Mere words cannot convey the sheer impact of this building. You need to walk it yourself to grasp the scale of the beast, with its endless rooms and hallways and green roof and enormous new traffic roundabout. You can also drive through it since it now incorporates Sixth Avenue as part of the complex.

Downtown Nashville has been dramatically redone and redesigned in a relatively few years. After former Mayor Phil Bredesen lured the Houston Oilers to town to become the Tennessee Titans and built a stadium for them on the banks of the Cumberland River, others explored the redevelopment of downtown. The Hilton Suites hotel joined the now-named Bridgestone Arena in transforming a large swath of the Broadway area into an upscale draw. The adjacent Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum had earlier replaced a down-and-out part of downtown and has been joined by the majestic Schemerhorn Symphony Center. And soon a new Omni Hotel will abut the Hall of Fame. The overall transformation of downtown Nashville is becoming dramatic.

Other parts of Nashville’s musical past — the ones too small to be institutionalized — continue to disappear. Hewgley’s Music Shop is long gone from downtown, although you can still see the fading Hewgley’s letters painted on a parking lot building on Commerce Street. Hewgley’s moved to Columbia, Tenn.

Remember that the venerable Ryman auditorium — then sitting vacant and decaying in downtown Nashville — came very close to being demolished until Emmylou Harris got it to be opened back up so she could record a live album there? I’ll never forget what King of Country Music Roy Acuff said to me when I asked him about the Ryman. “That old building? I’ll be the first one to knock the first bricks out of there.” Harris’ live album ultimately led to the Ryman being saved and updated and preserved as one of the premier music halls in the world.

Just across from the Ryman, Lower Broadway itself is flourishing but is turning into a flashy neon caricature of itself. I can remember when you avoided that area because of muggers, drug dealers and hookers. Now you avoid it because it’s turned into a country amusement park for tourists. It’s got everything but cowbells.

George Gruhn has for 43 years run the highly respected Gruhn Guitars on Lower Broad, and now he’s moving. He wants to get away from the constant loud carnival atmosphere and the steady flow of tourists into his store — who do not buy his high-end instruments and only want to be looky-lous. Gruhn will move his shop to a location on Eighth Avenue South — a little less than three miles from downtown.

Conventions are great. They are a city’s lifeblood. God bless them. Just keep them away from me.

I have been to local music conventions at the Opryland Hotel, at various hotels and at the still-functioning Nashville Convention Center down on Commerce. None of the venues were big enough or really appealing enough to truly entice a convention-goer to come back. It’s sometimes just such a simple thing as the fact that in the hallways of NCC, I could not find a place to sit except on the floor. Or it was Opryland Hotel’s ever-escalating parking fees and three-hour waits or longer for room service.

As others have already observed, there will never again be free parking here, at least not in downtown Nashville. But do you really want free parking to go to a grungy, very shaky bar band joint, or do you want to pay a still fairly modest parking fee to see good bands and singers and to know that your car has probably not been broken into? And it wouldn’t be bad to see some favorite musicians perform in the new 6,000-seat grand ballroom of the new Music City Center.

When the suggestion for a gigantic new convention center was brought up a few years ago, it faced opposition for the cost and sheer size of such a structure spanning six city blocks. But now it’s a reality. And the naysayers are now turning into cheerleaders. The city has developed a master plan for further developing the SoBro neighborhood, including possible expansion of the MCC.

By day, the building is simply imposing. At night, the MCC is utterly breathtaking. The structure becomes a glittering, illuminated giant jewel box. Well done, Mayor Karl Dean and the city of Nashville.

This NASHVILLE SKYLINE column first appeared on CMT.com. Chet Flippo is Editorial Director for CMT/CMT.com.

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“Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts whether our baptism be that of water or of fears…Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience…From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own.  It says “Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”

These lines are taken from Julia Ward Howe’s original Mother’s Day Proclamation from 1870. Mother’s Day was conceived as an activist holiday. She looked at the carnage caused by the Civil War and asked herself “why do not the mothers’ of mankind interfere in the matters to prevent the waste of human life which they alone bear and know the cost?”

According to a recent USA Today article, in 2011 (the last year for which the FBI has complete data) 1,668 blacks under the age of 22 were killed in this country. That’s more than triple the 469 American servicemen and women killed in Afghanistan that year.  In 2009, Black children and teenagers were just 15 percent of the nation’s population but 45 percent of our young people were killed with guns.

