CMA Music Festival Leaving Nashville?
One of the things country music fans worldwide look forward to each year is the CMA Music Festival in which thousands of loyal fans come year after year to get a chance to meet their favorite artists and to support country music as a whole. Nashville is the home of the CMA Music Festival and has been for many years but when Kix Brooks addressed a crowd of Nashville business leaders recently he talked of moving the festival to another city that could provide more support and take the festival more serious to help its growth. Brooks stated that they continue to have the same acts every year because they do not pay the acts and suggested that the acts need to start being paid to attract new artists and help the growth of the festival.
The whole dispute is derived from the acts not being paid for their performances which in turn creates sometimes smaller or lesser known artists to be performing year after year while the fans are still paying a ticket price that is in the price range of larger festivals that include many major headlining artists. Many people have the complaint of why should we pay the artists to come to an event for charity but many people do not see all of the costs that are racked up behind the scenes and with the music industry already lacking it makes it that much harder when a band has to pay in upwards of a thousand dollars to play for their fans for a half an hour.
Kix Brooks has suggested getting corporate sponsors to pay the acts to not only help out with many smaller artists but to attract larger acts who have neglected the festival for years now since they were not getting paid and who can really blame them. I think this is the answer as I would hate to see the CMA Music Festival leave to suggested cities such as Atlanta, Charlotte, or Dallas as it would just not feel the same and would more then likely not attract as many fans.
I don’t think the festival would leave Nashville anytime soon as I think it is a bluff by Kix Brooks to get Nashville business leaders to take the festival more seriously but if the festival does not improve and ticket prices keep going through the roof the festival could be a thing of the past all together. Please share your thoughts in the comments below to let us know what you think should be done with the CMA Festival, especially those who have attended it in the past.
I have been to fan fest as it was once called and did enjoy myself for the most part but most of the time it was a lot of small labels and country artists I had never really heard of until you went to the big event then you saw some and part of me kind of felt ripped off since my family spent close to 2,000 that week of fan fest but at the same time did meet two or three singers that did become larger then they were then so I can say i met them before they became big
It was actually called Fan Fair I think but I have heard many of my friends who are big country music fans talk about it and they always seemed to have a good time and it was good for many up and coming acts to get exposure as well as to help out a charity and of course bring money to many businesses in the city of Nashville. I do agree from looking at the programs and flyers from the past few years it just hasn’t had the same magical feel as it once did but at the same time the music industry is changing and artists are making a majority of their money from touring so it would be like telling most people to come into work and work a shift for free but the money is going to charity. I know we would love to do this every once in awhile but from someone who also worked as a tour engineer I have seen how many charity events the artists are asked to attend at their own cost and if they did it every inquire they got they would be loosing money.
I live in nashville myself and even tho this is a somewhat fun event to attend there are also many negatives that come with having 100,000 people coming right into downtown especially when you work on 2nd Avenue. I don’t see why they don’t have the event solely on LP Field because then it is across the river and somewhat isolated
When will finally separate country music and Nashville. There is plenty of great country music all over the country.
I agree there are great country music scenes in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, and a few more major cities. The thing is Nashville is to country music as Los Angeles is to movies. The whole industry for the most part is based there so they will continue to join the two.
I have been to Nashville only once and would like to go back when I can afford it and get off from work. I don’t want Fan Fare to move until I go. I remember the days of the Nashville Network and Andy Andrews telling what was going on each day for the fans who couldn’t do that. It would be nice if they can do that again. I miss the old shows and Nashville talk shows. I thought many stars were at fan fare as it was the stars’ tribute to the fans. If they need to get paid, then the corporate business ought to help. After all, the stars are bringing many fans (and revenue) into the city. The bigger stars may be burned out on fans, but I think they need to still take time to greet their fans and not act like they are too good for them. After all, many fans are old and young and not just teeny boppers who can squeeze into a size 3 jeans.
CMA Music Festival is one of the important events which center on country music, and also other musical genres. This festival is highly attended from all around the world and it becomes so hard to get a ticket and prices become unreasonable.
I don’t think there is a problem with the actual ticket price because it doesn’t seem to be more expensive then usual events but the thing is if they can’t find a sponsor for the acts and have to pay a few of the major acts to come then you could see a $5 to $15 jump in your ticket price for the next few years to come until they could secure a great corporate sponsor.
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