Let's ALL Embrace Country Music Month

The Country Music Association is celebrating Country Music Month with 45 days of promotions, events, and activities designed to drive awareness of the format leading up to the annual CMA Awards, “Country Music’s Biggest Night(tm),” on Wednesday, Nov. 9.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean issued a proclamation from the city citing the important role and tangible impact of the Country Music industry on Nashville’s economy and reputation as a center for entertainment business and global tourism.

“It is important to recognize and celebrate the numerous contributions that CMA, the Country Music industry and artists have made to our community and to the lives of millions of people around the world,” Dean said in the Proclamation, which was presented at a reception Tuesday for the CMA Board of Directors at CMA.

First observed in October of 1964, Country Music Month was created by the Country Music Association to celebrate the format and bring additional awareness to landmark events and institutions in the history of Country Music, including the formation of CMA and the anniversary of the WSM Grand Ole Opry. What followed was a groundswell of support from dozens of states, which issued proclamations in support of the idea, and eventually the White House with several Presidential Proclamations beginning in 1970.

Can you get your Mayor? Governor? Wouldn't be be terrific if every state, province and city in North America formally proclaimed and acknowledge the event?

Click to see Gerald Ford's and George Bush's. President Obama eloquently celebrated country music in the White House two summers ago (click to watch the video), G.W.'s iPod reveals a country fan and Bill Clinton is a supporter too so your local politicans, no matter what their party loyalty, would be in great bipartisan company if they made it formal and official in your community too.

"The Envelope, Please"

This is the time of year that every Country Music Association member gets both email and snail mails from every aspiring artist and musician wanting to be a CMA Award finalist.

Since I have already cast my vote in the latest round of nominations, my immediate reaction when I opened this email from Chris Young was to quickly glance at it and move along.

But, I couldn't.

Thanks to Chris and his team for not only providing a great kiss, a good laugh, but also a quick visual lesson in marketing anything.

If there was a "best solicitation for your vote" award category, this would get mine!

"The New Radio"

ABC-TV has been the television home of all things CMA for the past five years and network executives just created this knock-your-socks-off video recap of the high points of the relationship from their perspective, expressing the hope that the partnership continues for another term.



The net, they say, loves using music in many of their shows and has been finding that music discovery can have a powerful multiplier effect to the benefit of all involved.

I was nodding affirmatively to all of that when I recently saw their strong pitch -- until they uttered five words which caught me by surprise, "TV Is The New Radio."

Huh?

Both local and national television morning offerings have been sounding more and more like the very best radio morning shows for many years, attempting to eat into our medium's traditional "at home" audience, marketing their personalities, teams, and services in the same way radio stations once did but rarely do anymore.

But, this was the first time I had ever heard another "old medium" so explicitly crave the "cache" of radio in the new media space.

Let's not forget, take for granted, or fail to promote the many great things radio still possesses, clearly much-desired by this sister broadcaster!

CMA Tweets Awards

Remember when radio used to simulcast the CMA Awards because there was no stereo TV? Remember when radio listeners asked us not to spoil the awards broadcast by announcing the winners before they were shown on TV?

That all was sooooo "YESTERDAY"! (click to see what the CMA is doing today)