New survey of Nashville’s independent venues spells out how bad things are and what can be done

Nashville’s independent music venues were thrust into the spotlight when the pandemic forced the cancelation of live shows and put the survival of  beloved rooms like Exit/In  in doubt. It took that crisis to draw the attention of Metro Council, which called for a study in 2021.

The resulting160-page survey of stakeholders in the city’s musical night life was released this week, and offers a comprehensive look at the state of independent venues in Nashville, revealing how they operate, their value to the community and the specifics of the challenges they face.

According to the report, Nashville’s venue population is considerably denser than cities that dwarf its size, like New York and Tokyo, but its independently operated rooms in particular are under threat.

These venues — which operate without corporate backing — have slimmer profit margins, according to the research. And as the cost of doing business in Nashville goes up, along with the cost of living, they’re far more at risk of getting priced out by escalating growth, pushed out by landlords eyeing more profitable uses of the property or squeezed by the increasing scarcity of affordable, accessible parking.

Nashville’s independent music spaces are viewed as important incubators for local scenes and new talent, laboratories for original expression and hubs for community. They also tend to be located farther from the prime real estate at the heart of the city. But downtown, the programming at the city’s highest capacity concert venues and the tourist-aimed honky-tonks lining both sides of Lower Broadway privileges established superstars and cover versions of their hits. “The higher the rent,” the study spells out, “the less experimental or community-focused the music program.”

Another side of independence illuminated by the survey? The feeling among those invested in the well-being of independent venues that metro government has left them to fend for themselves. The report lays bare a perception that downtown tourism and the country music industry — both viewed as predominately white spaces — still take priority in how the city markets itself globally and allocates its resources locally.

For that reason, many of the solutions proposed are civic. The survey suggests that creating land trusts, offering grants and loans and streamlining startup processes are among the measures that could bolster efforts to preserve and create independent venues. And a pair of existing agencies — the Office of Nightlife and the Nashville Music, Film and Entertainment Commission — are identified as the ideal ones to take on some of this work, in partnership with the private sector.  

(A separate survey, the Greater Nashville Music Census, is also underway. And while the Nashville Independent Venues Study compares its findings with research previously conducted in other major music centers, the still-in-progress census is part of an effort to study the music ecosystems of multiple cities side by side.)

To aim for true diversification of Nashville’s venue landscape, the just-released report says, will require not only ensuring that more clubs host an array of genres, but training and supporting more Black and Latine venue operators.

And the survey’s call to action is a call to be proactive. Waiting until the next crises, the authors insist, won’t work.