Nashville, TN (Top40 Charts/ Aristo PR) Country
Radio Seminar 2013 is set to kick off on Wednesday, Feb. 27th at the Nashville Convention Center.
This year's event includes more than 20 panels, exhibits and educational presentations, as well as featured speakers and panelists from all areas of the radio and records industry.
Known as the biggest Country radio event in the world, the seminar continues to grow with a cutting edge agenda, with a number of networking opportunities and performances from some of the biggest stars in the format.
"This year's attendees will notice a lot of changes," said CRS Executive
Director Bill Mayne. "Our goal has always been to provide a forum for industry professionals on both the educational and networking level. We feel we have accomplished this in many different ways."
Throughout the seminar, an effort is being made to help raise awareness about important health issues. Country
Radio Seminar is offering for the first time free heart test, courtesy of Cleveland HeartLab. Inflammation Testing ("IT") will be available for the first 500 CRS attendees who visit the Cleveland HeartLab Screening Suite, located inside the Nashville Convention Center. The IT blood test (no fasting required) provides more in-depth information about heart health beyond normal cholesterol testing. The Screening Suite will be open daily at CRS from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., or until 500 tests have been administered.
A limited number of seats are still available for the Country
Radio Hall of Fame Dinner and Awards ceremony, but for the third year in a row, The New Faces Show of Country
Music show is sold out. A closed circuit viewing room has been added to accommodate the overflow crowd for the New Faces Show.
Some of the Agenda highlights for CRS 2013 are:
Tuesday, Feb. 26:
The Country
Radio Hall of Fame Dinner and Awards ceremony will unofficially kick off the seminar. This year's inductees are: Gaylon Christie as the
Radio category inductee, and Dr. Don Carpenter, Crook & Chase, Eddie Edwards and Bill "Dex" Poindexter are the On-Air category inductees. Academy of Country
Music CEO, Bob Romeo, will receive the CRS President's Award and
George Strait will receive the CRB Career Achievement Award. A limited number of tickets are still available for the Hall of Fame Dinner. The official Hall of Fame After Party, featuring Katie Armiger and
Craig Campbell, will take place after the awards ceremony in the Renaissance Hotel
Music City Ballroom.
Wednesday, Feb. 27:
Capitol Record's
Little Big Town will kick off the seminar with a performance of the national anthem at the opening ceremonies, followed by the keynote address, delivered by Jeff Smulyan, CEO of Emmis Communications Corporation. Presentation of the Artist and
Radio Humanitarian Awards will follow the keynote address.
Big & Rich is this year's Artist Humanitarian Award recipient.
Wednesday's educational events include two research presentations; one entitled, "Music On The Move: Inside the Drive Towards
Mobile Music Consumption," presented by The Country
Music Association and a second one developed by Edison Research and commissioned by CRS.
The "Team UMG at the Ryman" luncheon will feature artists from the Universal
Music Group roster. Artists set to perform include Billy Currington, Brothers Osborne, Chris Stapleton,
Darius Rucker,
David Nail, Dierks Bentley,
Drake White, Eric Church, Eric Paslay, Josh Turner, Kacey Musgraves, Kelleigh Bannen, Lady Antebellum,
Lauren Alaina,
Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, Mickey Guyton, Randy Montana,
Scotty McCreery and Vince Gill.
Later that afternoon, songwriters The Warren Brothers (Brad and Brett) and
Thomas Rhett will co-headline WCRS Live!. The CRS Artist/Attendee Welcome Reception will follow and give attendees a chance to meet n' greet with participating artists.
That night, the "Grand Ole Opry at CRS" show will include appearances by Grand Ole Opry members Brad Paisley,
Darius Rucker and
Vince Gill along with
Little Big Town,
Dustin Lynch,
Scotty McCreery, Kacey Musgraves,
Josh Turner and Greg Bates.
Thursday, Feb. 28:
Thursday's panel highlights are Matt Sunshine's "Brainstorming and Marketing Strategy Model," "Special PPM Reporting on the Country
Radio Audience," "Tips and Tricks From Other Formats," A CMA Marketing Break Out Panel and "Younger Country - Is 18-34 the new 25-54." In addition, the highly anticipated "Country Comes To New York" panel, featuring Cumulus CEO, Lew Dickey will take place.
MCA's
Gary Allan will headline the Capitol and MCA Records Luncheon and Capitol's
Jon Pardi is set to open.
More performances continue that afternoon as Love and Theft, JT Harding and Jonathan Singleton appear as the lineup for the KCRS Live! Showcase.
For the second consecutive year, "Bob Kingsley's Acoustic Alley" will return with an all-star lineup of hit songwriters. Rhett Atkins, Tom Douglas, Marv Green, Ben Hayslip,
Natalie Hemby, Luke Laird, Shane McAnally, Wendell Mobley, Jeff
Stevens and several surprise guests are set to perform at the event, which is presented by Bob Kingsley's Country Top 40 and co-sponsored by SunTrust Bank.
Friday March 1:
Cumulus
Radio Medical correspondent and Emmy® award-winning CNN chief correspondent,
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is Friday's featured speaker. Gupta will address attendees in an effort to help raise awareness about important health issues.
Panels scheduled for that day include Paul Jankowski's "Branding For Sales,"
Valerie Geller's "Secret Of Developing Talent," "An Analysis of Radio's
Digital Competition," "Do Record Promotion Dollars Make Sense," and "Accelerating Success For New Artists."
The
Black River Entertainment luncheon will feature
Sarah Darling,
Craig Morgan, and Kellie Pickler.
Closing out the seminar is the annual New Faces Show and Awards. This year's class of New Faces is Easton Corbin, Florida Georgia Line, Brantley Gilbert,
Jana Kramer and Kip Moore.
The CRS Badge Bar will return with a new design and is open to CRS attendees only. A variety of late night showcases and activities are also scheduled, including a 3-night poker tournament.
As in previous years, the CRS 2013 app provides attendees with an expanded CRS agenda, panel descriptions, speaker bios, live performances, CRS after-hour activities and Country Aircheck news. Users can create their own customized CRS schedule, rate the panels and post updates and reviews directly to their social media profiles.
New features on the app for 2013 include: detailed maps, integrated calendar upgrades, a "real time" ratings system for panels and events, panel handouts and presentations and CRS-TV.
Locations to download the CRS 2013 App include:
www.countryradioseminar.com
www.countryaircheck.com
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/country-radio-seminar/id416970204?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.seedlabs.crs
An on-site registration will be available for $599 at the Nashville Convention Center, starting Tuesday, Feb. 26. Daily tickets will also be available for $200 and provide access into panels and luncheons.
About Country
Radio Seminar: Country
Radio Seminar is an annual convention designed to educate and promote the exchange of ideas and business practices in the Country music industry, with specific emphasis on issues relevant to Country radio. CRS 2013 will be held Feb. 27 - March 1, 2013, in downtown Nashville, Tenn., at the Nashville Convention Center. Visit www.CountryRadioSeminar.com for more information or contact Kristen McRary at 615-327-4487. Follow CRS on Twitter here and use the hashtag #CRS2013 to join in reporting from CRS 2013.
