By “albums”, I mean musical audio recordings you can buy at Tower Records (what people usually call “CDs”, a term I dislike because the recording can appear on any number of media) Are these mostly recorded in LA and Nashville? Or are those only the locations of the business end of it, i.e. the guys in suits and ponytails who decide what we’ll like next year? The albums I have seem to be recorded in all sorts of oddball locations, like towns in England I’ve never heard of, Bob Dylan’s basement, and the like. Are there recording studios of sufficient quality for the production of albums in every big city, or do you have to go to special, expensive studios that are only available in the “music capitals”? Or maybe it’s a function of the supporting talent and recording technicians, who are concentrated in the “music capitals”.
While I’d say yes, there are certain cities that are disproportionately represented in the recording business (NYC, LA, Nashville and so forth as you mentioned) there are more than adequate recording studios in most cities. I can think of many examples even in smaller town.
Here in Marietta, OH a local music store maintains a quality studio. It’s small but the gear is adequate for recording album-quality music and many local bands have done so.
I recorded some tracks at a studio in Rockville, MD long ago.
Take a look in a phone book under ‘recordings’ or ‘music - recording studios’ or somesuch and you’ll find some.