Page 32 - Murfreesboro, TN Comprehensive Plan: Chapter 7, Economic Development

7.32 Chapter 7

DRAFT 12.02.15

Economic Opportunity: Music & house the university’s Small Business Development
Center (SBDC) and its intellectual property licensing
Recording Arts Business Incubator office along with studios and low-cost flexible office
space. It would serve as a first home for fledgling
As discussed, the presence of MTSU, one of the music publishing, promotions, production, marketing/
largest institutions of higher education in the state, merchandising, music management, lighting/staging,
gives Murfreesboro rare opportunities for university- sound engineering, video production, legal/copywriting,
generated entrepreneurship. Under an adequately instrument manufacturing and repair, cover art and
resourced civic/institutional/private business model, affiliated type businesses such as digital art, digital
MTSU’s highly renowned Department of Recording media, fashion and apparel.
Industry for instance, could be parlayed into a new The companies would be started by any number of
specialty business incubator designed to spawn new individuals including university faculty and students
music and recording-based start-ups.
as well as other music/recording-related businesses
Although the local recording industry has historically from around the region and state including Tennessee’s
been centered on Music Row in Downtown Nashville, other music mecca, Memphis (to whom it should be
parts of it have dispersed in recent years in response to aggressively marketed). The incubator’s mission may
rising real estate prices there. This factor, combined with also be expanded to include other arts-based business.
the unique convergence of specialty on-campus facilities, Besides the organic evolution of Music Row itself, the
a wellspring of university affiliated talent, affordable model for this type of vertically integrated, “music
real estate, and a walkable, historic downtown, presents factory” (although focused perhaps more on the actual
ideal conditions for Murfreesboro to be the place where recording/production side) was the famous Brill Building
certain technical aspects of the recording industry in New York. The Brill Building was an outgrowth of New
resettle within the region (particularly post-production York’s Tin Pan Alley music scene of the 1950s. Here,
and other non-studio functions). Establishing an MTSU- studio musicians, songwriters, producers and other
branded music + recording arts business incubator artists collaborated under a single roof, to create, market
in Downtown Murfreesboro could be the catalyst to and distribute some of the most notable music of the
making this happen.
1950s and 60s. The recording arts incubator proposed
The music and recording arts incubator ideally would be here would probably be focused on the somewhat less
located in or near downtown Murfreesboro in a roughly glamorous, but more expansive and highly lucrative,
20,000+ square-foot, multi-level building. It would technical side of the music and recording industry.