Creative Music Guild

What Creative Music Guild does

Creative Music Guild (CMG) is an all-volunteer, non-profit arts organization founded in 1991 in Portland, Oregon. It promotes experimental and improvised music by presenting concerts, workshops, and festivals that bring internationally recognized musicians together with local performers, audiences, and music students. The organization operates three core programs: the Outset Series supporting local Portland improvisers; Confluence: The Visiting Artist Series, which brings 6-8 international artists per year to Portland venues; and the Improvisation Summit of Portland (ISP), an annual festival that in 2025 ran October 13-29 across approximately fourteen evenings and multiple venues. Additional programming lines include Ad Series, Discordance, and AMBIV SERIES.

CMG has no proprietary technology product. Its operations are event-driven and distributed across a partnership network of roughly a dozen Portland venues, including Holocene, No Fun, Swan Dive, Turn Turn Turn, 1905, Blue Butler Studios, Portland Arts Collective, Desert Island Studios, Skyline Tavern, and Leaven Community Center. Digital presence is limited to a website, Facebook, Twitter/X, and an email newsletter. There is no mobile app, no public API, and no AI/ML capability.

Revenue is a blend of earned and contributed income. Earned income comes from sliding-scale ticket sales, typically $5-$30 per event. Contributed income is sourced from individual donations (with perk tiers topping out at a $400 private concert) and recurring grants from Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC), the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, the Oregon Arts Commission, the Oregon Community Foundation, and the Holler Fund. CMG is governed by a board, operates with no paid staff, has no parent company, and has never received venture or private-equity investment. Co-founder Rich Halley led the organization from 1991; Ben Kates currently serves as Artistic Director.

Name

Creative Music Guild

Legal name

Creative Music Guild

Website

https://creativemusicguild.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Creative Music Guild is an all-volunteer, non-profit arts organization founded in 1991 in Portland, Oregon, presenting experimental and improvised music via the Outset Series, Confluence Visiting Artist Series, and the annual Improvisation Summit of Portland festival.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Live Music Events & Arts Programming

NAICS

Performing Arts Companies (7111), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Music Festival Organizers & Promoters (MPAGAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Arts & Culture Community Festivals (Multidisciplinary Arts Weeks) (MPAGAEAG), Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music) (BPAGAHAB), Community Music & Dance Festivals (Non-Commercial/Local) (MPAGAEAH)

Keywords

• Experimental music events
• Improvised music concerts
• Live music festivals
• Arts nonprofit programming
• Concert series curation

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales and Donations: Revenue generated through ticket sales at sliding-scale pricing for concerts and events, supplemented by voluntary donations from attendees and supporters.
2. Foundation Grants: Grant funding from regional arts organizations including Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC), James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, and Oregon Arts Commission to support concert production, equipment purchases, and festival programming.
3. Individual Donations: Individual contributions and membership donations from supporters, with various perk levels including program recognition, merchandise, and exclusive event access.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Creative Music Guild is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that presents live concerts, workshops, and festivals showcasing experimental and improvised music. The organization curates several ongoing event series — Outset Series (local musicians), Confluence: The Visiting Artist Series (6–8 international artists annually), and the annual Improvisation Summit of Portland festival — held at partner venues across Portland, Oregon, with nearly all door revenue paid directly to performing musicians.

