Who here likes fake tourist traps? I mean, if you wanted to hear great live music, would you go to Asheville to watch buskers try to collect enough for rent or Nashville to rub elbows with legends from the recording industry? Well, since everybody is going to Nashville, the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau wants to spend $150,000 on marketing music. The CVB is an arm of the TDA, and so it spends hotel taxes on bringing more people to town to be taxed without representation.
I scoff at the idea of Asheville being a mecca of music as much as I believe we can build a performing arts center on a par with what the philantrhopic oil magnates build in Dallas with our head shop/tattoo parlor tax base. But I actually find the project diggable but for the fact government money is involved. Saith the local daily:
ExploreAsheville.com/music, which goes live the week of April 18, will host sortable band profiles with upcoming gigs, live-streamed concert footage, event listings and venue guides, curated and themed playlists from local artists, “Explore Asheville Radio” – and even a way for visitors to purchase an album from that band they saw last night directly on the site.
