NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashville is known as “Music City” for many reasons, including the city’s great Country Music history and the musicians who live and work there today, but one of the fastest growing sections of the music industry in Nashville is movie, TV, and video game scoring.
“The talent pool is here, and that’s the reason why this is happening here,” Steve Schnur, head of worldwide music for Electronic Arts (EA) said. “The film and television and game recording business is growing at an unprecedented level.”
The incredible musicians have lived in Nashville for years, and the business has been here, but a big reason for the increase in business when it comes to movie, TV, and video game scoring is a new incentive program put in place by the state of Tennessee, helping the state compete not just with other states, but other countries as well.
“What the incentive program does is it immediately brings us down and intact with the cost of Eastern Europe. The musicians still get paid very fairly, it’s the state that fills the gap, the void between the two,” Schnur explained. “Nashville could become the #1 scoring destination in the world. Easily.”
The incentive program gives 25 percent rebates for scoring projects that spend at least $50,000 in the Nashville area or at least $25,000 in other parts of the state, and it's made Nashville one of the top spots for recording this type of music in the world thanks to the affordability, and the level of musicians available.
Nashville musicians are responsible for recording the music for games like Call of Duty, Fortnite, Madden Football, FIFA, Battlefield, Star Wars games, and many others.
The reach of Nashville musicians in this area is expected to continue to grow, with the possibility of more studios opening to accommodate larger recordings such as orchestral recordings.
