Philadelphia is now the country’s Original Music City

City Council passed the resolution last Thursday as part of “Music Advocacy Day.”

“Philadelphia is a music city wouldn’t you agree?” asks the Music Artist University (MAU), an organization founded by Suzann Christine Henry aimed at supporting musicians and other music professionals. On May 29th, Henry and dozens of Philadelphia music community leaders — including WXPN’s own Kristen Kurtis — asked the same question of Philadelphia’s City Council on a day they named “Musical Advocacy Day.”

Now the country’s original music city, Philadelphia deserves resources afforded to other culturally rich cities such as Nashville, Austin, and Atlanta, argues the MAU. While the aforementioned cities have city-backed music offices and robust cultural investment, “Philadelphia remains underserved.” The MAU is hoping that following the acknowledgement of Philly as the original music city, they can pass other resolutions such as hiring a full-time Philadelphia Music Industry Manager within city government, increasing the CreativePHL budget by $3.7 million for FY26, advancing affordable housing initiatives for music professionals, and convincing the Philadelphia International Airport to exclusively play music by local artists, among others.

Watch below to see Philly music community members (including Morning Show host Kristen Kurtis starting around 2:47:26) speak about this issue before City Council.