411 Music Hall Of Fame: Introduction

Posted by Mitch Michaels on 02.01.2008

Move over Cleveland.



411 Music Hall Of Fame
Introduction
As the 411 Music Editor, perhaps no one is more happy than me to announce the grand opening of the 411 Music Hall Of Fame than me. When the idea for this was first brought up (thanks Dan!), I was as giddy as a schoolgirl. Or schoolboy rather. Please, no Angus Young jokes. To know that I would be involved with choosing what 411 considers an elite class of musicmakers and pioneers made me excited. And today, looking over the first inductions, it also makes me proud.

The 411 Music Hall of Fame will be a yearly feature, starting with the class of 2008. The Hall will exist to permanently recognize the greatest talents that the music world has ever had to offer. Every February, the 411 staff will decide on a new group of inductees through a strenuous, multi-part voting process where personal favoritism is pushed aside to weigh the contributions and bodies of work of the greatest names the industry has ever known. And then, personal favoritism will creep its way back in as we bicker and squabble over the merits of ABBA and Billy Ray Cyrus. Should they be able to take up permanent resident in our Hall? Well, here's how it works (thanks Larry!)…

• Each writer nominates up to 25 prospects for the Music Hall of Fame.

• Writers are encouraged to vote for prospects from around the world.

• The prospect must have been in the music industry for at least 15 years. For artists and bands, that means that their first album must have been released at least 15 years prior to the induction year.

• Writers are encouraged to vote for a mix of singles artists, bands, executives, managers, DJs and anyone else involved in the music world.

• The prospects should be more than personal favorites; they should be considered an all-time great given their contributions to the world of music.

• The top 20 vote getters are then included on a preliminary list.

• The staff then votes on these 20 prospects. -They can vote for as low as one, to as many as five to go into the Hall, meaning the writers will only vote for the persons/bands they feel truly belong in the Hall Of Fame.

• The top prospects, with a minimum of 50% of the vote, are then named as inductees for the year's Hall Of Fame class.

This year's class, 2008, will be revealed to readers over the next two weeks. This year's inductees cover genres from country to hip-hop to R&B. And of course, there's plenty of badass rock ‘n' roll. I truly hope you enjoy reading this year's, and every coming year's list of inductees, studying their life and, especially, why we think that they're so damn great. They are, after all, responsible for the soundtrack to all our lives.

Rock on.