Welcome to the April edition of Behind The Screens. This newsletter details the top media and entertainment discussions online about Nashville from the prior month.

Topics covered include a TikTok bartender, the On3 NIL Elite Series, the Love Rising benefit concert, the inaugural People’s Choice Country Music Awards, Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, and Jason Aldean.

The information below is based on faculty analysis of Brandwatch Consumer Research data from the Social Media Insights Lab at MTSU’s School of Journalism and Strategic Media. Brandwatch Consumer Research tracks discussions from blogs, forums, news sites, Reddit, review sites, Tumblr, Twitter, and YouTube.

A Nashville bartender’s TikTok video made headlines in March and ultimately ended up as one of the month’s top news and entertainment stories. The 28-second video shows a discussion between the bartender, Jemima June, and a customer about the merits of a drink with “No Ice” versus a a double. June has more than a million TikTok followers.

A story headlined “Irate bartender is sick and tired of customers asking for ‘no ice’ - ‘you won’t get more’” ran in the UK-based Daily Express and numerous U.S. online outlets.

The size of Jemima June’s TikTok following and the online debate about bar etiquette made for easy stories that generated clicks and attention based on a traditional news value: conflict.

Here’s some background from Bristol Live:

@On3Recruits produced one of the most-shared media and entertainment URLs for March with the announcement of its On3 NIL Elite Series, which will be held in Nashville from May 30 to June 1.

One key to success was the brand account’s inclusion of the story link in a series of subsequent tweets that announced when the top 50 members of the class of 2024 college football recruiting class accepted invitations to the event. An example is provided below.

The March 20 Love Rising concert was Nashville’s top media and entertainment news story for the month. Meanwhile, on social media, #LoveRising was among the top hashtags based on both mentions (3,000+) and impressions (13.5 million). The event’s star power combined with a high-profile political issue proved to be attention getters.

The Washington Post described Love Rising as “a nearly four-hour benefit concert at Bridgestone Arena … featuring performances from about 20 singer-songwriters and appearances from almost as many drag queens, with proceeds going to Tennessee LGBTQ organizations.”

MusicRow magazine detailed the Love Rising lineup in a preview story, noting “the evening will feature performances by Sheryl Crow, Maren Morris, Jason Isbell, Hayley Williams, Hozier, Brittany Howard, Brothers Osborne, Amanda Shires, Julien Baker, Joy Oladokun, Yola, Jake Wesley Rogers, Mya Byrne, Allison Russell and the Rainbow Coalition Band, and more.”

Billboard’s coverage of the inaugural People’s Choice Country Music Awards was Nashville’s top media and entertainment story on Twitter in March. The story tallied more than 72 million impressions on the platform last month.

Readers of last month’s Behind the Screens newsletter may remember that Billboard had a big month in February as well. The publication’s article about Lainey Wilson was Nashville’s most-shared media and entertainment URL on Twitter, Wilson was among the most-mentioned Tweeters, and #BBWomeninMusic ranked as a top hashtag.

Meanwhile, Carrie Underwood provided the top Twitter hashtag for Nashville entertainment in March as #denimandrhinestonetour totaled more than 22 million impressions. Underwood played Bridgestone Arena on March 1.

Appearances by Brad Paisley and Jason Aldean at Carrie Underwood’s show helped land them among the month’s Most Mentioned Tweeters.

Thanks for reading! Visit the MTSU Social Media Insights Lab website to read past newsletters and learn more about the lab.