Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum Has Record Year

The museum rode the success of its partnerships with the Omni Hotel and Music City Center to the new heights, The Tennessean reported.

Attendance has been growing steadily, but the museum had a significant increase over the previous highs in 2013.

Attendance rose to 970,971 in 2014, up from 668,577 the year before. Revenue climbed more than $11 million to $32.52 million in 2014.

Museum director Kyle Young cited the museum’s partnership with the Omni Hotel and Music City Center as key the factors behind the growth. He also mentioned the popularity of country music and Nashville’s growing status as a leisure tourist destination.

Last year marked the first full year of the new Music City Center campus. Also last year, the museum completed its $100 million renovation and expansion, for which it has already secured the necessary fundraising commitments.

“We have not been risk averse,” Young said. “And Nashville has developed into a cultural crossroads with all of the assets it has. When the opportunity arose with the new convention center coming next door, we had the staff to get this done.”

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, who made financing the $623 million Music City Center a top priority during his first term in office, applauded the museum for its growth.

“The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s record-setting growth is like a song you just want to hear over and over,” Dean said. “The Hall of Fame’s expansion and its investment in high-quality exhibits make it even more of a draw than it was before. The numbers of people streaming through the doors – and the tax revenue they’re bringing to our city – are testaments to the strength of both the Music City Center campus and Nashville’s Music City brand.”

Young said 2015 is tracking to be even bigger. Already, numbers are up over 2014, and the museum has 15 exhibitions planned for this year, as opposed to nine in 2014.