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#392040 - 09/10/06 03:50 PM
2009 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres/Categories Defined
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Brian Austin Whitney
Bard of the Boards
Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 16095
Loc: Indianapolis, IN USA
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Common Questions:
Q. How do I pick which genre of music to judge? I have no idea what most of these are!
Q. What in the world were you thinking? That song doesn't belong there!!!!
Q. I like all kinds of music, so give me whatever you want! Okay?
A. JPF approaches genres as a tool to help people find music they might like. We are NOT genre "purists." In fact, we are the opposite. We use genres to INCLUDE music, not to EXCLUDE it. That means that we put music where many experts on a genre never would. We don't worry about violating the rules of any genre. We're interested in bringing music that moves us forward and genres are nothing more than a helpful tool to do so. We apologize in advance to any genre purists who may be offended by our choices. We also take full responsibility for where music has been placed. Please do NOT blame the artists involved. They had no say in the matter. That said, we've used and refined these genre guidelines over the years and we feel they work very well for our purposes. No two people ever agree on all genre definitions, let alone 1000's or 10,000's. Whenever we had something that moved us but that didn't really fit into a genre very well, we just expanded the genre to include it. That won't please purists, but we never had to worry for a moment that we'd have to eliminate something simply because it didn't fit well into a genre definition. In the end, genres don't matter. Just music that moves us.
So we hope these simple descriptions will help you find music that you'll love as much as our volunteer screeners have.
Genres Defined!
A Cappella: This is all vocal performances of original and cover songs. We feature everything from solo to large choir vocals. We are voting on performance and arrangement only even though you'll hear a mix of original music and covers.
African: This is music made by artists from Africa that feature an African ethnic style of music and/or vocals performed in a native language of the country represented. There is a mixture of contemporary and traditional music styles. English is not excluded as long as the artist(s) originates and lives in a African country.
Alternative: This includes both edgy/aggressive Pop and Rock music.
Ambient: This is instrumental atmospheric both mellow and aggressive. It also include recordings of real life environments.
Americana: This is always a tricky genre to define. It includes a mixture of Country, Rock, Folk & Blues and often features lyrics that tell stories of life in North America.
Asian: This is music made by artists from Asian that feature an Asian ethnic style of music and/or vocals performed in a native language of the country represented. There is a mixture of contemporary and traditional music styles. English is not excluded as long as the artist(s) originates and lives in a Asian country.
Bluegrass: We use the traditional definitions of Bluegrass music.
Blues: This is a variety of straight forward blues music with a representation of blues rock band styles.
Cabaret: This is a mix of both traditional cabaret and quirky theatrical songs in a variety of styles.
Cajun: This is a mix of Cajun, Zydeco, Swamp Rock and Louisiana focused songs.
Caribbean: This is music made by artists from the Caribbean that feature a Caribbean ethnic style of music and/or vocals performed in a native language of the country represented. There is a mixture of contemporary and traditional music styles. English is not excluded as long as the artist(s) originates and lives in a Carribean country.
CCM: This is an abbreviation for Contemporary Christian music. This is a range of current music styles featuring Christian or religious neutral lyrical content. You'll find pop, rock and contemporary arrangements.
Celtic: This is both traditional and contemporary original Celtic music.
Celtic Inst.: This is both traditional and contemporary original instrumental Celtic music.
Childrens: These are songs geared towards children or parents of young children in all styles.
Class Chamber: These are Classical albums featuring Chamber ensembles.
Class Contemp: These are Classical albums that feature original compositions as well as songs that are original compositions written or performed by our members.
Class Orchestral: These are Classical and Contemporary Classical Orchestra albums.
Class Solo: These are classical albums featuring solo instrument performances.
Class Vocal/Opera Choral: These are Classical Vocal and Opera Choral Albums.
Class Vocal Solo: These are Classical Vocal and Opera albums that feature solo voices.
College Rock: This is mainstream radio friendly pop-rock songs and albums.
Comedy: These are stand up comedians. Please note that there is adult content and potentially offensive languages and jokes. If you are easily offended by adult stand-comedy, skip this category.
Compilation: These are albums that feature multiple artists in a wide variety of styles.
Contemporary: These are primarily ballads in lite Rock, Pop, Country, R&B and Folk songs and albums.
Country: This is primarily mainstream contemporary country music
Cover: These are cover versions of popular music which include new arrangements and performance approaches as well as genuine true to the original styles of a wide variety of genres. These should be judged on arrangement and performance only.
