WOMAD

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  In the scheme of things 500 odd votes is not many, if the majority of Womad goers were to vote we could easily out-do any facebook campaign - but lets face it - if to vote you have to first be a facebook member & then add another App most people wont bother.

  Posted on 16-Jun-2012 11:28am by Bassy

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  Agreed Bassy, 500 isn't much, but it's a darn sight more than The Bear Beats Band (last year's winner) got in the whole campaign.
  Not only the voting is flawed, but perhaps the criteria for bands entering the comp. is also.
  Certainly acts that would/could be normally considered as potential Womad performers, regardless of whether playing that year, should be excluded.
  e.g. Rodrigo y Gabriela, sorry, you can't enter. Likewise Gogol Bordello, Victor Deme, Lo Cor de la Plana..............etc
  Obviously this raises the issue of 'What are the right criteria?'
  If this cant be defined then really there's no point in the comp. in the first place.

  Posted on 16-Jun-2012 12:03pm by Munners

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  Just to clarify The Bear Beats got 517 votes for the winning score last year.

  Posted on 16-Jun-2012 12:18pm by Munners

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  Blimey! I didn't realize there were so many bands up for it! None are my chosen few, though. I did notice that one was a pop punk outfit. Not sure how that fits into the World Music motif...but then again, what doesn't?
  Thanks Bassy, for the link.
  

  Posted on 16-Jun-2012 6:46pm by Baz

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  I noticed that the group Portakal have included a soundcloud player from which you can download 4 of their tracks for free, sound pretty good. You don't have to be a facebook member or anything

  http://soundcloud.com/portakalmusic

  Posted on 17-Jun-2012 12:37pm by Bassy

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  Thx Bassy for the link (previous page) I can now vote. Just watched Kissmet.....how come they are not booked in their own right?....surely they shouldn't fight it out for a place and maybe more alarmingly why have they only got 45 votes? I know this is prob old ground, I think there is another Kissmet thread, but I've only just started watching Equally I cannot see why the firstly few are so popular, are we certain that it is block voting? It would be be great if this competition did genuinely give someone/band a break

  Posted on 17-Jun-2012 1:28pm by S.C.

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  Definitely agree Kissmet shouldn't need to enter this comp to play & I can only assume that all the people that were requesting Womad to book them a few years back have left the building. Regarding the question are we certain that it is block voting - this message was posted on the wall of the group that currently has by far the most votes:

  There was some unusual activity with the voting on Facebook. Information connected with some Facebook accounts was incomplete, not matching Facebook's minimum requirements. Absence of profile pictures, friends or timeline activity were not factors in us identifying and removing suspect votes. In the interests of preventing any misuse of the voting system we do not wish to elaborate on exactly what data was missing, as it could potentially make it possible for it to be exploited in future.

  After careful consideration we decided to remove all affected votes in order for every band to have a fair vote total. This decision removed votes from the vast majority of the bands in the competition, we did not believe that this issue was due to country of origin or users creating new accounts in order to vote. We believed that an automated process was trying to manipulate the entire competition, so thought it was best to address the problem in the interest of fairness. We have tightened up the voting system now to not allow these suspect votes to be placed in future. Sorry for any inconvenience caused and thanks for your understanding.

  Posted on 17-Jun-2012 1:43pm by Bassy

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  I'm not convinced they have got on top of the problem.

  Posted on 17-Jun-2012 1:44pm by Bassy

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  I'm not sure there is a real problem with the technicalities of the voting system, more the way the bands are entered and who votes for them.
  For example, there are many small bands, many of those without recording contracts as such, who are 'having a go', quite rightly. They are competing against well established, signed, marketed big names in their country of origin, who will naturally, if well publicized, command a greater number of votes.
  I suppose it's like allowing Barcelona to play in your local Sunday league. Probably.

  Posted on 20-Jun-2012 2:29pm by Munners

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  Very good point Munners....perhaps an entry requirement in future could be conditional that the band has no recording contract and the prize being to play at Womad and get a recording contract with Real records.........Now that would be exciting

  Posted on 21-Jun-2012 7:07pm by S.C.

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