CMA Takes Country Music To U.K. and Ireland in 2014

Brad Paisley

Country music is set to take over the U.K. and Ireland as the Country Music Association participates in a diverse lineup of events, from songwriters’ showcases to industry panels to star-packed stadium concerts March 14-17.

Scheduled events for the weekend include the Second Annual CMA International Marketing Summit; an evening with the storytellers behind the hits with CMA Songwriters Series, which is making its third run in the region; a special BBC songwriters show taping at the iconic BBC Radio Theatre; and two C2C (Country To Country) concerts, two nights each, at The O2 in both Dublin and London in association with The 02 and SJM Concerts.

CMA Songwriters Series

The CMA Songwriters Series kicks off the weekend’s events on Friday, March 14 at The O2’s IndigO2 in London. Hosted by award-winning songwriter Bob DiPiero, the intimate evening of songs and the stories behind them features Martina McBride, Brett James, and Striking Matches.

 C2C 2014 (Country to Country)

An outstanding line up of music stars are again heading across the Atlantic for a huge two-day music festival extravaganza at The O2 London on Saturday and Sunday, March 15 and 16. Also for the first time C2C is going to Ireland on Friday and Saturday, March 14 and 15 at The O2, Dublin.

Headlining C2C 2014 will be Brad Paisley, six-time co-host of the CMA Awards and a 14-time CMA Awards winner; and Grammy-winning, 13-time CMA Awards nominee Zac Brown Band. C2C 2014 will also see the return of Country superstars Dixie Chicks, who will be performing in the U.K. for the first time in eight years. Rascal Flatts join the line-up as well as Dierks Bentley, Chris Young, and McBride (London show only).

British Music Experience at the O2 London

On Saturday, March 15, CMA will present two panel discussions at C2C featuring songwriters and music executives in the British Music Experience at The O2, London. Attendees will hear about what it takes to be a successful songwriter and panelists will explore the steps to hit-making. These panels are a must for any aspiring songwriter or artist and are free to the public but seating is limited. Panel topics, times, and access information will be announced soon via CMA, C2C, and The British Music Experience websites.

Martina McBride

On Monday, March 17, CMA will be hosting its Second Annual CMA International Marketing Summit at the British Music Experience at The O2 in London. Last year saw the first international conference held in Paris.

Attendees will be immersed in a full day of presentations and interactive panels at the CMA International Marketing Summit. Music industry experts from the U.S. and U.K. will discuss ways to capitalize on the worldwide power of Country Music followed by a reception at The Media Café in the BBC’s New Broadcasting House and performance of the CMA Songwriters Series.

Highlights of the Summit include a keynote by Big Machine Label Group founder and CEO Scott Borchetta; an overview of the most recent CMA research reports with updated demographic and psychographic information presented by CMA Senior Director of Market Research Karen Stump; in addition to a special Brad Paisley and Friends BBC/CMA Songwriters Show taping at the BBC’s New Broadcasting House, which features Chris Dubois, Kelly Lovelace, and Lee Thomas Miller.

BBC will broadcast the evening as a one-hour program on BBC Radio 2 in the fall of 2014. The event will also be filmed for future broadcast. BBC Radio 2 is the U.K.’s most popular radio station with 14.9 million listeners (Rajar Q3 2013). The show will be introduced by Bob Harris, the network’s Country Music host and previous winner of the CMA International Country Broadcaster Award and the Wesley Rose International Media Achievement Award.