Dance: This is straightforward music you can dance to. We include house, club and vocal songs.
Death Metal: This is also known as Screamo. Maximum aggression musically and vocally.
Educational: These are albums that offer educational topics or represent the results of educational programs.
Electronica: These are primarily electronic pop songs mostly featuring vocals or vocal samples.
European: This is music made by artists from Europe that feature a European ethnic style of music and/or vocals performed in a native language of the country represented. There is a mixture of contemporary and traditional music styles. English is not excluded as long as the artist(s) originates and lives in a European country.
Experimental: This is a wide variety of experimental songs and albums in all styles (and some that never existed before). If you're up for a musical adventure, this can be a fun category.
F S/S: These are songs and albums by female singer-songwriters lead singing songs they wrote or co-wrote in their own name. Approaches primarily fall into a mix of Pop, Rock, Folk and Contemporary styles.
Flamenco: These are songs and albums with music that features intricate rapid guitar performances in a traditional and contemporary Flamenco styles. We gave wide berth to what could qualify here.
Funk: This is a category with a wide array of styles and approaches from classic R&B/Soul flavored grooves and lyrics to acoustic approaches with a funky undertone. This is a new category and we intentionally included some less traditional flavors of Funk.
Gospel: We included mostly traditional church choirs, praise and worship style performances and some traditional country gospel approaches as well.
Hard Rock: This is what many in the industry currently call "Modern Rock." These songs often have a pop style hook or chorus with straight forward rock vocals and hard rock music production.
Hawaiian: This is music primarily made by artists from Hawaii that feature a Hawaiian ethnic style of music and/or vocals performed in both native Hawaiian and English. There is a mixture of contemporary and traditional music styles.
Historical: These are albums that have historical significance often featuring artists early work or archival content. Often these recordings vary widely in quality due to era of recording or original sources such as demos and field recordings.
Horizon: These are albums made by artists who are under 21 years old at the time of the recording who we feel show tremendous growth potential and a very bright future with the right encouragement and opportunities.
Holiday: These are original Holiday songs that can include any recognized Holiday as well as albums that feature both original and traditional Holiday songs of any style.
Indian: These are Indian songs that feature original compositions as well as albums that feature all styles of contemporary Indian music.
Indian Classical: These are albums that feature Classical Indian ragas and traditional Indian folk music.
Industrial: This is a wide ranging array of electronic and electric music that tends toward the dark side lyrically and sonically. Styles range from the dark and mellow to maximum aggression often combining both searing electric guitars and samples or electronic elements.
Inst. Jazz: All varieties of Instrumental Jazz.
Inst. Rock: This is primarily rock music with featured lead guitar solos or organ grooves.
Instrumental: This is a very wide array of instrumental music compositions and performances that do not exclude synthesizers or programmed music.
Jam Band: This is a mix of country rock, grateful dead jam band styles. We gave a wide berth to what qualified for this first time category.
Jewish: This category includes both Hebrew and Yiddish language songs and albums as well as music with a Jewish theme in any style in any other language.
Klezmer: This is traditional and secular Jewish music known for it's expressive musical passages.
Latin: There are Spanish language songs in mostly contemporary styles.
Latin Jazz: Instrumental Jazz featuring latin influenced styles of jazz.
Live: Any style live performance albums are eligible.
M S/S: These are songs and albums by male singer-songwriters lead singing songs they wrote or co-wrote in their own name. Approaches primarily fall into a mix of Pop, Rock, Folk and Contemporary styles.
Metal: This is hard edge music featuring aggressive guitars and ranging more often to heavy metal, theatrical metal and glam metal than modern death metal/screamo.
Middle Eastern: This is music primarily made by artists from the Middle East that feature a Middle Eastern ethnic style of music and/or vocals performed in Arabic or other middle eastern languages. There is a mixture of contemporary and traditional music styles and for our purposes we include parts of Northern Africa, Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia.
Modern Rock: This differs greatly from many current definitions of Modern Rock. We include here Creative Rock music which mixes quirky, humorous approaches and dreamy ethereal soundscapes. This is NOT Modern Hard Rock. See Hard Rock for that style of music.
Native American: This features primarily traditional Native American singing, drum and flute music.
New Age: This is both electronic and acoustic new age instrumental and vocal music.
New Folk: These are contemporary production style folk music songs and albums.
Novelty: These are musical comedy songs and albums ranging from offbeat to bizarre. Warning: Some songs and albums contain adult language and humor so if you are easily offended, please avoid this category.
