Abstract

Business Clustering is a phenomenon common in many industries around the world. Technology, manufacturing, and creative industries all experience the clustering of businesses to a certain geographical area to partake in the competitive advantages related to being near a hub business. This phenomenon is true in the creative industry. When a record label opens an office in a city, it creates opportunities for many facets of the music industry to locate in the same area to take advantage of the opportunities that the label provides. Additionally, when a music festival spawns in a new area, it creates opportunities for creatives to take advantage of the opportunities to be involved with the festival. Both creative examples also provide benefits for the communities in which they are involved. Infrastructure growth, overall investment in a local economy, and job creation associated with a cluster can greatly benefit the region where the cluster resides. The benefits of locating near a hub are not static, however, and can differ depending on where the cluster resides in its life cycle. Discussed in this study are the creative business clusters of Nashville, TN in the United States and Hultsfred, Sweden. The factors that influence the success of music clusters as well as the factors that lead to their decline are examined to determine best practices for developing and maintaining a successful music business cluster.

Editor, Scholarship and Research

Business Clustering is a phenomenon common in many industries around the world. Technology, manufacturing, and creative industries all experience the clustering of businesses to a certain geographical area to partake in the competitive advantages related to being near a hub business (Romanova et al., 2019). For the computer industry, the hub may be the computer manufacturer. The businesses that would locate near the manufacturer might be battery makers, hard drive makers, computer chip makers, and aluminum manufacturers all supplying parts to the hub. In the automobile industry, a car maker could be a hub with companies making different parts of the manufacturers’ automobiles all located in the same city as the manufacturer. The same is true in the creative industry. When a record label opens an office in a city, it creates opportunities for many facets of the music industry to locate in the same area to take advantage of the opportunities that the label provides. Additionally, when a music festival spawns in a new area, it creates opportunities for creatives to take advantage of the opportunities to be involved with the festival. Both creative examples also provide benefits for the communities in which they are involved. Infrastructure growth, overall investment in a local economy, and job creation associated with a cluster can greatly benefit the region where the cluster resides (Romanova et al. 2019). The benefits of locating near a hub are not static, however, and can differ depending on where the cluster resides in its life cycle. Discussed in this study are the creative business clusters of Nashville, TN in the United States and Hultsfred, Sweden. The factors that influence the success of the music clusters and lead to the decline are examined to determine best practices for developing and maintaining a successful music business cluster.

Cluster Life Cycles

Denney, et al. (2020) explained that business clusters’ life cycles move from their formation, exist for a time, and eventually will either be forced to evolve or enter a stage of decline. While some clusters exist for an extended period, they are not phenomena that are static but move slowly along their life cycles, sometimes over a period of many years. Denney, et al. (2020) outlined that as business clusters evolve, they will experience distinct stages along their life cycle. The cluster life cycle stages identified were those of emergence, growth, maturation, and decline or renewal.

Emergence Stage

The emergence stage occurs when a hub, or hubs, are established and businesses begin to locate close to the hub(s) to take advantage of the resources provided (Ye et al. 2020). In a creative industry, the hub could be any type of core business that draws other businesses to the same location to realize the advantages that the hub provides. As a result, an industry forms, and the rising number of stakeholders helps to create an ecosystem of cooperation and mutual benefit (Auerswald & Dani 2017). Businesses outside the cluster begin to realize the benefits and begin relocating within the cluster to gain competitive advantages (Jankowiak 2022). This leads to the next life cycle stage of growth.

Growth Stage

As more and more entities realize the benefits of locating within a creative business cluster, the number of new members increases dramatically in a period of exponential growth. As the growth continues, businesses will experience the benefits of working together and develop close relationships both in business and personally between members of the entities (Denney et al., 2020). Social networks will grow and become strong, trust develops, and members tend to become close and interact face-to-face (Menzel & Fornahl 2010). It is during the growth stage that culture and common business practices emerge. Growth stages tend to exemplify low barriers to entry within the market with a welcoming mentality to new members joining the cluster.

