Must-CRS

It’s not hard to get me talking about Country Radio Seminar. Never has been. You don’t need to twist my arm and, frankly, please don’t this year. It’s already in a sling. Ask me why at #CRS50, taking place Wednesday, February 13th through Friday, February 15th at Nashville’s Omni Hotel. (How’s that for appointment listening?) I won’t be hard to find; I’ll be the guy in the sling.

I’ve typically posted a column previewing suggestions about what sessions to attend at CRS. Like many reading this, CRS has been an important part of my career development. My service to CRS has been a passion. For whatever reason, this organization and I have brought out the best in each other. Well, now I’m an employee of Country Radio Broadcasters (CRB), which presents the seminar each year. My passion - and bragging -- for our Seminar had been ratcheted up a notch. You’re welcome.

I’ve compiled a list of 10 “must-see” (according to me) CRS sessions, and you’re welcome for those, too. However, if you hate lists and don’t feel like reading another, try and heed my most important piece of advice: do attend sessions. Yes, you can drift in and out of numerous conversations in the hallways. Definitely meet new people, network, and be the proverbial fly on the wall in groups of high profile, notable industry leaders who will be at CRS. Do all of that, but approach the week with intentional educational rigor.

It’s probably true that none of us has a 50-minute attention span anymore, but try and acquire one during CRS. Slow your mind down a bit, sit through the ones listed below, and soak in the information. Take a few notes, rinse, and repeat. There’s no oral or written test this week, but instead, something with higher stakes: your career.

WMN Lunch and Time Management session (2/13, 12n and 2p)

Day one epitomizes the essence of CRS: a combination of high-level education and entertainment. Last year, attendees told us they wanted more to do on the first day. Boom! Warner Music Nashville stepped up, hosting a kickoff luncheon and stocking it with its galaxy of stars, established and rising: Blake Shelton, Dan + Shay, Ashley McBryde, Morgan Evans. This will be an ass-kicking show. The current over/under on Espo F-bombs is seven. Blake will be presented with the Artist Humanitarian Award. There will be alcohol. What’s not to love here?

Leave the Broadway ballroom and segue directly to Legends 1 and 2. There, you’ll see a terrific seminar on time management, hosted by Big Loud President Clay Hunnicutt. Ever seen Clay’s email inbox? Neither has he. It’s always empty. I don’t wanna mess with Clay’s mojo here or anything, but if he took one look at my iPhone and saw more than 10,000 unread emails, he’d probably be nauseous. The dude is so organized it’s almost sick, almost OCD -- except it’s not. Hunnicutt has been successful not only in the radio side of our biz, but now, on the label side, too. I don’t think that success is some kind of freak accident. Definitely check this out.

CRHOF Reveal (2/13, 3p during Opening Ceremonies)

Every year during opening ceremonies at CRS we reveal the incoming Country Radio Hall of Fame class inductees. It’s a terrific moment, which captures career accomplishments of some of the most talented pros in our industry, both on and off the air.

Sneak peek of Ken Burns documentary on Country music (2/13, 4p)

This is our Wednesday keynote address, and it’s special. Noted documentary producer Ken Burns has set his sights over the past couple of years on the history of Country music, and the resulting series is set to debut in September. His right hand man, Dayton Duncan, will show clips and provide commentary about this upcoming and highly anticipated documentary. There will also be a component for radio. Country radio loves learning more about the long and storied history behind our music. It’s a great and fascinating history. This is a session that truly lives up to the objectives for CRS when we plan panels: That attendees can go back home with something they’ve learned, that is also valuable to their programming.

Garth at Bridgestone (2/13, 8:30p)

I mean, come on! Garth Brooks in an intimate re-creation of his groundbreaking Las Vegas shows? It’s only available to badge-holders of CRS 2019. As soon as the Amazon “Country Heat” show concludes at the Omni, you can easily walk to Bridgestone Arena without significantly elevating your resting heart rate, flash your stylish badge, move into the Bridgestone arena, and see an amazing show. For free. Do I need to say more? I don’t think so.

Metrics That Matter 10a, (2/14, 9a)

This is year three of this session at CRS. Stone Door Media Lab’s Jeff Green continues to track data that is helpful to radio programmers in understanding many emerging data points that will help radio programmers’ music decisions become more efficient. We’ve all been dropping the notorious “C” word (consumption) the past couple of years, but do we really know what that means? Green will talk a lot about that, and share five statistically proven -- and, freely accessible -- metrics that help predict radio hits. WMN’s research savant, Victoria Nugent, and WHKO/Dayton PD Nancy Wilson will provide additional analysis. This has been the most-attended, and best researching panel over the past three years. I have no doubt it will be again in 2019. This is one that nobody attending CRS should have any kind of excuse for missing. If you’re a programmer and you don’t go to this, you’re simply not paying attention to what can make you better at your job. No hallway conversation can come close to competing with what you’ll see in this panel.