Political: We've long had requests to have a political music category. Inside we've included protest songs, observational and opinion songs and some pointed political partisanship. Warning: Most of the entries were slanted hard in one direction so the resulting nominations are the same.
Polka: This is both traditional and contemporary style original Polka songs and albums.
Pop: These are radio friendly mainstream Pop songs and albums.
Prog Rock: This new category has a variety of progressive styles including an acoustic guitar/violin song that had the right vibe for this category while breaking every rule for progressive music. Our apologies to the purists out there.
Punk: We have a variety of punk styles represented from old school to new wave to modern.
R&B: These songs and albums vary from old school R&B to pop R&B to crossover.
Rap: We saw a lot of rap music crossing into other genres, but here we focus mostly on songs where Rap is the primary approach. Warning: There is adult language and topics throughout this category so please avoid if you are easily offended!
Reggae: This category primarily features straight forward Reggae and Dub music.
Remix: This is a new test category for us and features mostly dance music that was remixed for club use. In the future we plan to expand this to recognize a much wider array of remixed music.
Rock: With over a dozen variations of Rock represented what we find here are a lot of radio friendly Rock songs that didn't quite fit in the other sub-genres but work together nicely as a collection.
Rockabilly: Mostly traditional style Rockabilly music with a few punk and modern versions.
Roots: This is Appalachian/Old Time Mountain music performed on acoustic instruments and often featuring vocal harmonies.
Roots Inst.: This is instrumental Appalachian, Folk and Bluegrass music.
Salsa: Straight forward Salsa and Salsa flavored Latin music.
Self Help: These are meditation type albums usually with vocal guidance and instruction.
Ska: This new category for us features a range of Ska styles and approaches including an acoustic no horn version.
Smooth Jazz: This is a mix of vocal and instrumental smooth jazz in a wide array of approaches from R&B crossover to funk and blues influences.
Solo Guitar: This includes original solo guitar or music that features a solo guitarist.
Solo Inst.: This represent solo performances using instruments other than piano or acoustic guitar which have their own categories. Included are Flute, Violin, Bass, Chapman Stick, Kalimba, Accordion and others.
Solo Piano: This includes original solo piano or music that features a solo pianist.
Soundtrack: These are actual original score recordings used in films and other multimedia projects. We include both original compositions and complete soundtrack recording albums this year.
South & Central American: This is music made by artists from South & Central America that feature a South and Central American ethnic style of music and/or vocals performed in a native language of the country represented. There is a mixture of contemporary and traditional music styles. English is not excluded as long as the artist(s) originates and lives in a South or Central American country.
Spoken Word: These are spoken word pieces with and without musical backing and occasionally with a mix of music, spoken word and singing. Warning: Adult language and topics are included so please do not screen if you are easily offended.
Storytelling: These are stories told for an adult audience. Subject matter varies widely from characters to short stories to full length dramas and radio plays. Play length varies up to multiple hours for some nominees. Some adult content and language so please avoid if you are easily offended.
Storytelling Child: These are children's stories and range from short pieces to a full length children's book.
Surf: Mostly traditional style instrumental surf music.
Techno: This is primarily up tempo electronic instrumental music but can also include trance, house and other popular variations.
Theater: These are original songs written for and used in theatrical productions and complete cast recordings.
Trad. Folk: This is a bit misleading for purists. These are original songs, done in a more traditional production style than New Folk. Most of the lyrical content tells stories or laments the human condition and circumstances we all face.
Trad. Holiday: These are cover versions of well known Holiday classics and should be judged on performance and arrangement only.
Urban Gospel: This is Christian music performed in Urban styles such as R&B, Rap and Soul.
Vocal Jazz: These are original vocal jazz songs in an array of styles and eras.
World: This is original music that mixes multiple ethnic styles with other ethnic styles as well as contemporary styles.
We hope these simple definitions will help guide you to find the music you want. If you're still confused, feel free to ask us a question on our message boards or emails us using the form below!
Enjoy!
Brian
_________________________
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@aol.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney "Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney 
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#392041 - 09/10/06 10:12 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
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Emily Sanders
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 08/28/02
Posts: 4612
Loc: Santa Monica, CA
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Thanks for posting this, Brian...
I can't beleive there are so many genres and categories!