Mature Stage

After a sustained period of success, a creative cluster enters a period of slowing down known as the mature stage. In this stage, barriers to entry may develop as the traditional ways of doing business may be less successful than the systems of firms outside the market (Menzel & Fornahl 2020). Another phenomenon that occurs during the mature stage is that large firms outside the cluster attempt to reap the benefits of the successful market and attempt to enter the cluster through acquisition (Cottineau & Arcaute 2020). These large entities tend to try to exert their financial prowess over the market and discourage cooperation with the other entities within the cluster. When this happens, innovation and entrepreneurship will tend to shift to businesses outside the cluster and growth will slow (Menzel & Fornahl 2020).

Decline or Renewal Stage

When a cluster’s growth becomes stagnant and it begins to lose members, it enters the declining stage. At this point, the advantages of being located within the cluster will greatly diminish or disappear (Jankowiak 2020). A lack of startup companies and new market entries will become evident and knowledge flow will suffer. At this point, the competitive advantages of the mature stage may become disadvantages. A common catalyst for a market to enter the decline stage is when large companies control a significant number of the market’s core competencies (Menzel & Fornahl 2010). These new, larger firms can greatly diminish the cooperation and entrepreneurial spirit of the market (Cottineau & Arcaute 2020). This lessened opportunity has been shown to cause companies to leave the cluster seeking competitive advantages elsewhere which Ostapenko et al. (2022) called delocalization. At this point, markets will either evolve, become greatly diminished, or cease to exist altogether. The decline stage does not always mean the end of a music cluster. In many cases, clusters will evolve and find new competitive advantages. Even in a declining cluster that does not evolve, industries do not necessarily disappear forever. The industry may remain in the same area geographically just without the previous competitive advantages and prosperity (Desmarchelier & Zhang 2018).

Nashville, Tennessee, USA

According to Baker (2016), Nashville, Tennessee in the United States exhibits the qualities of a music cluster centered around the business of country music. Music clusters tend to emerge around Hub businesses (Ye et al. 2020). In Nashville, the major labels, Sony, Universal, and Warner Brothers are located in the city and serve as the hubs for the historically successful country music creative industry that annually generates more than five billion dollars (Baker 2016). The presence of the major labels in the city has created an opportunity for other creative professionals associated with the music industry to locate within the community. The creatives include musicians, managers, studio owners, songwriters, publishers, booking agents, recording engineers, producers, and other stakeholders. The positive aspects due to the proximity to the hubs create a symbiosis of cluster members mutually benefiting and working together while supplying the needs of the hub (Hodges 2023). The market, traditionally located in the one-mile area known as Music Row on 16th and 17th avenues sustained over 50,000 jobs, and hundreds of businesses associated with the country music industry and has been known to have a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship (Lingo 2020; Baker 2016).

Market Background and Characteristics

While the city of Nashville, TN is internationally known for country music, the first music businesses in the city pertained to the genre of Christian music. In 1886, the R. H. Boyd Corporation opened its doors. The publishing company’s focus was in providing music materials for African American Churches throughout the United States (US) (The R. H. Boyd Story n.d.). R. H. Boyd Corporation was soon followed by Benson music in 1902, which also focused on religious music with hymnals and choral music. The company went on to be at the forefront of the contemporary Christian music industry into the late 20th Century. For a time, it held the distinction as Nashville’s “oldest permanent music business” until the company sold in 2021 (Wingfield 2021, para. 8). These early foundational companies in the Nashville market served as the first hubs where artists, songwriters, and other businesses and workers located within the market during the early stages of the local music cluster.

The beginnings of the country music genre and the associated industry in Nashville sprang from the invention of radio. The early incarnation of radio was broadcast on what is known as amplitude modulation (AM) on a frequency between 535 and 1605 kHz. The wavelengths are long and can travel great distances; therefore, early radio programs could be heard for thousands of miles (AM vs FM… 2023). One of the most popular radio programs in the early 1900s was the Grand Ole Opry WSM 650 which was heard coast to coast in the US. The show was broadcast live from Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium (History: WSM… n.d.). The show launched the careers of many of country music’s classic stars including Roy Acuff and Uncle Dave Macon. Acuff, along with songwriter Fred Rose capitalized on the genre’s early success by opening Acuff/Rose publishing company in 1942 and signing legendary artist and songwriter Hank Williams (Cusic 2017). As a result of the show’s success, the country music industry began and record labels, studios, singers, musicians, and many other jobs and businesses associated with the genre helped to solidify the market making it a successful music business cluster for many years to follow.