Product overview

Creative Music Guild (CMG) is a non-profit organization that promotes experimental and improvised music in Portland, Oregon through live concert series and events. The organization operates several event series including the Outset Series (supporting local experimental musicians), Confluence: The Visiting Artist Series (presenting 6-8 international artists annually), and the annual Improvisation Summit of Portland festival. CMG is an all-volunteer organization that has been operating since 1991.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Outset Series An ongoing concert series supporting local Portland improvising musicians, providing them with performance opportunities in front of dedicated audiences and fair compensation drawn primarily from door revenue. Hosted at various Portland venues.
• Confluence: The Visiting Artist Series A concert series presenting 6–8 concerts per year featuring internationally recognized improvisers from around the world at venues across Portland, exposing local audiences and musicians to global experimental music talent.
• Improvisation Summit of Portland (ISP) An annual multi-day festival (17 days in 2025) featuring dozens of performances by international and local experimental/improvised musicians across multiple Portland venues, often in collaboration with dance and experimental film organizations.
• Ad Series A concert programming series listed among Creative Music Guild's events, complementing the Outset, Confluence, and ISP programming offerings.
• Discordance A concert programming series listed among Creative Music Guild's events, complementing the Outset, Confluence, and ISP programming offerings.
• Community Events A category of community-oriented events hosted by Creative Music Guild alongside its regular concert programming.
• AMBIV SERIES A concert programming series listed among Creative Music Guild's events, complementing the Outset, Confluence, and ISP programming offerings.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Revival Drum ShopcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost venue for the Outset Series for 3 years and provides space for performances. Committed to paying musicians fairly by not taking a cut from the door.
• Sandbox StudiominorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVenue host for Improvisation Summit of Portland (ISP) events.
• The Map Room Recording StudiominorGTM or Marketing PartnerISP Sponsor providing promotional and production support for the Improvisation Summit of Portland festival.
• Beacon SoundminorGTM or Marketing PartnerISP Sponsor supporting the Improvisation Summit of Portland through sponsorship.
• Cinema ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPortland arts organization collaborating on ISP programming, presenting experimental film and music combinations.
• Experimental Film Festival PortlandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner festival collaborating on Kill All Festivals events and ISP programming, combining experimental film and music.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• The Stone (NYC): Nonprofit venue and presenting organization dedicated to experimental and improvised music, founded by John Zorn. Closely comparable in curatorial focus on avant-garde and improvised music, with a similar presenting/curation model.
• ISSUE Project Room: Brooklyn-based nonprofit dedicated to experimental music, sound art, and new commissioning. Comparable in nonprofit structure, focus on experimental/improvised music, and curation of internationally recognized artists for live performance.
• Constellation: Chicago venue and presenting organization focused on contemporary classical, improvised, and experimental music. Comparable as a nonprofit-adjacent presenter of experimental performance with a similar partnership-heavy event model.
• Blank Forms: Brooklyn-based nonprofit organization publishing, producing, and presenting experimental music and sound art. Comparable in nonprofit presenting/publishing model and focus on experimental/improvised music communities.
• Nonseq: Portland-based DIY nonprofit presenting experimental music and improvised sound via a concert series. Shares the same city, similar volunteer ethos, and overlapping experimental/improvised music curation, making it the closest direct competitor in CMG's home market.
• Outpost Artist Resources: Brooklyn-based nonprofit supporting experimental and improvised music through residencies, presenting, and resources. Comparable scale and nonprofit presenting model with similar focus on artist support and experimental music ecosystem building.
• Other Minds: San Francisco-based nonprofit that presents experimental and contemporary music through festivals, concerts, and commissions, with a similar mission of connecting international artists with local audiences. Directly comparable programming model (presenting series + annual festival) and nonprofit funding structure.
• Elastic Arts: Chicago-based nonprofit venue and presenting organization for experimental, improvised, and avant-garde music. Similar mission, nonprofit structure, and reliance on grants and donations to support experimental music programming.

Regional players

• Pitch (Chapel Hill): Chapel Hill-based nonprofit presenting experimental creative music. Operates a similar concert series model in a different U.S. region, with comparable funding structure and curatorial focus.
• PICA (Portland Institute for Contemporary Art): Portland-based nonprofit presenting contemporary performance, visual art, and time-based art. Compares as a regional peer competing for the same RACC/Oregon Arts Commission funding pool and overlapping live-performance audience in Portland.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pdxcmg
• Facebookfacebook.com/creativemusicguild
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/creative-music-guild

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Creative Music Guild