America’s Sound Recording Capitals:
Nashville Leads on Concentration, Los Angeles on Scale
Nashville’s “Music City” history stretches from the Fisk Jubilee Singers’ first tour in 1871 to the launch of WSM and the Grand Ole Opry in 1925, according to the city’s tourism organization.
That reputation rests on more than performers and studios. A Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce study, prepared for the Music City Music Council, highlights music publishing’s role in the city’s development. But a familiar music-city name does not tell us how large or concentrated its recording-business base is.
To answer that question, Giggster analyzed average 2025 sound-recording employer-establishment counts and population data across 50 U.S. metropolitan areas. The report compares where recording businesses are most concentrated relative to population, which markets have the most establishments, and how much of each local industry consists of studios.
01
Nashville Beats Los Angeles With Nearly Twice the Recording-Business Concentration
What the Data Says
- •Nashville leads with 160 establishments per million residents, compared with 85 in Los Angeles and 29 in third-place Miami.
- •California has metros at both ends of the ranking. Los Angeles records 85 establishments per million residents, versus 3 in Fresno, about a 28-fold gap. Riverside (5) and San Jose (6) also rank in the bottom 10.
- •Studios are the largest category in eight of the 10 highest-concentration metros. Publishing leads in Nashville, with about 152 establishments; record production and distribution leads in Miami, with about 60.
02
Los Angeles Has More Recording Establishments Than New York, Nashville, and Miami Combined
What the Data Says
- •Los Angeles has more than twice New York’s establishment base: 1,085 versus 534. Nashville ranks third with 352.
- •Each of the 10 smallest markets averaged fewer than 14 sound-recording establishments in 2025. The figures ranged from just 3 in Fresno to about 13 in Pittsburgh.
- •Large markets do not always rank highly for concentration. Washington, D.C., ranks 10th by establishment count but 22nd per resident; Dallas–Fort Worth ranks seventh by count but 16th per resident.
03
Studios Make Up Most Recording Businesses in Just 8 of 50 Metros Studied
What the Data Says
- •Birmingham has the highest studio share at 60%, with 3 studios out of 5 sound-recording establishments.
- •Two of the four largest recording markets studied have the lowest studio shares. Studios account for just 25% of Nashville’s recording establishments and 27% of Miami’s.
- •Only eight of the 50 metros have studio shares above 50%. Raleigh (49.5%) and San Diego (49%) round out the top 10, just below half.
Key Terms
Establishments in 2025
The average number of employer establishments recorded across the four quarters of 2025, not the number of new openings. An establishment is a business operating unit, usually at one location; one company can operate several. Decimal values result from averaging.
Sound-Recording Industry
The combined category covering recording studios, music publishers, record production and distribution, and other sound-recording businesses. Studios are already included in the total.
Business Concentration
The number of sound-recording establishments per 1 million residents. This allows metros with different population sizes to be compared.
Market Size
The metro’s average number of sound-recording establishments, without adjusting for population. Here, “size” refers to establishment counts, not revenue, employment, or recording capacity.
Studio Share
The percentage of a metro’s sound-recording establishments classified as studios. A higher share means studios make up more of the local industry, not necessarily that the metro has more studios.
FAQs
Why does Nashville lead the concentration ranking when Los Angeles has more recording establishments?
The rankings measure different things. Los Angeles has the largest establishment base, with an annual average of 1,085 establishments in 2025, compared with about 352 in Nashville. Nashville leads relative to population, with 160 establishments per million residents, compared with 85 in Los Angeles. Its first-place ranking means a higher concentration-not a larger market.
Do the establishment counts include every recording studio and home studio?
No. The figures cover employer establishments across four categories: studios, music publishers, record production and distribution, and other sound-recording businesses. They are not a complete count of every freelancer or home studio. Counts are averaged across the four quarters of 2025, not counts of new openings, which explains the decimal values. One company can also operate several establishments.
How can Birmingham have the highest studio share with just three studio establishments?
Studio share measures what proportion of a metro’s recording industry consists of studios, not how many studios it has. Birmingham’s three studio establishments represent 60% of its five recording establishments. Nashville has about 89 studio establishments, but they represent only 25% of its much larger recording-business base. A higher percentage does not mean a larger or better studio market.
Does the report show that recording businesses are moving from Los Angeles to Nashville?
No. The report compares 2025 figures across 50 metropolitan areas; it does not track businesses moving between markets or changes over time. Nashville’s concentration lead is not evidence that Los Angeles is losing recording businesses. The rankings also do not measure revenue, employment, recording output, or studio quality, so they cannot establish which metro has the strongest music scene or is the best place to record.