Hodges’ (2022) study explained that the proximity of businesses all located in the same area created a camaraderie among competitors where strong relationships developed, and Music Row developed into a college campus-like environment. For many years the market enjoyed growth and prosperity with a high value placed on entrepreneurship and inter-market collaboration (Lingo 2020). Businesses were typically located in small bungalow-style houses. Most were independently owned companies with a family-style company culture of nurturing and support for their workers. Workers knew each other well, ran in the same social circles, and celebrated each other’s achievements. Over the years, the local government has helped to support the local industry. One such initiative was in designating Music Row as a national treasure and worthy of preservation. Various buildings have been deemed of historical significance and were added to the register of historical places (Thompson 2015). In 1998, the Nashville local Metro Council made it illegal for citizens to house studios in their homes in order to cut down on traffic in residential neighborhoods and to support the local studio owners (Eggertsen 2020). The initiative, however, was overturned in 2020. The market enjoyed incredible prosperity throughout the 20th century.

The turn of the century ushered in the digital age which is having a significant effect on the Nashville business cluster. Technology has had a huge influence on business across the globe. For the music industry, it eventually became possible to stream music on a device instead of purchasing a musical product. Royalties from a stream, however, did not compare with the royalties earned in the historical sales model of the music industry. The US government attempted to remedy the situation with the Music Modernization Act (MMA) of 2018, but due to the shift in royalty earnings, publishers have had to adjust their business models to accommodate to the lesser revenue streams (Charap et al. 2019). As a result, the expensive real estate on Nashville’s Music Row has caused two of the three major labels that once served as hubs for the Nashville creative business cluster to relocate to other areas of the city (Fausset 2014). The technological influence and shift in consumer behavior has affected many other areas of the local business cluster. Hodges (2022) closely examined the market by interviewing 16 long-time workers within the Nashville Industry. The study found located on Music Row in Nashville has lost some of its core competencies. First, businesses no longer tend to locate in the area of 16th and 17th avenues as they did traditionally. Real estate and rent prices have increased tremendously in recent years forcing businesses and stakeholders within the market to relocate to less expensive areas of the city. The small houses that once held publishers, songwriters, studios, and other facets of the industry are being replaced with high-rise condos. Due to this delocalization, the campus-like feel that the market previously enjoyed has lessened. Another trend is that large international firms are entering the market by purchasing the small independent companies that traditionally made up the market. The small houses cannot house the larger entities; therefore, publishers and other stakeholders are forced to work in more traditional office buildings within what was described as a less creative environment that loses the family-style office culture they previously enjoyed. International firms also prefer to keep core competencies in-house and ignore the historical cooperative nature of the market. These combined factors have shifted the culture of the creative cluster to be more focused on the bottom line than on the development of people and cooperative competition.

Nashville’s Life Cycle Stage

As a result of Hodges’ (2022) study, Hodges (2023) further explored music cluster life cycle stages to determine at what stage the Nashville market currently resides. The findings showed that the market has entered the decline stage. The creative cluster shows what Menzel & Fornahl (2010) described as large firms entering the market and controlling many of the core competencies making it harder for smaller firms to compete. Also displayed is a lessened spirit of cooperation and entrepreneurship as Cottineau & Arcaute (2020) described in declining creative clusters. The delocalization of companies from Music Row displays the barriers that are increasing in the market with competitive advantages being found in other locations for new businesses as described in Ostapenko et al. (2022). Hodges (2023) did point out, however, that entering the decline stage does not mean the end of the Nashville creative cluster. The city is still the home of Country Music, and the major labels are not soon to leave the market. The benefits and competitive advantages of being a member of the cluster have diminished, but Nashville’s country music industry will remain well into the future.

