Music Biz 2016

Enjoy breakfast sponsored by the Country Music Association (CMA). They will celebrate the 50th anniversary of honoring Country music’s top stars — from legends to breakout artists — through their CMA Awards, the longest running annual music awards program on network TV.

At the start of the Awards Breakfast, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry will welcome Music Biz back to Music City. With the highest concentration of music jobs in the country, Barry will discuss how she and the Music City Music Council work to attract and retain music industry professionals in Nashville. Music Biz President James Donio will give an update on the state of the industry and highlight Music Biz’s top initiatives of 2015 and what to expect from the Association in 2016. Music Biz Chairman Fred Beteille of YouTube will welcome the 2016-2017 Music Biz Board of Directors and announce the Scholarship Foundation Class of 2016.

Music Biz will also recognize this year’s business award winners. The Presidential Award for Outstanding Executive Achievement, recognizing individuals for their exceptional vision, leadership, and commitment, will be presented to John Esposito, President and CEO of Warner Music Nashville and Chairman of the CMA Board of Directors. The Independent Spirit Award, recognizing significant contributors to the independent music community that embody the spirit of new thinking, entrepreneurship, and success in the industry, will be presented to Redeye’s Glenn Dicker and Tor Hansen.

Rounding out the morning will be a featured performance from Country music star Brett Eldredge. Eldredge has had four combined #1 singles from both of his albums, and his latest album, Illinois, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart, and #3 on the all genre Billboard 200 Album Chart.

sponsored by Dropbox

Open seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Our favorite time of the year … recognizing career excellence and creativity in our industry with the prestigious Music Biz Awards! 

The event will kick off as we honor two of the year’s hottest new stars with Breakthrough Artist Awards – Astralwerks’ Halsey and MCA Nashville’s Sam Hunt. Halsey, an alternative singer/songwriter, recently sold out the iconic Madison Square Garden as a first-time headliner. Her critically-acclaimed debut album Badlands has been certified Gold, as well as her hit single ‘New Americana’. Hunt, a rising Country star, recently achieved double-Platinum status for his debut album, Montevallo. He has also score three consecutive chart-topping, Platinum-selling singles with “Leave the Night On,” “House Party,” and the double-Platinum “Take Your Time”.

The honorable Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award will be presented to the T.J. Martell Foundation in recognition of its four decades of peerless charitable and philanthropic contributions to leukemia, cancer, and AIDS research, among many other accomplishments. It will be accepted by T.J. Martell Foundation CEO Laura Heatherly and feature a video message from Founder and Chairman Tony Martell.

This year's prestigious Artist of the Year Award will be presented to chart-topping Country singing group Little Big Town. Founded in 1998, Little Big Town (consisting of Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet, Kimberly Schlapman, and Jim Westbrook) has seen huge success with #1 singles “Pontoon,” “Tornado,” “Day Drinking,” and “Girl Crush,” which exploded in 2015. “Girl Crush” is their first Top 20 single on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart and spent 13 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, breaking the record for longest-running #1 on the tally by a group of three or more members. The song won both ‘Single’ and ‘Song of the Year’ at the 2015 CMA Awards, as well as ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 2016 GRAMMY Awards. 

Pioneering powerpop band and 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Cheap Trick will close out the Music Biz Awards with the 2016 Chairman’s Award for Sustained Creative Achievement. The band’s music has exploded around the world, leading to more than 40 international Gold and Platinum certifications, including the 3x Multi-Platinum live record Cheap Trick at Budokan and the Platinum albums In Color, Heaven Tonight, Dream Police, Lap of Luxury, and The Greatest Hits.