Emily
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http://emilysanders.net
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#392042 - 09/11/06 01:35 AM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
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frahmes
Serious Contributor
Registered: 10/06/04
Posts: 780
Loc: Nakuru, Kenya
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Thanks so much Brian for the effort! I have actually learnt something musically about certain genres I hadn't heard of before! It is a challenge to us to try them out perhaps next year.
However why haven't you mentioned anything elkse about Lyric Awards..or were they separate. I entered in that category and I can't wait to know how I have faired!!!
So when is the final nomination out..butterflies in my stomach disturb me!!!
Thanks anyway and all the best to the contestants..whether we get an award or not I think we will have won something here..at least a new experience..sharing our work with others, togetherness in spirit at Jp and so on!!!
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frankie
_________________________
frankie
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#392043 - 09/11/06 05:23 AM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
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Brian Austin Whitney
Bard of the Boards
Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 16095
Loc: Indianapolis, IN USA
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Nominations will be posted soon
Brian
_________________________
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@aol.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney "Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney
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#392044 - 09/11/06 11:16 AM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
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Tom Tracy
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 09/06/02
Posts: 2558
Loc: Lumberport,WV, USA
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Hi Brian,
Since I didn't submit any music this year, I'd be very interested in acting as a judge for a few categories. Personally, I don't think I could fairly judge if my own music was in the running, but since it isn't, and I have available time, I'm interested in helping.
Will you be posting the judging criteria here soon?
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Tom Tracy
http://www.soundclick.com/tomtracy
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#392045 - 09/11/06 02:31 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
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Brian Austin Whitney
Bard of the Boards
Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 16095
Loc: Indianapolis, IN USA
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Tom,
If people are nominated, they just don't vote on their own categories. No conflict problem at all. Or are you saying you couldn't judge even in different categories? There's 80 song and 95 album categories to choose from this year!
Brian
_________________________
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@aol.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney "Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney
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#392046 - 09/11/06 07:33 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
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Anna/Without the Blonde
Serious Contributor
Registered: 08/18/06
Posts: 116
Loc: Huntington Beach, CA, USA
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This is the best list of genres & descriptions of the genres that I've ever seen in one place!
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#392047 - 09/14/06 01:44 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
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Linda Anthony
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 10/25/03
Posts: 1589
Loc: Maine
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totally agree with Anna...now I know what category I should submit for next year...I think I was way off base with how I entered my first song and how unprofessional mine appeared with the cover as compared to the nominees..this has been a great learning experience. Is there a mentor out there for me???
And, is anyone from New England traveling to the music awards in Cali? I'd like to maybe hitch a ride. Linda A.
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http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pageartist.cfm?bandID=429263
you think you can, or you think you can't; you are right!"
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#392048 - 09/23/06 05:23 AM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
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TerryJames
Casual Observer
Registered: 09/23/06
Posts: 10
Loc: Philadelphia, Pennsylvnia, USA
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Cyber covers all genres. It's a shame that everyone is falling back into pre Woodstock labelling people and their music. 27 years ago we had it right; now it's back to the same old same old of gender, and make no mistake, genre means "gender." Basically, you've joined the gender bias crowd.
Maybe instead of splitting everything up into genders you should rejoin them back into being just plain people. Or am I wrong about just plain music as well?
Use the term Cyber when you don't want it put in any gender or genre; revolt or suffer the consequences.
Originally posted by Brian Austin Whitney:
Hi Folks!
Each year when we do the JPF Music Awards it’s a learning experience. Even though we involved a wide variety of experts and seasoned artists in the process, two people rarely agree on everything, let alone dozens. Because of the expansion in genres/categories, we had to find even more experts in areas we’ve never dealt with before. In most cases, we were able to come to an agreement on parameters for categories and in others we reached a consensus, but not unanimously. When in doubt, we all returned to the primary criteria for the entire awards: Does it move you? We want to recognized music that moves us. We aren’t fitting music into a box, rather we build the genre “box” around the music that moves us. We think this is an important difference from other awards or industry classifications. Even when something didn’t seem to fit anywhere, we included it and expanded the box instead of eliminating it because it didn’t fit. Yeah, I know that’s a bit complicated, but we never had to think a moment about something not fitting somewhere as the reason we eliminated it.
Below I will give you a little insight as to what the categories/genres mean to us. We make no claims that other industry folks agree with our internal definitions. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to find 5 industry people who will define a single genre the same way. (Sometimes we couldn’t find any 2 people who agreed). So we grouped music with similar qualities together and then said “what is this group of music?” Though most of our genres fit expected industry guidelines and definitions, we did make some changes unique to our process. We have 81 album categories and 67 song categories. Below we’ll explain the ideas behind both.
