ACM Awards and ACM Voters -

Well, this is it. Another award show has come and gone and I bet for you, you found it to be successful. You were happy with the way it all played out because after all, it played out the way you wanted it. I’m really happy that you’re happy. Kidding. That’s a sarcastic statement. In the past, I would usually let things like this go and move on. I wouldn’t really say much about it. It’s just an award show, and that’s true. It is just an award show. But after last night, I have this sour taste in my mouth and it’s doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. This letter isn’t to bash you and it’s not going to hateful but it will be honest. I won’t apologize for my honesty as I speak on behalf of myself and thousands of other people. So sit back, relax and be prepared to listen.

If we didn’t believe it before that award shows were rigged, I suppose we can believe it now after the show on Sunday night. And yes, before I go any further, I was ecstatic about Keith Urban and Maren Morris leading in nominations this year. I’m a huge fan of both and have seen them both live. Keith is also the biggest sweetheart you could ever talk with. It was exciting and I know, for Keith that him leading in nominations meant a lot to him. After all, that’s never happened for him before. It was a big night for him but also for Maren. She’s a newcomer and she got nominated for ‘Album of the Year”. That’s a big deal and it’s a nomination that was well deserved. And Carrie Underwood is always deserving of recognition, and this year, everyone thought she would get that. But she didn’t.

Now, I am not telling you all this to let you know that this letter is not going to be from a biased standpoint. I love these artists, I genuinely do but I’m not being biased here. I’m being honest and I’m speaking on behalf of everyone else who wants to say these very things to you. I’m saying these things because it’s a bit confusing. Perhaps I don’t know the ins and outs of the voting because I’m not an ACM voting member but I have done my research and there is one thing I do know. I know that there are politics involved and I do know that a lot of times, award shows are rigged (I won’t go into detail about this here though. If you want to know more about that, you can read my article about award show politics here ). Sunday night, it was apparent that a lot of these awards were in fact, rigged, I say this because a lot of the winners who received those awards were confused as to why they won and if they weren’t confused, the people watching were. The only awards given out that made some kind of sense was Maren Morris for “New Female Vocalist of the Year” and Brothers Osborne, who snagged an award. Everything outside of those? Color every one of us confused.

First things first, only because it’s the elephant in the room and we have to talk about it. What else does Keith Urban have to do to prove himself? Hasn’t he done enough? You nominated him for 7 awards and he left empty handed. How is that okay or even logical? Oh and what about Carrie Underwood? She’s by far one of the most powerful female artists and vocalists in the industry today and yet, for some crazy reason, she’s overlooked. We shouldn’t be surprised. After all, this is how it goes every single year. Everyone, except for you, is left wondering and questioning what has just happened. Do you care if I break down some facts for you? I think you’ll find them interesting.

Did you know that every publication that did predictions for your award show predicted a win from both Keith and Carrie. Most of them actually predicted Keith to win big. Everyone wanted to see Carrie win for Female Vocalist. After all, it’s been a really big year for her. Her Storyteller Tour was definitely a sight to see. Did you also know that everyone was predicting that this year Keith wouldn’t get overlooked like years past? Did you even bother to vote off talent and not favoritism? Did you even bother to pay attention to the record-breaking careers that belonged to several of these artists? Did you even care or did you just get lazy? These are honest questions that I and many others want to know.

I feel bad for Kacey Musgraves. Always the nominee and never the winner. Oh and don’t get me started on Florida Georgia Line winning over Tim McGraw (“Humble and Kind” is outstanding and deserved that award) or over a slew of other artists with songs that, quite frankly, should have won. The same goes for Maddie and Tae. Yes, I know they didn’t do much this past year but it still seems like you nominate them every year and they just never seem to get a trophy. It’s that way about so many artists and it breaks my heart. But it’s apparent that you love the predictability. You don’t like switching things up. Change is hard, I get it but it’s getting old. It’s getting to the point where viewers don’t want to watch anymore.

Florida Georgia Line winning over Tim McGraw seems illogical. It’s not because I prefer one over the other. It’s just because it’s illogical. “Humble and Kind” was one of the best top selling songs of 2016 and have a message that is timeless. More than two decades into his career, Tim is still a risk taker and he was for “Humble and Kind”. The message, no matter what you believe or where you’re at in life can apply to you. It's timely and classy, while also taking a risk. It's powerful and simple and carries the most incredible of messages that the other songs in the category didn’t match the same affect. Tim is a legend and his impact on country music has been incredible. He’s had several No.1 hits and has taken change with great stride. He’s continuously leading the pack and being one of the most influential artists to date. His music matters and his success proves just that. After 20 years of being in the business, he shouldn’t have to prove himself anymore. What he does matters and it should be awarded because what he does and the songs he sings will always make a lasting impression on the listeners heart.

