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Are Awards Shows Dead? What Would Revive Them?


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Ratings for awards shows keep going

down

down

down

 

MTV Grammys, Emmys...it doesn't matter. Granted, I'm not one to comment, because I stopped watching them quite a while ago.

 

But here's the deal. I'm on the board of the TEC Awards, and I like the fact that they recognize the people and tools who help keep this industry going. It's a lot more "real" than the stuff I used to see on TV.

 

There must be a way to do awards shows that more relevant, more real. One suggestion I made for the TEC Awards would be to have an actual user of the gear that received the award give the acceptance speech on behalf of the company. Instead of having the VP of Blurf thank the wonderful team that made it happen (although to be fair, at the TEC Awards a lot of the winners are much cooler than that), have someone talk about why they used something on a session, how it made them more creative...whatever.

 

Any thoughts? There are a bunch of very smart people here, and I have no problem tapping your collective brain power. :)

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I have no problem with recognizing talent with awards.

 

Haven't watched any award show since I was a teenager, which has to be almost 40 years ago. They are not my idea of entertainment. Being technically minded it would be cool if TEC would show the people and/or tool of recognition in use.

 

Would it have mass appeal? Probably not. But YouTube is a great outlet for the rest of us, and such videos could also be a great marketing tool.

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Well the TEC Awards would never be mass market...they exist in the context of NAMM. But you're right, something like YouTube would be a great place to share the concept in a way that other people could dig it.

 

It really is cool when they give a lifetime achievement award or whatever to someone, or a Les Paul award to Pete Townshend. To see those people semi-up-close-and-personal getting recognition for musical or technical contributions. I was a presenter years ago at the TEC Awards, and I've also been a presenter at the MIPA Awards in Frankfurt and the MAMA event in Madison. The look on people's faces when they accept the award says "I'm being validated."

 

But how can this level of inspiration be spread, to where others are inspired by what others have accomplished, and want to follow in their footsteps?

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Focusing on good performances of truly live music might bring me back. The CMA's was the last award show I watched because that was the last to use truly live performances. I don't need strange mashups of mismatched artists, nor do I want to watch lip syncing. Oh, and I don't want to see the same artists that were getting awards 40 years ago.

This post edited for speling.

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Focusing on good performances of truly live music might bring me back.

 

I wonder what would happen if the award winners got to choose their favorite contemporary band to represent them, and do a live performance...

 

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I suppose people don't watch awards shows like the Grammys, Emmys, etc. because they don't feel it's relevant to them or feel it's a sham or feel that the bodies that vote them in are out of touch. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. I mean, if people feel this way, why should they watch?

 

So what's the answer? I dunno. If people feel this way, then I suppose you would try and become more in touch, more relevant, more....never mind. This isn't gonna happen. :D

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I watched Ken Burns new doc on Country music tonight rather than the Emmy's. It was a wise choice. I wouldn't have watched the Emmy's anyway though. The Emmy's, The Oscars, The CMA's....No appeal to me really. If you are good at any of those crafts, viewers, listeners, are your real awards.

 

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It's pretty simple. Awards shows used to be the only way to see stars (of any field) outside of their product. The Internet, particularly social media, has simply made awards shows trite. Missy Elliot did a nice job on the VMAs, but how much money are you going to spend on 4 minutes?

 

The TEC awards...let's think about that. Who is it for? Is it for the award recipients? Well, that's totally cool...it's becomes an extension of the plaque. Is it for the audience at large? Well, it's still small enough (relatively) to be a big insider party, and I don't mean that in a bad way. It's a small industry, and even I, as an occasionally NAMM goer and gear enthusiast, could recognize most of the industry giants on the street. But if attendance and enthusiasm are waning, it may be a symptom of the massive growth of gear (again) options or the fact that it's an award show about inanimate objects.

 

I do really like your idea about having people who use the gear coming up to accept the award and talk about it. If it was a mix of types of people, from the Lord-Alges of the world talking about some new magic 500-series module to a physically challenged person talking about how some gear allowed them to play music, it would remind the people in the room why they were doing what they were doing and celebrate the industry.

 

But awards show in general? All I ask is "Why do they still exist in the first place?" I'm sure it used to be an effective dollars/ratings ratio, but if it no longer is, why bother?

"For instance" is not proof.

 

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...but any meager interest I may have had was gone for good when they became political soapboxes.

 

Shut up and sing.

 

Couldn't agree more, even when I agree with what they're saying (which usually seems misinformed anyway, whether right or left).