Hultsfred, Sweden

Sweden has for a long time been an internationally successful country when it comes to producing popular music. One important aspect of Sweden being and becoming a prosperous music country is its popular music festivals. In the fall of 1981, a group of young music lovers met in Hultsfred, a small community in the southeast of Sweden with about 5 000. Fed up that there was no local music scene, they put up posters mobilizing the local youth. So, on December 16th, 1981, a larger group of youngsters gathered at the local youth recreation center and founded the music association Rockparty.[1] Printed material about the Rockparty association (1992). Published in connection with the association's 10th anniversary. This local association developed into a local, regional music organization as well as an important part of a national music movement and network of music associations focused on live music and festivals. Their activities were determined partially by national and international ideas and practices in the shape of punk and new-wave music culture (cf. Arnold 1997; Bennett and Peterson 2004; Home 1995; Kruse 2003; Laing 1985), and partially by ideas and (organizational) practice from the Swedish Music Movement [2] Sometimes this Music Movement was labeled the Progressive Music Movement with reference to its political progressiveness, not to be confused with the musical genre progressive rock. starting in the 1960s (cf. Eriksson 1976; Malmström 1996; Eyerman and Jamison 1998; Carlsson 2004; Ungdomsstyrelsen 2008). But maybe most important was that they, like the Music Movement, were part of a strong Swedish tradition, with solid historical roots of forming popular movement associations, especially in the Swedish working-class movement (Horgby 2007). Some Swedish music industry’s clusters have historically been located outside the Stockholm region. Hultsfred is one of these, and: “the origins and growth of these local agglomerations is the activity of real enthusiasts and to some extent local policymakers” (Hallencreutz, Lundeqvist & Malmberg 2000:8).

Hultsfred became a regional stronghold for alternative pop and rock and an important stop for a lot of international touring artists on their way from the Öresund region (Copenhagen, Denmark and Lund and Malmö, Sweden) to the Swedish capital Stockholm about 700 kilometers northeast (Hultsfred is situated in between). But even if Rockpartys venue The Club was important, it was, first and foremost, the Hultsfred Festival established in 1986 that became the foundation for all entrepreneurial development and businesses further down the road. It was for many years, until its bankruptcy in 2010, Sweden’s biggest and most influential music festival. For the purpose of this study, it is important to examine what enabled the development of the Hultsfred festival and its impact on the local community.

Market Background and Characteristics

So, the main activity was to nurture the passion for music in fellowship, friendship, and camaraderie, in and through Rockparty in the shape of a rebellious punk ethos and a strongly activating 'do-it-yourself' attitude. The core activity of the passionate music fellowship was live music by arranging concerts at their own rock club and sometimes at the local sports hall for larger acts. Most importantly, they later set up a big festival with the main purpose and goal of providing activities and spaces for friends and music lovers by creating a lively music community or music scene (Straw 1991; Bennett & Peterson 2004). People from near and far, with different backgrounds, perspectives, and interests gathered to participate, live, and work with their passion for music. The thriving music scene was woven together with widespread and multi-featured networks of individuals, businesses, and organizations (cf. Shank 1994).

The ability and dedication to expand a social network in different directions secured and strengthened a social capital of trust and confidence (Rothstein 2003; Putnam 2006). The political scientist Robert Putnam's usage of the term social capital emphasizes the social relationships between individuals and "the norms of reciprocity and trust that arise from them" (Putnam 2006:18). Also important in the discussion of social capital are Rothstein’s (2003:111f) thoughts that:

"It's not only the number of social contacts that are important but also their qualitative character in terms of the degree of trust they entail. [...] This means that social trust is linked to credibility and reliability. [...] In summary, at the individual level, social capital is the sum of the number of social contacts an individual has multiplied by the degree of trust in these relationships.”

As mentioned, it's the quality of trust in social relationships that is crucial. Additionally, the quality and degree of trust can change, which will be discussed later.

