So, some people are saying some pretty nasty things about the upcoming Local Music Awards, and I’ve found it quite difficult to understand why. I’m not sure if this is still a particularly heated issue, but I feel obligated to throw my hat in the ring even if the bell rang a few weeks ago.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, here are some of the accusations/complaints being made towards WPGU and this humble awards ceremony by a select group of scenesters and musicians that happen to own computers.
1. The LMAs was arranged mainly to make a profit, at the expense of local musicians.
2. It creates competitive conflicts between bands.
3. WPGU doesn’t care about the local music scene.
How to address allegation #1.. First of all, yes, WPGU and The Buzz and The217 are commercial organizations. Unless you’re a homeless, nudist hunter-gatherer/cannibal you can’t really hold that against us. So, let’s take a look at how badly our evil, money-grabbing machine is screwing over local musicians. We’ve effectively sought them out, featured them on a website for over a month, and invited them to spend an evening celebrating the local music scene. Heinous! Even the most established bands should know the value of this kind of publicity, especially in an area with as much population turnover as Champaign-Urbana. Around 50 local acts are put in a better situation because of the Local Music Awards.
Regarding the apparent disruption of the harmonious balance among local bands.. Are you kidding me? Gather every drop of blood that is spilled between bands over winning a local music award and I’ll happily drink it. The truth is that just being nominated for an award is an honor in itself. A lot of amazingly talented musicians fell short of getting a nomination, and it’s important for people to realize that the bands up for awards were voted into that position over all of the other local musicians in their category. Bands can campaign for support, but I doubt we’ll see any Red Phone ads coming from anyone. There is nothing wrong with a little friendly competition, and the whole point is that every nominee comes out ahead.
Lastly, WPGU doesn’t care about local music. Now that I think about it, this is totally valid. That’s why we don’t ever play local music or ask bands into the studio. Right.
Actually, we play at least two local bands during every hour of normal programming. And I believe we’ve had three bands in the studio within the last two weeks. A huge amount of work has been put into the LMAs by unpaid employees who have at least some interest in local music. You simply cannot say that we’re not doing our part.
If you’re still morally outraged about the 4th Annual Local Music Awards, then DON’T come on April 3rd at 8PM at the High Dive. On the other hand, if you want to hear some good music, congratulate some of your favorite bands for all of their hard work, and have a fun evening in honor of our community’s great music scene, then please do.
We may be evil, but we know how to party.
Matt Klomparens: Lend me some sugar, I AM your neighbor.
Comments
steve (steve) says:
(Posted March 12th, 2008 at 11:18 am)
I’d be interested in hearing some more info from the other side of this argument. You’ve made some good points Matt and I’m still curious as to why the opposition exists with such fervor.
Does Illini Media profit from LMAs, of course, but I don’t think it is at the expense of any artists.
Do the LMAs creat competition? I guess. I mean the awards are a competition but is anyone out there really competing? All local bands are working hard to be the bes they can be, but this doesn’t necessarily pit them against one another. The LMAs are just honoring those who the community sees as working hardest/doing the best.
WPGU doesn’t care about local music. I think to a certain degree this is true. Sure they play local music and have bands in studios and put on a local awards show, but it doesn’t make them the authority. To say they wholly don’t care is wrong I think, because as you said Matt, unpaid people are volunteering their time to better the local music community, but this doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. I’m sure a majority of WPGU and Illini Media employees are uneducated in local music, but if anything WPGU is helping them learn more.
elle (elle) says:
(Posted March 12th, 2008 at 12:24 pm)
i think it’s important to note, as well, that illini media is non for profit, and wpgu hasn’t been “in the black” for about 20 years now. we make money off the awards, but not enough to even pull us into the positive range.
and no one is claming that wpgu is the authority. in fact, if you look at the nomination committee list, many of those people are not affiliated with illini media at all.
wpgu takes strides every day to help the local music scene and also to learn about it. keep that in mind in the coming weeks and years, because we’ll be doing a lot to showcase the local scene and honor it more on a daily basis.
Seth Fein (Seth Fein) says:
(Posted March 12th, 2008 at 1:42 pm)
Like I’ve mentioned - WPGU is probably the finest radio station in all of Illinois. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement.
As for the station making strides, and doing “a lot to showcase the local scene and honor it more” - well - it’s a great thing that WPGU will. hopefully, starty paying more attention to the concerns that some of us have voiced.
Certainly - nothing gets done without a discussion and sometimes, even a little discomfort.
Excited to see the changes that you will implement as a result of people challenging you to be a better station.
As for the money issue - the only thing that I ever truly wanted to see, financially speaking, was for the awards to be a FREE show, as opposed to $5, given the fact that the show was paid for by advertising. If the artists aren’t going to be paid a decent honorarium for their performance, the least that WPGU could do is allow everyone to come in an see the show for free.
Woah! Newsflash! The show this year IS Free! Way to listen to your critics, PGU!
Give me more XTC!
Word.
ar (ar) says:
(Posted March 13th, 2008 at 10:09 am)
Yeah, man i hear ya. But, you know, competition breeds a certain type of attention and interaction which just does not go far in building either good community or solid support for more than a few folks. And a few supported bands does not a good music town make. At core, it creates a local popularity contest, which is pretty funny since this is the same type of thing that many band members turned away from to begin playing their own music and doing their own thang rather than becoming cheerleaders and student senators.
While a contest can herald certain bands, this format doesn’t fit WPGU’s overall goal of “supporting a music scene” and “supporting local bands.”
Why have bands compete against each other? Why not have a showcase to give accolades to those who help local music happen, and to showcase many local bands for local folk who may not know them?
