The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum shattered previous attendance records in 2012, thanks in part to Taylor Swift, Patsy Cline and Buck Owens exhibits. With nearly 565,000 sightseers flocking to the exhibition, the landmark witnessed a 15% increase compared to 2011. The year-long showcase also featured the Bakersfield Sound, a dying form of Country music first made popular in the 1960s.
“It was a great mix,” museum director Kyle Young detailed, according to The Tennessean. "We were able to devote a lot of space to telling a story that a lot of people weren’t familiar with." Swift's exhibit highlighted costumes and memorabilia from her worldwide Speak Now Tour, a target for the museum's highly sought-after demographic. Young also notes that there might, indeed, be more of the same in the new year:
"“You should not be surprised if we replicate that exhibition or at least the feel of the exhibition in 2013."
In previous years, the establishment saw declining attendance, especially from 2008 to 2009 and 2009 to 2010, prior to the devastating flood that rocked the community. In 2011, crowds soared back, up 24%, demonstrating the staying power of the genre and its traditions. “This city, the brand is unassailable. It is music and the city is becoming more and more visible,” Young boasted. “We’re really lucky.”
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