 

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The NPR podcast "Hidden Brain" devoted an episode to the effect that awards have on creatives. Turns out, according to the podcast, that awards have a big impact.

 

Most people assess the awards for their entertainment value to the viewers. They could do better along those lines, no question. But it's so rarely mentioned that the awards do fire up people to put out the effort to win them. The award shows are really for the creatives, imagine that!

 

The public is so very, very negative on this topic and in general in this era. Ready to believe just about anything and everything is a load of crap, rigged, dishonest, self-serving, run from the smoke-filled back rooms, etc. etc. The social critics have done too thorough a job.

 

If some group honors some creatives with awards, and makes some attempt to award outstanding work, I'm very ok with that. For the sake of the winners and the sake of the people inspired to attempt such things. So what if my favorites never win - or they've ignored this or that underrated, deserving artist - well I'm not looking to award shows to solve the world's problem with fairness. They do what they do and I think on balance what they do is a good thing.

 

How about the radical idea that maybe things should be criticized in order to improve them, rather than bury them under piles of abuse and contempt?

 

nat

 

 

 

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Nice post, Nat. I agree on all points. I've seen how the Grammys work for instance, and they try to be as fair as possible. It's not a perfect system, but what is?

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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IMHO award shows are more promotion than actual awards.

 

Case in point (from when I quit watching them)

 

The movie "Amadeus" did terrible in the box office. Then it won best picture, got re-released and made a fortune.

 

It really wasn't the best picture but it needed the promotion.

 

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton

Owner, Norton Music http://www.nortonmusic.com

Style and Fake disks for Band-in-a-Box

The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com >^. .^< >^. .^<

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If some group honors some creatives with awards, and makes some attempt to award outstanding work, I'm very ok with that.

 

As I thought I made clear in the OP, neither do I. I have a problem with the awards shows. They come across as overblown, gratuitous, self-congratulatory. That's why I'm asking how to revive them, not how to kill them.

 

Like what if at the Oscars, someone took a minute to talk about the most difficult scene they had to shoot? I'd be MUCH more interested in hearing that. The star would still get the award, but the costume designer could say "Yeah, the craziest moment in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' was stapling Harrison Ford's hat to his head because the hat kept blowing off." Or have the sound guy say "You know that giant ball that rolls down the hill toward Indy? That came from recording the sound of a Honda backing down a gravel driveway in Marin county."

 

I get that the awards shows want to celebrate themselves and the industry, but imagine how much more effective they'd be if they celebrated the audience that supports that industry, by making an effort to bring that audience in the performer's world. I feel the way awards shows are done now, they distance the industry from the audience.

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You're right, of course, in making the distinction between the award shows and the awards themselves.

 

I think you are unusual in that you make that distinction - "the Grammys" or "the Oscars" are how these phenomenon are almost always denominated in the press and in conversation. So I'm reacting to the unnuanced, one lump (negative) conception that seems the more common response.

 

I think most people both don't care for the shows, and don't care who wins as a package deal. And in vogue these days are pronouncements like "music is not a competitive sport" or "I don't like these self-appointed experts telling me what is good art". And a free-floating resentment of the very idea of "winners" in the arts which implies "loser" status for the other 99.99999% of the creative community.

 

Pessimistic idealism is what I call all this (and a host of related current cultural tendencies.) Meaning, we have a clear idea of some sort of perfection that we ceaselessly insist on, while at the same time we think so little of our fellow humans that we are totally convinced that such perfection is totally impossible to our wretched species.

 

Makes for a lot of grumpy-pants!

 

nat

 

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In my ideal world...an awards show's primary goal would be to inspire people to make great art, or music, or movies, or whatever...and be fun. There are some compelling stories about people who came out of nowhere, or wrote a song in their bedroom that became huge. I want to hear more about the story of writing in the song in the bedroom, than the story of how huge the artist became. Writing the song in the bedroom that touched people is what should get the award, not the artist's checking account.

 

On a semi-related point, when I took over the reins at EM for the second time, I thought the Editor's Pick awards were incredibly boring..."Best PA Speaker Under $500" and so on. I changed the award names to things like "Best Reverse Engineering of Alien Technology" for something that was super-innovative, or "Most Likely to Drain Bank Account."

 

One of the awards I wanted to do was "Most Badass Audio Interface" for an interface MOTU had just released. The publisher and ad sales people flipped out. "MOTU's a huge advertiser, they're going to cancel, you can't do that, oh no, doom and gloom." I insisted on it, and said I'd put my neck on the line over it.

