Bristol Takes UK's 'Most Musical City' Title

Posted on Mar 15th 2010 4:26AM by Andrew Kerr

Bristol has been crowned the UK's "most musical city" in a survey conducted by the Performing Right Society (P.R.S.).

Research compiled from the society's database of 65,000 members showed the city has the most musicians per head of population.

Cardiff, Wakefield, Glasgow and Cheltenham rounded off the top five while London failed to reach the top ten, coming in at 26th despite having the highest concentration of musicians in Britain.

With an estimated population in the region of 450,000, Bristol's musical heritage has been cemented over the last 20 years thanks to acts like Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky.

While the outcome may surprise some, P.R.S chairman Ellis Rich said, "Bristol has been a longstanding contributor to the British music scene, constantly injecting its unique pizzazz of trip-hop and rock bands."

He continued, "The city's culture has always warmed to an eclectic music dynamic, paving the way forward for many of the country's greatest venues whilst also inspiring a hotbed of music talent."

The city's Coronation Tap pub lies at the heart of Bristol's music scene, winning UK Music Pub of the Year for two consecutive years.

Elsewhere on the list Manchester placed sixth, while Liverpool came in at number 18.

The list in full is:

1. Bristol
2. Cardiff
3. Wakefield
4. Glasgow
5. Cheltenham
6. Edinburgh
7. Manchester
8. Paisley
9. Doncaster
10. Londonderry
11. Halifax
12. Sunderland
13. Swindon
14. Blackpool
15. Wigan
16. Brighton
17. Leicester
18. Liverpool
19. Wolverhampton
20. Stoke