Putnam also distinguishes between bridging and bonding social capital. Bridging capital means that actors create networks and relationships that are outward-facing and inclusive. Bonding capital, on the other hand, is more inward-facing and exclusive, creating a sense of solidarity and belonging. The notion that bridging capital functions as a lubricant and bonding capital functions as the glue leads to the understanding that both dimensions can have positive social effects (Putnam 2006:23). However, it is also important in this context to emphasize that both inclusive and exclusive social interaction can have negative effects. The former may result in a loss of focus in social interaction and people not feeling a sense of community, belonging, and trust. The latter may lead to social control and regulatory systems where people feel confined, fearful, or bypassed. It is also important to emphasize that both forms can coexist in the same place and serve different functions at different times (as will also be discussed later). The strong social capital in Hultsfred set off an open-minded approach to activities that developed both an interest in, and skills at festival production. To make this work, the purpose and goal of the initial organizers was to earn enough money to make a living working with the music they loved in the same place that they lived; therefore, an entrepreneurial and business-minded mindset was crucial.

The media researcher Angela McRobbie’s concept of subcultural entrepreneurship can be used to analyze how this combination of rebellious punk ethos, do-it-yourself (DIY) attitudes, and entrepreneurship shaped a common fellowship based on a set of values that were identified as criteria for an authentic standpoint in relation to the activities at hand (McRobbie 1994; Middleton 2002). This process could also be interpreted in terms of the production of authenticity (Peterson, 1997; Connell and Gibson, 2003:19–44), where a common cultural meaning arises, based on shared experiences of the legitimate from a non-commercial standpoint in relation to the cultural activities put into practice on commercial grounds. These abilities and skills opened a version of entrepreneurship in this context that had to balance between cultural innovators and commercial entrepreneurs. Maneuvering was made easy due to the combination of a rebellious rock ‘n’ roll attitude and DIY entrepreneurship.

After the foundation of Rockparty and the Hultsfred Festival, there was a growth of businesses, projects, and activities in many different directions and with different purposes and intentions. Rockparty and the Hultsfred Festival, along with all the activities that have emerged in their wake, also exerted a strong allure for many people outside of Hultsfred to come to Hultsfred to work. Rockparty organized concerts on weekdays and weekends for nearly 30 years. The group started a booking agency and tour production company, Party Production, that later became the booking agency Motor that moved to Gothenburg and eventually acquired by EMA-Telstar and then Live Nation. A record label, Party Records, followed and released records primarily with local talents. The association also provided rehearsal spaces and managed a rock school as an alternative to the local municipal music school. In 1992, the music and entertainment center Metropol was built with offices, a restaurant, a pub, and a concert hall. In the early 1990s, Rockparty sought and received European Union (EU) funding to develop entrepreneurship and enterprise, as well as to project educational initiatives within the music field. As a result, in 1998, the touring and booking company Skrikhult Production moved to Hultsfred, which promoted the Gates of Metal festival from 2003 to 2006 and different educational opportunities began.  

Passionate individuals who have been active in various music associations have often created creative environments in the places where they have operated, just as the places themselves have created an atmosphere and a sense that nothing is impossible as long as one is passionate about it (Carlsson 2004, Lagher 1999, Kaijser 2007, Ungdomsstyrelsen 2001). Several music industry professionals now working in the Swedish music industry have a common background and share that type of passion for nonprofit music associations. They have often served as schools for organizing, administration, project management, and production, ranging from how to produce an event and design posters and flyers, to how to apply for permits to organize concerts. Thus, music associations have served as a cornerstone for many individuals' personal development, both in terms of identity and career. They have offered a place and a context where one can learn things practically and hands-on (Carlsson 2004; Kaijser 2007; Bjälesjö, A. Lundin & Håkansson 2010). Relationships with like-minded individuals in other associations created the conditions for what Robert Putnam has termed bridging social capital, which is a pursuit of cooperation with other entities based on trust and confidence (Putnam 2006). With a common ground of cultural meaning and subcultural entrepreneurship, built on trust and confidence, and social capital (Bourdieu 1986; Rothstein 2003; Putnam 2006) they managed to unify and consolidate activities. Rockparty and the Hultsfred festival shaped a common fellowship based on a set of values, a balance between cultural innovators and commercial entrepreneurs, and a Swedish grass-roots associational tradition, which allowed other stakeholders to take part. Out of the networks, entrepreneurial learning processes and social capital Hultsfred developed into a more comprehensive place with many stakeholders involved.

