By Jamie Lynn

As someone that has lived in Nashville since 2002 this film moved me to my core! The changes have been bitter/sweet! Change is inevitable where ever we go. You have to take the good with the bad! With that being said it is heartbreaking to see big cooperations come in annihilate these smaller businesses!

In 1950 Nashville, Tennessee was dubbed “Music City USA”, but in many people’s minds, it’s always been a country music town. However, over the past decade or so, the city has become a hub for essentially every kind of music you can imagine. As a result, tourism was exploding and Nashville was becoming one of the fastest growing cities in America. Every facet of the music business exists here from mega-stars like Taylor Swift and Jack White, a massive recording and publishing industry, songwriters, up-and coming artists and small, independent venues that support them. In short, Nashville has become the epicenter of the music industry in the United States with a unique music ecosystem where every part is interconnected and dependent on the other. The problem the city faces is that one part of that ecosystem is not particularly profitable: Small, independent venues, the mom-and-pop clubs run for, and by, people in the community where up-and-coming artists are given the opportunity to hone their craft. Though Nashville was quickly becoming a top tourist destination, the city had the lowest cash reserves of any major city in America, so balancing cultural preservation and growth was made more difficult. How does a city prioritize an unprofitable yet arguably vital part of their brand when the world’s largest corporations want to move in?

Exit/In was the heart of Nashville! History in Nashville! It’s not just a business! As said in the film this was family to these people! It was the blood, sweat, and tears of these hard working people! Without any care these big cooperations that come in and take it just like that!

Exit/In has a rich history of opening their stage to up-and-coming acts in Nashville and from around the world. Like other independent, community-based venues, Exit/In was willing to take a chance on unproven talent, giving them an opportunity to hone their craft and build an audience. Over the years, many great Nashville bands were launched out of the club and, along the way, a local scene would build around these bands. Around 2015, a scene emerged around a handful of bands, with one becoming arguably the most popular band in the club’s history

On March 15th, the coronavirus shut the city down. Volunteers were forced to abandon the clean-up and, like the rest of the world, everything stopped. With the lion’s share of the city’s income coming from tourism, Nashville was the most impacted city in the nation. The city reeled as protests and business closures were punctuated by a Christmas morning bombing that ravaged the city’s most historic district. Over the course of 2020, Live Nation saw an 84% decline in revenues. Exit/In was closer to 100%. Money was allocated for struggling independent venues. Though they didn’t qualify, Live Nation took $19 million of it. Substantial cash infusions followed. By 2021, as live music returned, Live Nation had devised plans to re-establish their pre-pandemic revenue through increased ticket pricing and fees and partnerships with deep-pocketed developers who saw opportunities in the cash-strapped independent music venues. The same year they revised their artist agreement to dramatically reduce the income to bands while simultaneously increasing the artists’ risk.

Within weeks, there were few indications that Exit/In had ever been there. Six months later, Exit/In reopened under new management with bands booked through AJ Capital’s Stage Right Productions and ticketed exclusively by Live Nation Entertainment’s Ticketmaster. Since their purchase of Exit/In, AJ Capital Partners has acquired similar independent venues in Memphis, TN, Charlotte, NC, New Orleans, LA and Portland, OR with all booking handled internally and all ticketing handled by Ticketmaster. As venues and artists have continued to struggle, Live Nation Entertainment’s revenue for the twelve months ending June 30, 2023 was $19.202B, a 64.98% increase year-over-year. Live Nation’s annual revenue for 2022 was $16.681B, a 166.11% increase from 2021.

Cities across the nation need to have guidelines for these big corporations coming in taking out the heartbeat and history in these buildings.

The Day the Music Stopped was an excellent film! It was factual and very heartfelt.

Save small businesses from big cooperations.