The purpose of this study is to investigate and compare which municipal support the free music life receives in Karlstad and Varberg as well as which strategies and values the support rests on. The study also examines how the free music life experiences its own situation and task and how the free music life interacts with other musical actors and is influenced by the size of the municipality. In order to investigate the material and analyze the municipalities´ distribution of grants and motivations, idea analysis is used with the help of ideal types, which consist of Skot-Hansens rationalities. In the study´s results, a characterization of the music life in Karlstad and Varberg is done with the help of Per Mangsets cultural system and an account of the municipalities´ distribution of grants and motivations for the free music life. The interviews with the municipalities as well as representatives from the free music life are also presented here. The study concludes that the support for the free music life in the municipalities of Karlstad and Varberg differs, both in terms of the size of the support, how the support is distributed and in terms of forms of grant. The study also notes that the municipalities justify the free music life similar and relates to Skot-Hansens all rationalities and that the free music life experiences thier task differently.