Methodology
This study examined the concentration, size, and composition of the sound-recording employer-business base across 50 U.S. metropolitan areas. Business data cover all four quarters of 2025. Population figures refer to July 1, 2025, using the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 metropolitan population estimates.
The article presents three separate comparisons: overall sound-recording business concentration, establishment-based market size, and recording studios’ share of the local industry.
City names are shortened labels for full metropolitan statistical areas, not individual city boundaries. The findings describe the 50 metros studied, not every recording market in the United States.
Industry coverage
The analysis covers Sound Recording Industries (NAICS 5122) under the 2022 North American Industry Classification System. The industry contains four categories:
- Sound Recording Studios (512240),
- Music Publishers (512230),
- Record Production and Distribution (512250),
- Other Sound Recording Industries (512290).
These categories make up the combined industry total. Studios are already included in that total and must not be added to it again. The studio category includes relevant audio production and postproduction services and is not limited to music recording.
Counting establishments
Establishment counts came from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), using 2025 private-sector records covering all establishment sizes. County-level counts were combined into metropolitan areas using the BLS County–MSA–CSA Crosswalk, specifically its 2024–current definitions.
Following the BLS establishment definition, an establishment is a business operating unit, typically at one location. One company can operate several establishments. Businesses are classified by their predominant activity, so the categories describe business classifications rather than separate services offered by the same establishment.
For each metro and industry, county establishment counts were added together within each quarter. The four quarterly metro totals were then averaged:
Establishments in 2025 = (Quarter 1 + Quarter 2 + Quarter 3 + Quarter 4 establishment counts) ÷ 4
The result describes how many employer establishments a metro had, on average, during 2025, not how many opened that year. Decimal values result from averaging quarterly counts.
Metro rankings and calculations
Sound-recording business concentration
The first comparison ranks metros by their combined sound-recording establishment count relative to population:
Establishments per 1 million residents = Annual-average sound-recording establishments ÷ Metro population × 1,000,000
The denominator is the metro’s July 1, 2025 population from the Census Bureau’s metropolitan population estimates.
The four industry-category columns show the establishment breakdown behind each combined total. They do not receive separate weights or scores. The population-adjusted rate determines the ranking, not the establishment count alone.
Sound-recording business market size
The second comparison ranks metros by their annual-average total sound-recording establishment count, using the same QCEW business data without adjusting for population.
The accompanying concentration-rank column shows each metro’s position in the full 50-metro ranking from the first comparison, where 1 indicates the highest concentration and 50 the lowest. It is included for comparison only and does not determine the market-size ranking.
Recording studios’ share of the local industry
The final comparison ranks metros by the percentage of their sound-recording establishments classified as Sound Recording Studios (NAICS 512240):
Studio share = Annual-average studio establishments ÷ Annual-average total sound-recording establishments in the same metro × 100
The denominator is each metro’s own industry total, not its population or the combined establishment base across the 50 metros. The calculation uses annual-average counts rather than averaging four quarterly percentages.
Studio and total establishment counts are shown alongside the percentage. A higher studio share means studios make up more of the local recording-business base, not necessarily that the metro has more studios.
Ranking and rounding rules
All calculations and rankings use unrounded values. Figures are rounded only for presentation, generally to one decimal place in the article tables. Rounded category counts may not add exactly to the displayed total, and percentages may not be reproducible precisely from rounded counts.
Each highest and lowest table starts at 1. Exact ties share a rank, with subsequent positions skipped. Identical displayed values do not create a tie when the underlying figures differ. Grand Rapids and Hartford share sixth place in the smallest-market table, followed by eighth place.
Fresno and Oklahoma City are exactly tied at the tenth-lowest studio-share cutoff. Both are shown separately at rank 10, so the lowest-share table includes 11 metros.
Things to keep in mind
The study covers employer establishments within the selected industry categories, not the entire recording economy. Under QCEW’s coverage rules, proprietors and the unincorporated self-employed are excluded from employment coverage. The results should not be described as a census of every freelancer or home studio. Recording activity within businesses classified under other industries falls outside this measure.
Establishment counts do not measure individual recording rooms, equipment, revenue, employment, recording output, studio quality, prices, or booking availability. A company may operate more than one establishment.
Population-adjusted concentration does not establish local demand or access to studios, because businesses may serve clients outside their metro. Studio share describes industry composition and can be high within a small establishment base; neither a higher nor a lower share indicates a better recording market.
The results are a 2025 snapshot, not evidence of growth, decline, or relocation. Published observations may be updated under BLS’s QCEW revision procedures. Small differences in ranking should not be interpreted as statistically significant.
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