Nashville Radio: Country Promotions Go In New Direction

Cody Alan

Two moves by corporate radio chains in the past year upped the ante for country music promotion, brushing aside the old-school disc jockey-artist interview in favor of a new model that literally reaches millions of people nationally across multiple platforms, according to Nate Rau at The Tennessean.

Clear Channel Communications partnered with Country Music Television for a multiplatform arrangement that allows the two giants of country music to cross-promote each other’s content to millions of country fans.

Cumulus Media, meanwhile, launched its NASH FM brand, which began in New York and has expanded to two dozen markets, reaching country fans on radio, television, print, the Web and social media.

Gone are the days of the road-weary country star chatting up the local disc jockey in hopes of getting his or her record played or selling tickets to an upcoming show. With this week’s Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, Music Row is adjusting to the corporate partnerships, syndication strategies and branding, which have created a high risk-high reward situation for the industry.

When CMT personality Cody Alan interviewed superstar Luke Bryan from Madison Square Garden last month, for instance, the interview was broadcast on CMT’s “Hot 20 Countdown,” Alan’s two Clear Channel radio shows and posted on CMT.com and the CMT app for a combined audience of 4.4 million. And that doesn’t include the two companies’ enormous social media presence to draw in even more fans.

NASH, which capitalizes on Nashville’s it-city status even though it isn’t anchored here, has since added a print component in Country Weekly and expanded to about two dozen stations, with plans to be in 60 markets. In Nashville WKDF 103.3 has taken on the NASH brand, which uses the company’s logos, websites and on-air promotions.

“NASH is an exciting new lifestyle and entertainment brand serving curated content to the 100 million fans of country music,” Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey said. “NASH’s trove of exclusive content will be distributed across multiple platforms including radio, television, magazine, digital, licensed products and live events.

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