Making Places Better Is Changing: My Plan For 2026
Some thoughts on 2025 and ideas for 2026
Welcome to Making Places Better, 2026 edition. There are going to be some changes - including a new name, new brand, and (slightly) new focus for 2026. The first few posts of the year (including this one) outline where I am heading with this, and I welcome any and all feedback on what you want me to focus on, write about, or feature. As always, this Substack will be free, and any donations, should you wish to make them, will be directed to the Center for Music Ecosystems, the NGO working to ensure that everywhere and everyone can benefit from the potential of music in their communities. And please, if you like what I’m writing - share, comment and subscribe. Thank you, Shain
2026 feels different, doesn’t it? A week in. Sigh…
I believe that 2026 is a pivotal year for humanity. I don’t just mean the fate of each of us as a species on this increasingly damaged globe. What I mean is that 2026 will be a year where each of us will be given a choice - to choose to see the humanity in each other and act accordingly, or not.
If we choose humanity, with it comes openness, optimism, empathy, and patience, because if we choose to take the time to understand the way someone thinks, where they come from, and their view of the world, we are choosing to take the time to do so - to be actively engaged in caring about others.
Or we could choose nihilism, pessimism, and ignorance, all powerful currencies - if you believe what the news is saying - are more valuable than hope and optimism.
This is our choice. All of us. Everywhere.
I believe that music, culture, and art - as extensions of how we express our own individual sense of humanity and selves- are at the forefront of this choice. If we choose to care more about culture, especially culture and art that are made by human beings for the purpose of being experienced by human beings, that acceleration, that focus, will push us in the right direction. If we continue to let algorithms guide what we consume and social media drive our outrage and the choices of what and whom we choose to care about, we will diminish the potential of music and culture. We will choose wrong.
To me, the choice is clear.
In the UK, I watched a 93-year-old “legend” on BBC Breakfast who runs fitness classes while caring for her husband. She’s fueled by movement and connection.
In Nigeria, new data suggests the music industry could grow 10x by 2033—from $100M to $1 billion. That isn’t just “art”; that’s a massive engine for economic sovereignty.
In North Carolina, Professor Mark Katz is using music rehabilitation to slash reoffending rates in the justice system.
In the Lab: We’ve confirmed that music and radio can physically slow the onset of dementia.
And there are hundreds more examples. Imagine if we put them together, built a strategy around it, and with it, created outputs and outcomes, all based on reinforcing this choice - a choice to embrace and defend humanity.
Music is a Weapon. It’s Time We Used It
If we’re going to find ways to talk to each other across political divides, or convince folks that what they read on Facebook or X may not be the truth, and accepting being lied to is OK, and one can change their opinion without feeling shame, we can turn to music. It is not just an asset here, but a weapon. Music compels listening. Listening takes time. Time often diffuses rash decision-making. And over and over, song-by-song, we can begin to talk, to think, to engage. But we need to be intentional. Strategic. Inclusive.
I know this isn’t an original or unique idea. But I don’t think that there has been a proper, collective evidence-based analysis of this - how music works, how it can be integrated as a problem solver, and why it matters. How can we best deploy music as a weapon, where and how, and what needs to change to maximize its impact? What are the examples we can point to? The people driving this now?
I know, as a reader of my work, you believe that music is a common good. It can foster optimism and hope and fight those making our lives worse - be it political division, inequality, the climate crisis, or the shredding of the post-WWII world order. But whatever we’re using it for now - be it for commercial or non-commercial purposes - it is not optimised. I believe, instead, the bigger and more seemingly insurmountable problems become, the more music is reserved as an empath - to soothe and comfort, to get away. If we use music this way and only this way (or primarily this way), I believe we’re missing a trick. Here is our universal language. It should help us solve universal problems, especially at a time when the universality of accepting that we all share basic humanity is under threat.
So in 2026, Making Places Better is going to change. First, I will post regularly (every two weeks, either on Tuesday or Thursday). The focus will change slightly. Instead of putting my effort into showcasing the impact of music and culture on places as a primary goal, I am going to focus more on how music can help address and solve the world’s biggest challenges and how, if we take an intentional and deliberate approach to looking at music as a collective weapon (taking some inspiration from Fela Kuti, of course), music could, if we all choose, become a much more powerful tool to reinforce humanity and push back on nihilism, pessimism and greed. Some of these examples and stories will be in cities, of course, but not all. The mission is being broadened, but I hope the focus will be more surgical.
My 2026 Intention - Stay In My Lane
One thing I realized in 2025 was the limits of my own capacity. The travel, the amount of commitments, and the challenges of keeping SMEs and charities grounded and successful led to some burnout. I like starting new things (from Sound Diplomacy to Music Cities Events, through Unison and the Center for Music Ecosystems, and other stuff along the way). I have been fortunate to be involved in the development of the ‘music cities’ concept and even more fortunate to have written a book about it. I have often felt that the solution to an existing problem is something new, because newness is exciting. It is this that led to exhaustion and not firing on all cylinders all the time, and in doing so, I’ve learned lessons that I am going to try and commit to. 2025 was the year when I realized that I’m best ‘staying in a lane’ and to decide, and stick to, what that lane is. The goal in 2026 is that this Substack will define that lane - music as a path to address and solve big problems - and stick to it.
So, within the next few months, I will be rebranding here (watch this space, literally) and launching a few new initiatives alongside, which I hope will entice you to spend more time with me on this journey. I will also announce a few live events in select cities, as I want to bring people together to discuss what music means to you and how we can use this shared love to address problems in communities.
My goal, in doing so, is to share new insights, propose policy changes, and celebrate the work of others I respect. I want to highlight and celebrate the selfless role that music can play in fostering community. I want to show and tell how music can (and will, if I have something to do with it) be weaponised - and I use that word specifically - to disenfranchise greed. This does mean looking at the challenges in the music industry, but also at how music, as an ecosystem and a community engagement tool, can be used far better.
This Isn’t a Panacea. This Is A Mission
I’m not naive. Music won’t fix everything. But it can have much, much more power. I choose all of us. I choose to believe that music will create jobs, fight poverty, enshrine democratic principles, improve healthcare, fight the climate emergency and, in doing so, weaponize it as a force for good.
I’m asking you to join me—not just as a fan of the music you love, but as a believer in the potential of music as a collective force. Let’s stop letting algorithms drive our outrage and start letting human-made art drive our empathy.
Let’s get to work.
Bring on 2026.
Big like on this one Shain. Also my focus for 2026 - authentic community presented to a niche, vs. algorithmically driven excess and hyperbola (and lack of audience ownership).
I'm all in!