Heck, if you need to give awards, give it to things that support local music like Mike Murphy at Mike n Molly’s and Fodie at the Brass Rail for creating spaces to let new bands have a stage, to Dave Domal for his years of very humble booking, to whatever establishment pays bands fairly (and doesn’t slight them without notice to pad payments to their out of town bands who will help them later on), treats them well, and gives em a few drink tickets for playing these days, to Exile on Main and Parasol for selling local music, to WEFT session for playing local music weekly, to the IMC and Melissa-era Paradiso for allowing the kids to get in on the action, to Rose Marshack for bringing music to unexpected and exciting places around town, to Ward for keeping it going on, to Adam Schmitt and Matt Talbot and any others for being kickass and very kind sound engineers to the locals, to Holly Rushkoff for her work creating earnest enthusiasm for local stuff through various vehicles, to Todd J. Hunter for going out to more local shows than anyone, to the festivals and events that feature local music, to the Herring for still having an open mike night, to Mark Rubel for just being great, to whatever place people like to go to most to hear local music. You can even give one to yourself if you see fit for working in local music. Though the reach could easily be further, your efforts are important.
In between awards, local bands can play. Lots of local bands. Showcase-style. For the peoples to get a taste. And, yes. Free makes a lot more sense. So do drink specials. Cmon. Do it for the kids.
I mean, what supports local music? What is going to generate ongoing support of it? It takes more than calling bands for a show-down face-off based on smack American Idol-type popularity contest voting. For the most part, local bands like each other. They’d rather not fight and see others as “competition.” They’d be better off if you didn’t make them. And local music would be better if you didn’t make them too.
And if you really need people to vote, maybe consider having em vote on the things and people that they see as contributing to music happening, overall. That’s what actually supports vibrant local music.
Just my .02.
Student (Student) says:
(Posted March 13th, 2008 at 10:16 am)
Aren’t you one of the judges for this?
John Hoeffleur (John Hoeffleur) says:
(Posted March 13th, 2008 at 11:54 am)
Matt - I’m glad we had a chance to discuss it. Well-met. The only objection you’ve listed that I can cop to is #2 - this event undoubtedly creates competitive conflicts between bands - it’s the nature of the contest. Folks can decide for themselves if that’s good or bad, but I’m of the opinion that it is more more likely that something like this can break bad rather than come out worry-free. It’s a pretty hairy business to dabble in and it sets the table for artificial squabbles that otherwise wouldn’t occur.
I think the LMAs make winners and losers out of people who don’t deserve to be labelled as either. It’s impossible to do properly or comprehensively - there will always be deserving folks who are left out - and so I think it is better to not to do them at all, at least in the current form.
I’m convinced that the primary aim of the event is to promote WPGU, which is dandy in itself. But for the sake of argument, if I take you at your word that the goal is indeed to altruistically draw attention to and bolster support for local musicians, surely there are other ways to do this that are less a flashpoint for conflict than this popularity contest.
All the acts in town performing original music do something different but equally valid! Unfortunately, the vast majority of those folks will go home the night of the LMAs with that implied inferiority. In my opinion, that isn’t a supportive way to treat all of those people who make CU the fertile musical ground it is.
Of course, viewing the LMAs as an IMC employee and as a promotional vehicle for WPGU, a commitment to equity and sensitivity to the negative aspects of pitting peers against each other is not of paramount concern. As someone who lives here and contributes to the music community, I can’t help but take a different view.
We can agree to disagree. Since you are someone intimately involved in the execution of the LMAs, I’m just glad you find nothing wrong in friendly competition. So thanks for that - it will help 4/3 pass with much less worry/stress/anguish on my part. Take it easy Matt.
jonhansen (jonhansen) says:
(Posted March 13th, 2008 at 1:00 pm)
I’m really glad the discussion made its way onto the217. Much appreciated for the post matt.
Just a few quick things, we do have a great lineup for the show this year. Lots of good local bands playing at the awards. We’ll be putting that list up next week after everything is double-triple confirmed!
Thanks for the debate everyone!
steve (steve) says:
(Posted March 14th, 2008 at 11:23 am)
The contest does inevitably create competition, but at its core the awards are a popularity contest and the results have to be taken with a grain of salt.
Yes, winners and losers are created, but losers aren’t necessarily worse musicians than the winners. I feel there is a general understanding that awards don’t count for much other than some dedicated fans and a night of good music.
Paul (Paul) says:
(Posted March 18th, 2008 at 3:28 pm)
I was annoyed in the past that jazz and blues where lumped into one category, how lame was that! This year, I am pleased to see, that the genres have been separated.
He Said He Said » Blog Archive » Countdown to the LMA’s!! Artist Features and Live Blog (He Said He Said » Blog Archive » Countdown to the LMA’s!! Artist Features and Live Blog) says:
(Posted March 27th, 2008 at 1:17 pm)
[…] an effort to add to the parade - of - LMA - coverage and prevalence in everything Illini Media, I will be featuring an in depth report on at […]
He Said He Said » Blog Archive » The Anti-LMA’s? Why Next Thursday May Pose a Tough Choice (He Said He Said » Blog Archive » The Anti-LMA’s? Why Next Thursday May Pose a Tough Choice) says:
(Posted March 27th, 2008 at 6:25 pm)
[…] can be summarized at Seth Fein’s Smile Politely blog or by our own Matt Klomparens via All Shook Down. In short, the LMA’s are seen as simply an excuse for IMC to make $$ instead of as a tribute […]
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the217
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Matt Klomparens
Lend me some sugar, I AM your neighbor.
John Hoeffleur (John Hoeffleur) says:
(Posted March 12th, 2008 at 9:45 am)
Hi Matt, I’m glad you threw your hat in the ring!
I’d like to help you understand the objections I and others have raised, cause honestly, the above is pretty glib. I’ll be gentle, I promise.
So, let’s talk. Please, shoot me an email - I don’t see any contact info here.