supermarkets everywhere and as far as i know in my country they dont kick your ass for playing your guitar.

and yes i do give money to buskers, 50 cents or 1 euro, and if they are really playing well i might give them 5 or 10.

but then they have to be really good.

[derzai]

oh yeh about being cool, i dont give a klonk about being kool.

as tom wolfe said: being cool is like wearing a lead shield.

[Division Monarchy]

I'm not trying to argue with anyone here, I just did not appreciate your tone.

When someone asks for a "best of" something, maybe you take issue with that for whatever reason. But I'm not here to be anyone's psychiatrist.

Obviously you know of some cool places, which you just mentioned & I appreciate that. That was all I was trying to get from people was some ideas. Especially of places that won't try to kick your ass for playing a guitar. Yes, there is Google, but for that why bother to have a forum then? I was interested to hear what the opinions of musicians on this forum were, with the exception of one city that I already know. Is there something wrong with that?

Sorry to go off like I did, but I took your initial reply as patronizing. But whatever, I'm not here to make enemies, just to learn & share whatever I can that might be useful to people as well.

[Division Monarchy]

And because you mentioned it, I'm now thinking ljubljana sounds like an interesting place to check out.

[derzai]

And because you mentioned it, I'm now thinking ljubljana sounds like an interesting place to check out.

yeh, nice place, good vibes, mild climate.

in amsterdam you will have tremendous amount of competition.

[derzai]

I just did not appreciate your tone.

mutual, hence the whining remark.