We’ll start with the categories that have Song nominees and we’ll cover those with Album only nominees at the end:
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#392049 - 09/23/06 01:45 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
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Brian Austin Whitney
Bard of the Boards
Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 16095
Loc: Indianapolis, IN USA
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Hey Terry,
So you're suggesting having 1 genre and recognizing either 20 total songs out of 350,000 and 8 total albums out of 25,500 instead of recognizing amazing music in 81 genres/categories? You also expect all radio and record stores to lump all music together with no indication to anyone what it all is and without acknowledging that some people like Country music and others like Metal and others like Rap and others like Classical or that fans can't tell the difference between the music from Male Singer Songwriters and Female Singer Songwriters? That seems to be what you're suggesting with no genres or only 1 single genre called "cyber."
As for "genders" we took what would have been the largest single genre "singer songwriter" (nearly twice as large as the next largest "Rock")and split it in half so that even more amazing singer songwriters could be recognized, but so that it could also be judged in reasonable numbers. We've learned that the max # of normal length songs most people accurately can judge without experience/training at one time is about 20 at a time in these circumstances.
What "Cyber" even means to you is unclear. We acknowledged above that not everyone will agree with our system, but to pull off recognizing this much music, it works very well. I suggest if you want a "cyber" music awards that you start one. We thought an awards program could be done better and differently so we took action. Rather than complain, you should do the same. There can't be too much sincere support of music out there.
Brian
[This message has been edited by Brian Austin Whitney (edited 09-23-2006).]
_________________________
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@aol.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney "Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney
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#392050 - 10/31/06 04:08 AM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
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Johnny Daubert
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 01/27/01
Posts: 7116
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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Terry's post has got to be the strangest one I've read in my years here. Doesn't makes enough sense to have to bring up counter points. But for the not-needed thing of it, what the heck! I'll play along anyway:
People? Yeah,,,I think they are. Are there singing dogs entering this year that one has to remind us the entrants are people?
And wouldn't a fair and open awards be one that gives the ones that already labels their own style more of a chance of being recognized by not having to compete with an altogether different GENRE? And it's not gender. It's Johnra. It's named after me,,just to get on the same plane as Terry....high up in the clouds! Weeeee,,I can see my house!
And finally, Limbaugh wouldn't even come up with such nonsense!
Wow! Woodstock huh? Ok,,,,! Pass the mushrooms. I bet when one bought weed, they would ask what kind? Could have said, what genre you got there!? What's that? It's all the same?,,,,,,Oh I don't think so! Sally's got some Jamacian Gold that will kick that Chester Pa crap right out of here! All weed is not the same pal. Besides, we celebrate differences, not try to lump them into one and take away their charactor. Glad you're not a chef where I eat! Would have my cheeseburger mixed in with my pancakes and a pudding! Can't we get along? Yeah,,,and with not hiding our differences, but celebrating them!
Completey and categorically floored!
John
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#392051 - 11/01/06 11:21 AM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
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Linda Anthony
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 10/25/03
Posts: 1589
Loc: Maine
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lol johnra...hows your house look from way up there?
Judging the awards was one of the most difficult things i've ever had to do-truly! the destiny of numerous people were in our hands and I took it very seriously. What made it more difficult, which probably isn't the fault of anyone, is that there were IMO, pop songs mixed in with rock and other songs that didn't seem to fit the category it was placed in. So we had exceptionally great vocals and music that were difficult to judge against just because they were submitted in what looked like the wrong categories...
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#392052 - 11/03/06 08:34 AM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
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Marty Helly
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 06/07/01
Posts: 2008
Loc: Florence, MA, USA
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<>
Just a clarification: You don't submit for a category. It is placed in a genre after the reviewers have listened to it.
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Marty my home
Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you
recognize a mistake when you make it again!
_________________________
Marty my home Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again!
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#630094 - 07/02/08 09:36 AM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Marty Helly]
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Barry Winslow
Casual Observer
Registered: 05/30/08
Posts: 25
Loc: MI
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Mornin' Brian,
Thanks for posting this. Man, I know that takes a bunch of work. I'm sure everyone appreciates it.
Barry
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#630186 - 07/02/08 02:39 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Barry Winslow]
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Herbie Gaines
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 05/04/03
Posts: 2802
Loc: Chicago,IL, USA
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Hey Barry
This thread is from Oct 06. I bet the new awards have even more categories ! ! Of course we still appreciate the work ! !
