Music-friendly community

Music and art are major threads in the fabric of Denton and bedrocks to our Denton brand.

Denton earned the distinction of being a Music Friendly Community by the Texas Music Office, the Office of the Governor’s “Music-Friendly Communities” certification program, on February 23, 2018. Denton was the third Texas city to do so, behind Austin in 2016 and Fort Worth in 2017.

An excerpt from the Office of the Governor’s Texas Music Office defines the crux of the certification’s importance -

Participation in the Texas Music Office’s ‘Music Friendly Community’ program provides Texas communities with a network for fostering music industry development, and sends a clear message to industry professionals that certified communities are serious about attracting and developing music industry growth.

The certification’s required criteria include the following:

Attend a Texas Music Office-sponsored Music Friendly Community workshop.
Establish a City/County/Region Music Office liaison, who can respond to constituent questions.
Register with the Texas Music Office’s Texas Music Industry Directory. The liaison’s organization also signs a mutually agreed upon Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that creates a working arrangement for the sharing of Music Directory data, and establishes protocols for keeping the directory information up to date.
Demonstration of partnerships with the community’s music-related 501(c)(3) non-profits in order to foster community development.
Collaboration with music education programs, including area college or university music schools.

Denton is proud of our rich music heritage and arts culture. Local economic development strategies incorporate Denton’s creative character, placing it among our top quality-of-life assets. Music’s role is an economic driver, far more vital than just a cool diversion. It is a tourism attraction, an educational allure, an entertainment anchor, and a thriving industry that draws visitors and enthusiasts to Denton from all over the globe.