The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first
country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy's signature "hat" trophy was first created in 1968. The awards were first televised in 1972 on
ABC. In 1979, the academy joined with
Dick Clark Productions to produce the show.
Dick Clark and
Al Schwartz served as producers while Gene Weed served as director. Under their guidance, the show moved to
NBC in 1979, then to
CBS in 1998, and
Amazon Prime Video in 2022.
The academy adopted a sleeker, modern version of the "hat" trophy in 2003, which is now made by the New York City firm
Society Awards. In 2004, the organization implemented online awards voting for its professional members, becoming the first televised awards show to do so.
Entertainer of the Year was a fan-voted award for eight years, until 2016, when the ACM announced its decision to abandon Internet-voting for it and the three new-artist categories.
The 58th ACM Awards were presented at the
Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas on May 11, 2023.
Voting process
Voting members of the Academy of Country Music (ACM) elect the nominees. In 2016, after an eight-year experiment intended to improve consumer engagement, the ACM announced its decision to abandon fan-voting for
Entertainer of the Year and its three new-artist categories, thanks to the cost of participation and several rifts that had developed among artists. The program was controversial from the start and included the web
ballot stuffing encouragement infamous among awards of the same type presented in other ceremonies.
Kenny Chesney, after winning the first fan vote for entertainer in 2008, criticized the process backstage, complaining that instead of acknowledging artists' hard work, the vote had devolved into a marketing contest that rewarded people for "seeing how hard you can push people's buttons on the Internet." The winner, for example, of entertainer will now be voted on by the same people who select the male or female vocalist winner.[1]
Awards
The most prestigious awards are for "Artist of the Decade" and "Entertainer of the Year." There are a number of other awards to recognize male and female vocalists, albums, videos, songs, and musicians. The awards are typically presented in April or May and recognize achievement for the previous year.
Future ceremonies
The 58th Academy of Country Music awards will take place on May 11, 2023, at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.[2]
The Triple-Crown Award is an elite honor that has been presented to only seven country acts in the history of the Academy of Country Music Awards. The honor distinguishes the achievement of an artist, duo or group upon receiving the New Artist (or New Male Vocalist, New Female Vocalist, New Solo Vocalist, New Vocal Duo, New Vocal Group or New Vocal Duo or Group), and Male/Female Vocalist (or Vocal Duo, Vocal Group, Vocal Duo or Group) and Entertainer of the Year awards.[4] Among the later recipients, Carrie Underwood received it at the ACM Awards,[5] while Jason Aldean and Miranda Lambert received their awards at the Annual ACM Honors.[6] The following list shows the artists that have won the award and the first year winning each of the categories required. Two artists:
The Chicks and
Keith Urban, have reached the milestones needed to receive the award but they have not yet been awarded.
The ceremony returned to the MGM Grand Garden Arena for 2016, then moved to
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for 2017.[9] In 2018 and 2019, the show was again broadcast from the MGM Grand Garden Arena.[10] In 2020 and 2021, the in-person ceremony in Las Vegas was not held due to the
COVID-19 pandemic; the two ceremonies were held at various sites in Nashville, with the primary venues being the
Grand Ole Opry House,
Ryman Auditorium, and the
Bluebird Café.[11][12]
The ACM confirmed a returned to Las Vegas for 2022, with the ceremony held at
Allegiant Stadium.[13]
After a one-year stint in Las Vegas the ACM Awards looked for a new home announcing The 58th Academy of Country Music Awards took place on May 11, 2023, at the
Ford Center at The Star in
Frisco, Texas.
Broadcasting
The ACM Awards were previously broadcast by
ABC from 1972 to 1978,
NBC from 1979 to 1997, and
CBS from 1998 to 2021. In June 2021, it was reported that CBS would not renew its contract to air the ceremony, citing declining viewership and demands from Dick Clark Productions for a higher rights fee. CBS' parent company ViacomCBS (now known as
Paramount Global) decided to prioritize its own
CMT Music Awards (produced by its cable network
CMT) as a competitor, announcing later that month that it would move to CBS and held in April beginning 2022. After reports that the ACMs were shopped to other networks such as NBC, it was announced on August 19, 2021, that the ceremony had been acquired by
Amazon Prime Video, making it one of the first major awards ceremonies on U.S. television to move exclusively to
subscription video on demand (SVOD).[14][15][16] The
57th ACM Awards, hosted by
Dolly Parton,
Jimmie Allen, and
Gabby Barrett, were livestreamed from
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Prime Video on March 7, 2022.[17] The
58th ACM Awards, hosted by
Dolly Parton and
Garth Brooks, will be livestreamed from
Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, on Prime Video on May 11, 2023.[18][19]