2012 CMA Awards to Greatly Impact Country Music
Lee Brice, Love & Theft, Hunter Hayes, Thompson Square and Branley Gilbert are New Artist of the Year nominees
Photo credit: Jason Merritt / Kevin Winter / Frederick Breedon / Rick Diamond (2), Getty Images
Country music has more award shows than any other genre. One of these shows in particular, the CMA Awards, has a huge impact on the industry and the nominees.
2012 marks the fourth year in a row the CMA Awards have sold out. After just two weeks on sale tickets were swooped up and, at the lowest price of $114, it isn’t a cheap date. Not to mention over 16 million people view the show from home each year.
With that much publicity it’s no surprise that the CMA Awards impact music in two big ways: increasing record sales and exposing new artists.
Last year after The Band Perry took home three awards and performed on the show, their debut album saw a 112% bump in album sales. Numerous others, including Thompson Square, Eric Church, Jason Aldean and Blake Shelton, saw over a 50% sales increase in their current releases. Needless to say, country music sales were at a peak following the show.
However, let’s not lose focus on what the show is actually about: the awards. One important honor, New Artist of the Year, has a huge impact for the up-and-coming acts trying to break into the big league. The past 5 winners in this category have gone on to achieve huge success just the following year:
- 2007: Taylor Swift released Fearless, the longest chart-topper by a female country artist, the following year
- 2008: Lady Antebellum released arguably the biggest hit of their career, Need You Now, just a year later
- 2009: Darius Rucker released Come Back Song and This in 2010 and was inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry just three years later
- 2010: Zac Brown Band went on to co-headline a tour with Kenny Chesney in 2011
- 2011: The Band Perry released their #1 hit, All Your Life, and performed at the Grammys this year
The CMA Awards are an integral part of the music industry because, unlike most genres, the fans pay attention and react. They’re also simply interesting; where else can you see 5 of the year’s most entertaining perform live? Check out some of the nominees below and click here for the full list. Be sure to tune into the show Thursday, November 1st at 8/7c.
Entertainer of the Year
Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood to host the awards for the fifth consecutive year
Rick Diamond, Getty Images
Jason Aldean
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton
Taylor Swift
Album of the Year
Chief, Eric Church
Four the Record, Miranda Lambert
Home, Dierks Bentley
Own the Night, Lady Antebellum
Tailgates & Tanlines, Luke Bryan
New Artist of the Year
Lee Brice
Brantley Gilbert
Hunter Hayes
Love and Theft
Thompson Square
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