Pete Fisher

For lack of a better allegory, Pete Fisher went from being king of the classic car show at the Grand Ole Opry to behind the wheel of a state-of-the art Ferrari at the Academy of Country Music. The new CEO has a multi-pronged goal of improving the business of Country music, maintaining its rich history and serving the needs of the artists and songwriters who have made Country music what it is -- and accomplish all that in a rapidly evolving digital business environment amidst a more antagonistic political climate. Fisher plans on doing that through the Lifting Lives charities and ACM Award shows - including ACM Honors, which will illustrate the beauty and heart of Country music on Friday, Sept. 15th, at 9p ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.

After 14 years on the Board, what made you decide to step into the CEO role at the ACM?

Beyond my 14 years on the ACM Board, a good part of my 30 years in the industry centered around service organizations. I've always had a passion for being involved in something greater than my career or career of an individual artist. I'm drawn to serving the whole. Given my time not only with the Academy Board but The Recording Academy Board, this seemed like a natural evolution. I'm very proud of what the team accomplished at the Grand Ole Opry for the past 17 or so years, and it was time for someone else to dream a new dream there ... and the same could be said here.

Every leader has his or her own vision of how an organization should evolve and grow. Do you have a vision on what the ACM should accomplish, and how different will it be than your predecessor?

For starters, our Board really sets the vision for the organization. We just completed a collaborative strategic planning process, including the creation of a smaller strategic planning committee. Once the vision has been established by the Board, our job as staff is to lead the organization to, and realize that vision. We're really excited about hitting the ground now that the process is complete. Now that the ACM Honors production is behind us and the April Awards are behind us, we're putting the first stakes in the ground on some new initiatives.

With that said, Bob Romeo did a remarkable job of scaling the organization to what it is today, and he should be commended for that. Every organization has gone through different phases in its life cycle and the opportunity I see is to bring more strategy and structure to how we proceed, enhance some internal processes in the organization, and work to collaborate with the Board and music industry at-large to ultimately improve the overall business environment.

Regarding the many years you spent at the Opry, how has that experience impacted your perspective on how the ACM should be run?

There are a lot of similarities. The Grand Ole Opry is very much one of those universal institutions that represents all of the styles and generations that make up Country music. Obviously, the players are similar now as they were during my time at the Opry. There's frequent interaction with many of the same artists, agents, publicists and label folk, so there's a lot of compatibility there. Ultimately, I approached both organizations with a service-driven approach; if we help the artists, the record companies and all stakeholders in the music industry succeed, we will be successful, too. I was very fortunate to be in a more structured corporate environment, and to be able to learn from great minds who really have a great handle on how to grow organically and meet strategic objectives. We have a great team here at the Academy; I enjoy getting to know them, and everyone has risen to the challenge of transforming this organization to make it even better.

Do you feel Country faces a delicate balance of hewing to the traditional, which is what the Opry represents, and the hybridization of musical styles in contemporary Country?

If we're truly consumer-driven, we have to take the approach of reflecting whatever the consumer calls "Country music." Because of that, we're not overly concerned at all. We see it as a great positive to have a variety of sounds comprise Country; that makes us stronger as a broader format. What's more important to me is that Country preserves its traditional sound as well. The present contemporary sounds is not a threat but an asset, but the absence of a traditional Country sound is where we get concerned. Fortunately, there's still a lot of traditional music around.

If you look at the history of Country, the debate over "what is Country" and what is not has been argued for decades, and it's been a narrative throughout Country's history because people care about it. We're less concerned with that and more interested in the way people discover music. Thanks to streaming services, people are now pulling the music to themselves and not just having music pushed at them through formatted radio. And when you pull in all types of music, you certainly blur the genre boundaries. Every music organization now recognizes that streaming is not a threat when you have a broad-based format that appeals to a real wide audience.

We're always looking at the marketplace. One of the biggest topics in our format is the migration of Country consumers to digital services and platforms. Historically, our genre has tended to lag slightly behind other genres, given the makeup and profile of our consumer. That kind of migration is going on at the Academy as well; we have to build Country's presence on digital platforms, and we're dedicating more time and resources into the digital space because that's where more of the consumers are.

What are the main challenges facing the ACM and Country music industry in general?

As new business models emerge with the continued migration from physical sales to downloads to streaming, we have to be mindful of the well-being of those who create the music. As revenue from subscriptions continues to grow, we as an industry need to continue to focus on ensuring a business model that matures and ensures the livelihood of everyone who contributes to it. There has been a lot of talk about the well-being of the full-time songwriter. Country is somewhat unique in that it has a population of individuals who make a full-time living from writing songs. Their contributions have made a noticeable impact on our genre. We have to look after those folks, and the Academy has done that through events with the Association of Independent Music Publishers; we're mindful that we have to nurture the entire creative community and not just the major stars.

