The Hull Live Music Map is based on the Mapping Music Project: Music Activities for Education, Social Care, Health & Wellbeing in Hull, UK (MESH-2) led by a team of researchers at the University of Hull and funded by the Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research. The research project sought to gather information about music activities in the city of Hull (UK) that support education, social care, health and wellbeing outside of formal settings (such as hospitals and schools). Many of these music activities lie in the community sector as non-profit, grassroots organisations with localised engagement that serve specific purposes run by or for local groups as distinct from public (government) or private (for-profit) business activities. The research team gathered data from publicly available sources and asked people who are involved in music activities to complete an online survey about what they do and where. 129 people participated in the online survey (100 music activity organisers and 29 music activity attendees). The public data and online survey responses were used to create the open-source digital map, which contains 224 entries in its directory, while survey responses were used to document the characteristics of provision, including what type of music activities happen in Hull and how they are promoted, funded, delivered and accessed.
The research team identified gaps and provided recommendations for practitioners and policymakers on how to address shortfalls in provision, such as how to support and sustain activities going forward, how to increase access to ensure opportunities for everyone, and how to evaluate the extent of provision going forward (see Mapping Music Project Research Report: https://hull-research.worktribe.com/record.jx?recordid=4830247). Importantly, the map provides a single information point to facilitate access and engagement with the music activities that are currently happening in the city of Hull, especially in the HU1–9 postcode areas, as well as enables researchers, policymakers, musicians, creative practitioners and others to manage provision within the region. In collaboration with colleagues in the LMMP, these data have been used to test new approaches to facilitate expansion of the LMMP’s remit, including experimental categorisations and analytical choices relating to activities in the community sector.
Kingston upon Hull (commonly known as Hull) is an especially interesting English city to map because of its unique history and situation (see Hull History Centre, 2025). Located in the Yorkshire and Humber region, it is relatively geographically isolated as a port city on the northeast coast. The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) in England describes Hull as the sixth most deprived local authority in England with the fourth highest proportion of neighbourhoods in the most deprived ten per cent of neighbourhoods nationally (IMD, 2025). Despite this level of deprivation, Hull has received considerable attention as a recommended location to visit and live. Hull hosted a successful City of Culture in 2017 and some of its legacy has been captured as part of this mapping project.
For further information about the project, its findings, and how the Hull Music Activity Map has been used to understand and support music provision across the city, please read the full MESH-2 research report: View the report.
