Viral Video Campaigns Entice ACM Voters

Hand-shaking, baby-kissing politicians have long been aware that winning elections is all about getting out there and campaigning, and with the advent of fan-voted awards shows, country artists have gotten that message in a big way. While CMT were early champions of the concept with their “fan-voted” CMT Awards, things seem to have reached a critical mass with the upcoming fan-voted ACM Awards “Best New Artist” category, as nominees for Top New Solo Vocalist, Top New Duo and Top New Group take to the Internet with “campaign” videos designed to motivate fans to go to the online “polls.”

Avoiding the serious issues and hot-button topics favored by politicians, artists including Luke Bryan, Joey + Rory and Gloriana have released viral videos that utilize music and humor to win the hearts and minds of their voting fans. What part those videos played in the election results is still an open question, but, tellingly, each of the above artists emerged as a winner in their respective categories.

As effective (and entertaining) as these campaign videos can be, not every country artist is ready to hit the campaign trail just yet. ACM Entertainer of the Year nominee Brad Paisley has been up front regarding his distaste for the process.

“I’m uncomfortable campaigning,” Paisley said at a recent No. 1 party. “Honestly, I don’t like that part of it. I understand that people love to get involved and it’s cool that they can, but vote for who you want.”

MusicRow won’t be polling our readers on the issue, but we’ve compiled a few of the current ACM campaign videos for your perusal. You be the judge.

Luke Bryan