Shanghai Music Awards 2011 - Grammies or Shammies? Did you agree with the judges' choices in the various categories? Who would you have chosen? Which new awards would you like to see next year?
"Which new awards would you like to see next year?"
Given that we've around 10 months to plan for this, for 2012, could we maybe have the judges from outwith Shanghai? I'm not sure whether the phrase for 2011 would be incestious or nepotistic.....however, I am sure people get my meaning.....
My personal opinion for best album of the last year is far and wide Rainbow Danger Club's release - don't get me wrong, there was a tonne of excellent music that was brought out last year, but that album was for me a killer! In terms of the elements of bias that are obviously implied in the previous comment, I would argue that there was a fairly broad cross section of opinions from across the scene as a whole taken on board so I think both words (incestious and nepotistic) used to describe the summation of 2011 above are quite exaggerated-not all of these people are musicians and from all accounts, seem to be pretty balanced in their views.
I think the word you're looking for is "insular". I'd love to have outside input - but I'm not really sure how to find people outside Shanghai who are informed enough to weigh all options other than the few bands who get press outside the city.
I also saw the piece as having a sort of "for us, by us" aesthetic. Just the people here, all of whom contribute in their own way, discussing what's going on. But I'm certainly not married to that concept if I can get enough non-Shanghai interested parties.
I tried to avoid making things too "nepotistic" or "incestuous" by limited my judges' list to one member per band (making an exception for Morgan and Jordan, who are both longtime writers outside BCR) and trying to include as many writers, artists, promoters, etc as I could. The people you see are the ones who replied on time.
I also plan to expand the categories to make room for more non-rock artists, such as electronic and jazz musicians.
How do you suggest I add additional non-Shanghai judges?
I'm not sure what value judges from outside Shanghai would really bring to something meant to be so specific to the local scene. People outside Shanghai certainly may have well-considered opinions about music here, and it's not about keeping it in the family. It'd be hard to find someone outside Shanghai familiar enough with the scene. How can one vote for a category like "Show of the Year" if she wasn't here to see any?
Put it this way, would musicians in Shanghai be asked to judge specific categories of scenes in other cities in China? How could one possibly do that without an insider's knowledge of it?
Paper ballots for life! Electronic ballots are flawed!!
I actually agree with Laurent about next year's awards. Ivan, all the judges you chose are musicians/fans who actually go to shows and stuff. Props for that, but why not expand on that?
An internet poll on Shanghai24/7, Douban, Weibo, City Weekend, ect. would appeal to every music lover living here, foreign or Chinese. Anyone could vote, provided they had a set list to choose from, otherwise it might get messy. It would probably spread word to Weibo/Douban users about City Weekend/24/7 type bands and vice versa. I know it's more work, but it could be fun!
Call me insular if you like, but I prefer knowledgable judges who are involved and invested in the scene over a popular vote. Have you seen the Douban Top 20?
Point made. Yeah, just looking at the profile pics was enough. I didn't dare click on them. How can we include more locals in the judges seats next year? There's Sophia, Lu and others who attend YYT regularly. There are also fans, local and foreign who go to shows almost every weekend. It might be cool to let a fan (non musician) pick too. Not saying it will work, just my observations.
Keep in mind that the judges you're seeing are only the ones who responded. Sophia was amongst the people who didn't. There were a bunch of people, both Chinese and laowai, who also didn't get back to me. So, it is what it is.
As far as fans who show up at everything, I vote Merilyn (spelling?) as YYT MVP.
Knowledgeable is very relative term. I don't think knowledge matters in music, it is all about emotions.
I saw your comment about the Mao Livehouse awards, you may think that this is bad It's not because they are doing lame things that we have to do the same.
You could throw a party at YYT and everybody could vote during the party. I don't really care about awards personally, just a good excuse to have fun. I mean Titanic got 13 oscars.
Or we could add some categories like weird gig nominees: Stegosaurus playing in a Chinese school, Pairs in a tunnel, The Instigation in a mall (or at a promotion event I don t remember)
I'll definitely poll people for category ideas. While a couple novelty categories would be nice, if it's me writing the piece, I'll likely prefer to keep it mostly serious.
