It’s a fine thing that the BPI, which oversees the Brits, has radically overhauled its voting academy for the awards to correct the gender, age and ethnicity imbalance (Brit awards dump ‘pale male’ voter panel after racism row, 7 November). However, the fact that “for music to be nominated for a Brit award, it still must have charted in the Top 40 that year” means that not a lot will really change. It will still be the same little self-appointed cabals who dictate the playlists for our main radio channels and the same editors who call the shots over which records get reviewed and which artists get featured in our mainstream newspapers and magazines. The gatekeeper selection is already made long before what’s left reaches the panel.
Ian Anderson
Editor, fRoots Magazine
