Gospel Music Association

== Events ==

In April of every year for several years, the GMA held GMA Week (or GMA Music Week) around [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], [[Tennessee]].<ref name=":0" /> The week-long event includes seminars, concerts and "meet and greet" events for artists, industry workers and members of the media. "GMA Music Week" ends with the annual GMA Dove Awards ceremony, which honors [[contemporary Christian music|contemporary Christian]] and gospel music.<ref name=cusic/> The GMA began holding the Dove Awards in the [[Grand Ole Opry]] in the 1990s and arranged for the ceremony to be broadcast on the [[The Family Channel (American TV network, founded 1990)|Family Channel]], raising its public profile.<ref name=balmer/>

Annually held in [[Estes Park, Colorado|Estes Park]], [[Colorado]] from 1974 to 2008, "[[Music in the Rockies]]" (formally Seminar in the Rockies) was a showcase event for aspiring (often unsigned) songwriters and artists in the Christian music industry.<ref name=cusic/> This event was replaced by a new event, "Immerse", in Nashville in 2009. The GMA also founded the Gospel Music Academy, which trains musicians, hosts [[artists-in-residence]] (which have included [[Cindy Morgan]] and [[Michael W. Smith]]), and organizes seminars on issues related to the music industry.<ref name=balmer/>