How the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame picks inductees

[Talk_Dude]

FRR asked this in another thread, so I'm sure he'll be happy to see a whole new thread for the response.

According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website, "The Foundation’s nominating committee, composed of rock and roll historians, selects nominees each year in the Performer category. Ballots are then sent to an international voting body of more than 500 rock experts. Those performers who receive the highest number of votes - and more than 50 percent of the vote - are inducted. The Foundation generally inducts five to seven performers each year."

This is what the Hall of Fame's website has to say about the Nominating Committee. If you follow the link, you'll notice that individual names are conspicuous by their absence.

Some investigating on the web turned up some names, including foundation director Suzan Evans, who is paid $300,000 a year.

Basically, the process is designed to help the people currently at the top of the heap in the recording industry stay there. As was pointed out in one of the other threads about the Hall of Fame, companies who have artists with a good catalog of old records to continue to sell are far more likely to get nominated and inducted than those who don't. Atlantic records founder Ahmet Ertgun was one of the founders of the HOF, so Atlantic artists get preferential treatment. Sony is very powerful at the moment, so their artists get preferential treatment.

 

[Silkie]

There are in fact venues with more class and dignity than the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. A few may turn up in those venues.

 

[flashback]

john landou is a major player in the decision making of nomonees according to one link.

john landou was a rolling stone record reviewer who became the producer of mc5.he got them to make an album of 3 minuite songs or so instead of the long jam tracks they did to give them the fame they had.the album sold badly.landou said basicly too bad so sad and dropped them.they never really recovered.it was a case where a pharaphrased line from animal house applies."you fowled up.you trusted me"

he did make bruce springsting a major player in the industry.he did it by keeping all of bruce springs friends from him alienating them because he saw them getting in the way of his goals for springstein.keeping those people out of springsteins life for good.

this is one person who picks who is selected.he is the one who asked one guy who had a petitition for the moody blues(i know thats another thread but he was mentioned in the link in this)if he was a fan himself the guy with the petition said no and that ended the discussion.

apparently that is how the commitee rolls.

 

[FRR]

Interesting stuff. Thanks guys for the information

 

[RIN3GUY]

RRHOF needs to skew their choices towards older performers so they can get them in while they are still alive! Like Donna Summer, she should have already been in at least a decade ago. Same goes for Neil Sedaka and Eric Carmen.

 

[amfmsw]

...and Bobby Rydell and Chubby Checker, who this week in '62 had 4 LP's in the Top 10! The ONLY artist to ever have the same record hit #1 twice after falling off the Hot 100. Not one Cameo-Parkway or Philly artist was even nominated, except Dick Clark! NYC artists have also been dissed. Cleveland's treasure is America's Rock 'n Roll disgrace. "People judge you by the company you keep"...all we need to do is look who HOF has accepted, and who the've never even accepted as nominees. In the opinion of those on the East Coast, including the Carolinas, A 1st Class joke.

 

[firepoint525]

They lost credibility with me when they inducted Madonna. And to make it worse, Justin Timberlake inducted her! 'Nuff said! :