Michigan - Music

Where to visit

Motown Museum is located at Hitsville USA, the original home of Motown records from 1959-1972. Motown Historical Museum is one of Detroit’s most popular tourist destinations. Its mission is to preserve the legacy of Motown Record Corporation and to educate and motivate people, especially young people, through exhibitions and programmes that promote the values of vision, creativity and entrepreneurship. The museum exhibits trace the roots of Motown’s remarkable story and chronicle its impact on 20th century popular culture and musical styles.

Detroit’s music scene didn’t begin and end with Motown, with a lively music scene still making the city dance.

Though Detroit got its groove with big name acts like Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and The Supremes and The Temptations, the city that gave the world these classic voices is still home to a range of extraordinary songs and sounds. (Detroit is also the birthplace of techno music – a fact most people from the area don’t even know!) With this mix of genres still influencing local artists today, Detroit is chock-full of young talent, incredible voices and DJ sets that never end.

A visit to Detroit isn’t complete without treating yourself to live music – Detroit once attracted historic names in jazz and still has the venues they tooted their horns at, including Cliff Bells, a downtown venue, and Baker’s Keyboard Lounge in the Livernois neighbourhood. Big acts find their way to Detroit today, whether they’re taking the stage at the Fox Theatre or joining local acts at street music fairs like Dally in the Alley.

Third Man Records was originally founded by Jack White in Detroit in 2001. Third Man Records returned to Detroit’s Cass Corridor with its second retail location — record store, novelties lounge, in-store performance stage, record booth, and vinyl record pressing plant in 2015, and is worth a visit for White Stripes fans.