Museum Information

The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum collects, preserves and interprets country music and its history for the education and entertainment of diverse audiences. In exhibitions, publications, digital media and educational programs, the museum explores the cultural importance and enduring beauty of the art form. The museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, and is among the most-visited history museums in the U.S. The Country Music Foundation operates Historic RCA Studio B®, Hatch Show Print® poster shop, CMF Records, the Frist Library and Archive and CMF Press. Museum programs are supported in part by Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission and Tennessee Arts Commission. 

More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is available at  www.countrymusichalloffame.orgor by calling (615) 416-2001. 

Founded by brothers Charles and Herbert Hatch, Hatch Show Print opened in Nashville in 1879. For much of the 20th century, the shop’s vibrant posters served as a leading advertising medium for Southern entertainment. Hatch Show Print produced posters for many members of the Grand Ole Opry such as Bill Monroe, Minnie Pearl and Ernest Tubb, as well as a variety of performers from across the musical spectrum, including Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Bessie Smith. Thousands of posters and billboard-size advertisements were printed for traveling vaudeville and minstrel shows, circuses and carnivals across the country. In 1992, Hatch Show Print became property of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum. Today, Hatch Show Print is a thriving letterpress poster and design shop located within the museum. The shop creates and prints 600 to 700 posters every year for clients ranging from Gillian Welch, Guns N’ Roses, Willie Nelson and Yola to organizations such as the NFL, Taschen Books and the U.S. Postal Service.  

For more information about tours or the history of the shop, visit  HatchShowPrint.com. 

Built in 1957, Historic RCA Studio B operated for 20 years as the recording home of many famous artists in pop, rock, R&B and country music. Thousands of sessions were recorded within its walls, including more than 240 songs by Country Music Hall of Fame member Elvis Presley. The studio was first made available to Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum visitors in 1977, with support from Dan and Margaret Maddox. Following the Mike Curb Family Foundation’s philanthropic purchase of the studio in 2002, its preservation and public access has continued through a partnership between the foundation and the museum. Over the last decade, with donor support, Studio B’s exterior has been renovated, and the interior has been designed to reflect its 1960s-era prime. Today, the studio is both a classroom for Nashville-area students and a popular cultural attraction.   

For more information about tours or the history of the studio, visit  StudioB.org. 

Nestled inside the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum in the heart of Music City, the museum’s 776-seat  CMA Theater is a unique Nashville venueThe theater is designed to accommodate a wide range of activities, includinconcerts, comedy shows, film screenings, corporate and association gatherings, educational programs and award ceremoniesMost significantly, the CMA Theater is home to the museum’s annual Medallion Ceremony, which is the formal right of induction for members-elect of the Country Music Hall of Fame.     

The Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s central, permanent exhibition Sing Me Back Home: Folk Roots to the Present, presents the history of country music from its pre-commercial roots in the nineteenth century through its vibrant life today. This multi-layered experience includes artifacts, photographs, original recordings, archival video, newly produced films, touchscreen interactive media and text panels. The exhibit immerses the visitor in the history and sounds of country musicits origins, its traditions and the lives and voices of the many people who have contributed to its rich and varied expression. The museum also maintains a regular rotation of temporary exhibitions, which are often collaborations between museum staff and the featured artist or subject of the exhibit. The museum’s exhibits all draw from the museum’s unparalleled country music collections and interpret the history of this rich American art form for the education of its many audiences. The museum’s staff brings a wealth of specialized expertise and experience in creating exhibits that tell accurate and engaging stories, while placing artists or subjects in the context of country music history and American culture 

Throughout its more than 55-year history, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s educational programming has remained central to the nonprofit institution’s service efforts. Typically, more than 100,000 individuals participate in guided instruction each year, offered on-site at the museum, online and in the community. The museum’s Taylor Swift Education Center, which opened in 2012 and was made possible through a $4 million gift from its namesake artist, is the hub of the museum’s educational offerings.  