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#630366 - 07/03/08 07:57 AM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Herbie Gaines]
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Barry Winslow
Casual Observer
Registered: 05/30/08
Posts: 25
Loc: MI
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Thanks Herbie.........I'm always a few light years late. :O)
Barry
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#630458 - 07/03/08 03:22 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Barry Winslow]
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Herbie Gaines
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 05/04/03
Posts: 2802
Loc: Chicago,IL, USA
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Brian, is there an update to this thread?
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#630480 - 07/03/08 05:38 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Herbie Gaines]
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Brian Austin Whitney
Bard of the Boards
Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 16095
Loc: Indianapolis, IN USA
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there will be when we know which genres we're adding this year...
_________________________
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@aol.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney "Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney
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#636363 - 07/24/08 01:06 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Brian Austin Whitney]
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pRISCILLA
Serious Contributor
Registered: 06/11/02
Posts: 510
Loc: Barcelona, Spain
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any new if my cd really arrived, i sent an e-mail about it but i was not sure haven't got a reply 
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#636533 - 07/25/08 03:59 AM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: pRISCILLA]
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Split Level
Serious Contributor
Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 177
Loc: Nashville and U.K.
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Brian,
I have never met anyone like you who genuinely cares about their web site, and it's content.
The Song Contest alone has a massive category list.
Some contest's barely differentiate between old Country and Contemporary Country, with many old style songs winning in
both categories.
I know I speak for many of the entrants , thanking you for a Wonderful and Free competition.
I really think you should charge say five dollars per entry
would not break any ones bank.
If you put this same effort to detail in your own song writing i'm surprised you have not had a Platinum album by now (Or Have You)
_________________________
Have been working at E.M.I. Hayes U.K. in many departments starting as Tea Boy and worked through to A and R, New Artist Management,
Co Writing , with Boy Bands, and some solo acts
I have always played in bands,
SPLIT LEVEL
psuedonymn of course to many thieves and robbers on the web these days
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#636643 - 07/25/08 01:30 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Split Level]
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Brian Austin Whitney
Bard of the Boards
Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 16095
Loc: Indianapolis, IN USA
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Split,
I never really desired to become a rock star. In fact, when my band was offered a record deal I was the one who turned it down, which broke up the band. I am not against success or fame or anything, but in the case of my music, it was something very different for me than it is for many others. It was the thing I looked forward to everyday. I didn't want it to become my job and I didn't want to become jaded about making music. I know that's counter intuitive to what most want, but for me that was the case. When I started JPF, I switched all my focus from being a creator to being a facilitator to other creators. I realized I could use my passion (and I have plenty of that) to help a LOT of writers and artist find some level of success on a human scale level.. which for me was to find ways to be able to do what they really love.. make music, not make money. Blind pursuit of commercial success for me is as far away from the passion to create music as it can be. But I think many see it as the only valid way to "keep score" on how they are doing with their music. So part of the reason I do these awards is to give folks another positive non-money related way to get recognition for the great work and their great passion.. making music that moves people. I also was fascinated to meet people all over the US and Canada (and now finally I've gotten to meet folks from Belgium, Germany, Czech. Rep., Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Monaco and France in their home countries. We really are ALL IN THIS TOGETHER and even when language is a barrier, I've found that we're all more alike than different. And that universal passion and need to make music is a very common connector between everyone. The commerce part is great as we'd all love to get our music out to millions and make millions for our families and those we love can have great lives. But for me, the pursuit of that fame and money can ruin the base joy of making music that moves people. I try to let folks know that it's okay to redefine their success on human terms. It's okay work at your craft, not so you can get a record deal, but so you can have even MORE fun making music and have a better chance of making music that might move someone, including yourself. And along the way, I've learned that if you can get people to refocus on making the best music they can they also seem to find more success than ever before as well as a side benefit.
