First, artists and song-writers, like Greg Bates, write and record a song. Next, the music supervisor for the ABC show scouts the song.
"What a music supervisor does for a show like Nashville is you really have to find unreleased songs that feel like hits before they are because that's what the actors are doing," music supervisor and talent scout Anastasia Brown explained.
On April 30, Bates' third song premieres on Nashville.
"It's a very extensive process to record a song, and for them to love it and have them put it on a TV show, I'm very proud of that," Bates said.
The show believes in authenticity right down to the instruments on set. That's where prop master Danny Rowe comes in.
"My job is to match what is being used in the studio and make sure our actors are playing the right guitars," Rowe said.
After the song is recorded, the actors learn every aspect, including the cords on their instruments.
"The guy that is the voice of Deacon's guitar is a guy named Colin Lindon, and he is just extraordinary. And the very cool thing is after he plays this part, what happens is he and I get together, he shows me what he played, and he teaches me his parts, so I can play it," said Chip Esten, the actor who plays Deacon.
From there, music hits are made.
"The soundtrack has sold more than two million downloads. That's amazing," said Brown. She added, "This is now. It's not then during the golden years, and it's hard to sell a record right now."
Nashville has become another venue for artists' careers to grow. For artists like Bates, this is just the beginning.
"The show Nashville has really influenced my career and my life," Bates said.
On the flip side, the city of Nashville has equally influenced the show, Nashville.
"We don't have a songwriting staff. Our songwriting staff is Nashville. It's the songwriters of Nashville, so they bring that to the table for us," said Esten. "It's not just, 'here's a scene, now let's cookie cutter in a song here.' The song advances the scene, or the scene advances the song."
The show brought $45 million to Nashville in its first season, and music supervisor Anastasia Brown expects that number to double this season.
