Who Counts? The Data Gap Shaping Creative Economies

Everyone says they support the creative economy, but when it comes time to make decisions around funding, entrepreneurship programs, workforce development, talent retention, placemaking or economic development, cities and states rely on data.

If something isn't in the data, it likely isn't in the conversation. The challenge is that creative economies don't fit neatly into traditional systems.

Musicians, dancers, visual artists, filmmakers etc. are entrepreneurs, freelancers, educators, marketers, producers, content creators and small business owners all at the same time. Event organizers sit at the intersection of hospitality, tourism, technology, entertainment and community building. Entire ecosystems exist in the spaces between categories that were never really designed to capture how creative work actually happens. So how do communities support industries they can't fully see?

In this fireside chat, Opnr CEO Dre Wallace sits down with Kevin Kay, Founder of Detroit Music Collective, to explore what Detroit learned through its recent music census work and why those lessons matter far beyond music. They will then be joined by Yesenia Gomez, founder of Vizions Dance Company to talk through how a strong music economy helps to support and bolster other parts of the creative economy and Jennifer Hudson-Prenkert , founder of Sounds of the Zoo music festival to talk through regional and statewide collaboration efforts.

Together, they'll unpack what happens when communities start measuring industries that have historically been overlooked, what new opportunities emerge when better data exists, and what West Michigan could learn from Detroit's experience.

This isn’t just a conversation about music. It’s also about data, visibility, entrepreneurship and economic development. It’s also about who gets counted, who gets left out and how data shapes the way communities invest in their future.