2009 American Music Awards: An ego-centric detriment to the integrity of the music industry

Yet another in a string of self-righteous back-patting awards shows, The 37th Annual American Music Awards leeches its way to television this Sunday, November 22. While it is innocently described as a program to “honor artists in the categories of Pop/Rock, Country, Rap/Hip-Hop, Soul/R&B, Alternative, Adult Contemporary, Latin and Contemporary Inspirational,” [taken directly from the official website] it is actually a thinly-veiled excuse to keep already popular music popular, and, in effect, shun the true and honest contributions by thousands of artists who bust their backsides to craft quality material.

Why all this animosity? For what purpose would this writer have for attacking something millions of people see as “fun”? Quite simply, I become more and more disgusted by these awards programs that not only pay tribute to artists and music that really do not need more ego-stroking, but also because it’s nominees are based on sales figures and radio play, rather than the aforementioned artistry. In a nutshell, these albums are popular because they can AFFORD to be.

It’s been proven long ago that sales do not make something “great,” though society would coerce to you believe otherwise. Just look at one of this summer’s biggest blockbusters, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. It was an absolutely horrid cookie-cutter, computer-effects driven ejaculation, but because it outsold nearly every other movie that was released this year, future history will look back upon it as an artistic achievement.

And by nominating the same people in every category, you are guaranteed to see Lady Gaga (who is promoting a new album), Taylor Swift (who suddenly became America’s sweetheart after the Kanye West debacle), and Michael Jackson (because you HAVE to nominate the deceased, even though they actually didn’t do anything substantial this year besides die) receive some kind of accommodation. Add this to the fact that the “winners will be determined by online voting,” [again, taken from the website] there is no room for imagination or surprise underdogs, since you are only given three options in each category, most of which overlap.

All this awards show does is gloat about how well these artists and albums sold during the year (or was it last year), which in essence, had nothing to do with the artists’ actual work anyway. Albums sell more because of marketing, advertising, and mass-media promotions and less because of how much effort the artist put into the recording. So really, we should be honoring the publicists, advertising agents, project managers, and record label radio departments.

But look closely at the nominations, and you will see the ridiculous folly of this program. Talyor Swift is nominated in both Pop/Rock AND country categories. Was she really the best American had to offer in both this year, shutting out the possibility for maybe a little more diversity? And let’s not forget the Pop/Rock – Favorite Male Artist category, which features Eminem and T.I.!!!! Tried-and-true, street-hardened rap artists are being nominated for Pop/Rock??? Seriously??? I’m sure Jay-Z would have been in that list, to, had the directors not needed to squeeze another Michael Jackson nod in there.

And since we’re on the topic of Michael Jackson, what did he produce this year that was worth nominating him in five categories? It is a slap in the face of every artist who released a brand new album this year for Jacko to be nominated for a Greatest Hits collection! And please, do not shove This Is It into my face, because that movie would NOT have been released as a feature had he not died. It was culled from tour rehearsal footage that probably would have been used as bonus b-roll for a DVD after his “comeback” tour. It just becomes clearer and clearer every day that Michael’s 2009 public accolades are little more than an apology attempting to blur the memories of his horrendous mass-media treatment in the past decade. This is why he will most likely be awarded Artist of the Year.

But since this is a Soundtracks page, it is also imperative to acknowledge the nominees in this category. It sickens me to even write this, but they consist of Hannah Montana: The Movie, Hannah Montana 3 and the Twilight soundtrack. Last year, the soundtrack to Alvin and the Chipmunks won the award in this category, so there really is no accounting for taste.

The thing that has me scratching my head is that although these are all basically compilations, Twilight isn’t really a comp of “new music.” Like the multiple-nominated Michael Jackson Number Ones, it was culled from music spanning several years. So who would actually receive the award if Twilight won? One of the Chop Shop or Atlantic Records executives responsible for the release? One of the stars of the film (to give the recently released New Moon movie a little free-advertising boost), even though with the exception of Rob Pattinson, had nothing to do with the compilation, or author Stephenie Meyer, who, ever since the book series transformed into a phalanxic phenomenon, became herself a rock star?

This is not to slight the Twilight soundtrack by any means. It was a great achievement for it to sell so well and allow Carter Burwell’s score to successfully ride its coattails to a Billboard chart position. And Twilight is actually not in the best of situations, since its competition is a Miley Cyrus / Disney double-shot. As you may know, the show airs on ABC, which is owned by Disney, so it would be a coup if Twilight pulls this one out…and an extra bump in attention for New Moon, of course.

Was it Disney’s prerogative to nominate two of its own for the Soundtracks category, or were the two Hannah Montana discs truly among the best-selling soundtracks of the year? My gut goes with the latter, but it does seem a little odd to nominate the same person in the same category twice. That said, it is actually good to see that music for all ages is being represented in this category, even if it is country-pop music. But it would have been nice to see an actual composer receive some attention. Fingers crossed for the future.

The 2009 American Music Awards is scheduled to air on Sunday, November 22 from 8:00 - 11:00pm ET/PT on ABC.