UMG Lunch (2/14, 11:30a at Ryman Auditorium)

All. The. Stars. If you don’t attend this, then you probably just hate music. If that’s the case, then you and I can’t possibly get along anymore. Did I mention the show is at the historic Ryman Auditorium? Well, it is. I would go see Vietnamese folk songs performed at the Ryman (not that there’s anything wrong with Vietnamese folk songs). That’s how freaking awesome that room is. I would also go see Keith Urban at the Ryman. Which is why I’ll be at the Ryman on Thursday at the UMG lunch. Because Keith Urban will be playing there, too. I think we’re done here, yes?

Edison Research Study (2/14, 3:30p)

CRS has always been proud to give attendees a free research project that they can take back home with them and apply to their radio station, in their market, every year. This year we looked at media usage with parents and their teens. As I have written in this space quite often, the 18-34 cell in Country has been its most consistent-performing demo for most of the last 10 years. Country has always been considered a 25-54 “family reunion” format. Well, now it appears to be an all ages format. This comprehensive dive into listening habits of parents and teens will help attendees better connect the dots between the two age groups.

Beer-Thirty Town Hall (2/14, 4:30p)

This, of course, is CRS 50. What many people may not remember, or have never seen because they’re so young (LOL), is that, back in the day we used to do a town hall at the end of each day at CRS. We’d roll in buckets of beer, and attendees could walk up to an open microphone in the room and comment on anything they heard that day, or anything else on their mind. The room would hash it out. It was unfiltered. It was candid. It was raw. In short, it was awesome. I think we need more of that CRS. And this session is designed to do that. Yes, I can assure attendees there will be beer. Pop one open, and tell us what’s on your mind. Maybe it’s about the research session that you’ve just seen in the same room moments earlier. Maybe it’s “Metrics That Matter,” that will have happened earlier that day. Maybe it’s something that’s not on the agenda. Whatever’s on someone’s mind in that room we welcome you bringing it up, and I think there will be so many smart minds in that room, some productive conversations will be taking place.

The Hidden Demo (2/15 10a)

This session has an amazing group of panelists. Jon Miller from Nielsen, Doug Smith with DMR, and Alpha Media’s Scott Mahalick. Programming vet Bruce Logan is the perfect person to moderate this. These guys will talk about current consumption trends (there’s that “C” word again!), and, how radio can cultivate future listeners. The objective here is to make you feel a lot better about radio’s core business in the mobile world. This is one panel I will not be missing under any circumstances. This is also a panel where you should sit through the entire session and take copious notes, if only because the panelists and the moderator are really, really bright people. Just their conversation, even their small talk, will enlighten everyone in the room.

Big Machine Label Group Lunch (2/15 12p)

Another of CRS’ most-anticipated events, this year’s BMLG lineup includes a great mix of established stars and newcomers you’ll be talking about after this lunch. On the bill: Rascal Flatts, Brantley Gilbert, Riley Green, Lauren Jenkins and Noah Schnacky, all ably hosted by BMLG Pres./CEO Scott Borchetta. Don’t miss it.

These are my 10 (OK, 11) suggestions, but here’s the thing: you could go through the CRS app -- which, by the way, you should download immediately before you get to Nashville -- find 10 completely different items to attend, and you’ll still have an amazing, educational, entertainment-filled week at CRS. There’s a lot to do; you can’t possibly do it all. Don’t try. Even if you’re young, healthy, vibrant, and claim to only need two hours of sleep a night, you still can’t survive this thing without a plan, and a little discipline. I always tell people: Get enough sleep, drink a lot of water, call home every night for a much-needed reality check, and pace yourself.

Also, one more piece of advice, which I hope is self-explanatory: Don’t be “that guy” this, or any other year at CRS. It’s not worth it. I have a personal philosophy that I strictly adhere to, which I’ll share with you now. Doesn’t mean you have to have it too, but here goes: no assholes allowed. I don’t tolerate ’em in my personal life; don’t like ’em in my work life, and I sure don’t like them at CRS. So, if you’re coming to Nashville this week intent on being a douche bag, or a complete A-hole, you might as well stay home, because the rest of us decent citizens attending CRS will get you the hell out of there, pronto. Even those of us with one good arm.

I look forward to seeing all of you at CRS 2019. It’s going to be a great show, and even better because you’ll be attending. Thanks to Phyllis Stark for letting me steal this space this week to brag on something that means so much to all of us.

RJ Curtis is Executive Director of Country Radio Broadcasters, and the former Nashville Editor at All Access. Thanks to the sling, he typed this entire column with one thumb.