Along with producing the CMA Awards in November, the CMA puts on CMA Fest every June, manages the Hall of Fame selection process, and has strong ties to the mainstream country radio format. If you think about country music like a governing body, the CMA would be like Congress, and the CEO of the CMA would be like the President. For the past twelve years, that President has been Sarah Trahern. On Wednesday, January 14th, she formally announced her retirement at the end of 2026. <\/p>
Sarah Trahern\u2019s tenure at the CMA wasn\u2019t really marked with any especially remarkable achievements or catastrophic mistakes. She wasn\u2019t really vilified by purists or lauded by the industry. Instead, she did a good job keeping her nose clean, remaining out of the headlines, steering the ship steadily, including through major calamities like the COVID-19 pandemic, and the racial tension sparked due to Morgan Wallen\u2019s N-word incident, and Lil Nas X\u2019s and Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s big \u201ccountry\u201d moments. <\/p>
\u201cUnremarkable\u201d might be the best way to succinctly describe Trahern\u2019s tenure. One frustration more independent country fans might have with Trahern and the CMA is that the last 12 years haven\u2019t seen the CMA fully embrace the broadening popularity of the performers beyond the fold of Nashville\u2019s Music Row and radio playlists, even as independent music has dramatically increased its market share. <\/p>
Then again, The Red Clays Strays just won the CMA Award for Group of the Year in 2025. 2017 saw Jason Isbell\u2019s The Nashville Sound<\/em> nominated for the CMA\u2019s Album of the Year, and Isbell was also named artist-in-residence at the Hall of Fame. That was a moment maybe the mainstream could\u2019ve embraced Americana. But Isbell eroded that good will in 2020 after fairly criticizing the CMAs for the lack of an extensive In Memoriam segment on the CMA Awards honoring John Prine and others. Isbell ultimately turned in his CMA membership card. <\/p> The lack of In Memoriam segments at the CMA Awards is one fair criticism that emerged under Sarah Trahern\u2019s leadership. There was also some controversy in 2017 when in the wake of the mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, reporters on the CMA\u2019s red carpet were asked to refrain from asking questions about the shooting or political topics surrounding it. It was blown up as a speech issue, but was just as much about not triggering survivors of the shooting. That request was later lifted. <\/p> 2017 was also the year that Sturgill Simpson famously stood outside the CMA Awards in Nashville and busked with his Grammy Award for A Sailor\u2019s Guide to Earth<\/em> sitting in his guitar case, once again illustrating the outside nature of country music\u2019s independent stars. <\/p> It\u2019s also worth pointing out that even though Trahern\u2019s tenure in part was marked by a lack of success for women in country music, for the past twelve years, it\u2019s been a woman at the helm of the CMA. Similar to things opening up for independent artists at the end of Sarah\u2019s tenure though, you\u2019re seeing a similar spring for the women of country, with Ella Langley\u2019s \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas\u201d completely rewriting the possibilities of a single from a solo woman, and Lainey Wilson reigning as CMA Entertainer of the Year, even if the honor feels a little forced. <\/p> But now that the Sarah Trahern era is coming to a close, what could or should we look forward to whenever a new CEO is named? <\/p> The first thing we would love to see is a more open embrace of country music\u2019s more independent side, especially when it comes to the topmost commercially successful and critically acclaimed artists. For too long, country music has been defined by whatever is played on mainstream country radio, while the popular country farm system has been controlled by Music Row interests when there\u2019s incredible talent waiting to be tapped in east Nashville, Texas, and beyond. <\/p> One of the biggest opportunities the Trahern departure opens up is a fresh approach to the Country Music Hall of Fame. The CMA doesn\u2019t pick the new Hall of Famers directly. This happens through a secret committee selected by the CMA. It\u2019s really not the voting process that is in need of reinvention. It\u2019s the process itself that enacts such severe limits on new inductees (three per year) that has resulted in an incredible backlog of talent has persisted for going on two decades. Revising this process or offering a bulk induction<\/a><\/strong> could help clear the backlog. <\/p> Of course, a new CEO won\u2019t be able to snap their fingers and make stuff happen overnight any more than Sarah Trahern could. But what they could do is use the position to more effectively lobby for important changes, a fresh perspective, and a modernized approach as things like AI that will undoubtedly disrupt country music in significant ways if not addressed properly. \u201cTech savvy\u201d feels like it should be and essential resume point for the new leader. <\/p> But the CMA and its CEO has never really had the ability to shape the country genre significantly. It more reacts to moments and events, and does the bidding of the major labels. But maybe a new leader could be more open, more reactive to the new realities within the greater country music landscape, and be an asset to moving the country genre forward as opposed to just a functionary, however steady-handed. <\/p> \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n