It's funny, last night for the first time in many years I pulled out some old recordings I'd made as practice tapes for songs I'd written. I was never a vocalist (I always had one to work with) so my singing leaves a bit to be desired, but I totally felt some of the magic and passion I had when writing those songs. I'd actually forgotten so many of them completely (I've written and recorded over 2000 songs.. I probably couldn't recall the lyrics to 10 of them) and so hearing them again was pretty eye opening. So much so that I've launched a secret music and creative project starting today.. not to get a record deal or to be famous for it.. but because the creative process will be so much fun. And no, I won't be posting it here. I made a strict rule a long time ago not to mix my own music with the organization. I hate it when people use groups and organizations to push and forward their own career. For me, that's sleazy. I also think that some org. in the world should actually support it's consituancy (i.e. in my case musicians) without also having their hands in their pockets. Politicians do that.. and a whole industry exists in the music world to make money off of musicians that for the most part AREN'T making any money in return from those who are supposed to be helping them. So I try to keep everything free. Sure, we still need money and fortunately we've found a few companies that share my vision and sponsor us.. and we also have a few generous members who voluntarily donate some money so we can get stuff done that can only be done with money. But I've become a master of how to get things done without throwing money at it.. and in some ways, our awards could ONLY happen if we keep money away from them. As soon as money is involved, then agendas start to crop up. Right now our only agenda is to identify and call attention to music that moves us that might otherwise not get the attention it deserves. For me, that's the best focus you can have with music. I wish all the other "awards" and "contests" had that vision. But I truly think we're the only one, certainly of the very large awards programs.
Thanks for the note. By the way, I will be updating this post with the 2008/2009 genres and definitions in August. We are 90% of the way done with Round 1 and once we are done, we'll know which genres we'll be adding. Right now the number is pretty large.
Brian
_________________________
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@aol.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney "Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney
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#636848 - 07/26/08 01:40 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Brian Austin Whitney]
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Herbie Gaines
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 05/04/03
Posts: 2802
Loc: Chicago,IL, USA
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Hey Brian
Can you give me an idea of where a solo acoustic artist could fall in? I know you have male singer/songwriter...but those could be JUST guitar OR fully instrumented, right? That's a big difference. Might there be a "naked" , just guitar and voice category? If not, would a naked performance have a chance? People are so used to layers and layers...
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#636896 - 07/26/08 05:51 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Herbie Gaines]
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Brian Austin Whitney
Bard of the Boards
Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 16095
Loc: Indianapolis, IN USA
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It really depends on the vibe of the songs. Erika Luckett won for Female Singer Songwriter with songs that were often voice and guitar... Noelle Hampton won it with songs that were fully produced Pop-Rock in nature. (And both won album of the year in their respective years).
There's also Traditional Folk, where you find the likes of Shandy Lawson who has won 2 album awards there... he's mostly guitar and vocal only. There's also New Folk where solo guitar/vocal is often present. And finally Contemporary is another place you could find guitar/vocal performances. It's all about vibe for the most part. Where does it SOUND like it belongs. If it was a really whacked out song, it could be in novelty or experimental or even modern rock if is was really quirky or haunting. If it moves people, it will find a home.
Brian
_________________________
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@aol.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney "Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney
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#637108 - 07/27/08 01:03 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Brian Austin Whitney]
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Herbie Gaines
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 05/04/03
Posts: 2802
Loc: Chicago,IL, USA
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HHHmmmmm.... interesting Brian...OK, need to work on this
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#712938 - 04/21/09 03:17 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Herbie Gaines]
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aznwiteguy
Casual Observer
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 17
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When are the next awards?? How does everyone enter them? I think that this is awesome.. i love how many diff categories there are!!! i would love to listen to some of the winners!! let me know
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#713189 - 04/22/09 04:41 AM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: aznwiteguy]
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Brian Austin Whitney
Bard of the Boards
Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 16095
Loc: Indianapolis, IN USA
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Actually there are even more than the above. We're announcing the nominees for the 2009 awards which will be held on August 29th on June 25th. Watch the newsletter and website for updates and info.
We won't have a new entry period until after the awards show on Aug 29th. We'll send that info out in the newsletter and website as well.
Thanks,
Brian
_________________________
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@aol.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney "Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney
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#732755 - 06/25/09 10:01 AM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Brian Austin Whitney]
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Brian Austin Whitney
Bard of the Boards
Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 16095
Loc: Indianapolis, IN USA
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If anyone has questions about the genres, feel free to ask. I see a lot of people reading the page today. Jump in.
Brian
_________________________
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@aol.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney "Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney
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#733178 - 06/26/09 01:31 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Brian Austin Whitney]
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Ray E. Strode
Top 100 Poster
Registered: 05/22/01
Posts: 4425
Loc: Brunswick, Ga. USA
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Yes,
Two catagories that I judged were not divided into sub-catagories when I went thru them. Just one large catagory each. However in the Awards post they have been sub-divided into sub-catagories. One into 4 different catagories and the other 2 different catagories.