In 1999 all activities were consolidated into one building in a project called Rockcity, a collective term for the activities from both Rockparty and the Hultsfred Festival. The idea of the project was to create a national meeting place for stakeholders in the experience industry, primarily focusing on music (cf. Rockcity Hultsfred 2005, Nielsén 2003, Nielsén, Rönnlund, & Svensson 2003). Rockcity, as a project, developed a concept called "FUNK": Research, Education, Business, and Culture (in Swedish; Forskning, Utbildning, Näring and “Kultur”). The basic idea was that all these parts should work in symbiosis to enable growth and innovation. Keywords included creativity, boundary-crossing, unconventional meetings, innovation, etc. This mindset characterizes how research has viewed the development within society at large in the industrialized Western economies. The areas and perspectives of culture and economy are merged in terms of "cultural economy," "the experience economy," "the experience society," etc. (see for example Kulturella Perspektiv 2001, Connell & Gibson 2003, Hesmondhalgh 2002, du Gay & Pryke (eds.) 2002).

The Rockcity project also included music industry education. In 1998, the program Digital Music Distribution started, followed by the Music & Event Management program in the fall of 2000, the Music Engineering program in the fall of 2002, and the Rock City High School (GYRO) in the fall of 2006. Students had the opportunity to develop their ideas into businesses in what was called Start Studio. Students also organized the Rookiefestival with the help of Rockparty. The association Sheena, working for gender equality in music, founded the summer camp Popkollo for girls between 12 and 16. The Swedish Rock Archive moved its collections to Rock City in 2003. IUC Hultsfred, a nationally funded industrial development center for the Swedish music industry, was founded in 2000. [3] “IUC – Industrial Development Centers – is a national resource for increasing the competitiveness of Swedish industry. We work to continuously strengthen collaboration between industry, research institutes, academia, regional and national organizations, and authorities. We are a business-oriented, nationwide organization with regional companies that together build knowledge about the needs of industrial companies.” (https://iuc.se/om-iuc-sverige/)

The development and growth of Hultsfred, became an important link to the rest of Sweden. This link is particularly evident when looking at those who have passed through Hultsfred in their careers in Swedish music life and the Swedish music industry. People who wanted to work with the association's concerts and the festival. As the activities eventually developed, individuals who were more focused on entrepreneurship joined (such as those around Party Production). As the scope of activities broadened, people with different backgrounds and future visions were drawn to Hultsfred. It was no longer only about association life, small independent music businesses, concerts, and festivals, but also about entrepreneurship in a broader experience industry as well as educational initiatives.

The social trust and belief in and joy of the music initiative in Hultsfred, during its successful inception and continued development, was based on a successful combination of strong bonding capital among friends in and from Hultsfred, strong bridging capital among locals and those coming to Hultsfred. Consequently, in Hultsfred, a strong dual-acting social trust arose while the network grew through Rockparty by being outgoing and inclusive, while developing a strong sense of cohesion and belonging. By the end of the 1990s, Hultsfred was synonymous with activities linked to youth, music, and festivals. Outside the festival's timeframe, a multitude of activities had been established, causing the town to be recognized nationally as an example of creativity within the experience industry. Hultsfred appeared as a successful regional development project where the strengths of the rural area were emphasized, an example of how an old industrial town could evolve within the "new" experience industry or the so-called creative industry and how a smaller locality could become a central part of Swedish music life and an important arena for Swedish music in various ways (cf. Hallencreutz et al. 2002).

