COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION HONORED FOR TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP
Entertainment Desk
January 22, 2010
NASHVILLE - During an event held last night at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer presented CMA Digital Media Director Chris Felder with a guitar signed by artists who participated in the 2009 CMA Music Festival. The presentation honored CMA for its technological leadership in the industry through its relationship with Microsoft Corp. by developing new Web-based applications for CMAfest.com, the official website of CMA Music Festival.
"Microsoft is pleased to work with the County Music Association to create innovative ways of bringing the worlds of music and technology together," said Ballmer. "We believe that technology is a powerful enabler for music education, and we look forward to ongoing support for important initiatives like Keep the Music Playing."
The guitar will be used in a future fundraiser for "Keep the Music Playing," CMA's charity initiative in partnership with the Nashville Alliance for Public Education that donates funds to Metro Nashville Public Schools for music education.
"In addition to wanting to create and use the latest technologies with our consumers and industry, CMA and Microsoft have another goal in common: the desire to help kids learn, grow, and pursue their dreams," said Steve Moore, CMA Chairman of the Board. "CMA Music Festival donates half its net proceeds to music education in Metro Nashville Public Schools each year. It seems natural to take this gift from Microsoft based on our work together around the Festival, and allow it to continue giving to Nashville's kids."
Microsoft, CMA and Firefly Logic (a Microsoft Certified Partner and CMA's longtime technology consultant) created the "Be This Close" and "Hot Shots" applications on CMAfest.com in 2009. "Be This Close" showcased more than 850 photographs from past CMA Music Festivals, allowing Web site visitors to participate in a scavenger hunt, and prizes were awarded when fans located selected items among the photos. "Hot Shots" allowed fans to upload their own snapshots from CMA Music Festival to share with their fellow Web site visitors. These projects made use of the Microsoft Silverlight browser plug-in, the Windows Azure platform, Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, the Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 development system, Microsoft Visual C# development tool, and other current Microsoft technology.
In addition, Firefly Logic developed and deployed "Where Am I," a device and platform independent mobile web application that used elements of Microsoft Bing Maps online mapping platform and Microsoft Tag technology, as well as a flash widget pulled from the CMA Web site, video content, and Twitter messages. This program allowed Festival-goers the ability to pinpoint their location and their next destination at CMA Music Festival venues as well as to access shuttle bus schedules.
With these new applications, CMAfest.com generated a record number of visits to the site, both during the Festival and afterwards, when the site generated interest for the "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock" ABC Television special, which aired in August. Over a period of 12 weeks following the Festival, "Be This Close" recorded nearly 26,000 player sessions with an average viewing time of nearly three minutes. During the same period, "Hot Shots" recorded nearly 2,500 visits and 3,000 views, with an average time of two minutes. Compared with the same post-Festival time in 2008, the overall site visits were up seven percent, unique visitors were up 18 percent, and page views were up 11 percent.
After the success of the new applications on CMAfest.com, CMA worked with Firefly Logic on additional Silverlight-based rich media experiences, including a well-received Twitter-based feed aggregator for the 2009 CMA Awards.
"Because we represent the entire Country Music industry, we feel it is important to continually demonstrate the fact that we are technology leaders," said Felder. "The technology we employ allows a one-on-one relationship with the fan, which parallels the one-on-one connection participating artists make with fans at CMA Music Festival. It's a natural fit. With our Microsoft partnership, we're showing how the technology can help strengthen connections among the fans in the online space with the labels, the artists, and the Country Music industry as a whole. The benefits are not only for CMA, but potentially for the entire industry."
"Microsoft is pleased to work with the County Music Association to create innovative ways of bringing the worlds of music and technology together," said Ballmer. "We believe that technology is a powerful enabler for music education, and we look forward to ongoing support for important initiatives like Keep the Music Playing."
The guitar will be used in a future fundraiser for "Keep the Music Playing," CMA's charity initiative in partnership with the Nashville Alliance for Public Education that donates funds to Metro Nashville Public Schools for music education.
"In addition to wanting to create and use the latest technologies with our consumers and industry, CMA and Microsoft have another goal in common: the desire to help kids learn, grow, and pursue their dreams," said Steve Moore, CMA Chairman of the Board. "CMA Music Festival donates half its net proceeds to music education in Metro Nashville Public Schools each year. It seems natural to take this gift from Microsoft based on our work together around the Festival, and allow it to continue giving to Nashville's kids."
Microsoft, CMA and Firefly Logic (a Microsoft Certified Partner and CMA's longtime technology consultant) created the "Be This Close" and "Hot Shots" applications on CMAfest.com in 2009. "Be This Close" showcased more than 850 photographs from past CMA Music Festivals, allowing Web site visitors to participate in a scavenger hunt, and prizes were awarded when fans located selected items among the photos. "Hot Shots" allowed fans to upload their own snapshots from CMA Music Festival to share with their fellow Web site visitors. These projects made use of the Microsoft Silverlight browser plug-in, the Windows Azure platform, Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5, the Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 development system, Microsoft Visual C# development tool, and other current Microsoft technology.
In addition, Firefly Logic developed and deployed "Where Am I," a device and platform independent mobile web application that used elements of Microsoft Bing Maps online mapping platform and Microsoft Tag technology, as well as a flash widget pulled from the CMA Web site, video content, and Twitter messages. This program allowed Festival-goers the ability to pinpoint their location and their next destination at CMA Music Festival venues as well as to access shuttle bus schedules.
With these new applications, CMAfest.com generated a record number of visits to the site, both during the Festival and afterwards, when the site generated interest for the "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock" ABC Television special, which aired in August. Over a period of 12 weeks following the Festival, "Be This Close" recorded nearly 26,000 player sessions with an average viewing time of nearly three minutes. During the same period, "Hot Shots" recorded nearly 2,500 visits and 3,000 views, with an average time of two minutes. Compared with the same post-Festival time in 2008, the overall site visits were up seven percent, unique visitors were up 18 percent, and page views were up 11 percent.
After the success of the new applications on CMAfest.com, CMA worked with Firefly Logic on additional Silverlight-based rich media experiences, including a well-received Twitter-based feed aggregator for the 2009 CMA Awards.
"Because we represent the entire Country Music industry, we feel it is important to continually demonstrate the fact that we are technology leaders," said Felder. "The technology we employ allows a one-on-one relationship with the fan, which parallels the one-on-one connection participating artists make with fans at CMA Music Festival. It's a natural fit. With our Microsoft partnership, we're showing how the technology can help strengthen connections among the fans in the online space with the labels, the artists, and the Country Music industry as a whole. The benefits are not only for CMA, but potentially for the entire industry."
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