Just saw this potentially exciting news: in the wake of the changes made recently at the VILLAGE VOICE and the subsequent widespread perception that if there's a Pazz & Jop poll this year it's going to suck, IDOLATOR.com (a music website affiliated with the New York cultural-commentary mecca GAWKER.com) has decided to try to take up the slack with what they've dubbed "The Jackin' Pop Poll".
Under the stewardship of the well-regarded rock writer Michelangelo Matos, the site has sent year-end ballots to 1,200 writers who regularly cover music in print and broadcast or on the Web, and they will publish the results on December 31. Details are at the link below. Needless to say, this poll will clearly be more than eligible to be incorporated here.
For those of you who are interested, here's the e-mail that was sent out to Jackin' Pop voters:
Hi there. You're one of more than 1,500 music writers we're inviting to contribute to the Idolator 2006 Jackin' Pop Critics Poll.
This is our inaugural year, and we're aiming to create the most comprehensive poll of its kind. To this end, we're asking you to vote in four categories. Should you feel inclined, we're also asking for demographic information and comments about your lists and anything else music-related you feel like discussing about 2006.
To make voting easy, we've devised a special web page accessible via a link at the bottom of this email. There, you'll be able to vote in the following categories: ALBUMS (10 selections), TRACKS/SINGLES (10 selections), REISSUES (5 selections), and ARTISTS (5 selections). For ALBUMS, you can choose between buttons marked DESCENDING VOTES (which awards your selections point totals of 15-14-13-12-11-9-8-7-6-5) and 10 EACH. If you choose neither, your ballot will default to 10 Each for each album. (If you are voting for a various artists compilation, please put "v/a" in the "Artists" box; this goes for both Albums and Reissues.)
The TRACKS, REISSUES, and ARTISTS ballots are unweighted--one vote equals one point. With ARTISTS, you can be imaginative if you'd like: songwriters, producers, industry folks, DJs, VJs, corporations, technologies, web presences, and trends are as eligible here as singers and bands.
The demographic questions are optional, but the more info we get, the more interesting the tabulated results will be. Here, choose from the pull-down menus accompanying the five questions (age, race, sex, region, and primary writing outlets). We're obviously interested in general consensus, but the data generated by the demographic questions should be interesting. Below those questions, the ballot includes a box for comments. Write as much (or as little) as you feel like here; just be aware that what you write will be visible online as part of your ballot when the results go public.
ALL BALLOTS ARE DUE WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13. At the bottom of the ballot, there are two buttons. Clicking HOLD BALLOT lets you save your ballot for later editing. LOCK BALLOT submits your ballot to us. All ballots automatically lock at 12:01 a.m. EST on Thursday, December 14; you can't alter your ballot once it's locked, so please don't click LOCK BALLOT until everything looks the way you want it to.
We're really excited about this, and based on the number of people who've expressed interest in participating and on their accompanying comments, we think you might be too. We hope so. Thanks for being part of this, and have a wonderful holiday and 2007.
Best,
Michaelangelo Matos
Jackinâ•˙ Pop Critics Poll, Idolator.com