"Which new awards would you like to see next year?"
Given that we've around 10 months to plan for this, for 2012, could we maybe have the judges from outwith Shanghai? I'm not sure whether the phrase for 2011 would be incestious or nepotistic.....however, I am sure people get my meaning.....
Do I get a prize for the first post?
No, thought not......
Regards
PA
My personal opinion for best album of the last year is far and wide Rainbow Danger Club's release - don't get me wrong, there was a tonne of excellent music that was brought out last year, but that album was for me a killer! In terms of the elements of bias that are obviously implied in the previous comment, I would argue that there was a fairly broad cross section of opinions from across the scene as a whole taken on board so I think both words (incestious and nepotistic) used to describe the summation of 2011 above are quite exaggerated-not all of these people are musicians and from all accounts, seem to be pretty balanced in their views.
I think the word you're looking for is "insular". I'd love to have outside input - but I'm not really sure how to find people outside Shanghai who are informed enough to weigh all options other than the few bands who get press outside the city.
I also saw the piece as having a sort of "for us, by us" aesthetic. Just the people here, all of whom contribute in their own way, discussing what's going on. But I'm certainly not married to that concept if I can get enough non-Shanghai interested parties.
I tried to avoid making things too "nepotistic" or "incestuous" by limited my judges' list to one member per band (making an exception for Morgan and Jordan, who are both longtime writers outside BCR) and trying to include as many writers, artists, promoters, etc as I could. The people you see are the ones who replied on time.
I also plan to expand the categories to make room for more non-rock artists, such as electronic and jazz musicians.
How do you suggest I add additional non-Shanghai judges?
I'm not sure what value judges from outside Shanghai would really bring to something meant to be so specific to the local scene. People outside Shanghai certainly may have well-considered opinions about music here, and it's not about keeping it in the family. It'd be hard to find someone outside Shanghai familiar enough with the scene. How can one vote for a category like "Show of the Year" if she wasn't here to see any?
Put it this way, would musicians in Shanghai be asked to judge specific categories of scenes in other cities in China? How could one possibly do that without an insider's knowledge of it?
I actually agree with Laurent about next year's awards. Ivan, all the judges you chose are musicians/fans who actually go to shows and stuff. Props for that, but why not expand on that?
An internet poll on Shanghai24/7, Douban, Weibo, City Weekend, ect. would appeal to every music lover living here, foreign or Chinese. Anyone could vote, provided they had a set list to choose from, otherwise it might get messy. It would probably spread word to Weibo/Douban users about City Weekend/24/7 type bands and vice versa. I know it's more work, but it could be fun!
Call me insular if you like, but I prefer knowledgable judges who are involved and invested in the scene over a popular vote. Have you seen the Douban Top 20?
Point made. Yeah, just looking at the profile pics was enough. I didn't dare click on them. How can we include more locals in the judges seats next year? There's Sophia, Lu and others who attend YYT regularly. There are also fans, local and foreign who go to shows almost every weekend. It might be cool to let a fan (non musician) pick too. Not saying it will work, just my observations.
Keep in mind that the judges you're seeing are only the ones who responded. Sophia was amongst the people who didn't. There were a bunch of people, both Chinese and laowai, who also didn't get back to me. So, it is what it is.
As far as fans who show up at everything, I vote Merilyn (spelling?) as YYT MVP.
Ok. Yeah, the more involved, the better. Let me know if you need help with anything next year if you're running it.
Knowledgeable is very relative term. I don't think knowledge matters in music, it is all about emotions.
I saw your comment about the Mao Livehouse awards, you may think that this is bad It's not because they are doing lame things that we have to do the same.
You could throw a party at YYT and everybody could vote during the party. I don't really care about awards personally, just a good excuse to have fun. I mean Titanic got 13 oscars.
Or we could add some categories like weird gig nominees: Stegosaurus playing in a Chinese school, Pairs in a tunnel, The Instigation in a mall (or at a promotion event I don t remember)
I'll definitely poll people for category ideas. While a couple novelty categories would be nice, if it's me writing the piece, I'll likely prefer to keep it mostly serious.