_The Creative Wealth of Nations_

# **<mark>Case Study || Nashville, Tennessee</mark>**

Nashville was at the center of discussion at the World Bank’s first Africa Music Workshop in the early 2000s. It provides a repertoire of lessons for the performing arts in development. Here music provides employment opportunities not only in the direct music production sector, but also in graphic designing, lighting, sound technicians, marketing specialists, artist services, tourism, and even dry cleaning, to name a few.

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Data on the economic impact of music to the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is estimated as follows, according to a 2006 study commissioned by Nashville Chamber of Commerce:*

- <mark>Total sales attributable to the music industry: $6.38 billion.</mark>

- <mark>Total music-related employment: over 54,000 jobs.</mark>

- The income earned by all occupations directly employed in the music industry is estimated to be $722 million.

- Based on the tax models utilized in this study, the fiscal impact of the music industry is over $75 million.

Source: Patrick Raines and LaTanya Brown, “The Economic Impact of the Music Industry in the NashvilleDavidson-Murfreesboro MSA.” Commissioned by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce; conducted by the College of Business Administration, Belmont University.<sup>30</sup> As we see in figure 1, the linkages of how music connects to other activities are the engine of this eco-system — arts education, while not prominently highlighted, could be added to this model. In promoting performing arts strategies in development, this picture is a guiding mental map. It is also a microscope to see and even advocate for what is possible.

But since Nashville is based in Tennessee, a state in a developed country, there are important questions that first need to be addressed: How has music shaped Nashville, Tennessee? How does Nashville’s collaboration and innovation through music add to Tennessee’s economy? Would a Nashville replica work in developing countries where regulatory systems are still weak and basics such as electricity are often limited, even as global practices are promoted at the Bank? What kind of public policy framework should governments interested in this idea follow?

One idea is to start with studying the cluster model of innovation, as this phenomenon is not uncommon in developing countries. Nonetheless, as Calestous Juma notes, the “presence of a cluster does not automatically lead to positive external effects.” There are numerous examples of both failed and successful attempts at establishing clusters in developing countries. “There is therefore a need to look beyond the simple explanation of proximity and cultural factors,” as Juma contends, “and to ask why some clusters prosper and what specifically explains their success.”<sup>31</sup>

> * See Appendix C for Summary of Economic Impact Estimates for Nashville MSA.

> 30 Patrick Raines and LaTanya Brown, “The Economic Impact of the Music Industry in the NashvilleDavidson-Murfreesboro,” Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, January, 2006, accessed April 10, 2014, <u>http://secure.nashvillechamber.com/president/musicindustryimpactstudy.pdf.</u>

> 31 Calestous Juma, _The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa_ (New York: Oxford), 63.

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