Take The Gift And Make The Most Of It

CMA used the annual gathering of radio representatives from across the country known as CRS last week to announce that the organization is awarding complimentary organizational and two individual memberships to every Country Music radio station in the United States for one year. The free radio memberships are a cornerstone of CMA’s “Year of Country Radio” campaign, said CMA Chief Executive Officer Steve Moore.

“Country radio stations and broadcast professionals do an outstanding job of broadening the scope of Country Music and presenting artists to their listeners,” said Moore. “Country radio is on the front line of the format expanding the careers of established artists; creating and developing awareness of new talent; and delivering music directly to the fans that support our business.”

Obviously the strength and vitality of Country radio has a direct influence on the industry. And CMA values the significant impact of these radio professionals and honors their talent and creativity each year with the presentation of the CMA Broadcast Personality and Station of the Year Awards as part of the annual CMA Awards, which is recognized as Country Music’s Biggest Night(tm).

In 2012, CMA has prioritized its support of this important constituent group with the “Year of Country Radio.” In addition to complimentary membership for 2,033 Country radio stations, member stations will have access to more CMA research, online content, promotional opportunities, and other services than ever before.

“We are going to examine each of our touchstones with radio and approach everything we do with an eye toward being inclusive of all stations,” said Brandi Simms, Senior Manager of Membership and Balloting.

CMA will send membership kits to stations this week with information about the tools and resources available including medical insurance, telecommunications discounts, research, and the ability to vote for the annual CMA Awards. In addition to an organizational membership for each station (valued at $200 each), the program director and general manager at each station will be provided a complimentary individual memberships (valued at $100 each). Any current CMA radio member will be given an additional year of membership in the organization.

“Country radio professionals are among our best ambassadors and it is important for CMA to recognize their outstanding contributions to the Country Music format and make the vast resources of CMA available to support their efforts,” Moore said.

“Enabling every Country station in the U.S. to be a member of the organization provides CMA the opportunity to gain valuable insights from this important constituency group that we can use to better our services to them and support the growth of the format,” added CMA Vice President of Marketing Tammy Donham. “Everything we do is about promoting the genre worldwide and we want to work collaboratively with our friends at Country radio to extend not only the reach of CMA events, but to develop the fan base for the benefit of all.”

The ACM did a similar thing several years ago and it was distressing to see how few stations took advantage of it.

These organizations are country music's Chamber Of Commerce and I can't imagine no matter how busy we all are that anyone serious about advancing in country music and radio that the great work they both do isn't self-evident.

Get involved. This is your free, one year opportunity to take advantage of getting an inside view of all that CMA does.

Thank you, CMA for doing something "huge" to let radio know how important broadcasting is to you. I hope radio responds in an equally BIG way!