As the festival grew in size and scope during the 1990s, other perspectives also became apparent, sometimes leading to differences of opinion about which directions were preferable, which had consequences for local engagement. For instance, many involved in the activities felt that things had changed and that the focus was elsewhere rather than on the local community. There was a sense of complacency. For example, Rockparty decided to discontinue the annual festival magazine aimed at the local community and to remove a concert at the festival that was specifically intended for the slightly older part of the volunteer group and local residents. Similarly, in 1998, the festival management claimed that they had nothing to learn from other festivals, stating that other festivals only copied the Hultsfred Festival. What was the strength of the Hultsfred community became its weakness. They were lulled into a confidence in their professionalism and instinct when it came to organizing Sweden's foremost festival. This confidence was rooted in the belief in the strength of the area and the social capital that emanated from it. The local trust capital created through social relationships and cooperation could quickly turn into mistrust (cf. Bjälesjö 2013).

The extensive development and growth in Hultsfred also created problems related to resources, especially the distribution of resources. The growth and development depended on the festival creating an increasingly large economic surplus every year. From the mid-2000s onward, it became apparent that the entire organization had grown uncontrollably and that there were many activities that incurred losses each year. This made all the other activities even more dependent on the festival's surplus. As the Hultsfred Festival lost its position as Sweden's largest and most important festival from the mid-2000s onward, it eventually went bankrupt. Two conflicting perspectives on the festival's significance were highlighted. On one hand, the fundamental idea was that Rockparty and the Hultsfred festival should primarily preserve and develop what was its founding intention from the start: to use music activities to mainly develop Hultsfred as a community. Consequently, the festival does not exist for its own sake. Instead, the festival exists for its added value. And by added value, it is not primarily meant for economic profit but for all the societal and human added values that a festival can enable and contribute in every conceivable way to societal and human development. Not least of all, making Hultsfred a community worth living in and developing in, and thus also being able to serve as a role model and partner for other places and activities, such as actors working to develop education or the music industry. On the other hand, the fundamental idea was that Rockparty and the Hultsfred festival should primarily be a pure music festival. Thus, the founding intention can be summarized as a festival for its own sake. With this idea, the festival has no other intrinsic value other than its inherent worth: therefore, it was a goal in itself, not a means to other ends. Other activities or goals were thus of no interest or significance. The festival took place in Hultsfred, but this was only related to its history of origin, and therefore, had nothing to do with how it could have been saved, or developed for it to continue to thrive (cf. Bjälesjö 2013, Trondman, Lekberg & Bjälesjö 2022).

After the festival collapsed, the social trust of credibility and reliability in its dual function of bridging and bonding capital was no longer exemplified. The imagined community ceased to have a cohesive community of friendship and social trust becoming two increasingly separate groups of friends with two different perspectives. Both were much more concerned with an internal bonding social trust than a bridging social trust that seeks to include others outside their own cohesion. Under such conditions, there were no opportunities for a dual-acting social trust and a cohesive friendship capital. Instead, there were two different social trust groups with two equally different imagined communities, which became antagonists. Additionally, the intensified interaction began to operate in two separate camps, which became increasingly preoccupied with their own trust and community and what was perceived as the opponents' erroneous "foolishness".

Hultsfred Life Cycle Stage

Hultsfred has completed the decline stage of its life cycle; however, the contribution to what aided in the market’s success and decline are apparent. The foundation for the growth and development of music in Hultsfred was friendship, social trust, and community through a strong cultural mobilization understood as trusting relations between friends in a growing music community that generated creative energy, spirit, and practice. Entrepreneurial processes with cross-border ideas and activities became profitable music ventures. The market was built on a dense interaction in the form of close, intense, meaningful, and long-lasting social relationships and a living togetherness of preserved friendships. This densification, activated by a strong interest in music, triggered the entrepreneurial processes that enabled entrepreneurial thinking and practice (Trondman, Lekberg & Bjälesjö 2022:319). Therefore, the conflict between two fundamental ideas created the tension around friendship, trust, and community. The outcome was two different imagined communities of trust and friendship with two different projects for how to save the Hultsfred Festival, making the rescue operation itself very difficult. And so, the positive quality in what Putnam calls bridging capital was lost. Only the negative quality remained in a strong bonding capital, the kind of trust capital that only turns inward to strengthen the cohesion of its own belonging by excluding the actors who do not belong there. The tension field of the two lived convictions took shape into two different opposing positions and entrepreneurial projects: "the festival for its own sake" and "the festival for its added value". The result had devastating consequences for the possibility of saving the festival and all the other projects and activities around the business of music in Hultsfred.