New country or old country, I don’t care. That’s not my problem here. My problem lies in the fact that the talent that deserves to be recognized is never recognized. Did you know that Keith Urban’s album Ripcord made history? Did you know that he is the only male in country music to have an album go No.1 simultaneously in three countries for two weeks? Did you know that Ripcord is continuing to have history-making success almost a year later? Did you know that he deserved to be awarded Sunday night? Did you know that everyone believed it was going to happen? Apparently you didn’t or didn’t seem to care.

Let’s discuss Miranda Lambert. The Weight of These Wings is an incredible album and it being nominated was amazing because Lambert deserved that nomination. But it was released in November of 2016, and although a great album, should not have won. In my honest opinion, it should have been Hero, Ripcord or Black. The incredible success, artistry and bravery was represented on each of these albums. The commercial and industry success for all three albumswas phenomenal. For an album that’s only been out a few months compared to albums that were released almost a year ago and have been groundbreaking successes to win is confusing. Miranda is a phenomenal artist but she always wins and on Sunday, she seemed genuinely confused as to why she won. Perhaps Miranda wasn’t expecting to win because of her competition and because of the incredible artistry that was in her category. She should be surprised. We all were.

Part of the category for Album of the Year goes off of sales. Let’s break down each album that was nominated by highest selling to lowest selling:

Ripcord / Keith Urban: 486,600 copies

Dig Your Roots / Florida Georgia Line - 358,500 copies

The Weight of These Wings / Miranda Lambert - 287,700 copies

Black / Dierks Bentley - 243,000 copies

Hero / Maren Morris - 194,900 copies

Now of course, if the award was entirely based on sales Maren or Dierks would not be a contender and that’s okay. It’s huge for Maren, a newcomer to even be nominated. The confusion comes in when Ripcord, the highest selling album on this list didn’t win. A history-making album that yes, did push the envelope in so many ways. It’s not really a country album but it’s one of the best in the genre, don’t you think? Maybe that’s why it didn’t win because it’s not a ‘country’ album. Well if that’s the case, then why even nominate it? Did you know that Ripcord has over a billion streams total? Crazy, right? I think so too.

But here’s the thing, sales or streams don’t matter as much as you not giving several artists an award they deserve. Is it the genre barriers that’s getting you down? If so, let’s discuss it. Genre shouldn’t matter. Artistry should. Country music is moving forward and it seems as if the country music award shows are lagging behind, not realizing or understand that times are changing and not every artist in the genre is going to be a cowboy or wear cowboy boots like your choice of Entertainer of the Year Jason Aldean, who, by the way doesn’t have a song in the top 10 on the iTunes charts even after his big win. Instead of trying to stay behind the times, let’s celebrate change. Let’s celebrate artists wanting to push the envelope and do a great job at it.

What exactly is country music? If you ask several artists or fans, every definition is going to be different than the last. Country music means so many different things to so many different people. You can’t confine or contain it. It’s reached a point where it’s more than just a genre. It’s a lifestyle and people live it everyday. Country music is storytelling at its best and so what if a song has a bass drop or programmed beats? It shouldn’t matter anymore. These award shows should be about honoring true artistry not honoring who’s more country than the other nominees.

Remember Taylor Swift’s RED? What a phenomenal album with songwriting that will last stick with you for years to come. it deserves more credit than it actually got. So many ripped it apart, claiming it wasn’t a country album but there were a lot of country elements to it and several people loved it. That’s the beauty of music. A song is built on emotion, not genre. Each song comes to life because of what the songwriter felt in that moment while writing. That’s why every song has a different reaction from every individual. Country cannot be defined by one simple definition. It's more complex than that. Don’t try and define what country music is by picking and choosing winners based off of who wears a cowboy hat and who doesn’t. Let’s celebrate diversity in the genre.

Let’s celebrate those who deserved it the most on Sunday night. I wish we could have a do-over but we can’t. But maybe somehow you can make up for it. Maybe somehow you can honor Carrie or Keith and even Tim McGraw. Honor those who deserved those awards and honor those who everyone had wished so much would have won. Maybe even get a new board of voters who are more in tune to the music these days. Let’s change the narrative and give these artists the awards they work so hard for and rightfully deserve.

You and I both know who deserved to win on Sunday night. You and I both know who got overlooked (and one of those people was leading the pack with 7 nominations). Don’t make the same mistake again. Don’t overlook an artist because of how you view them or their album or anything else. Award an artist because of the artistry. Award the artist who deserves it the most. You have time to redeem yourselves, will you choose to do it? I hope so.

Sincerely,

The girl who believes in artistry.

To sign the petition to improve award show voting click here