Northern Ireland Music Awards

Gosh, where do I even start?

So Alternative Ulster & the Oh Yeah Centre recently convened, found 70 ‘industry’ types (that are being kept secret) and voted on varying categories in order to come up with the Northern Ireland Music Awards. 

My first though upon hearing this was ‘I never heard of the voting for this’, assuming that some vote had been sent out to be registered and I’d simply missed the boat. However, it seems that the ‘top brass’ of AU and Oh Yeah, have taken it upon themselves to represent the entire music scene on our behalf, using tax payers money to host a glitzy award ceremony at a time when NI Music could be doing with funding for benefit, instead of for vanity. That’s what this comes off to me as; a vanity project. A vanity project that we’re paying for, that’s representing us, and that we had absolutely NO say in. Does that sound fair? Our very own bilderberg group seems to assume it can represent the rest of us gig-going & record-buying public.

Alternative Ulster has done this kind-of ‘industry decides all’ thing before. I would say ‘if I remember correctly’, but I do, and I remember discussing it at length with 3 friends over a beer, who had seen the same thing. When they were in search of the best NI Songs of their lifetime, they asked us, the public, to vote. 

Here’s a link to a post made by AU Editor, Jonny, on a local Music Forum ;

http://fastfude.org/topic.php?id=28383

The key thing to note is (again) the inclusion of ‘Industry pundits’. Was there any need for AU to try and pass this off as a ‘public’ voting round? I’d assume they had their list prior to any voting and just simply wanted to appear engaging. Another thing to note is how the winning song (Lafaros Tupenny Nudger, which is a great song) only has two votes from that particular forum. AU did have their own forum @ www.iheartau.com but it seems to have been removed. However, I did view it at the time, and again, it was completely mixed, and Lafaros song certainly wasn’t a constant there either. My point being ; this isn’t the first time AU has used ‘industry’ folk (that cannot be revealed) in order to appease their own outcome. I mean, had this particular vote being completely down to public, and we all backed a Black-metal band for the best song, the entire AU office would have wept for a week inbetween repeat listens to the bands NME have said are brilliant that month.

Another thing that really grated on me, was the inclusion of a very-specific musical genre ; Electronic Music. Sure, there’s no way they could have included ALL musical genres, but by including one, they have effectively smothered all others. Folks in metal bands SHOULD be let down by this, folks in country bands SHOULD be let down by this. All i’m seeing and hearing at the minute is ; if you have ANYTHING negative to say about these awards, then you’re just jealous your band isn’t on the shortlist. Well, i don’t have a band, what’s my excuse?

Another looming issue is the overall naming of the event. This is probably the real kicker; Why does AU and Oh Yeah feel they can represent our entire music scene without so much as consulting us? What gives them the right to call it the ‘Northern Ireland Music Awards’? Like most people, I’d assume that to achieve funding for this glamorous evening, ‘AU Awards’ just would not have cut it. 

I don’t really have anything negative to say toward the Oh Yeah centre except their involvement in this completely opaque vanity project that serves to do nothing more than re-highlight bands that have already been highlighted a thousand times, to the same people, and under the guise of ‘doing it for the scene’. 

Most people in the NI music scene with a teaspoon of sense and a tablespoon of balls should start to be a bit more vocal about these kinds of issues, instead of fearing that their true feelings will stop their band from getting support slots and features in local magazines. I alone have spoken to around 10 people today who have given me novel-length rants at this, but who will never ever repeat their honest opinion for someone else to read. This is what’s wrong with the NI Music scene; folks don’t feel like they can criticise those with ‘power’ lest they be blacklisted and forced to busk for the foreseeable future.

I haven’t written this spiel just to be awkward, controversial or a dick. Nor have i written it because I’m jealous. These are the usual kind of insults one receives in NI when you do anything other than suck-off every idea the ‘top brass’ has to offer. It should also be noted that I’m not a ‘writer’ or a ‘journalist’, and i don’t even really understand punctuation too well. But i do have feelings and a lot of experience within music.

I wholly support my local music scene and I always have done. Come 01.01.12 @ www.chordblossom.com i’ll be launching a brand new website dedicated to the music scene of northern ireland. This new website based on the music scene of northern ireland will be run by the people for the people. If you have ANY interest in your local music scene, please get involved! Info@Chordblossom.com