CMA Fest Has Turned Into An Event For Influencers At The Expense Of Actual Country Music Fans

It’s CMA Fest weekend here in Nashville.

We’re on the final day of the annual festival, which features four nonstop days of country music and events all over the city, which draws hundreds of thousands to Music City hoping to see their favorite artists.

But if you want the best seats, you don’t need to be a country music fan: You just need to have a following on TikTok.

It seems like this year, even more than in years past, I’ve seen videos from influencers sitting in box seats, or hanging out in the VIP area at the popular Spotify House at Ole Red, posting videos about how they don’t even know the songs from whoever they’re seeing but thanking Celsius or Chevrolet or CMA Fest for inviting them out.

Meanwhile, actual country fans who are there for the music are forced to wait in line (in the pouring rain on Saturday), or sit in the nosebleed seats with the rest of the country fans.

I even saw a video from the wife of a musician who was playing Spotify House, who was forced to wait in line because her husband wasn’t given a guest pass: That had to be given to an influencer instead.

@emily_roseofficial

Music is fun, music business is not Read More