Roots, Toots n' Hoots Blog

CMA Music Fest should thank the fans

Jeffrey Remz  |  June 15, 2010

The economy may be a difficult one at best, and the music business isn't exactly doing buffo business these years, but the CMA Music Festival must be doing something right.

The annual four-day shindig in Nashville concluded Sunday with the usual assortment of concerts with acts large and small and the meet and greet sessions with your favorite country singer. Not to mention a bunch of other activities for families and other fans. P>What was a lot different was the attendance. The CMA reported Monday that the festival enjoyed nearly a 17-percent increase in attendance at the LP Field shows held each night with a slew of superstars.

The estimated daily attendance also was up quite a lot, 16 percent, from 56,000 to 65,000.

On the met and greet front, the highlight was Taylor Swift. In a Garth Brooks-esque move (although it seems hard to believe someone could top Brooks' 24-hour marathon a number of years ago), Swift was signing, hugging, greeting and even singing a few songs during her 15-hour stint Sunday at the Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville. Swift has shown a real knack for doing the types of things that connect with her fans from her well-publicized social networking efforts to showing up at Auburn University in Alabama earlier this year after engaging two of her male fans in a contest.

Congrats to those who participated in the event to help make it successful, particularly the fans who doled out their hard-earned greenbacks at a most difficult time. That may have been the most impressive part of the festival.