ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the development of a 'creative quarter' in the city of Liverpool, UK, which formally began in 1997 and had its official opening in 2002. I discuss the role and involvement of the local popular music sector in this process of quarterization. I argue that the 'local musical spaces' which were favoured within this process are organized around particular music activities and music businesses which fitted with the dominant model for the creative quarter, and which were anchored to music consumption and the night-time economy in particular. These dominant forms reflect an ongoing relationship between the local music sector, local authorities and policy-makers. This context of public-sector involvement in cultural industries policy includes a complex range of discourses employed in the relationship between the local music industry and the city. This been constructed through conflict over the connections between music, local economic development and city image, described by Cohen (2002: 263) as a 'political battlefield'.
