ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION — After years of attempts to get a measure off the ground, Georgia lawmakers have passed a bill establishing a statewide office to promote and support the music industry.

The Georgia Music Office and Music Ready Communities Act passed the Georgia General Assembly with bipartisan support on the final day of the legislative session and is now headed to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk.

If signed into law, it will begin the process of establishing the office, which would help attract music-related investment and workforce development opportunities to the state, serve as a liaison between music companies and governmental agencies and promote significant developments in the industry, among other functions.

The office will also certify cities and counties seeking to promote music-related economic development in their areas as “Music Friendly Georgia Certified Communities.”

The passage is a step forward in formalizing Georgia’s approach to supporting its music industry, following the footsteps of other Southern states, such as Texas and Tennessee, that have music offices. That’s according to Mala Sharma, the president of music business advocacy organization Georgia Music Partners, a key lobbying group for the measure.

She calls the Georgia Music Office the “front door for the music industry.”

“There is so much work and investment that has gone on in Georgia over the past few years,” Sharma said. “I just think without that statewide office sharing the successes, people just aren’t aware of it.”

Georgia has a deep music heritage. It’s considered the rap capital of the world, having produced the likes of Young Thug, Ludacris and T.I., among hundreds of other artists, producers such as Metro Boomin and powerhouse labels such as Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def Recordings and Quality Control. The state is also the home base of household names across rock, country and pop: R.E.M., the B-52s, Zac Brown Band, Little Richard, Gladys Knight and Ray Charles. [MORE]