This is all about being true to our mission and ultimately improving both the business and creative environment. The people who make a living in Country need partners in organizations; we place a high priority in staying connected to those companies and individuals and addressing those needs. As an Academy, we want to complement and not compete with what everyone is trying accomplish in Country music.

These are very polarized, bipolar political times. How should the ACM and Country artists in general handle all the hot-button issues that are top-of-mind lately?

One of the strengths of Country music is in its authenticity. Just look at some of the artists in our format, from Willie to Merle, who throughout the years remained true and authentic to what's going on in people's lives. That's why Country resonates to such a large population. The artists' own authenticity determines whether their brand supports a certain political side, what motivates them and what they're passionate about. These are divisive times, yet even now people still think of Country more as a unifying force than a divisive one.

Award shows seem to be a considerable element of Country music. Do you try to do anything special to differentiate yourself from the CMAs, the AMAs or the Grammys?

Absolutely. We're all about being different. Some people call us Country music's "away game" award show, with Las Vegas as the backdrop. That offers a great way to differentiate us and amplify our show and music. We also seek more West Coast/Hollywood talent to incorporate into our award show, as well as out-of-genre performances. Our Academy loves to have fun and get a little rowdier, which goes back to our roots in the '60s, when we were founded by West Coast Country music entertainers and their unique brand of music.

The other thing that differentiates the Academy from other organizations is that we have a big heart. ACM Lifting Lives, our charitable arm, supports organizations that use Country music to better people's lives, whether it's our summer camp in partnership with Vanderbilt's Kennedy Center, or a new initiative focused on how music impacts memory and the brain, the Academy always leads with its heart.

Will there ever be fan voting for the ACMs?

The awards process is a dynamic process. It's not for me to make that determination. That's ultimately up to our Board and the Awards Committees, who will make those decisions. We are committed to an ongoing review of the awards process to ensure it stays on track to reflect what really works best for our industry. If they decide that fan voting works, so be it. At this point, we have a highly engaged voting membership that, like all award shows, rewards some artists and not others.

After the hue and cry of certain artists not being nominated in specific categories, are you considering expanding the nominees in specific categories, a la the Oscars?

We certainly have those kind of conversations in our annual reviews. Again, we always hear from those who wanted to be included. The awards themselves are a reflection of a moment in time. Our job is to make sure the voting process has integrity and that our voting membership is relevant and engaged. We focus more on that than whatever the outcomes are.

When you watched last year's Oscars, did the Best Picture flub send a chill through you, in that it could happen at the ACMs, too?

It's certainly unfortunate, but they handled it the right away and called out the mistake right on the show. That said, I'm sure everyone involved in award shows can relate to a moment like that and that can put a pit in your stomach.

What are your plans to optimize the ACM Honors as a TV special?

We were thrilled with the first two years of ACM Honors on CBS. We're very excited to have folks tune into this year's broadcast on Friday, September 15th. The show this year is really special; I hear from a lot of people that ACM Honors is their favorite award show of the year. That's a testament to the amount of heart in the show; we're happy to be able to capture that heart along with some incredible music moments.

Describe the relationship your award shows have with broadcasters. Do you lean more to loyalty or to the highest bidder?

Ultimately, every great deal is one where all parties win. We're very fortunate to have this awesome, long-standing relationship with CBS and Les Moonves, as well as a partnership with dick clark productions, the finest producers of live music events on TV. We're looking forward to accomplishing even more with both of them,

Could you ever see an ACM product broadcast on cable or Netflix?

Certainly. As we look forward and put our strategic plan into motion, we'll look at programming opportunities on digital services, and we'll identify what would work best for us. You will not see us, in the near term, move an award show to a platform like Netflix, as we have wonderful partnerships in long-term deals with dick clark production and CBS. They also have a lot of initiatives to drive viewership to their own websites, so their migration is also underway. Even so, look for the Academy to explore other ancillary opportunities for digital services that can serve as a catalyst to that migration.

Finally, how do you set your outlook on the future - one year at a time, five years or longer? How bullish are you in the continued growth of Country and the ACMs?

Our long-range planning process takes a five-year glimpse of where we want to be. The key takeaways are we want ACM Lifting Lives to become a household name and make a transformational impact on those it serves. The Academy will continue its focus on the healing power of music.

We'll also be leveraging our presence on the West Coast not only to increase awareness, but to find opportunities for Country music with tech companies, the film and TV communities, and with corporate brands.

We want to continue to build upon the ACM Awards and Honors as we stay focused to drive positive artist industry relations.

Last but not least, we want to help the industry grow artist brands ... what the ACM can do to improve opportunities for new and mid-level artists, from filling clubs to arenas.

Lifting Lives, delivering West Coast value and providing opportunities for new and mid-level artists are what we're focusing on.