Music Midtown Records
The festival was conceived by Atlanta-based music promoters Alex Cooley and Peter Conlon who sought to create an event similar to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and which would present the wide variety of music they both had come to enjoy during their careers in the music industry.
In 1994, the festival launched on a parcel of undeveloped land in the heart of Midtown's business district. After a few years at this site, the festival was forced to move to a less desirable location downtown just north of Centennial Olympic Park (now home to the new Georgia Aquarium and the new World of Coca-Cola museum). The festival later moved to the current 42 acre (170,000 m²) location adjacent to the Atlanta Civic Center and grew dramatically, attracting around 300,000 attendees in its peak years.
Although independent promoters when the festival was created, Cooley and Conlon sold their company, Concert/Southern Promotions, to Clear Channel Communications' subsidiary SFX Entertainment in 1998. This sale and the unsuccessful attempt of Conlon and Cooley to adapt to Clear Channel's corporate culture made for difficulties. Traditionally held on a weekend in May, the 2005 festival was moved to June by Clear Channel, which was considered a poor decision for an outdoor festival considering summer weather in the South. A price hike on tickets that year and competing music festivals scheduled nearby may also have had a negative impact on the 2005 festival.
On January 5, 2006, Conlon announced that there would be no Music Midtown in 2006, but in July 2011, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Conlon announced that the festival would return for 2011 as a one-day event held in at Piedmont Park. The festival was such a success that the 2012 festival is planned to be a two-day event with a more diverse lineup.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of photographic, audiovisual and promotional material (including posters autographed by musicians and performers) for the Atlanta music festival Music Midtown, which ran from 1994-2005 and started again in 2011.