The Really Big Stage For Country Stars

With award shows checking in at under seven million viewers, the biggest audience other than the Super Bowl for music acts is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. More than 25 million people saw/heard the show that’s only on NBC. The dog show afterwards gets “Sunday Night Football” ratings, around 12 million.

Carrie Underwood was on the parade, and gets on “Sunday Night Football” every week. Think she has a high awareness score?

Carrie is in Las Vegas this week kicking off her residency at the new Resorts World. Brand new everything, and the showroom is the best in Vegas right now. And Carrie has never won the CMA Entertainer of the Year Award. How crazy does that look at this point?

Looking at the Grammy nominations and these other music award shows, they are looking more like professional wrestling every year. Credibility is slipping in so many ways.

How often do you hear the grumble, “Where did Country music go?” That better get answered pretty soon. It takes a lifetime to get a good name, but you can lose it in seconds. The Pop/Rap infusion into traditional Country music is reaching a boiling point.

A crossroads in 2022: Bro Country part one made some big changes. Bro Country 2.0 might be a knockout punch.

Change happens whether you like it or not. Generational change can’t be stopped. Gaming, podcasts, commercial free radio and TV, downloads and streaming have changed media forever.

Institutions like the Grand Ole Opry must evolve, but not to the point of losing the original formula. Tastes come and go. Styles come and go. The secret sauce is how you merge the future and the past.

Look at downtown Nashville. Look at the real estate prices as a starter. Look at the expensive hotels coming online. The Four Seasons Hotel will be amazing. Their secret will be to merge it with Nashville DNA.

The Las Vegas meets Bourbon Street thing going on down on lower Broadway is what it is. No one designed it, it just evolved. But is everyone happy with the result?

It’s a mixed blessing. Are the customers satisfied with their experience? And would they come back?

Same could be said for radio, TV and the news.

As the year ends, some real soul searching is needed to see where Country music is right now. How are political views/opinions affecting the audience likes and dislikes? Can you force the audience to see the world like you do?

How do you merge the cultures? Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs are going to be huge in 2022 concert sales. Garth Brooks, Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan will be too.

Look at those Country Grammy nominees again. Do they reflect the “Country” consumer at all?

I don’t have that answer. Check the top 10 artists airplay for the year versus what/who was heavily promoted. Look at top sales and compare them to awards. Leadership has never been so badly needed!

Big time NASCAR is coming back to the Nashville Fairgrounds. Anyone see that happening five or 15 years ago? Where is Music City going?