Music Industry Strumming Along Beautifully
Dreams of making it big in Nashville, Music City U.S.A., have captivated singers, songwriters and musicians for more than 75 years. Their success, in turn, has attracted an increasingly diverse collection of music industry professionals who are happy to call Nashville home.
“The music business is largely centered on Nashville now,” says Jody Williams, a vice president at Broadcast Music Inc. “People are moving here from New York, from the West Coast.… Not only is it less expensive to operate in Nashville, the area is centrally located, the quality of life is excellent and the songwriting community is incredibly supportive.”
BMI is one of three member-based organizations that keep track of songwriters’ performance royalties in the United States. The company moved its home office from New York about a decade ago, and Williams says the music industry in Nashville remains stronger than ever.
“Country music is still huge here, but it’s also the center of bluegrass music and Christian music and lots of other styles,” Williams says. “I think the industry today is more diverse than it has ever been.”
Jed Hilly would have to agree. Hilly is director of the Americana Music Association, established in 1998.
“We are a Nashville organization with members as far away as Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom,” says Hilly, who defines Americana as “contemporary music that honors and is derived from American roots music.”
The Americana play list includes such Nashville icons as Marty Stuart and Emmylou Harris, along with a wide range of others, from California native John Fogarty to Texas troubadour Lyle Lovett.
“Americana artists, as much if not more than other artists, are taking from tradition and making it new,” Hilly adds.
More than 2,000 of the association's members turn out for the AMA’s annual conference, which features daily seminars by industry experts and a slate of live performances each night.
Other Nashville-based trade organizations include the International Bluegrass Music Association, which relocated from Owensboro, Ky., in 2003, and the Gospel Music Association, which was founded here in 1964.
The GMA may be best known for its annual televised Dove Awards that honor all genres of Christian music. Bringing additional tourism to Nashville, the Dove Awards also help spread the word about the city as radio stations across the country broadcast the awards each year.
While Nashville’s solid music business reputation appeals to broad-based multinational agencies such as BMI, it also speaks to organizations with a more narrow musical focus. The Barbershop Harmony Society, which moved its offices here in 2007 from Kenosha, Wis., was drawn to Nashville because of the musical diversity the city offers and the opportunities that present themselves as a result.
The society’s summer conventions are successful, drawing nearly 10,000 fans who come to see the groups compete in four-part harmony singing. While the fans enjoy the social aspect of the conventions, they also appreciate that they are helping to preserve an American art form that continues to add to Nashville's diverse musical heritage.
