At Sea ... The Pacific Ocean Off The Coast Of British Columbia

Jimmy Carter...AT SEA.

I think it is the longest time I have gone in years without hearing a note of Country music in a seven-day period. Not a note aboard the cruise ship, in Alaska, in the ocean, in British Columbia, no where. I bring it up because so many in the industry think Country music is on fire. There is still much work to be done before anyone can declare world domination.

The last few months have been great ones for Country. Our stars are on big network TV shows and their new album projects have debuted on Billboard's Hot 100. That is fantastic.

Been on a cruise with a bunch of Texans. They don't hear country like the current mainstream. The present pop influence in country is the "damned if you do ... and damned if you don't" issue. \

Someone said go to the parking lot of a concert and you really find out who your audience is ... that is such good advice. I have done that more than a few times lately. We have a lot of 21-year-old white females buying Lady A and other concert tickets. It is the dream audience of so many on the record selling side of the industry. But is it the dream audience for the Lowe's and Home Depot advertisers, or even the car dealers?

It just feels sometimes that the teen audience that MTV caters to is not the audience local sales people seek. Does the music Country radio is playing more and more help or hurt the local advertisers? People I work for need some adults with those teens. The mix is the key, isn't it...

Since Nashville has always been on a traditional ... then pop roller coaster ... are we going up or down at present?

Hungry: Saw a few acts working hard CMA Music Fest week.. Keith Urban for one ... Rascal Flatts and Darius Rucker ... Hunter Hayes was burning the clock, too. A few did their strategic PR blasts and that includes Blake Shelton. Some just were visible like a shooting meteor ... You can fill in those names here...

I think no one really won the game this 2013 Fan Fair week ... the event was well attended ... but was there any "kodak" moment? Don't think so.

With all the PR blasts abut the record breaking attendance. Big town ... big area ...l ots of coverage. All positives ... Bigger isn't always better. All those years Fan Fair capped its attendance, were they any less successful? I say no. The huge monster urban festival is big. For some it is heaven.

For others ... well, for others ... it was just big...