<a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/11/entertainment/la-et-country-music-concerts-20110811">The LA Times spells it out for you.</a>

<p class="alert"<span style="color: #000;"> "If you do 10 stadium shows, you've just played to a half-million fans. That's more than some acts play to all year."</span></p>

"You can follow the line," says Ray Waddell, Billboard's senior editor for touring. "George Strait, who was the king, went into stadiums, and he had Tim McGraw — not to mention Alan Jackson, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks — and they did business.

"McGraw took Kenny Chesney out with him after that. Chesney took Rascal Flatts, who've taken Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift — all of whom have become stadium-sized on some level. Nobody's better at 'artist development' and packaging than country."

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Since 2005, Chesney — a four-time CMA Entertainer of the Year — has made stadiums a cornerstone of his touring profile. Beginning with three, Chesney has built his franchise to a dozen over the course of a summer. This year, Swift is doing eight stadiums, including capacity business at Pittsburgh's Heinz Field, Detroit's Ford Field and two nights at the Boston area's Gillette Stadium, playing to 110,000 fans.

"In 2009, she was offered the middle slot on a major tour," Scott Borchetta, president of Big Machine, Valory and Republic Records, says of his biggest act. "She'd done 40 or 50 headlining dates under the radar. We looked at the metrics — and decided to go for it.

"Our mantra was attack all media. She's the first act to break at this level through MySpace and Twitter, but she was also going to radio, doing interviews and staying after shows as an opening act, meeting her fans. Some nights, the line would be 1,000 people — and she didn't care. She wanted that connection."

That hands-on connection is something country music has always done well.

"Country is more high tech and social media savvy than it gets credit for," Waddell says. "But it's not a substitute for the basics: Go to the radio stations, play the show, stay after and sign those autographs. Talk to the fans, because when you have that physical moment, you become part of their life."

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As per usual, I'm sure the band will get lots of online flack for this one. Fans bemoaning the fact that they can't see the Nocs in a little club with 300 people - and "blaming" the band for that. Truly astounding. Musicians, like the rest of us, have careers. Decisions are weighed and made with long term career prospects in mind. I can't imagine that this tour rules out the bands ability to play other venues on the dates in between. Knock the big country stars all you want on the musical side but don't look down on their professional savvy. Taylor Swift and "theotherKC" aren't where they are today by chance, they know how to treat their fans.