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A resolution supporting efforts to revive the Music City Music Council into a sustainable and effective initiative.
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WHEREAS, in 2009, Mayor Karl Dean led the effort with a group of leaders dedicated to cultivating and advancing the ever-expanding music community to further establish Nashville’s position as the global music capital; and
WHEREAS, a partnership formed between the Nashville Mayor's Office, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau. Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce convened the Nashville Music Council in 2009 to support the business and creative sides of Music City; and
WHEREAS, the Nashville Music Council divided into four subcommittees: branding, creative talent, live music and music education and succeeded in helping with efforts such as the creation of Music Makes Us, an initiative to support music education, envisioned a needed outdoor venue, which ultimately became the Ascend Amphitheater; supported the creation of Ryman Lofts as affordable housing for creatives; and
WHEREAS, the Nashville Music Council became too large and unfocused, subsequently in 2011 it was reduced in size and rebranded as the Music City Music Council; and
WHEREAS, Mayor Megan Barry supported the initiative with the first full time position in the Mayor’s Office under the Office of Economic and Community Development; and
WHEREAS, the initiative struggled to achieve sustainability with a focused agenda and strong governance, ultimately becoming dormant over the last few years; and
WHEREAS, other cities continue to create and nurture their own efforts to cultivate their nascent music sectors, but Nashville’s is the only one with the advantage of decades of worldwide music leadership and a per capita involvement in music business that leads the nation by a huge margin; and
WHEREAS, the Music City Music Council was housed in the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development until 2019; and
WHEREAS, in 2013 the Music City Music Council commissioned a study of the economic impact of the music industry on Nashville and Middle Tennessee which was subsequently updated in 2020 by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce finding that the overall economic impact of the music industry in Nashville increased 43% from 2013 to 2020; and
WHEREAS, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce also undertook a study of the impact of Music Row to the overall success of the Nashville music industry finding that Music Row accounts for 16% of the economic impact of the regional music industry; and
WHEREAS, these reports demonstrate that Nashville is not just a place where music is created and performed, but it is a place for the business of music; and
WHEREAS, creatives and independent local venues are finding it increasingly more difficult to thrive in Music City due to rising costs; and
WHEREAS, the Music City Music Council can act to provide resources and support for Nashville’s creatives, independent local venues, and all sectors of the entertainment industry; and
WHEREAS, there is currently an unfilled staff position in the Mayor’s Office established for the Music City Music Council; and
WHEREAS, the Metropolitan Council desires to see the Music City Music Council reestablished in order to continue to make Nashville the most attractive city in the world for anyone engaged in any kind of music, film and entertainment.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:
Section 1. The Metropolitan Council hereby requests that the Mayor’s Office, the Convention and Visitors Corporation, the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, and the entertainment industry come together again to reestablish the Music City Music Council into a stronger and more sustainable initiative that supports the various sectors of music, film and entertainment.
Section 2. Further, the Metropolitan Council requests that the reestablished Music City Music Council come together to ensure strengthened governance into a sustainable private-public partnership that is fiscally supported and able to carry out efforts to ensure our future as a global capital of music.
Section 3. That this resolution shall take effect from and after its adoption, the welfare of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County requiring it.