 

That became MOTU's favorite award ever :) I don't think they would have felt the same way if the award had been "Best Audio Interface Between $800 and $1,000." Awards should be fun!! Besides, it was a badass interface.

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I like those names, Craig. Just before your post I was thinking about something similar that has long bugged me about most awards shows. They give the awards to "Best Song", "Best Picture", etc. Since it's not an objective thing (it's voted on by voting members of the organization) and "art is not a competition," why not call the categories something like, "Favorite Song"? Anything to NOT say it's better than another, just that the voters liked it.

 

Or to flip things around, imagine if they announced it this way. "Winner of Best Candidate for Senator from New York isâ¦" I don't think that kind of thing would ever fly. And that IS a competition! :D

 

 

[i'm NOT being political. I'm just giving another example where people vote and they don't and shouldn't call it "Best."]

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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They give the awards to "Best Song", "Best Picture", etc. Since it's not an objective thing (it's voted on by voting members of the organization) and "art is not a competition," why not call the categories something like, "Favorite Song"? Anything to NOT say it's better than another, just that the voters liked it.

 

Or we could have categories like...

 

"Coolest Song Created in Someone's Bedroom on a Laptop"

"Song with the Most Effing Awesome String Arrangement"

"Album that Could Actually Be Performed Live"

"Album with the Least Amount of Pitch Correction"

 

:)

 

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I think when an industry awards itself the awards are more political than valid.

 

And like I said before, the award shows have become nothing more than promotional events.

 

So, I'm not interested.

 

But then I'm weird, and haven't watched TV since the late 1980s - no cable, no antenna, no digital converter. Full disclosure: I subscribe to the minimum Netflix DVDs in the mail, and the only time the TV goes on is when the DVD is in the player, and that isn't very often.

 

I'd rather live my life by doing things than to live my life vicariously by watching actors pretend to do things - so one or two movies a month is more than enough of that media for myself and my wife.

 

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton

Owner, Norton Music http://www.nortonmusic.com

Style and Fake disks for Band-in-a-Box

The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com >^. .^< >^. .^<

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They give the awards to "Best Song", "Best Picture", etc. Since it's not an objective thing (it's voted on by voting members of the organization) and "art is not a competition," why not call the categories something like, "Favorite Song"? Anything to NOT say it's better than another, just that the voters liked it.

 

Or we could have categories like...

 

"Coolest Song Created in Someone's Bedroom on a Laptop"

"Song with the Most Effing Awesome String Arrangement"

"Album that Could Actually Be Performed Live"

"Album with the Least Amount of Pitch Correction"

 

:)

:love::D

 

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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I"ve never been a fan of the arts as a competition sport. Haven"t watched since Jethro Tull won for Heavy Metal.

 

Great point. I've always been skeptical of those magazine "Rolling Stone's top 100 rock albums of all times. Especially when they're ranked. So subjective.

 

Same with Top 100 songs of all time - I used to listen those radio shows that aired them - 99% of the time No.1 would be 'Stairway to Heaven" every freakin year.....

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I"ve never been a fan of the arts as a competition sport. Haven"t watched since Jethro Tull won for Heavy Metal.

 

Shows you how much i watch them - can't recall at all - was that for a particular song or the band in general? ( which is just plain asinine in either case)

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Same with Top 100 songs of all time - I used to listen those radio shows that aired them - 99% of the time No.1 would be 'Stairway to Heaven" every freakin year.....

I remember a Rolling Stone Top 100 guitarists of all time that had Johnny Ramone ranked higher than both Mark Knopfler and Prince. :laugh:

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Or we could have categories like...

 

"Coolest Song Created in Someone's Bedroom on a Laptop"

"Song with the Most Effing Awesome String Arrangement"

"Album that Could Actually Be Performed Live"

"Album with the Least Amount of Pitch Correction"

 

 

Might be nice IF the only audience you cared about was musicians. The general unwashed public couldn"t care less.

 

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Or we could have categories like...

 

"Coolest Song Created in Someone's Bedroom on a Laptop"

"Song with the Most Effing Awesome String Arrangement"

"Album that Could Actually Be Performed Live"

"Album with the Least Amount of Pitch Correction"

 

 

Might be nice IF the only audience you cared about was musicians. The general unwashed public couldn"t care less.

 

Well the point is moot, because they couldn't care less about current awards shows :) But as mentioned in the OP, I'm on the steering committee for the TEC Awards, so my brain does wander off in that direction from time to time.

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