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Getting In: How The Rock Hall Votes
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has four categories: performers, non-performers, early influences and sidemen.
A performer is eligible for induction 25 years after the release of the act's first record. For the performer category, a nominating committee consisting of about 30 to 40 various influential people in the music industry selects a list of nominees.
The nominee list is then sent out for voting to between 700 and 1,000 rock experts around the world. Performers must receive more that 50% of the votes to be inducted. Smaller committees vote on the other three categories.
The board members acknowledge that it is impossible to please everyone when it comes to selecting artists for induction.
"The subjective criteria [include], was this person instrumental in the perpetuation and development of rock'n'roll?" notes Suzan Evans, executive director of the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Foundation.
So what else is taken into consideration?
"Beautiful music," says legendary producer Jerry Wexler, who is on the nominating committee. "That, and, of course, impact," he adds.
Since affinity for rock music is largely a matter of personal taste, what is actually "rock's best" can be a matter of fiercely held opinion.
"We've had some pretty lively debates," admits Jon Landau, a longtime member of the nominating committee who is also Bruce Springsteen's manager. "We really try to do justice to our [musical] history. In some cases, it has helped when a few people on the committee really believe in a particular artist. Some of us can be quite persistent. We take this very seriously."
This article was originally published in the March 13, 2004, issue of Billboard.
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