Today the BBC announced the launch
of the BBC Music Awards which will take place at Earls Court in London. The show
will hit our screens on BBC One on 11 December, plugged as a "prime time
event" with Chris Evans and Fearne Cotton hosting at the helm.
BBC
Controller, Charlotte Moore has acclaimed the ceremony as a "unique
celebration of music in the UK" and awards will be given in three
categories, namely British Artist of the Year, International Artist of the Year
and Song of the Year. The latter will be decided by a public vote, while the
two former prizes will be judged by a panel of broadcasters and producers from
the Corporation.
Executives
have insisted the BBC Music Awards will in no way rival or attempt to trump the
Brits, which have been hosted annually at the beginning of each year since
1977. Guy Freeman, producer of the show, said "Just because it happens to
be a music show on the television does not in any way mean it's the Brits.
There are a million music shows on television that aren't the Brits."
In haste,
the BBC has been totally dismissive of any comparisons made between their own
new show and the ITV alternative. Indeed, with an audience loss of 6.2 million in
the last decade and a half, it is hardly likely that the Beeb will be taking
any tips from the commonly-controversial music show, which this year suffered
heavy criticism for being, well, generally crap.
It is the
painfully corporate approach of the Awards which has seen the show slated in
recent years, with as many ad breaks as there are guests in the audience.
Tolerance levels of James Corden’s arse-licking ran dry in 2012, and a growing
investment in acts like One Direction and Justin Bieber and a lack of lesser-known British artists leaves many with a mere blemish of screen time.
The Brits have lost their rock n roll edge – they have become tiresome,
mediocre, predictable, and boring.
If the BBC are going to make this work,
they're going to have to offer something unique and almost totally different. The event
has already promised to focus on "music lovers of all ages who enjoy
listening to music from across the BBC", rather than the "younger end
of the market", and brands like BBC Introducing have already shown
that the Corporation can and do appreciate the less commercial aspects of the
music industry.
For the sake of my music adoration, I
would love to see this show succeed. But if "different" goes as far
as the contrast between The Voice and The X Factor, I fear it won't be long before the
same trap snaps shut.
