How to restore Memphis’ music industry spotlight
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many important issues into focus, but one of the most crucial is our national tendency to treat the symptom and not the disease.
Memphis is no exception
Local politicians, music industry executives, artists, songwriters, producers, engineers, and more are all the trustees of our community’s hope, stewards of a music legacy, and catalysts of a renaissance in music innovation.
However, recent efforts to aid the Memphis music community have been more artist-focused than artist-centric.
While it is important to treat the symptom of economic hardship and keep our creatives afloat in this difficult time, we also need to begin shifting our attention to the underlying disease: a lack of music business infrastructure that has forced many local talents to leave our city and pursue their music careers elsewhere.
The Memphis music community is built on a foundation of emotionally connective music that was birthed out of the unique blend of pain and hope that comes with being Black in America.
This recipe has led to decades of hit music that has crossed genre, generational, and racial lines.
At Made in Memphis Entertainment, we are intimately aware of Memphis’ key part in this music legacy — our CEO David Porter was the first staff songwriter at Stax Records, which gave the world, among others, Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, Booker T & the MGS, and Sam and Dave, popularizing gritty, raw, stripped-down Soul music throughout the U.S.
As the decades passed, the spotlight on Memphis began to dim. We have known for some time that we live in an attention economy, and that attention is becoming more and more difficult to attain, especially in the entertainment industry.
Consumers not only have access to massive amounts of music wherever they are but also can choose to watch TV, listen to podcasts, read books, or post on social media.
This overabundance of content led to a convergence of attention around a handful of artists who fans are already familiar with, and the industry consolidated around three main hubs: New York, Nashville, and Los Angeles.
Memphis went from being the epicenter of music to a museum of vintage audio artifacts. However, the amount of talent never diminished; only the spotlight shifted.
We need to bring the Memphis spotlight back
Memphis has largely pursued an artist-focused approach, devoting a substantial portion of resources designated for the local entertainment industry to provide direct grants, micro loans, and housing assistance for artists.
This is all well and good, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but a more prudent path would be to pursue an artist-centric approach, creating an ecosystem that supports their efforts and allows for sustained success.
At Made in Memphis Entertainment, we are finding that independent and major labels, publishers, distributors, and aggregators are coming to Memphis and engaging local referral sources and independent A&R executives to find the next generation of artists, producers, and songwriters.
However, this often results in those creatives relocating once they are discovered and signed.
What we need to do is incentivize those coming into Memphis to establish a more permanent presence, which also increases their likelihood of landing the next sensation. In turn, this gives local creatives more leverage to remain in Memphis while pursuing their passion, a reality that has not been available to them in decades.
We need to begin shifting our attention to the underlying disease: a lack of music business infrastructure has forced many local talents to leave our city and pursue their music careers elsewhere.
Initiatives help the artist and their community
A good example of how to do this right can be found in the Georgia Music Investment Act, which went into effect in January 2018.
This law provides a 15% refundable tax credit for in-state expenses on musical recordings — including both traditional releases and music for film, TV, or video games — and music tours and rehearsals, with an additional 5% credit for projects in economically distressed areas.
By developing and implementing a similar incentive in Tennessee, we can ensure that music companies who come to Memphis for the talent stick around and do business here as well.
The World Intellectual Property Organization has also laid out seven key strategies for developing music cities, with the number one tip being “creating musicfriendly and musician-friendly policies.”
Other suggestions that would have a major impact on Memphis include establishing a music officer or office and appointing a music advisory board.
In addition, Memphis should appoint a government affairs executive in Washington, D.C., to ensure Memphis is considered in trade association lobbying efforts while also engaging in consistent communication with Tennessee’s congressional delegation.
Finally, we must create global reach for artists and companies in Memphis.
Currently, many feel the only way to achieve international success is to head to New York, Nashville, or Los Angeles. With today’s interconnected world, made even more so by the technology that has allowed us to interact online during the pandemic, this does not need to be the case.
At Made in Memphis Entertainment, we are working to create a network of linked music industry hubs throughout the world, starting with Memphis, that pair hyper-local knowledge and resources with worldwide distribution and marketing to discover and develop the best local talent, all in their own backyard.
One of the most beneficial things that we can do for artists is create both demand and options.
We need to focus our resources on cultivating options and opportunities within our community in an artist-centric manner, so our talent can achieve global reach without leaving Memphis.
We must remove the barriers and obstacles that keep businesses out of Memphis, so they can go from being spectators to participants in our legacy, all while creating the opportunities and jobs needed to really move the needle in increasing quality of life for artists.
Tony D. Alexander is co-founder, president and managing director of Made in Memphis Entertainment.