Why J&H didn't get 2004 GRAMMY Award?

[Shell]

And why am I not a tall, blond model type? Because I'm short and have dark hair. You do come up with some good stuff Ben. There are more important things than awards.

[bleedinghero]

hey brent,

if the grammy's are crooked, how did "double take" win? did petra buy votes? did Word? or were there people around who wanted to do petra a favor and voted for the album? i dont doubt ur word (im inclined to think the grammys is not exaclty what it portrays itself to be) - i just dont understand how petra could win in a crooked awards cermeony.

as for "double take" - it grew on me. i have fond memories of that album actually. it's all i played as i was creating my first ever website, Petra 1.

but yeah, the songs werent as good as the originals. i think the album deserved a grammy though (as far as artistry goes). petra rearranged everything and performed the songs differently. i think that's a daring move. to tinker with ur songs and approach things differently.

and guess what? a short while later bon jovi does the same thing. the band releases an album of reworked tunes. did they get the idea from double take? i dont know. but for some reason im glad petra did it before they did.

[brent]

Hey. I do not know why they won. I am not accusing anyone of anything ok? I am glad they did.

This is how it goes for me, based on the reality that I have seen/experienced over the past 10 years or so.

1. I do not know why it was in the same catagory as J&H. One is acoustic, one is rock. Why BDW is up against a J&H, I can't figure out. Instead of lumping all of the CCM together, they should really give awards to genres in CCM like they do for secular music. But that would make for a really long ballot and show, eh?
2. Obviously someone close to the project (engineer, label, producer, friend) submitted it. It could have been that the review panel liked it, pushed it through to be on the ballot and then people actually did vote for it.
3. I think (I do not know, because I am not God) that DT won because of the Petra name and Word label and association. Think of all of the great CCM music that was out that year. You can't convince me that DT stands up to 50% of them.
4. It very well could have been because the voters liked it. The consumers didn't, that's for sure.

I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is common that all who submit completed ballots never listen to every song, watch every video, etc. I don't listen to them all. Much of it is "vote by association". People who make money for/from a label will vote the label. Voting for your friends, friends of friends so you can get to the party, etc. People do sell votes, or sell oppotunities to be reviewed.

5. People screw themselves out of Grammy's and nominations. I worked for Junior Brown, a country entertainer on Curb Records, for two years. His album, Mixed Bag was originally tracked and mixed by Roger Nichols. Roger is a well respected engineer. He has credits out the yahoo. Junior got into it with him, and refused to pay Roger. Roger told me, "there goes his Grammy." From that point on Junior was black balled. If you look at anything Roger does with a major artist (Steely Dan, etc) it is going to get a Grammy, because A, Roger did it and he is on the board and friends with everyone on the board, and B his work is of the caliber required. Association has alot to do with the big catagories. You don't see an indie artist recording at home in Illinoise getting a Grammy in the money catagories. It doesn't happen. You have to be in the boys club.

6. There are certian artists that people have on an album to get a Grammy nomination as well. The industry is all about favors and bartering. If a label needs an artist to get a boost, so that they can make some money, they will call in another well known writer, artist, producer, engineer to get the push. Is that artist really worthy, or is it a manufactured sale at this point? I think art has nothing to do with it all. It is formulations of people with a history and nobodies with some good ideas.

We are on earth. We are sinful humans. We screw with everything we can, because it is our nature and Satan rules the earth...for now. So why would anyone assume that the awards are legit, even if this common knowledge wasn't available? We can't even get church right most of the time, let alone a secular awards show, that is paid for by the people it is awarding the prizes to.

[Masada]

Brent,

I just wanted to say that I find your perspective a breath of fresh air. I know that alot of times what you say tends to rile people up on this board, but I for one am appreciative of the fact that you expose what has been CCM's "dirty little secret" for years. Most people have no idea how the industry works and all the pandering, back-slapping and back-biting that is involved. As a regional artist myself, I've seen it happen for years. In fact, most of my fellow regional Christian artists have a name for Nashville, TN. We call it the "whore of Babylon." Meaning that if you go down there and immerse yourself in CCM you practically have to sell your soul! CCM is in sad need of reform...not that I have much hope for that happening...at least not from the top down. It will only happen when the fans are no longer willing to subsidize labels who don't care about content, that are just looking to make money and will take advantage of their artists without blinking an eye....also, to a lesser degree, artists who have forgotten the meaning of the word integrity.

I also would like to say something else. We, meaning those of us who love music, need to do a better job of supporting local artists. There are alot of really talented local musicians out there. Men and women who really are in it for the ministry. We get so starry eyed with our major label artist that we totally ignore great music and ministry at our doorsteps. When I talk about support, I'm also talking about money. Fact is, it is almost impossible to run any kind of ministry without some money. Non-musicians have no idea how expensive it is to be involved in music. Let me just say that it is very expensive, even for regional and local artists. It never ceases to amaze me that churches will pay $500-$1000 to bring in an evangelist for a revival, yet would balk at paying $200 (which is dirt cheap, btw) for a 4- piece band traveling 90 miles to play a show.

Anyway, Brent, thanks for your perspective and your honesty. Keep it up and don't let any naysayers get you down.

Peace,

Masada
www.tornveil.net