Pop pickers

There looks have been some commendable work by the organisers of the Brit Awards, in refreshing their 1,200-strong voting panel. It is an industry panel, made up of invitees from artists, retailers, online retailers, concert promoters, venues, publishers, NUS Representatives, music colleges, producers, big and little record labels, bloggers, press etc.

The final invitation list for the 2017 Awards is made up of 52 per cent male and 48 per cent female members – a shift from a 70/30 split for the 2016 Awards. 17 per cent of this year’s invitees are BAME (Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic) – up from the 15 per cent figure in 2016.

Meanwhile, at the BBC Music Awards this year there are just five gongs - BBC Music British Artist of the Year, as decided by the BBC Music committee; BBC Music Introducing Artist of the Year decided by the BBC Music Introducing panel; BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Performance of the Year voted for by the Radio 1 Playlist Committee; BBC Radio 2 Album of the Year voted for by the Radio 2 Playlist Committee. The BBC Song of the Year is voted for by members of the public. Last year it was from a shortlist of ten tracks which had been given the most airplay across the BBC’s music radio networks and BBC Music Television over the previous 12 months - presumably thanks to the BBC Music committee, the BBC Music Introducing panel and the Radio 1 and 2 playlist committees.