NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Nashville is known around the world as Music City. It is the city’s identity and official brand. The city’s reputation also attracts countless people each year trying to make it in the music industry.
“Music is a $20 billion industry in Nashville and defines Nashville’s personality,” says Ralph Schulz, president and CEO of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber’s detailed 2020 Music Industry Report shows that 41,153 people in the Nashville area are employed in the music and entertainment economic cluster. Another 17,255 people are indirectly employed in the industry, while 22,348 have jobs that are considered an “induced effect” of the industry, reflecting the presence of music as an industry. The total impact, based on Chamber research, is an estimated 80,757 jobs due to the economic impact of the music and entertainment industry in Nashville.
“It’s such a creative place and music is the absolute heart of it,” says Schulz.
Nashville is home to more than 190 recording studios, thousands of active musicians, and live music every night of the week. The region’s density of musicians and music businesses is the highest in the country. Music industry activity is up to 30 times higher than the national average and more than 10 times higher than New York or Los Angeles, according to the Chamber’s Research Center.
“People know that Nashville is the pinnacle of musical success,” Schulz says. “Everyone in the music industry takes big risks every day, and they also know they’re not alone.”
Nashville’s history as a city of music began in the 19th century, when it became a national center for music publishing, Visit Music City. The Fisk Jubilee Singers trained former slaves and put Nashville on the map as a global music center. It is said that after playing for the Queen of England, she said the Fisk Jubilee Singers must come from a “city of music.”
The city’s musical history was cemented when radio station WSM started a program in 1925 that would be titled Grand Ole OpryThe Opry is America’s longest-running radio show and has been in continuous production for over 100 years.
“Nashville is a place where you can feel success in the air,” says Schulz.
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