As we deal with the daily loss of the lives of our sons, brothers, husbands and daughters from gun violence – we see that we are in the midst of the carnage of another war. It is time again for the voices of the mothers to rise up and say disarm. We are tired of the murders.  We are tired of the devastating effect that guns have had on our community and we are tired of the lack of respect for life. Today, as we move closer to another Mother’s Day, we are asking all mothers, all mother figures and all who have known a mother’s love to join us and use this Mother’s Day to recommit ourselves to the original purpose of the day – to be a voice for peace.

In looking for meaningful ways to address this crisis in our community, we have partnered with the National Action Network on M.O.M.: Mothers on a Mission Against Urban Gun Violence. Like the original Mother’s Day proclamation, the M.O.M. campaign has several key goals: to mobilize mothers around decreasing the incidence of gun violence in urban centers by providing them with resources and actionable steps; to raise awareness about the prevalence of urban gun violence with a specific focus on the impact on African-American men and boys and to rebrand Mother’s Day, returning it to its original purpose.

The problem of gun violence in our community is so pervasive that we often feel overwhelmed. We don’t know what we can do to make a difference. We have developed  five simple actions that we are asking mothers to take in May:

—     Find a local anti-violence program in your area and donate time and/or money.

—     Work with other mothers to petition your local community center and/or church to stay open extended hours to provide conflict resolution and anti-violence programming for youth, especially during the summer months.

—     Contact elected officials and make your voice heard about guns.

—     Work with local organizations like NAN on programs like “Occupy the Corners.”

—     Lend your time to mentoring youth in your area.

These are simple steps that can have a huge impact.

We are also asking those savvy social media moms to tweet messages of peace and tweet the actions that we have outlined with the hashtag #disarm. Celebrity moms will join you. Grammy Award-winning singers Monica and Fantasia and actress Tichina Arnold have already pledged to be a part of our efforts.

We also ask that you join us on Mother’s Day by logging on to bet.com and adding your Mother’s Day message on how you can be a beacon of peace in your community.

Today is the beginning. This M.O.M. initiative is the first phase of BET’s anti-violence campaign DISARM. We will be using all of our network resources to work to bring attention to this crisis in our community and working together with partners, including the National Action Network, to find community solutions.

Debra L. Lee is chairman and CEO of BET Networks. This op-ed first appeared as commentary on BET.com.

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This week, with a simple tweet: “BREAKING: @TheLodgee tweeter to be replaced,” our cafeteria correspondent(s) announced that they were in the market for a new tweeter.

The outgoing tweeter came to the Viacom blog to reveal his identity and bid adieu to @TheLodgee’s faithful followers (more than 1,000 to date). We learned that the account is actually run by three employees, and while he didn’t reveal the identities of his counterparts, we now know that one of the three is named Uptin. Uptin works for MTV News, and in the past few years he’s also held roles across the company, at VH1 and Nickelodeon as well as MTV.

Here’s the full text of his goodbye letter:

One of the first things I learned in college was that to create a good business, you must fill a need.  What if, I thought years later, we applied this logic on Twitter? I had been conversing by the coffee machine with a colleague over our love for The Lodge. Not just the assortment of daily cuisines from around the world, or the incredible views overlooking NYC’s Times Square, but even the little things like the dynamic culture, friendly staff and decadent cookies.

That’s when I began thinking. The Lodge has a Facebook page.  Was it too exclusive to have its own Twitter?

And, so, on March 6, 2012, @TheLodgee was created.

While the unpaid work of remembering to tweet out the day’s menu and sending new updates to an ever-increasing and constantly-hungry Twitter following was sometimes tiring, I was satisfied knowing I’ve helped inform and fill the palettes of some several thousand of my finest colleagues.

While my role working in digital production and helping tweet for @MTVNews has been unforgettable, the opportunities to release (sometimes ridiculous) information, free from censorship—all the while attempting to stay anonymous — I have to say creating @TheLodgee is definitely amongst my best memories here at @Viacom.

Thank you to all those who followed, retweeted and sent tips!  Special shout-out to those I’ve never met but we’re highly active and engaged most with @TheLodgee: @KristinaLuca, @lindseyweber, @jennjrogue, @JerseyJonK, @ricenbeats!

While I move on from 1515 and #FOMO moves in, it seems only right that I find another anonymous successor for the account. If you’re interested, go here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/K2R26K3.

