The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American

trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific Industry (economics), industry. Through collabor ...

with the stated aim of promoting and developing

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre. The CMA is best known for its annual CMA Fest and Country Music Association Awards broadcast live on network television each fall (usually October or November).

About

Initially, CMA's Board of Directors included nine directors and five officers. Wesley Rose, president of Acuff-Rose Publishing, Inc., served as CMA's first chairman of the board. Broadcasting entrepreneur and executive Connie B. Gay was the founding president. Mac Wiseman served as its first secretary and was also the CMA's last surviving inaugural member. The CMA was founded, in part, because of widespread dismay on Music Row about the rise of

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

and its influence on

. Originally there were nine individual membership categories. The current 15 categories represent all facets of the music industry. Organizational memberships are also available. CMA membership is composed of those persons or organizations that are involved in Country Music, directly and substantially. Harry Stone served as the first executive director from 1958 to 1960 before resigning. Jo Walker-Meador, the first full-time employee of the CMA, replaced Stone as executive director in 1962 and served until 1991. The first CMA Awards ceremony was held in 1967 in Nashville.

Sonny James Jimmie Hugh Loden (May 1, 1928February 22, 2016), known professionally as Sonny James, was an American country music singer and songwriter best known for his 1957 hit, " Young Love", topping both the ''Billboard'' Hot Country and Disk Jockey s ...

and Bobbie Gentry hosted the event, which was not televised. The winner of the first "Entertainer of the Year" award was singer Eddy Arnold. "Male Vocalist of the Year" went to Jack Greene and "Female Vocalist of the Year" to

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

. In 1968,

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and Rodeo, rodeo performer. Following early work under his given name, first as a c ...

and Dale Evans hosted the awards, which were presented at the

Ryman Auditorium Ryman Auditorium (originally Union Gospel Tabernacle and renamed Grand Ole Opry House for a period) is a historic 2,362-seat live-performance venue and museum located at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, in the downtown core of Nashville, Tennesse ...

in Nashville. (The ceremony was filmed and televised on NBC a few weeks later.) The first live telecast of the show was in 1969. Annual awards are given in the following twelve categories: Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist, Female Vocalist, New Artist of the Year (formerly the Horizon Award), Vocal Group, Vocal Duo, Single, Album, Song, Music Event, Music Video, and Musician. The CMA also gives a "CMA Broadcast Award" to country-formatted radio stations each year. Broadcast Awards are segmented based on market size, major market (Arbitron Ranking 1–25), large market (Arbitron Ranking 26–50), medium market (Arbitron Ranking 51–100), and small market (All other Markets). A single station cannot win the award in consecutive years. In honor of the CMA Awards 50th anniversary, MCA Nashville released a song called " Forever Country". In 2017, days before the 51st Annual Country Music Association Awards, the association announced that reporters that covered “the Las Vegas tragedy, gun rights, political affiliations or topics of the like” at the awards show would have their credentials revoked. Following criticism from Brad Paisley, journalists, and others, the association apologized and rescinded the restrictions on the press. In June 2021, the CMA announced that they would extend its broadcast contract with ABC through 2026.

List of CMA Award winners

Events

The cornerstone of the CMA is "Country Music's Biggest Week", which includes the aforementioned CMA Awards in early November.

''CMA Country Christmas''

''CMA Country Christmas'' is a holiday concert event featuring holiday songs performed by country artists. The concert is usually not aired live, as it is re-edited for later broadcast by CMA broadcast partner ABC.

CMA Fest

The CMA Fest, the longest-running Country Music festival in the world, takes place in downtown Nashville, TN every summer. Hundreds of thousands of fans flock to listen to hundreds of artists perform on 11+ stages. All day long fans have a chance to meet their favorite country music artists at Fan Fair X. The four days of events are later re-edited into a three-hour TV special, also aired on ABC during the summer months.

References

External links

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CMA Awards

CMA Fest
{{Authority control American country music Music industry associations Organizations based in Nashville, Tennessee Organizations established in 1958 1958 establishments in Tennessee Music of Nashville, Tennessee Music organizations based in the United States