Creation and production are identified as having the greatest structural frailty and offer the clearest opportunities for targeted investment and capacity development.

The industry is heavily skewed geographically. 41% of all mapped physical music infrastructure is concentrated solely in Knox County, leaving peripheral counties without the critical mass needed to sustain local musical economies.

There is a lack of businesses supporting the music sector, and existing managers/booking agents and record labels received the lowest ratings by musicians in terms of relevance, quality and availability, with over half of musicians reporting no engagement with them. 

Peripheral counties often center around a few subcategories, which can lead to the development of narrow local identities and music‑related offerings, underscoring a need for regional coordination.

The overall ecosystem operates below national concentration levels, with an establishment LQ of 0.89 and an employment LQ of 0.73, indicating considerable space for growth.

• Creation activities have one of the lowest concentrations (employment LQ of 0.21), representing a limited presence of artists and composers.

• Production shows similarly low specialization (employment LQ of 0.07), highlighting a very narrow local base of recording and production services.

• While Distribution's establishment LQ exceeds 1.0, the employment LQ (0.58) and the employment LQs for Exhibition (0.51) and Transversal (0.76) are still below the national level of concentration.

Assets are heavily concentrated in Exhibition (53%) and Transversal (28%), while Production (8%) and Distribution (11%) functions, which typically support commercial growth, remain limited.