Staying true to its name, The Music Playground is literally building a “music playground” in the heart of Music City and partnering with Grammy® Award-winning producer/mixer F. Reid Shippen as Chief Creative Officer to oversee and lead the company’s exciting new Nashville expansion. With its thriving composer, artist and music production community, Nashville has increasingly become a “go-to” city for music produced for film, television and advertising and The Music Playground’s move is all about utilizing Nashville’s undeniable talent for its clients and projects.
A big part of capturing that magic and orchestrating the talent is The Music Playground’s bold move in bringing on noted Nashville music producer F. Reid Shippen to their team as Chief Creative Officer. Shippen will be working out of his current studio, Robot Lemon, until their new studios are completed. With numerous production, engineering and mixing awards to his name and having worked on over one hundred Billboard #1 songs and 10 Grammy Award-winning albums, Shippen’s deep relationships and credits are a “who’s who” of Nashville royalty, including Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Shania Twain, Brett Eldredge, Darius Rucker, Ingrid Michaelson and many others. Known best for his mixing, Shippen brings one of Nashville’s most trusted set of ears to The Music Playground’s creative team and elevates their capabilities to new heights.
“The music scene in Nashville has grown to encompass more than just country music and its singer/songwriter roots,” said Shippen. “From rock to pop, to EDM and hip-hop – the amount of talent in this city is absolutely unmatched. We have orchestral composers and arrangers, well-known artists and indie bands – and the best musicians and songwriters on Earth – who call this city their home. Bringing together that unrivaled community, sharing it with clients and bringing the highest levels of production quality for advertising, film and television is something I’m excited to bring to The Music Playground and their incredible team.”
Well-known for his industry expertise beyond the studio, Shippen is one of Nashville’s great connectors within the creative community. “He’s incredibly skilled at bringing the right people together to form a team for whatever musical challenge needs to be solved. Making music with him is like nothing else,” said Andrew Stadelberger, President of The Music Playground, “Sitting in the studio, hearing his stories, accessing the depth of his knowledge and his incredible ears is the difference between making something that is good and creating something that is great. Clients who value that difference are exactly the kinds of people we are excited to have come down to Nashville and make music with us in a new and exciting way.‘
Scheduled to fully open later this year, the new 4,000 square foot Playground will feature a world-class array of “toys” featuring Rupert Neve Designs and Fix Audio consoles, Shippen’s incredible collection of vintage microphones and gear, analog synths, vintage instruments and more. The studios will also feature great client hangout space and writing rooms for composers, producers and mixing engineers – all under one roof. With music-driven Berry Hill as the backdrop, TMP’s new studios will be a great addition to the heart of the Nashville music scene, surrounding clients with everything that embodies Nashville’s place as America’s Music City.
“We wanted to build the Disneyland for music production,” said Andy Hong, Co-Founder of The Music Playground, “A special place and world-class studio that would be a true destination for music production and draw people from all across the country to come and experience what it’s like making music in Nashville and collaborating with the amazing talent that lives here.”
About The Music Playground and The Diner
For fifteen years, The Music Playground and The Diner have been innovators and leaders in music for advertising and commercial content. With its team in New York, LA and Chicago and studios in NYC and now Nashville, the busy group of music companies is home to an award-winning team of composers, sound designers, audio-post engineers and music supervisors who are focused on delivering top creative outcomes to advertising agencies and brands on over 700 projects every year. The Music Playground focuses on original music production, artist/band sync licensing, sound design and audio post with projects annually garnering creative attention at Sundance, SXSW, Cannes and many other festivals and award shows. The Diner is an industry-leading original music production library with over 30,000 music tracks. Supported by a veteran creative and production team, their clients are a “who’s who” of advertising, including Microsoft, Google, Pepsi, Nike, Walmart, Coke, GM, Chase, Toyota, B of A, Ford, AT&T, P&G, Samsung, J&J, General Mills, Verizon, Mercedes, Hasbro and many more.
