National Trust for Historic Preservation: Return to home page

Great news! On July 21, the National Park Service announced that the RCA Victor Studios Building, more commonly known as Studio A, was named to the National Register of Historic Places. This designation, which carries no restrictions on how the building may be altered, re-developed or even demolished, makes it eligible for valuable federal tax credits for rehabilitation.

But just as important, this listing serves as validation of the work the National Trust and its local preservation and music industry allies are doing to document the history of the many buildings along Music Row that give Nashville its title of "Music City." Middle Tennessee State University's director of the Center for Historic Preservation, Carroll Van West, spearheaded the nomination process, and was quoted in The Tennessean as saying, "The National Park Service's final approval and listing of RCA Victor Studios to the National Register of Historic Places is a very important step forward not only for the future of that iconic building, where so much music and music industry history were made, but now it is an anchor for the preservation of other Music Row landmarks and keeping Nashville's creative heart together for decades to come."

As reported in a Nashville Business Journal piece, for the last six months we and local partners have been "gathering data and research, from a field survey of Music Row's buildings to a collection of oral histories, to help piece together a timeline of Music Row milestones...The groups are also providing research to the Metro Planning Department, which is working on a neighborhood design plan. Although Studio A garnered the most attention thanks to interest from high-profile musicians like Ben Folds and Dave Grohl, the push to preserve more buildings and the neighborhood's character spread up and down Music Row."

So while we applaud the designation of Studio A, our work ensure the full history of Music Row is told is still very much in progress! Stay tuned for updates on our research and exciting interviews as part of our oral history project, "Telling Music Row's Stories."

Approximately 100 enthusiastic Music Row supporters gathered at a public meeting hosted by the National Trust and the Music Industry Coalition on April 2 to learn more about historic research study that will tell Music Row’s story and guide plans for its future.

The National Trust will lead the study, working with local partners, government agencies and preservation consultants, to create a comprehensive Multiple Property Documentation Form that will allow for individual properties to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The project will also collect oral histories from artists, musicians, songwriters, publicists, publishers and others about their memories and experiences on Music Row.

The final historical document will create a master inventory of historic music-related properties and will provide the foundation for a new Music Row Design Plan. The National Trust will work with the Metro Planning Department and other partners in the coming months to create the plan which will guide Music Row’s future development.

The evening concluded with an outpouring of offers from supporters volunteering to help with research, to provide historical information and to participate in the oral history collection.

Speakers at the meeting included Carolyn Brackett and Alicia Leuba (pictured) with the National Trust; Mike Kopp, chair of Music Industry Coalition; John Dotson, vice chair of the Music Industry Coalition and founder of the newly formed Music Row Neighborhood Association; Tim Walker, Metro Nashville Historical Commission executive director and Doug Sloan, Metro Planning Department deputy director.

Carolyn Brackett was interviewed by Nashville’s NewsChannel 5 on the spate of recent demolitions and the importance of saving Music Row.