Music Biz 2017

Global expansion of Country music is part of the year-round mission of Country Music Association (CMA). Today’s CMA staff will be on-hand to reveal international Country statistics and discuss their efforts to spread the genre throughout the world — from Mexico to Canada to Australia.

CMA and UMG Nashville’s Annie Ortmeier will team up to take you on an exploration of Forever Country — a first of its kind multi-generational, multi-artist, multi-label Country music single and video to commemorate the 50th CMA Awards broadcast. The song encompassed three timeless classics, ‘On The Road Again,’ ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ and ‘I Will Always Love You’ in a combined arrangement by award winning producer, Shane McAnally. The completed project featured 30 artists across all eras of country music and included a surreal video directed by award winning director, Joseph Khan. The release of the single and subsequent video coupled with the efforts of the entire industry escalated the song and the video to new heights internationally with distribution to new territories that helped propel the track onto several iTunes, Spotify and Amazon charts globally.

This session and case study takes a deeper look at Forever Country and the impact on overall International audiences and adoption of country music globally prior to, during, and since release with research from the CMA and Universal Music Group Nashville. 

With more than 50 million albums sold worldwide and 43 worldwide #1 singles, Tim McGraw truly defines what it means to be a global Country artist. In 2016, McGraw's management company, EM.Co reached new heights in his career with the song "Humble & Kind" by creating a marketing plan tailored to the message of the music — one that would go on to win an internationally acclaimed Clio Award for its integrated marketing campaign. This #1 Platinum-Selling single would also go on to spawn a New York Times Best Seller book and lead McGraw to become one of the Top 5 Most-Engaged Artists on Facebook, across all genres.

EM.Co fought industry norms by partnering with Facebook to premier the music video, launched websites and hotlines to create a community of fans from all over the world, and unleashed a massive social media movement so fans could easily engage with the song’s message. Millions of views and many thousands of shares led to a multicultural movement where fans felt encouraged to create original content and complete random acts of kindness — one that was also personified at the ACM Awards when 130 people from across the globe joined Tim in celebrating kindness and harmony on stage, creating one of the largest ACM performances in history.

Join EM.Co as they take you behind the scenes of creating and executing this one-of-a-kind marketing campaign, which has garnered wins for GRAMMY Country Song of the Year, AMA Favorite Country Song, CMA Song of the Year, CMT Video Of The Year, a nomination for International Video of the Year at the CMC Awards, and so much more ... all while staying humble and kind.

The world is witnessing the rise of Thomas Rhett — the multi-Platinum singer/songwriter leading the pack as one of Country music’s elite artists with seven #1 songs and multiple awards under his belt including ACM, Billboard, CMA, and ACC Awards for his six-week chart-topping smash hit “Die A Happy Man," which was also nominated for a 2017 GRAMMY. This success has translated into sold-out shows throughout the U.S., and ultimately "across the pond" where Thomas Rhett is building a fanbase and breaking barriers of entry into the international marketplace.

Join us for a special worldwide case study set to explore the growth of Thomas Rhett’s groundbreaking career — which began as a Nashville songwriter and has led headlining shows in Belgium, Canada, England, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Scotland. On the verge of a third album and a 2017 world tour, this timely discussion will give a current perspective on the challenges & opportunities of going global, as well as an inside look at the components necessary to do so, and much more.