The buzz was all worth it especially when up and coming superstars such as Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, Sugarland and Darius Rucker, along with veterans George Strait, Tim McGraw, and Brooks & Dunn, gave the night some memorable performances that served as highlights of what was billed as “country music’s biggest night.”

Clearly, the year’s biggest winner was Taylor Swift who won four awards including Album of The Year (“Fearless”), Music Video of the Year (“Love Song”), Female Vocalist of the Year, and the much-coveted Entertainer of the Year Award which was awarded to fellow young artist Carrie Underwood a year ago. In her acceptance speech after receiving the Entertainer of the Year Award she said, “In this moment, everything that I have ever wanted just happened to me.” Swift was still reeling in disbelief backstage when she was interviewed by Access Hollywood’s Nancy O’Dell saying, “I feel like I’m walking around in a dream right now, It’s… the CMA Awards and four awards? I can’t even believe that!”

Apart from Swift, the night’s big winners were vocal duo Sugarland who pulled an upset in the Vocal Duo of the Year category over sentimental favorite Brooks & Dunn who have announced their retirement this year. Another big surprise was Darius Rucker, former frontman of Hootie & the Blowfish, who won the New Artist of the Year Award, making history as the first black singer to have won this award for country music awards. Clearly surprised with his win, he thanked “the fans, thank y’all for accepting me. And most importantly, to country radio, you took a chance on a pop singer from Charleston, S.C., and God bless y’all for that.”

Popular group Lady Antebellum also walked off with two awards, Single of the Year (for “I Run to You”) and Vocal Group of the Year, beating out heavy favorites Rascal Flatts and the Zac Brown Band. In their acceptance speech Charles Kelley said, “Thank you so much for just letting us be up here and feel part of the community — the country music industry. You guys have been so supportive of us.”

Meanwhile, as predicted, Brad Paisley went on to win Male Vocalist of the Year in a category which included Kenny Chesney, Darius Rucker, George Strait, and Keith Urban as fellow nominees. Other winners include:  Jamey Johnson, Song of the Year (”In Color”) and Brad Paisley and Keith Urban, Musical Event of the Year (”Start a Band”).

In related news, ABC’s record-breaking ratings for that weekend were also boosted by the “In the Spotlight” special which aired before the awards ceremony. In the report, Robin Roberts interviewed stars including Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw.

CMA 2009 Awards

In its goal of educating the public regarding this beloved American musical genre, the Country Music Association has recently launched a major project geared toward facilitating a broader understanding of the inner workings of the industry for countless hopefuls wishing to break into the market. The program, dubbed the “CMA Industry Insite Series,” features regular web episodes or “webisodes,” each devoted to particular topics of importance within the industry.

This project is a major undertaking by the CMA´s Artist Relations Committee under the able supervision and leadership of its Chairman, Kix Brooks of legendary country artists Brooks & Dunn, and Vice Chairman Jay DeMarcus of the Rascal Flatts. The series of 11-minute webisodes comprise a major segment of the CMA´s objective of serving as a central core providing industry resources by facilitating interactions among industry insiders, newcomers, and aspirants.

The very first episode was made available for viewing last May in CMA’s partner site, My.CMAworld.com. That episode dealt with songwriting and music publishing. Then, “The Art of Artist Management,” the second episode released last June, followed up on this topic by clearly explaining and identifying the roles managers play behind the scenes. The webisode also provided information on how aspiring artists can look for the best manager who can help them achieve their dreams.

The following month, the third installation called. “The Record Label Machine,” featured interviews with record label insiders explaining what makes their record labels important and how an actual record label system is set up—with departments such as A&R, Publicity/Media, Radio Promotion, and Marketing/Sales. Closely following this topic, Episode 4 or “The Music Rule of Law,” was posted on August. Among others, this episode highlighted the legal aspects of the industry, specifically the importance of legal representation. The episode featured discussions on copyrights and trademarks, whose importance was underscored when Vice President for Business Affairs for Sony/ATV Music Publishing Duff Berschback stated, “The most valuable thing a band owns is its name.”

Episode 5, launched last September, covers the relatively unknown areas covered by Internet applications such as websites, social networking, digital downloading, and the like. This episode featured interviews with the President/CEO of Capitol Records Nashville, Mike Dungan and Sony Music Nashville Chairman Joe Galante, Lyric Street and Carolwood Records President Randy Goodman; and Lyric Street RecordsSenior Manager for Marketing Ashley Heron, among many others. Just recently, the sixth and latest webisode to have been released is called, “Getting the Show on the Road.” It helps create a better understanding of the inner workings of a tour, the lifeblood of an artist’s career. This segment features interviews with Kix Brooks and Tony Conway, CEO and President of Buddy Lee Attractions.

As a testament to the project’s success, CMA CEO Tammy Genovese said, “We are getting a lot of positive feedback for the series. We are hearing from our members that this is a very valuable industry awareness tool and something they are encouraging their members, employees and business associates to watch.”

For those interested in learning more, CMA members may post questions and receive replies from the experts who appeared in each episode. The “Industry Insite” web series is produced by Hi-Fi Fusion and can be viewed at CMA members-only website My.CMAworld.com.