Music Row

Music Row is a historic Nashville neighborhood and commercial district located southwest of downtown, centered on 16th and 17th Avenues South — officially known within the district as Music Square East and Music Square West. It forms a rectangle between Sixteenth and Seventeenth Avenues South and Division and Grand Streets, and while its outward appearance can resemble a quiet neighborhood punctuated by corporate office buildings, the district is the heartbeat of Nashville's music infrastructure, with major labels, publishing firms, booking agencies, and recording studios generating musical products heard around the world. Since its founding in the mid-1950s, Music Row has served as the operational backbone of the American music industry, particularly for country music, gospel, and contemporary Christian music. The name has grown into something larger than geography: Music Row has become a metonymous nickname for the music industry as a whole, particularly in country music, gospel music, and contemporary Christian music.

History and Origins

Prior to the 1950s, Nashville built a reputation as an entertainment center through the success of WSM's Grand Ole Opry program. Begun in 1925, this radio show regularly drew thousands of listeners and dominated the barn-dance radio format, and the Ryman Auditorium became country music's shrine as fans flocked to Nashville every weekend to see the program.

The postwar period set the stage for Music Row's emergence. After World War II, various radio stations established studios throughout the city to record and broadcast advertisements. In 1946, Castle Recording Studios began recording major-label artists in addition to their regular commercial spots, and soon thereafter, labels such as Capitol, RCA Victor, and Decca moved to Nashville to capitalize on the growing music industry.

The district's founding moment came in 1954. Owen and Harold Bradley opened a studio in a Quonset Hut on Sixteenth Avenue South, becoming the first business on Music Row. Publishing firms such as Hill and Range and Cedarwood Music also moved to Music Row during this period. This studio, built by producer Owen Bradley, is legendary as the first studio along what would later become Music Row. Bradley and his brother Harold bought this former rooming house in 1954, laying the groundwork for what would become known as the Nashville Sound. The reasonable real estate prices and close proximity to the burgeoning music industry drew these associated businesses to the area.

Three years later, in 1957, RCA built an office and recording facility on Music Row known as RCA Studio B and played host to Elvis Presley, Eddy Arnold, and the Everly Brothers, among many others. Steve Sholes selected Chet Atkins to run this studio and eventually RCA's country division, thus representing a significant step in the creation of a commercially successful Nashville Sound.

By the early 1960s, many national labels were completing a significant share of their country releases in Music Row studios, and the district expanded rapidly as record labels, publishers, and producers concentrated their operations there, helping Nashville emerge as a major center for country music recording and music publishing. By the late 1960s, major labels such as RCA Victor, Decca, and Columbia were completing the majority of their country music recording sessions in the Music Row district.

The Nashville Sound

Music Row was instrumental in transforming country music from a regionally focused genre rooted in barn-dance radio into a polished, commercially viable product with national and international reach. As rock & roll dominated the airwaves, country sales dropped, and record executives realized that country must modify its format to compete in the marketplace and "cross over" onto the pop charts. Two of the chief architects of this transformation were Owen Bradley and Chet Atkins.

Built in 1957, RCA Studio B became known as the birthplace for the "Nashville Sound," a style characterized by background vocals and strings that helped establish Nashville as an international recording center. What was once music largely informed by the barn-dance ethos of the Grand Ole Opry eventually morphed into a commercial industry. Music Row studios, led by the example of producers Chet Atkins and Don Law, crafted a product that appealed to a mass audience. String arrangements, soaring background vocals, and the use of various studio techniques all contributed to a recognizable Nashville Sound.

A new studio culture emerged that provided session musicians with a familiar environment to apply their professional talents. This list included Floyd Cramer, Hank Garland, the Anita Kerr Singers, the Jordanaires, and Hargus "Pig" Robbins.

Over 35,000 songs were recorded at Studio B, including more than 200 by Presley, at what was his favorite studio. The studio was eventually donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum: first made available to Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum visitors in 1977, RCA Studio B was donated to the Museum in 1992.

Key Landmarks and Institutions

Music Row has long been the center of Nashville's music industry. Within just a few blocks, the offices of record companies, music publishers, and other organizations coalesced to form a unique creative community.

Several landmarks define the district's character and cultural identity:

Historic RCA Studio B — Located on Nashville's famed Music Row, Historic RCA Studio B is the oldest surviving recording studio in the city and one of the most celebrated studios in the world. The fabled "Home of 1,000 Hits" produced such classics as Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome To-night?," Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," Roy Orbison's "Crying," and many others.

Columbia's Historic Quonset Hut — Points of interest in the district include the historic RCA Studio B, Columbia's Historic Quonset Hut — the first recording studio on Music Row — and Owen Bradley Park. In 2007, Mike Curb of Curb Records purchased and restored Studio A, and the Quonset Hut became a teaching studio, with Studio A reopening in 2014.

