Madison Area Music Awards open 2010 registration with hard-rock category, other changes
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The 2010 Madison Area Music Awards ceremony is still a ways off--set for May 8 at a new venue, the gorgeous Capitol Theater--but registration for voting and entering begins today, MAMAs organizers announced. As in previous years, voters and bands hoping to participate are asked to make a $5 donation to the MAMAs to become "members" (the MAMAs is a charity with the stated goal of "putting musical instruments in kids' hands"); and bands pay a $10 registration fee for entering themselves in a category (except for Instrumentalist and Youth categories, which are free this year provided you only enter in one). As in previous years, this adds up to essentially a self-nomination process that ties into furthering the MAMAs' charity goals. The MAMAs have made some changes to the system this time around: Artists jockeying for "Album" category awards can now upload said albums to Broadjam (the locally based website the MAMAs use for this) for free, and the awards have added a "Hard Rock/Punk" category (great!). The MAMAs are also trying to put together an "advisory council" that will ideally include local musicians from a variety of genres, journalists, and other people involved in local music.
Registration ends Jan. 15; the first round of voting begins Feb. 1 and ends March 18; final voting begins March 28 and end April 28. It's still a bit bureaucratic and complicated, but the changes are all signs that the MAMAs' organizers have taken some of the previous years' criticisms and suggestions to heart, and want to involve a broader spectrum of local musicians and fans. Anyway, click here for the rest of the rules and details.
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