  • School and teacher programs provide interdisciplinary support that aligns to curriculum standards in core subject areas for students from preschool through 12th grade. Experiences for every grade level are designed to meet classroom needs through engaging, hands-on learning opportunities. Standards-based lesson materials are available in the Teacher Resource Portal, loaded with primary sources, make it easy for educators to incorporate country music history and culture into their classroom. Virtual fieldtrips and homeschool programs are also available. One of the museum’s most popular programs is Words & Music. Through Words & Music, students can develop language-arts and social emotional learning skills while learning to tell their own stories through writing original song lyrics. In the program, students interact with professional songwriters, who are paired with their classrooms, for engaging performance workshops that culminate with student-penned lyrics crafted into finished songs. 
  • Community programs: The museum offers music and art-making programs at libraries, schools, nonprofits, community centers and festivals throughout Middle Tennessee. Community pop-up programs include the museum’s Musical Instrument Petting Zoo, a hands-on, music-making experience guided by experts; Songwriting 101, which engages participants in the creative process of songwriting; and art-making activities that explore country music themes.
  • Families visiting the museum can learn more about country music, past and present, through hands-on programs and activities offered for all ages. Opportunities for visitors include learning guitar basics, dancing to country tunes, sewing personal designs, writing songs and more in the museum’s Taylor Swift Education Center.  
  • Home to the museum’s award-winning educational programs, the Taylor Swift Education Center is the hub for unique, hands-on experiences connected to the museum’s content. Three classrooms, a videoconference lab, an interactive gallery and other amenities provide a dynamic learning environment. Open during museum hours, the education center also features displays of historic items and youth art installations. The Taylor Swift Education Center supports visitor experiences with programs that include curriculum-connected activities for school groups, music- and art-making workshops and more, as well as resources that families can use to enhance their experiences in the museum’s galleries.
  • The museum provides free general admission to all Metro Nashville Public School children and low-cost general admission to Middle Tennessee school groups. Community Counts provides free general admission to youth 18 and under from Cheatham, Davidson, Robertson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson counties. Up to two adults accompanying the youth can receive 25% off general museum admission. Free general admission for up to two adults is also available to Nashville Public Library cardholders by checking out the Community Counts Passport at any library location.
  • The museum offers a variety of internships designed for undergraduate and graduate students seeking professional experience. Our internships are work-based learning opportunities that introduce college students to museum-related careers and advance their professional and educational goals more broadly. 

The Country Music Hall of Fame honor was created by the Country Music Association (CMA), the leading trade association of the country music industry, to recognize significant contributions to the advancement of country music in the creative and business communities. Election to the Hall of Fame is solely the prerogative of the CMA.   

Through an agreement with the CMA, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum exhibits the bronze likenesses of the members of the Hall of Fame in a space and fashion befitting the honor. New members, elected annually by an anonymous panel of voters chosen by the CMA, are inducted formally during the Medallion Ceremony, part of the annual reunion of Country Music Hall of Fame members hosted by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. 

On that celebrated and private occasion, current Hall of Fame members join the members-elect, their families, friends and business associates to welcome the new class of honorees into their midst. The evening includes tribute performances, and each new member-elect is inducted by a fellow Hall of Fame member, who presents them with a commemorative medallion to be worn at each subsequent reunion of the members. 

For more than five decades, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum has amassed a collection of country music artifacts and archival items that is the finest and most comprehensive of its kind in the world. The museum celebrates and showcases a rich American art form, preserving and interpreting items that document the history of an American musical experience rooted in Southern culture. The museum’s diverse artifact and archival collections comprise more than 40,000 moving images on film, video and digital formats; 500,000 photographs; more than 250,000 sound recordings, including commercial music releases, interviews and demonstration recordings; 650 oral history interviews; 2,000 stage costumes; 500 musical instruments; 75,000 posters; 5,000 linear feet of print materials; and thousands of additional objects illustrating the lives and careers of performers, industry figures and the culture of country music. 

2022 By The Numbers

1,558,860 PEOPLE

Visited the Museum

18 EXHIBITIONS

Curated and presented, including 2 exhibits on the Museum’s website

134,134 INDIVIDUALS

Participated in 682 in-person and virtual education programs

26,785 STUDENTS

Engaged in Museum programs for schools

88,825 VISITORS

Toured Historic RCA Studio B

4,015,889 VIRTUAL VISTORS

Participated in live/guided and on-demand content

176,672 DIGITAL FILES

Available online, with nearly 84,582 individuals accessing photographs, recordings, and documents at Digi.CountryMusicHallOfFame.org

1,285 EVENTS

Hosted at the Museum

243,382 POSTERS

Printed in 818 custom jobs by Hatch Show Print

19,977 NEWS STORIES

Featured the Museum and its programs, generating 38.4 billion impressions.

145 VOLUNTEERS

Contributed 5,730 hours of service, valued at $171,614.*

*According to Independent sector research.

34,668 MEALS

Provided for Middle Tennessee through donation of 18,246 lbs. of food

104 TONS OF TRASH

Diverted from landfills using award-winning sustainability practices

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