Bay to LA Music Scenes
Manny Walton · · 1 min read
I've been bouncing between the Bay and LA for years, and the two scenes are nothing alike. Most artists I meet up here don't fully understand what's different about LA, and most artists in LA can't see how the Bay actually works. Both gaps cost money and momentum.
The Bay is a culture-first scene. The music gets made because people care, not because there's a clear path to a paycheck. That makes the work creatively rich, but the infrastructure is thin. There are fewer A&Rs, fewer publishing deals, fewer rooms where a song goes from "demo" to "placement." If you're going to build a career here, you have to bring the infrastructure with you.
LA is the opposite. The infrastructure is everywhere. There are sessions every night. There are rooms full of people who will collaborate with you because they're betting on the future. But there's also more noise, more politics, more energy spent positioning. The scene rewards hustle in a way the Bay doesn't.
You don't have to pick one. The artists who do best treat them as complementary: write and develop in the Bay, finish and pitch in LA. Or build a name locally, then expand. Whatever the strategy, name the scene you're in and play it on its own terms.
We're building Anthem with both in mind. The campus is in Emeryville, but we're bringing in LA-based instructors and we'll be expanding south soon. More on that next year.
