The 2013 CMA Music Festival contributed a record-setting $31.5 million in direct visitor spending to the local community according to numbers released by the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp.
“The CMA Music Festival is Nashville’s triple-crown,” said Butch Spyridon, President and CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. “It is the city’s largest festival. It generates the most economic impact and it provides prime time, national network exposure. The event continues to grow and evolve and outperform its record success every year.”
Originally started as Fan Fair in 1972 with 5,000 fans in Municipal Auditorium, CMA Fest has grown to a record daily attendance of more than 80,000 people.
“Since moving to downtown Nashville in 2001, CMA Music Festival has been an event that showcases Music City, drives tourism, benefits music education, and generates a strong base of local revenue,” said CMA President of the Board Ed Hardy. “This event has seen tremendous growth and with all the enhancements to the downtown footprint – especially with the opening of the new Music City Center – we have seen unprecedented attendance and the establishment of what has become a world-class music festival for Music City.”
In 2001, the Festival generated $15.5 million in direct visitor spending; in 2012, that figure had grown to $30 million. The Festival also benefits music education through a program called Keep the Music Playing. To date, CMA and The CMA Foundation have contributed more than $7.6 million to supply instruments and musical equipment for all 144 Metro Nashville Public Schools – providing a strong incentive for students to stay in school.
The 2014 CMA Music Festival will take place June 5-8 in Nashville and will again be filmed for a concert special on ABC. Tickets are available now at ticketmaster.com.

Greater Media has entered into a multi-year licensing agreement with Big Machine Label Group with regard to the performance of Big Machine’s recorded music on Greater Media’s digital and terrestrial broadcast platforms. BMLG artists benefiting from this agreement include Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Justin Moore, Reba, Brantley Gilbert, The Mavericks and Thomas Rhett.
Through this agreement, BMLG has agreed to allow digital simulcasts of the over-the-air signals by Greater Media to support the growth of the company’s digital platform. Greater Media has agreed to share a percentage of its on-air revenues with regard to the performance of Big Machine’s recorded music on terrestrial platforms.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Big Machine Label Group, its President and CEO Scott Borchetta, and the company’s outstanding artists through this licensing agreement,” said Greater Media Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Peter Smyth. “This is a great example of the radio and record industries working together with the ultimate goal of being able to provide the best entertainment possible on a multi-platform basis for our valued listeners.” Greater Media owns 21 AM and FM radio stations in the Boston, Charlotte, Detroit, New Jersey and Philadelphia markets.
“Peter Smyth is an American broadcasting visionary who fully understands the importance of leading a healthy radio entertainment business in lockstep with a healthy recorded music business,” said Scott Borchetta. “The broadcast industry knows that the Big Machine Label Group is fully supportive of the mission of having great radio available in as many places as possible and this is another public vote of confidence and support for that mission”.

The moon is high and the night is young, come on and meet me…
The lyrics to Keith Urban’s “Sweet Thing” neatly summarized Friday night (Sept. 6) in Nashville for thousands of music aficionados. The triple threat guitar picker, vocalist and songwriter, flanked by his band of capable string-pickers and rhythm keepers, kept the musical revelry going from dusk well into the evening as he previewed songs from upcoming album Fuse, slated to be released Tuesday (Sept. 10).
The evening began with an outdoor concert at Nashville’s Cumberland Park, which streamed live for Yahoo! Ram Country and in NYC’s Time Square. The tone for the evening was set with a handful of familiar hits, beginning with the wholly appropriate “Long Hot Summer,” followed by “Sweet Thing.”
He slowed down the momentum for the debut performance of “Cop Car,” a quirky, sultry ballad of a romance stemming from illegal hijinks and their handcuffed consequences. He followed it by returning largely to his musical wheelhouse for another featured song from Fuse, “Even The Stars Fall 4 U,” a poetic lyric laid atop a bed of rock rhythms and tight harmonies.
Far from just a preview of the album, the full-production concert was a glimpse into the musical exuberance that lingers throughout the Light The Fuse Tour, an evening cloaked with giddy (though not overly indulgent) guitar solos and helmed by Urban’s easygoing command of the stage.
Flanked by Danny Rader, Brian Nutter, Chris McHugh and Jerry Flowers, Urban returned to his previous hit “You Gonna Fly” before welcoming guest Eric Church for the folksy “Raise Em’ Up,” an all-encompassing anthem rallying the support of music, love, the flag, and families. He followed with “Good Thing,” a Southern rock-soaked diddy that finds Urban claiming he “knows a good thing when he sees it.” Another track from Fuse and sure to be a crowd pleaser.
He ended with the enduring “Somebody Like You,” a soul-lifting romp of self-forgiveness and romantic courage, which still commands an audience sing-along more than 10 years after its release. Indeed, Urban briefly handed over lead vocal duties, deftly highlighting the melody with his own guitar work. An extended guitar solo led to a performance of the tune’s additional verses included at the end of Urban’s Golden Road.

Pictured (L-R): Keith Urban and Steven Tyler perform at Tootsies. Photo: Chris Hollo

Keith Urban makes his way to a trio of club shows amid a crowd of supporters in downtown Nashville. Photo: Chris Hollo