It’s award season. Artists and fans alike are getting anxious to see who’s gonna get nominated and who will take the awards home. The BRITS, the Grammys, the Oscars… the winners are all decided by a panel. I ask, is it really down to talent, or just popularity? The best singers in the world aren’t famous. If music award shows were genuinely based on voices and music then it wouldn’t be celebrities who are winning. Ideally they would be scientifically chosen based on vocal ability, or in some cases, how convincing their acting is.
Online, fans of artists have been known to fight with each other over who they think is more deserving of an award. It’s an unnecessary drama that has no real meaning. Why does it just need to be one person that is celebrated? Why not just celebrate all talent?
The categories at award shows are unnecessary and can cause discrimination, specifically with gender. For those who are non-binary, it can be harmful to be nominated in a gender based category. ‘Song of the Year’ awards are given to pop artists 90% of the time, when this ignores all the minority acts who are, scientifically, releasing better music. But the awards must be given to PR driven fandom based acts.
And looking specifically at the BRITS, a lot of us have asked ourselves: where are the women? The BRIT Awards have made headlines for selecting all male nominees for their ‘Artist of the Year’ award. According to OUT OF FOCUS on Instagram, women make up 34% of nominees for the awards as a whole, however the Artist of the Year award is arguably the most esteemed category. The GRAMMYS also faced backlash in recent years for a lack of diversity and transparency, causing major artists to boycott the awards and not submit their music.
It would be so simple to simply hold a celebration of music and arts with all those involved in attendance. No awards, no ‘who’s the better performer’ or ‘who has more fans’. A gathering and showcase of the best talent the year has shown. Male, female or non-binary, at the end of the day it should be about real talent and the positive impact on a generation that just loves and celebrates music.
ROARA Magazine 