– his name is Uptin –

The post One of @TheLodgee Tweeters Unveils Identity appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

Workaholics‘ Anders Holm — only 10 years the senior of the graduating class — is returning to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to deliver the commencement address for his alma mater this May 17, 18 and 19. Fittingly, the show for which he writes and acts addresses and sheds a hilarious light on the post-college transition to adulthood (and is as relatable to the college set as it is outrageous).  Chosen by the senior class, the writer/actor should have some interesting/inspiring insights about his path from Madison to breakout success… and some very funny anecdotes, at the least. Looking forward to watching video of this speech next month!

On social media — where Holm is very active, both during and in between seasons of Workaholics — the sentiment is that UW Class of 2013 is “one lucky class.” The announcement sparked commencement speaker-envy among the students/grads who just missed him at UW, or who wish their school had such an awesome speaker.

As one 2011 UW alum put it most simply…

The post University of Wisconsin Students Choose Anders Holm to Speak at Commencement appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

Critics are calling him a national laughingstock for his supposed naiveté. All kinds of people who ordinarily pay no attention to country music are suddenly experts on the race issue — and the music. Meanwhile Paisley is taking it pretty calmly, even going on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to explain the song.

“I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but there’s some racial tension here and there,” Paisley said. “I felt like when we were writing the song, I didn’t really feel like it was up to the media or Hollywood … or sorta talk radio to deal with that. I think it’s music’s turn to have that conversation.”

In his liner notes for his new album Wheelhouse (his nickname for the recording studio), Paisley writes that the album is “a digital journal of the shattering of comfort zones and collateral magic. … We had only one rule with this record: to throw out the rules.”

The song’s title itself is awkward. “Accidental Racist” suggests some kind of innocent kid just sort of accidentally wearing his rebel flag emblazoned Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt out in public. Then he wanders into a Starbucks (product placement?) and the sight of the flag offends a black barista. And the narrator has the nerve to justify his flag by saying he just loves Skynyrd. That is begging the question. If you buy and openly wear a shirt with a Confederate flag on it, you are making a public statement, dude. Live with the consequences.

In my non-songwriter’s opinion, the song is extremely earnest and well-meaning, if clumsily written. And is matched by LL Cool J’s equally inept rap, rhyming “do rag” with “red flag” and equating gold bling necklaces with slave chains.

Paisley has flirted with social topics before. In “Welcome to the Future,” he obliquely gave a nod to Barack Obama for getting elected president.

If there is one lesson Paisley can take away from this furor, it’s that you can’t solve a hundred-plus year-old social problem with a six-minute country song. I’m glad he’s asking the question, though — a question all the dirt-road, beer-drinking, truck-driving country boys will never ask.

You can’t totally rehab a social issue with one slogan or mantra. “Give peace a chance” was a good candidate, but it still hasn’t caught on.

But just ask Natalie Maines. She should have figured out that you can’t wish away an unwanted war with a one-minute diatribe from the concert stage. Back when telegrams still existed, concert promoters said of protest singers, “If you want to send a message, call Western Union.”

Read more about the “Accidental Racist” controversy at MTV.com.

This NASHVILLE SKYLINE column first appeared on CMT.com. Chet Flippo is Editorial Director for CMT/CMT.com.

The post Brad Paisley/LL Cool J ‘Accidental Racist’ Collab Heats Up the Internet appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

Here’s a quick Friday treat courtesy of VH1′s Big Morning Buzz Live and British artist Jessie Ware, a VH1 “You Oughta Know” artist as well as one of MTV’s 2013 Artists to Watch. Watch/listen to the alt-R&B singer perform “Wildest Moments” above.

Her voice is so deep and soulful that it mesmerizes whether completely stripped down or remixed (which rapper A$AP Rocky did to her single “Wildest Moments” just this week). Looking forward to the U.S. release of her album, Devotion, which lands here April 16. In the meantime, MTV will be streaming her “Artist To Watch Live” concert at Webster Hall tonight at 9 p.m.

The post Jessie Ware Performs on VH1 ‘Buzz’ appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

It was a sad day for both the industry and the country yesterday, when we lost one of our greats with the passing of Roger Ebert. Ebert was a trusted and esteemed film critic, journalist and writer, or, as Jon Stewart introduced him when he appeared on The Daily Show in 2006: “the film expert, the analyst, the man.”

We’re remembering Ebert by revisiting that appearance (see clip above). My favorite part is when a nervous Jon Stewart tell Ebert he’s worried about hosting the upcoming Oscars. “How badly am I going to get burned?” he asks. True to form, Ebert gives Stewart a dose of candor (his trademark honesty — “Jack Nicholson is going to be staring right up at you”) before reassuring him that it was going to go well (his trademark humanity): “You’re funny, you’re smart, you’re good.”