The Country Music Association Headquarters — The Country Music Association (CMA) opened its $750,000 headquarters in Music Row in 1967. The modernist building included CMA's executive offices and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The first Country Music Hall of Fame sat at the corner of Music Square East and Division Street from April 1967 to December 2000, but the building has since been torn down. The museum later relocated to its current facility in downtown Nashville in May 2001.

The Musica Roundabout — The 40-foot-tall Musica statue by artist Alan LeQuire, located at the Music Row Roundabout, depicts nine dancing nude figures, which sometimes wear outfits for special occasions, such as Nashville Predator T-shirts on game day.

Named Streets — Country music entertainers Roy Acuff and Chet Atkins have streets named in their honor within the area.

Music Industry Organizations — Businesses including BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.), ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers), SESAC (Society of European Stage Authors and Composers), NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International), Word Music, Curb Music, Warner Brothers Music, SONY, Disney Music, and MCA Records make their home in large office buildings located alongside Music Row's 19th century houses and modest mid-century office buildings.

Nearby Universities — At the other end of Music Row, across Wedgewood Avenue sits the Belmont University campus, and Vanderbilt University is also adjacent to the area. Belmont is of particular note because of its Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business (CEMB), part of Belmont University and a major program in its commercial music performance division.

Music Row in Popular Culture

The district has inspired artists across generations. Lacy J. Dalton had a hit song in the 1980s about 16th Avenue, while the area served as namesake to Dolly Parton's 1973 composition "Down on Music Row." In 1999, the song "Murder on Music Row" was released and gained fame when it was recorded by George Strait and Alan Jackson, lamenting the rise of country pop and the accompanying decline of the traditional country music sound.

From the 1970s through the 1990s, Music Row developed into a dense hub for recording, publishing, management, and artist services across multiple genres. Throughout these decades, the district continued to attract studios, songwriters, producers, and industry organizations, reinforcing its role as the center of Nashville's commercial music activity.

The Sound Emporium, founded by country producer Cowboy Jack Clement, worked with a diverse roster of artists including Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, and Marty Stuart, and more recently has been the recording ground for artists like Kacey Musgraves and Sturgill Simpson, bringing a mix of old-school country and contemporary styles.

Along Demonbreun Street, which intersects the district, the area once contained a strip of tourist-oriented attractions tied to individual country stars. One area of Music Row, along Demonbreun Street, was once littered with down-market tourist attractions and vanity "museums" of various country music stars. These began to disappear in the late 1990s with the announced move of the Country Music Hall of Fame. The strip sat largely vacant for a few years but has since been redeveloped with a number of upscale restaurants and bars serving the Downtown and Music Row areas.

Preservation and Modern Challenges

In the 21st century, Music Row has experienced both redevelopment pressures and preservation efforts as the music industry evolves. Despite these changes, the district remains a major focal point for Nashville's recording, publishing, and creative infrastructure, and continues to play a significant role in the city's identity as "Music City."

The scale of demolition has been significant. Between 2013 and 2019, 50 buildings were demolished on Music Row. Of these, 38 were music-related (past and/or present), and 64 percent were demolished for new development permitted by Specific Plan (SP) rezonings.

The near-loss of RCA Studio A became a watershed moment for preservation advocates. In 2014, Historic Nashville, Inc. and the National Trust for Historic Preservation were alerted to the impending demolition of RCA Studio A. Historic Nashville Inc. placed the studio on its 2014 "Nashville Nine" most endangered list. The effort to save it proved successful: award-winning producer Dave Cobb now runs the studio, producing Grammy-winning records with artists like Chris Stapleton, and the building's offices are filled with music businesses who located there because they want to be in this historic space.

Recognizing that Music Row is unique in the world in its history, built environment and culture — and that it was under immediate threat — in January 2015 the National Trust designated Music Row as a National Treasure. Research confirmed Music Row still exists as a tight-knit community with more than 200 music-related businesses.

Nashville's Metro government responded with planning efforts. Music Row is the symbolic heart of Nashville's music and entertainment industry. In January 2015, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced Music Row as a National Treasure, and since 2015, Metro planners have been working with Music Row stakeholders to understand historical assets and define challenges threatening Music Row. The overarching theme of the Vision Plan is to ensure that Music Row continues to be a vital hub of music business and innovation, and a unique creative cluster within Nashville.

Despite these efforts, losses have continued. Bobby's Idle Hour, the last tavern on Music Row and a beloved live music venue, has been shuttered, along with four other adjacent properties, to make way for a new office building. The closure stood as a symbol of the broader tension between development and preservation that continues to define the district's future.

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