While it probably doesn't make much difference in the long run I would have liked to have known that information while doing the judging.
_________________________
Ray E. Strode
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#733492 - 06/27/09 09:03 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Ray E. Strode]
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Brian Austin Whitney
Bard of the Boards
Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 16095
Loc: Indianapolis, IN USA
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Ray,
We had to determine how much music we had in a given sub-category before we could divide. If there wasn't enough music that "moved" folks in a given sub genre, it didn't become one. The divisions we made in those categories, by the way, we're very obvious and well accepted definitions. In the round you judged in, all we were looking for was ANYTHING that moved you, yes or no. You were not tasked with only picking the "best of" a give type of music. So having genres or not have genres was irrelevent. Had we called something something else are you saying it would suddenly have moved you or not moved you? That doesn't make any sense. Either it moved you or it didn't. We went to sub genres when it started to become neccessary to narrow down the field. When you judged you could have theoretically flagged every single album you heard. You weren't limited. In fact we didn't limit anything until Round 4 and by that time every genre was established.
So I am not sure how that info would have changed your opinion or what you loved. But that's the logic behind what we did either way. Round 2: Flag any and everything you want. Round 3: We moved the stuff from Round 2 that was most popular and brought in all new judges and repeated. Round 4: We asked judges to pick their favorites of those remaining with a limit on how many you could pick so you had to pick your favorites that moved you rather than everything that moved you. We had a nominations round where all the remaing material had to be researched and narrowed down with tie breakers if they were knotted up. Then we made some moves if we felt material better fit somewhere else and that process took about a week to finalize and we then had to verify every single songwriter of all the songs. That was long slow process and far from perfect because we had conflicting information a great deal of the time and couldn't contact the artist directly to ask since that would tip off the nomination which they may or may not get based on the answers. Then we had to format it all to post on line which was far more difficult than you'd think. Then we posted. We've found 1 error so far that changed an actual nomination (we had pulled the wrong thing off the datbase, but fortunately it was the same artist who had multiple albums and the wrong one got listed but quickly was fixed) and a couple of minor issues like new locations and adding a songwriter to one listed (because the published info was wrong).
It's been a long process. But the process works for us to get through more music than any other entity has ever attempted. Since we're breaking ground each time we do this, we have to renew the processes each time. But I doubt we'll change the fundamental criteria: Does the music move you? and I doubt we'll stop working to have a diverse collection of judges give their input. Many use just 1 group to choose, we use all 3: Music Industry, Artist/Writer Peers, Music Fans. If you don't find something you love in our nominations it may not be possible to please you. If you don't find something you dislike, we probably weren't as diverse as we might have been because we like to represent material that a wide variety of groups will and most folks don't like the entire spectrum of every genre as we have set them up. But that's okay with us. I personally don't love everything, but I love a LOT of the nominees. Some of my favorites made it and a few didn't. That happens in every awards process and it's easy to understand that phenom when you do an awards and you see how every single vote goes down. Sometimes it's obvious start to finish by nearly everyone involved, and other times strange things happen, but they happen fair and square. I could write a book about and it and probably will at some point at least for the benefit of sociologists who use music as part of their assessment process.
Now we get to move on to the finals and new (and old) judges can throw their thoughts into the ring to help determine the winners. And no matter who wins, the nominees have already survived 5 hard rounds of screening and for me that is a tremendous success. Getting a nomination in our awards is harder than winning any other award based on sheer numbers alone.
I am listening to the World nominees right now and it's really been enjoyable. I don't always get to just sit back and enjoy the music during the process, there's always a lot of stuff going on and you get pulled here and there. So this is fun. We hope to have others listening by next weekend.
Brian
_________________________
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@aol.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney "Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney
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#733493 - 06/27/09 09:04 PM
Re: 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards Genres & Categories Defined
[Re: Brian Austin Whitney]
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Brian Austin Whitney
Bard of the Boards
Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 16095
Loc: Indianapolis, IN USA
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By the way Ray, you easily could have step up in Round 4 and gotten involved in those sub categories once they existed. We called for volunteers throughout the process and many folks judges multiple things in multiple rounds.
Brian
_________________________
Brian Austin Whitney Founder Just Plain Folks jpfolkspro@aol.com Skype: Brian Austin Whitney "Don't sit around and wait for success to come to you... it doesn't know the way." -Brian Austin Whitney
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