Music to Georgia's ears

Johnny Mercer, James Brown, Otis Redding and Ray Charles are gone but not forgotten. The Allman Brothers Band, R.E.M., OutKast and the Indigo Girls have staying power. Ludacris, Jennifer Nettles, Gnarls Barkley and Third Day are happening — and recent Grammy winners. The sound changes, but music runs through Georgia as surely as red clay and sweet tea.

It's been bubbling to the surface since before Scotch-Irish settlers arrived with their fiddles, and the wonder is that it comes from so many places and in so many genres: bluegrass, classical, rhythm and blues, soul, country, rock 'n' roll, gospel, Christian, rap and hip-hop.

That bubbling has reached a crescendo in recent years. Atlanta has become the international capitol of hip-hop, thanks to producers like Dallas Austin and Jermaine Dupri, and it's the home of the Gospel Music (TV) Channel, the largest promoter and producer of original gospel content in the world. Atlanta hosted the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Awards and the first BET Hip-Hop Awards last year.

The 62-year-old Atlanta Symphony Orchestra plans to build a new, world-class Atlanta Symphony Center designed by famed architect Santiago Calatrava in Midtown. It's projected to generate 2,100 new jobs between 2011 and 2020. The symphony will open its Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park in Alpharetta in 2008.

Both the Savannah Music Festival and AthFest (in Athens) are growing in numbers and reputation.

For 10 years, the Atlantis Music Conference and Festival has been bringing national industry professionals to Atlanta to hear new talent, collaborate and share ideas, said Stephanie Nelson, manager of marketing and promotion at Eddie's Attic, which has been launching singer-songwriters (John Mayer, Shawn Mullins and Josh Joplin, to name a few) for 15 years in Decatur.

Many well-known artists work in Georgia; 33 of them were nominated for the 49th annual Grammy Awards, and 12 were winners.

Something for everyone

"Georgia is known for the musical artistry it produces, but the Atlanta community has changed in the last five or 10 years, because more artists, producers and record companies have moved here," said Joel Katz, chairman of Greenberg Traurig's Global Entertainment Practice and general counsel for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Artists like Elton John could live anywhere, Katz mentioned, so why Atlanta?

"They come here for the climate, the friendly Southern atmosphere and the great diversity of music," Katz said. "People of all faiths, skin colors and backgrounds are able to work together here. There are no issues. It's all about competency and whether you can do good work."

When Katz signed James Brown as his first client 37 years ago, people told him he was crazy. Now Greenberg Traurig is the largest entertainment law firm in the world, with 92 lawyers in nine cities; 18 live in Atlanta.

"I've stayed because I've liked living in Atlanta," Katz said. "I'm pleased to have built the business, and I've met some fantastic people."

The music industry in Georgia is approaching $2 billion a year, up from $1 billion a few years ago, according to Bill Thompson, division director of the Georgia Film, Video and Music Office of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. There are 12,000 people working full time in Georgia's music industry. Forty-six major music videos were made in the state last year.

"Recording studios, record companies, artist development and management businesses, rehearsal facilities, choreography studios, image consultants, fashion photography, entertainment banking and law, music and film publishing, and even a new music business program at [the University of Georgia] . . . What types of music industry companies aren't coming to Atlanta?" said Jan Smith, owner of Jan Smith Studios and Atlanta chapter trustee for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Atlanta has grown its music community from the inside out to cover all genres and, by keeping the business operations of music at home, has grown past its boundaries to become a force to be reckoned with nationally, Smith said. Her vocal coaching services and studio have expanded from a one-woman operation to a nine-member staff serving a roster of chart-topping stars.

While in China to train artists, she learned that, even there, they know who Diana DeGarmo is. "She's from Snellville, you know. 'Nuff said."

Studio on the rise

Twelve years ago, Paul Diaz took a leap of faith and initially invested

$1 million to build Tree Sound Studios in an old printing plant near Berkeley Lake.

"I always liked recording music, but I never expected to make a living at it," Diaz said.

Before he established his current studio, Diaz began following and recording Georgia groups out of his 1986 Isuzu Trooper, then moved into a home studio. He earned a degree in music engineering and management from the Art Institute of Atlanta; he equipped his first commercial studio inside a music school. When the business outgrew it, he traveled across the country to look at prospective locations.

"I loved Austin [Texas], but, while the musicians were there, the economy to support the industry wasn't," Diaz said. He knew he'd get eaten alive by the established competition in New York, Los Angeles or Nashville, so he invested in Atlanta.

"Hip-hop and rap were starting to happen, but the scene wasn't yet developed. People told me I was foolish to build that large of a studio, but I figured if I built it, they would come. The climate was right," he said.

Tree Sound Studios has grown to 18,000 square feet and five studios, including a huge, live soundstage. In about six months, he'll break ground on The Green Room, an environmentally friendly studio with a top-of-the-line control room that will make it easier to shoot music videos.

Diaz has leased space to local and national artists; Elton John's "Peachtree Road" album was recorded there. Diaz has seen the industry blossom in the last 10 years, as more artists have found the space, infrastructure and talent they need to do major projects in Atlanta.

Convergence of minds

This month, the Georgia Department of Economic Development hosted its first Georgia Music Roundtable, inviting a cross-section of industry professionals to participate.

"The idea was to ask people what Georgia could do to help support and grow the industry that already has enormous cultural and economic impact here," Thompson said.

"It was an important and powerful meeting to remind us what a unique situation we have in Georgia. When it comes to music quality and success in many fields, we have an embarrassment of riches here," said John Sparrow, vice president and general manager of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Diaz, who has noticed that Atlanta gets lumped in with the rest of the Southeast in industry trade publications, came away from the Georgia Music Roundtable hopeful. With more organization within the music community and with "a little love" and support from the state government, Atlanta could be recognized for the music epicenter it is, he said.

The group is exploring ways to promote Atlanta as a tourist destination for music enthusiasts, including adding tax incentives (as the state has done for the film/video industry) to encourage more producers to work in the state.

"We have willing and able major players in the industry. I think our music scene could become the next L.A., New York and Nashville, all rolled into one," Diaz said.

Grooming for the future

Bruce Burch, administrative director of the University of Georgia's new music-business program, said that Atlanta is fast becoming the nation's fourth major music center. That wasn't the case when he left Georgia for Nashville in 1977 to become a songwriter and music publisher. Burch wrote platinum hits for Reba McEntire and songs for George Jones and Faith Hill, among others, but he said that he had to learn everything on the job.

"It makes more sense for newcomers to have a background in the business, which is becoming more artist-driven and competitive, and not have to fly by the seat of their pants," Burch said.

He teamed up with Steve Dancz, record producer, composer and chairman of jazz studies at UGA's Hugh Hodgson School of Music, to launch the program in January 2006. The certificate-granting program is jointly sponsored by the music and business departments; enrollment is up to 75 students.

"The beauty of having a program here is that our students can actually meet — and participate in externships and internships with — people working in the industry," Burch said.

Burch estimates that at least 75 percent of people in the music industry are behind-the-scenes business managers, publicists, accountants, graphic designers and other support services.

"If we want to encourage more musicians and producers to live and work in Georgia, we have to build the industry with new talent," Burch said. "With this program, we're training that new blood."