Factors Influencing Success

A common theme in each market’s growth and prosperity was the aspect of camaraderie and friendship. People and organizations working together for the love of music and benefiting the community, as well as each other, was a key to the rise and success of each market. The realization of the symbiotic nature of businesses and careers centered around music A sense of family was felt in both communities which created an environment where people cared about each other and the overall market as much as their own success in it. Additionally, the common themes of community involvement through local businesses and government that helped to bolster the opportunities for entrepreneurial success were evident. For Nashville, the inexpensive real estate prices of the mid-1900s allowed music businesses to congregate in the specific area known now as Music Row. The tourism industry based on the country music business also bolstered the local economy, as well as opportunities for musicians and businesses centered around the genre of country music. For Hultsfred, the creation of Rockparty Rockcity, the Hultsfred festival, Rockcity, the organizations that were created to support musicians in the community like Rookiefestival and Popkollo for girls, and the educational initiatives helped grow the market and create opportunities for Swedish creatives all over the country to move to Hultsfred to take advantage of the benefits the market provided. Both Nashville and Hultsfred enjoyed both types of social capital, bridging and bonding, which helped to make each market prosperous.

Factors Influencing Decline

The examination of the history and characteristics of each market displays some common factors that influenced Nashville entering its declining stage as well as what contributed to the demise of the Hultsfred festival. In Nashville, international organizations saw the benefit of entering the market through acquisition. As a result, many of the small family-run businesses disappeared and the larger firms sought to exert their control over the market by keeping competencies in-house instead of the traditional cooperation that the market displayed in the past. Over a number of years, this has effectively changed the culture of Nashville to one of survival of the fittest instead of one of camaraderie and support for participants. Additionally, real estate prices have risen creating a disadvantage for businesses to locate on Music Row, which has decentralized the industry and greatly affected the camaraderie and campus feel of the industry. For Hultsfred, a similar change in camaraderie and mutual support also disappeared as prosperity created differing views and goals among the leaders of the festival and the people working with the other activities that had developed as a result of the festival. Participants ceased to work together for common goals and focused mainly on their own interests in relation to the festival and local community. In essence, both markets lost their bridging capital.

Conclusion

The examination and comparison of the Nashville and Hultsfred music clusters, their history, and characteristics reveal common attributes that influenced the rise, success, and decline of the clusters. In both markets, the success became a draw for large organizations seeking to profit from the market’s success to try and enter the market to reap the rewards. While Nashville is still a thriving market for the business of country music, it has been shown to be in the decline stage where the core competencies and benefits of locating within the market have drastically declined for the members of the community (Hodges 2023). With the disappearance of the Hultsfred festival, its community has lost the catalyst that was the draw for music lovers and entrepreneurs to relocate to the market. In essence, both markets lost the bridging capital that helped them become thriving centers for creative endeavors and entrepreneurship. Both markets have experienced the life cycle stages of emergence, growth with thriving entrepreneurship, maturity, and decline. Common factors can be ascertained that led each market along its life cycle path which could be applied to other music clusters for guidance in creating and sustaining the benefits for the market participants as well as the community for the long-term success of a music cluster.

[1] Printed material about the Rockparty association (1992). Published in connection with the association's 10th anniversary.

[2] Sometimes this Music Movement was labeled the Progressive Music Movement with reference to its political progressiveness, not to be confused with the musical genre progressive rock.

[3] “IUC – Industrial Development Centers – is a national resource for increasing the competitiveness of Swedish industry. We work to continuously strengthen collaboration between industry, research institutes, academia, regional and national organizations, and authorities. We are a business-oriented, nationwide organization with regional companies that together build knowledge about the needs of industrial companies.” (https://iuc.se/om-iuc-sverige/)

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