Ebert was influential, thought-provoking, prolific (over the past year, he had written more than 300 reviews) and the only film critic to win a Pulitzer. He never stopped. Though not born into the digital generation, he was agile on social media, a frequent blogger with a tremendous social media following.

Just days before he died (and 46 years after he became the film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times), he announced that he was taking a “leave of presence.”

“What in the world is a leave of presence?” he wrote. “It means I am not going away.”

Indeed. His words, his books, his indelible impact live on. Thanks for dedicating your life to the industry, Mr. Ebert.  You will be missed.

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The post RIP Shain Gandee, 1991-2013 appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

Foshee, currently pursuing a master’s degree in sociology, shared how she was able to turn frustration into motivation. After years of feeling like she knew as much about sports as any guy, but lacking the confidence to speak up about it, she created the website womencantalksports.com.

“Women have to prove their authenticity as a fan more so than men do, but I don’t believe you have to master a sport to enjoy it,” Foshee said.

Foshee designed the website to give women the opportunity to discuss and learn about sports in a comfortable environment, leading them to feel more secure in their knowledge.

The importance of self-confidence was a common thread for the panelists. As one of very few women in her field, Cintado has to constantly be on top of her game.

“I have to be smarter and brighter and work harder than anyone else, but I don’t resent it,” Cintado said.  “People sense that confidence and respect it.”

Determination also plays a key role on the professional path. Said Butler, “[When trying to start Gigi’s Cupcakes] I went to four banks, and all of them laughed in my face. But I’m very dedicated and determined, and when I want to do something, I do it.”

White, an editor in the male-dominated alternative newspaper industry, added “You have to be unique and you have to be persistent. I constantly prove to everyone I deserve to be here.”

All of the panelists agreed that changes still need to be made in the work environment so that being a woman isn’t viewed as a disadvantage or impediment to success. As Cintado pointed out, “The reality is, there are still fewer women in management roles and in government than men, but women are loyal and committed, and we make great workers.”

Cotter envisions a more equitable future. “I would love to see a day when it’s not a conversation of if you’re a male or you’re a female in the workplace; everyone is just a worker.”

Whether it be Butler and Cotter witnessing people try their products for the first time, Foshee seeing a light bulb go off for a girlfriend while they watch a football game, White’s stories resonating with readers, or Cintado achieving balance between a demanding career and active family, all of the women on the panel agreed that personal fulfillment walks hand-in-hand with professional success.

“Raising strong women and being a good mother– that’s the most important job I have,” said Cintado. “Do the best you can every day and you’ll have no regrets.”

The post CMT’s Nashville Women ‘Stand By Their Plan’ appeared first on Viacom Corporate.

The Woodies are more than just a college awards show, with this year’s show spurring sales, social and chart spikes for several of the performers, hosts and winners. This week, the Huffington Post’s article “More Than Just an Award: What the 2013 mtvU Woodie Awards Did for Artists” took a look at the facts and figures and heralded the awards show for spotlighting new emerging artists:

“Perhaps most notably, though, it’s the newness of it all that make the college award’s show a success: the Woodie Awards spotlight up-and-coming performers, meaning it’s more likely that those watching won’t be as familiar with the artists and/or songs featured throughout the night. Nothing buzzes the World Wide Web quite like something they haven’t heard before.”

The piece ends pointing out how these sales, social and chart jumps are a substantial perk to being part of the show:

“So congrats, 2013 Woodies, on sending home this year’s hosts, performers, and winners with a little something extra: career milestones. They’re sure to be appreciated long after the hunks of wood are forgotten.”

Here are the numbers from this year’s show:

• Machine Gun Kelly aka MGK, who co-hosted this year’s Woodies and won the “Woodie of the Year,” experienced a 25 percent increase in digital albums sales along with a social media impact that included a massive increase of over 70 percent in Facebook likes and a respectable 12 percent increase in Twitter followers post-show.
• Tegan and Sara also co-hosted and performed that evening, and they too fared well in many of those arenas. Their time on screen resulted in some increased album sales but an enormous 163 percent jump in the number of people downloading their single “Closer.” When it comes to Facebook and Twitter, the duo ended up with more than 790,000 new likes and 760,000 followers, respectively.
• As for non-hosts at this year’s Woodies, performers Zedd and twenty one pilots both got in on the action, with the former’s single “Clarity” jumping more than 70 spots on the Billboard Digital Songs Chart and the latter’s sales of their single “Holding on to You” rising 33 percent.

Head here for Huff Post’s full story.

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