Memphis turns – Memphis has shaped American music for decades—from Stax Records and gospel through Sun Records and hip hop—yet many residents say the city hasn’t captured the wealth its sound created. In 2026, mayor Paul Young is pushing a new push to connect preservation wit
On a street where visitors still line up for Beale Street and head for Graceland, the music story of Memphis is being rewritten with a more urgent question: will the city finally keep more of what it creates?
The push comes as Memphis wrestles with a feeling that outsiders notice its history more than its present—while residents watch Nashville surge as “Music City” booms around them. The stakes are economic as much as cultural. and the push is aimed at turning heritage into something that can pay off for artists. venues. and the local economy.
The story stretches across generations. and it starts with a man who helped shape the sound when the city’s best known labels were at their peak. Pastor Juan Shipp is 87 years old. and his life spans the era of legendary recording studio Stax Records—home to Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes—through today’s efforts to keep Memphis music moving.
In the 1960s, Shipp was a clergyman with a gospel radio show. During that time, gospel bands were producing recordings with poor sound quality, so he set out to improve it. He found a studio above a burger joint in downtown Memphis and began recording gospel groups—some widely known. others not—developing a sound he became known for.
By 1972, Shipp had started his own label, D-Vine Spirituals. But by the 1980s, the music industry had shifted. Shipp went back to the ministry, leaving behind master recordings stored away for years. Decades later, someone approached him about finding the old masters. They were dug out, and a producer began reissuing them under a new label. The music drew enough attention to trigger a renaissance. and Shipp has since returned to recording gospel bands again under a newer label.
He’s retired from the ministry now, but he is again in the studio and back with a new radio show highlighting gospel—an effort that, as he frames it through his life’s work, ties the modern moment to the history Memphis is known for.
Memphis’ music scene has shifted many times over the past seven decades, Shipp’s arc reflects that reality. In the city’s earlier eras. music powerhouses included Sun Records and Elvis. alongside Stax and artists like Otis Redding. Sam and Dave. and Isaac Hayes. When Stax went under in the 1970s, a downturn followed.
The years after Martin Luther King’s assassination brought further strain, with downtown starting to suffer. Over time, some recording artists left for Nashville or Atlanta, though not everyone did. Royal Studios, another major Memphis recording site, kept going and recorded Al Green and others.
Then came the 1990s, when hip hop from Memphis—especially Three 6 Mafia—became influential and has remained so in modern hip hop. GloRilla is among the Memphis-born artists now described as one of the world’s biggest hip hop stars.
Across all of those eras, the point residents make is consistent: talent is everywhere. But the wealth created by that talent doesn’t always stay put.
That’s the tension behind the question many people ask—why Memphis hasn’t captured more of the value from its own music creation. The frustration often comes with a comparison to Nashville, which took up the Music City moniker and grew quickly. Memphis has redeveloped parts of its downtown, but residents say the same level of growth hasn’t followed.
In that gap, people wonder why Memphis hasn’t built more of what turns songs into long-term revenue: more music publishing, more recording studios, and more artists treating Memphis as a permanent base in the way other hubs have managed.
Mayor Paul Young is betting that the way forward can connect cultural preservation to economic expansion. He says his preservation efforts are more than a heritage project. His approach includes starting an office designed to create more opportunity for artists. the recording industry. the tourism industry. music tourism. and live music. The plan frames music as the city’s largest cultural export.
The goal is to marshal government funding, private funding, and business investment—building infrastructure around existing programs. Among the examples cited are a program designed to help Memphis artists get their music placed in films and commercials. There is also a group that provides touring grants to up-and-coming bands. helping them go on the road and act as ambassadors for Memphis.
For people trying to build the live music side of the economy. the question is whether venues can finally match the demand from touring acts. Memphis music promoter Nick Barbian opened a new venue a little outside the city, a project years in the making. It’s a 4,500-seat showcase venue, and it is one of two venues opening this year.
Barbian’s pitch is practical: Memphis has music venues. but it has been missing the right sizes that many touring bands look for. A Live Nation venue is part of that larger picture. with the idea that it matters for drawing bands and shaping a scene where up-and-coming Memphis groups can perform and hone their sound.
That push toward opportunity also shows up in conversations with Grammy-winning artist Dwayne Eric Thomas Jr., known as MonoNeon. At the Grind City Amp opening night, he said he lives just right up the street and loves Memphis, but most of the touring he does happens outside the city.
MonoNeon is described as advocating for more opportunities for Memphis’s music scene, including for artists who want music publishing located in Memphis. Still, he also acknowledged the difficulty: many artists end up uprooting and going to larger industry hubs—Nashville, LA, New York, or Atlanta.
The moment, for many residents, carries a sense that the city may finally be aligning culture and economics. The reporting points to a feeling of real momentum, with Memphis described as a hidden gem poised for growth. People keep pointing to small but meaningful spaces like Bar DKDC. a tiny music venue that has hosted acts including the Black Keys.
Other examples include the Memphis Listening Lab, described as a repository of about 60,000 records where people can sit in a leather chair and listen to a catalog of music from the city and beyond.
Putting it all together, the story of Memphis in 2026 isn’t just about what the city used to produce—it’s about whether the systems around music can finally turn that production into ongoing local value.
Memphis still has its legendary landmarks, its blues bars on Beale Street, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and Graceland’s pull. But the new effort—through mayoral planning, venue expansion, and artists pressing for publishing and in-city opportunity—is meant to answer a harder question.
After decades of ups and downs, the city is betting that the next chapter isn’t only history on display. It’s a local comeback in real time.
Memphis American music Stax Records Pastor Juan Shipp Paul Young music publishing tourism live music Nick Barbian Grind City Amp MonoNeon Live Nation Royal Studios