DAILYBUZZ February 28, 2024, Issue 1
Powered by Country Aircheck
Back Then Right Now
There’s a reason Country Radio Seminar is marking its 55th year in 2024, and it’s not the music, actionable takeaways or networking. And it hasn’t thrived this long because of the allure of Music City, artist-themed restaurants, rivers of alcohol or ping pong. (In fact, the latter has prompted this publication’s first foray into hard-hitting investigative journalism – below.) Consider that Nashville’s appeal as a destination isn’t five decades deep. Even as a relatively new “it” city attracting more than its share of business conventions, none of them can boast 50+ years of events. Certainly, night life and booze have their place in Nashville and CRS lore. A Renaissance Hotel manager once confirmed that Bridge Bar sales during CRS exceeded every other week of the year. (Gospel Music Week was said to have the hotel’s highest in-room alcohol sales.) But the industry and society in general have come to a better balance with sobriety in recent years, with alcohol-free beer and mocktails widely available. (As is water. Remember what they say at summer camp: “Drink water ... or you will die.”) The New Faces show has helped launch many superstar careers, and the number of future hits first heard in hotel suites or ballroom lunches there is incalculable. Panels that once may have focused on the rise of FM, CDs or streaming will, this year, dive into AI, social media and mental health. But none of those factors can take credit for the event’s ongoing success. Instead, it is their confluence that creates the “magic of CRS,” as described by the organization’s late Exec. Dir. Bill Mayne. Education, connection, music and more can all be done well in other locales and at other times. Nowhere else but CRS, however, is it all done simultaneously at the highest level. So as attendees move through the week, they’ll do well to consider that the best CRS ever is likely the one they’re in right now.
Omni-Present: The CRS 2024 team enjoys the calm before the storm Tuesday (2/27) in Nashville. Pictured (l-r) are Ashley Bourque, Heather Martin, Brooke Sanders Gourley, Sophia Gildone, Sheree Latham, Kelly Yeatts, RJ Curtis, Molly Cochran, Kathryn O’Donnell, Chasity Crouch, Lilly Marie Smith and Lisa Hendin.
Pong Scam Exposed
“CRS would be great if it only had something wacky grafted onto it like a ping pong tournament.” Said no one ever. CRS Daily Buzz cornered organizers George Couri (Triple 8/Triple Tigers) and Tim Roberts (Audacy) to get to the bottom of the controversy. CRSDB: How and why did ping pong become Tim Roberts George Couri a thing at CRS? Why not
©2024 Countr y Aircheck™ — All r ights reser ved. Sign up free at w w w.countr yaircheck .com. S end news to news@countr yaircheck .com