Shain Shapiro, PhD

Shain Shapiro, PhD is a globally recognized thought leader at the convergence of music, culture, and urban policy. This is showcased in his debut book, "This Must Be The Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better," released on Repeater Books in September 2023.

"This Must Be The Place" sold out of its first pressing, saw Shapiro embark on a 40+ date global tour, and is currently being translated into Spanish, Italian, Arabic, Japanese, and Brazilian Portuguese.

Shapiro has defined a new way to think about the value of music and the creative economy in cities and places and, through it, influenced over 120 cities and places to invest in music and culture as founder and chairman of Sound Diplomacy and founder and executive director of the not-for-profit global Center for Music Ecosystems.

He has authored authoritative reports on the role of music and culture in cities, tourism, the nighttime economy, real estate, and recovery, including the most extensive guide to music and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ever written in partnership with the United Nations. He has spoken at hundreds of global conventions, such as SXSW, with the OECD, and the UN World Urban Forum, and delivered the first-ever TEDx talk on music’s role in cities. He also received Folk Alliance International’s Spirit of Folk Award in 2022.

Shapiro holds a PhD from the University of London and lives in East London. He is also an accomplished academic, having authored courses for the Global Leaders Institute and Berklee College of Music. He co-founded Unison Rights, a new copyright management entity in Spain.