Music Community Research in Berwick - Mapping a future for Berwick’s music community

Music is an essential part of Berwick-upon-Tweed’s culture and identity. Drawing on the town’s unique location as the northernmost town in England and just 4km from the Scottish border, Berwick’s music community – both in the town and its surrounding areas – comprises traditional Northumberland folk, choral, and brass bands, right through to contemporary singer-songwriters, dance, rock and experimental.

To ensure the much-loved music community in Berwick and its surrounding areas continues to flourish and grow, we want to map what it looks like today so we can seek investment for its future.

• We want to know its strengths and weaknesses – what do we do well, and what could we do better if we had the resources and funding?
• We want to understand how people across Berwick and the surrounding areas access music now, and how we can improve ways for people to get involved?
• We also want to know what’s missing from Berwick’s music scene and what would improve it.

By understanding who is making music in Berwick and what the career prospects look like, we can explore new ways for people to create, educate and enjoy music in the town.

To help us do that, we’re working in partnership with the amazing team at Index Music on a research project looking at the music ecosystem in Berwick – and this is how you can get involved.

How you can help

There are lots of ways you can support the ‘Music Community Research in Berwick’ project:

Complete our online survey
Share your thoughts and feedback through our online survey. You’ll be asked about relationships, collaboration, challenges, and opportunities for improvement. The survey takes around 15 minutes to complete, and all responses will be anonymised and handled in line with GDPR. Please note, due to GDPR and UK privacy laws, the survey is only open to individuals aged 18 and over.

Join one of our in-person events
We’ll be running a number of in-person, drop-in events where you can meet Create Berwick and Index Music to discuss Berwick’s music community and its future. Follow Create Berwick and Index Music on social media to find out when the first sessions are taking place.

Take part in a conversation with someone from the Index Music team
These focused discussions, lasting 30–60 minutes, include one-to-one conversations and small group sessions. Held either in person or online, they offer a relaxed space to share honest thoughts, feedback, and ideas. Sessions are recorded for note-taking purposes, and participants can request a copy of the notes. To find out more about these sessions, please email hello@indexmusic.co.uk.

Index Music will also be doing its own independent research into Berwick’s music activity.

Who can take part?

To make sure we understand the full breadth of Berwick’s music community, we want to hear from as many people as possible. You might run a venue in the town, take photos at gigs, make artwork for bands, or simply pop along to a live gig once in a while – everyone’s opinion matters. And we’d love to hear from people who live and work in the town, as well as people from the surrounding areas. We know the music community stretches far behind the town itself.

To get a real understanding of the music ecosystem in Berwick, we’d love to hear from as many people as possible. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a full-time musician or someone that enjoys live music once in a while – if you’re passionate about creating a thriving music community across Berwick, please take part.

What we want to achieve

By understanding the strengths and challenges of Berwick’s music ecosystem, we can seek out ways to make it stronger. We know a thriving music community is based on collaboration, trust, research, and accessible opportunities, which is why we’ll be exploring ways to address:

• Connectivity and networking
• Venues and performance opportunities
• Financial barriers and funding issues
• Social barriers and inclusivity
• Geography / transport barriers
• Local community challenges
• Time constraints and capacity.

By understanding how we address these challenges, we can seek out funding, resources and interventions to support the growth of Berwick’s music scene and ensure its long-term future.

About Index Music

Index Music is a no-faff, reliable, online platform supplying the North East music community with contacts, resources, and opportunities. Its aim is to connect the dots, disrupt barriers and strengthen the North East music community.

Index Music recently completed a research project looking at the music community of County Durham. The final report shares the voices, experiences and insights of local musicians, promoters, educators and music lovers, highlighting the strengths and challenges within the community and offering practical recommendations to support its growth and sustainability.

To find out more about Index Music and read its County Durham Music Report, visit indexmusic.co.uk.