Berry Hill’s identity is built almost entirely on recording studios and music publishers. The neighborhood has roughly 40 studios operating within less than one square mile, making it the most concentrated music production zone in Nashville outside of Music Row itself, and by some measures, more active on a day-to-day working basis.
Recording studios
This is the primary reason Berry Hill exists as a distinct commercial zone. The studios here range from East Iris Studios (the Universal Music Group facility on East Iris Drive, operating six commercially bookable studios on a campus of eight buildings) to smaller independent rooms used by session musicians, producers, and solo artists. The neighborhood functions as an ecosystem: mixing engineers, mastering facilities, vocal producers, and instrument hire services all cluster nearby because the work is already here.
The draw for studios specifically is practical: the lots are larger than Music Row’s tight grid, commercial real estate has historically been cheaper, and the residential streets nearby provide a quiet working environment that dense commercial zones cannot replicate.
Music publishers
Berry Hill’s other dominant business category is music publishing. Publishers, the companies that manage songwriting catalogs, pitch songs to artists, and collect royalties, tend to follow the studios. Several independent and mid-sized publishers have offices here, operating in converted homes and commercial buildings along the main corridors.
Independent food and coffee
The neighborhood’s food scene is small but has its adherents. Sunflower Bakehouse (related to Sunflower Cafe) is a local institution for vegetarian and vegan-friendly food. A handful of other independent coffee shops and casual restaurants have clustered here over the years, serving the working population of musicians, engineers, and publishing staff who do not want to drive to Hillsboro Village or 12 South for lunch.
What is coming
The $250 million Universal Music Group campus planned for Berry Hill will introduce new categories of business to the neighborhood when built. The proposal includes restaurants fronting an expanded public park, retail space, an education and office building, and “producer cottages”, residential units embedded in the campus. This development, if completed, would represent the first significant public-facing commercial expansion in Berry Hill in decades. The first scoring stage in the central United States is part of the plan, which would also attract a category of clients, film composers and orchestral recording sessions, that Nashville currently loses to Los Angeles and New York.
Sources
- City of Berry Hill, cityofberryhill.com
- Nashville Post, Berry Hill $250M campus, December 2023
- Billboard, UMG Nashville music studio education complex, December 2023
- East Iris Studios, eastirisstudios.com
- American Songwriter, UMG entertainment education campus announcement, December 2023