The Country Music Association (CMA) Awards, usually referred to as the CMAs, is held every year to celebrate the best new songs and albums by country musicians and groups. The association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee and originally consisted of 233 members. Today, the association is made up of over 6,000 music professionals from more than 40 countries around the world. Its aim is to guide and boost the development of country music all over the globe, use it as practical yet powerful medium to advertisers, media, and consumers, and to provide a unity of idea or purpose in the country music industry. The award ceremony itself is broadcasted live on the television during fall, which is around October – November. The awards are given in several categories, including Entertainer of the Year, Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Female and Male Vocalist of the Year, and also the New Artist of the Year.
However, the first two CMA Awards ceremonies were not broadcasted on TV. The first one was held at the Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee in 1967. The Entertainer of the Year award at that time went to Eddy Arnold. The CMAs was first broadcasted on TV in 1969, and since 1978, it has been broadcasted in both TV and radio. To determine the winners of each category, the members of CMA have to go through three rounds of voting process supervised by the international accounting firm Deloitte & Touche. In the first round, the association members nominate 20 nominees for each category. In the second round, they have to pick 5 out of the 20 nominees and those 5 are the ones that will be presented for the final voting round. In the final round, they have to choose one nominee of each category as the winner of that respective category.

To Know About The CMA Awards