As the final round of CMA Awards voting draws near, artist team members will be working overtime to woo voters. Music Row mailboxes—virtual and physical—will be busting with promotional greetings marked “For Your Consideration.” It’s a chance for marketers to rehash their acts’ accomplishments from the past year in hopes of earning a vote, and a trophy.

As label budgets have decreased in recent years, there are less dollars to spend soliciting votes. For independent artists, who typically have smaller bank accounts, competing against the majors has always been tough.

Scenarios like this play out on both coasts, in a variety of entertainment industries as competitors vie for bragging rights.

Despite the economical downturn, in Hollywood, attempts to win awards have gotten so out of control that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is cracking down. Apparently it has been an ongoing problem for years—those promotional ads that still infiltrate Nashville mailboxes have been banned by the Academy since 1996.

Much like country artist reps send out albums and DVDs to entice awards voters, Hollywood strategists send out promotional copies of film screeners. The difference is that in Los Angeles the Academy regulates the packaging. Negative campaigning against Oscar competitors has long been forbidden, and the rules have now expanded to cover social media. The Academy views the offense as so serious, that punishment is a one-year suspension for the first violation, followed by expulsion for a subsequent mess-up. And that’s just the beginning of the lengths Oscar organizers are going to in an attempt to level the playing field for the 2012 show.

“It’s really a perception problem for us,” Academy COO Ric Robertson told The Hollywood Reporter. “The Oscars are about what our members see on screen and think is quality work. To the extent that the public dialogue about the Oscars is who threw a good party or ran a successful campaign versus the quality of the work, that’s off-point for us. We want people to be talking about the work.”

The main problem last year during voting season was the over-the-top extravaganzas. Star-studded parties for Best Picture nominees The Social Network and The King’s Speech are among the soirees that pushed the envelope too far. There was also a rising trend of Hollywood figures hosting events honoring friends who were in the running. Smaller films simply couldn’t compete with such expensive affairs, leaving them at a disadvantage when it came time to vote.

So the Academy laid down new regulations. Between Jan. 24, 2012 when the final nominations are revealed, and Feb. 21 when voting closes, a strict ban on events designed to lure voters will be enforced for the first time. There will be basically no parties, no post-screening receptions, and limits on panel discussions.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Academy members may not be invited to or attend any non-screening event that promotes or honors a nominated movie or individual. Nominees themselves are also prohibited from attending such events. However, the Academy’s own events as well as awards ceremonies held by the guilds, critics’ groups and other organizations are exempted.”

Despite the Academy’s best efforts, the Hollywood party train will keep chugging away—probably just a little earlier in the awards season. The end result will likely be that all the parties are crammed into the weeks leading up to the reveal of the final nominations.

The new 90-minute special CMT Artists of the Year will honor Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift. The show premieres Tues., Dec. 13 at 9 p.m.

Taped in Nashville, the show will bring the honorees together with country music peers and celebrities across the entertainment spectrum. The evening will feature performances from the country world and beyond, in celebration of the successes of the past year.

CMT Artist of the Year acts were chosen by ranking the top five artists based on sales (physical albums, digital albums, and single downloads), country radio airplay based on spins, concert grosses as a headliner or co-headliner and activity on CMT.com (video streams, searches, and artist page views). The rankings were then compiled to identify the leading performers across the four categories cumulatively.

Over the past 12 months, Aldean, Chesney, Lady A, Paisley and Swift have collectively received over 2.7 million spins of their current songs, sold over 9 million copies of their current albums, sold over 20 million individual downloads of their current singles and have garnered over 10.2 million video streams. In addition, they’ve also topped both the touring and CMT.com charts.

This year, honorees and their guests will be treated to cuisine prepared by celebrity chef Stephanie Izard, Top Chef winner and chef/partner of Girl & The Goat restaurant in Chicago.

Drummer D.J. Fontana will be honored on Saturday, Oct. 22, as part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s series, Nashville Cats: A Celebration of Music City Musicians.

Hosted by Bill Lloyd, the program will include an in-depth, one-on-one interview illustrated with vintage recordings, photos and film clips from the Museum’s Frist Library and Archive.  Immediately following the program, Fontana will sign autographs in the Museum Store.

Fontana has spent more than five decades on the road and in recording studios. Though he is best known as Elvis Presley’s drummer, Fontana has played on recordings by Steve Earle, Lefty Frizzell, Chris Isaak, Waylon Jennings, Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton, Carl Perkins, Charley Pride, Jim Reeves, Keith Richards, Porter Wagoner and more.

The program will be held in the Museum’s Ford Theater at 1:30 p.m. Ticket price is included with Museum admission and free to Museum members. The program will be streamed live on www.countrymusichalloffame.org.

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(L-R) Ricky Skaggs, Del McCoury program host Bill Cody

Last Wednesday (9/29), the Del McCoury Band orchestrated an evening of musical tributes by bluegrass artists in celebration of Bill Monroe’s centennial.

Hosted by Bill Cody, the program mapped Monroe’s history from his birth in Rosine, KY to his work with his brother Charlie as the Monroe Brothers, his arrival at the Grand Ole Opry, the birth of bluegrass with the 1946 band, the evolution of his sound, and his final days. Guest performers included Dale Ann Bradley, Matt Combs, Mike Compton, Claire Lynch, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Peter Rowan, Ricky Skaggs and Roland White.

The concert was co-presented by Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, with additional funding provided by the Foundation for Bluegrass Music.

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The Country Music Hall of Fame celebrated the musical influence of Chet Atkins last Saturday (10/1). Guitarists Joe Robinson, who won the 2008 season of Australia’s Got Talent, and Pat Bergeson, who recorded and toured with Atkins, teamed up for the concert. The concert was offered as part of the Museum’s special exhibition Chet Atkins: Certified Guitar Player.

(L-R) Joe Robinson, Pat Bergeson, Fred Gretsch and Dinah Gretsch

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The 2011 SESAC Nashville Music Awards will celebrate the year’s most successful songwriters and publishers at a new venue, The Pinnacle at Symphony Place. The move to The Pinnacle marks a location change for the awards event which was hosted at SESAC’s Nashville headquarters for almost two decades. The black-tie, invitation-only event will be held on Nov. 7, and will honor the top songwriters and publishers in Country and Americana music.

•  Joined by newly signed affiliate Mary Francis, SESAC executives Tim Fink and Amy Beth Hale celebrated the release of So Much In Between by Darin & Brooke Aldridge (Mountain Home) during the International Bluegrass Music Association Conference. The project was produced by acclaimed SESAC songwriter/musician Jerry Salley and features songs by some of Nashville’s most exciting writers including SESAC affiliates, Salley, Francis, singer/songwriter Karyn Williams, and Bernie Nelson. Darin & Brooke Aldridge were nominated for Emerging Artist of the Year at the IBMA Awards.

Pictured (L-R): Jerry Salley, SESAC’s Amy Beth Hale, Karyn Williams, Bernie Nelson, Darin Aldridge, Brooke Aldridge, SESAC’s Tim Fink and Mary Francis. Photo: Ed Rode