The Academy of Country Music, which launched in Los Angeles in 1964, has long been a West Coast-based music trade organization, originally founded as a way of promoting country music in the western United States. Now, the Encino, Calif.-based organization is taking another step in strengthening its ties to Music City.
The organization has signed a lease at Nashville Warehouse Company, located in Nashville’s Wedgewood Houston area. The Nashville Warehouse Company was developed by AJ Capital Partners and offers 200,000 square feet of office space.
The move marks the next step in the ACM’s relocation to Nashville, and the organization’s first office location in Nashville.
An ACM spokesperson confirmed the move to Billboard, adding, “We are thrilled for this move, more information to come in spring,” but declined to comment further.
In 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACM has held its annual Academy of Country Music Awards ceremony at various Nashville venues, including the Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ole Opry House and Bluebird Cafe, instead of its usual Las Vegas location.
In late 2019, former Country Music Association chief marketing officer Damon Whiteside was named CEO of the Academy of Country Music. In February 2020, Whiteside spoke with Billboard about the possibility of a Nashville ACM office location.
“I would never say never,” Whiteside says. “It’s certainly not this year. It’s something longer term. But I think we need to certainly keep a focus on the L.A. market, but we also need to put more focus on Nashville, so if that means at some point that we do have more of a physical presence here, then that’s absolutely a possibility.”
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