Among this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honorees, there was only one woman. This disparity is not new. Since the inception of the Hall of Fame, less than 8 percent of the hundreds of inductees have been women. Additionally, artists of color are egregiously underrepresented. This is an issue that has been worsening since the late 1980s.
The current Rock and Roll Hall of Fame voting system is deeply flawed. Ballots are sent to all previous inductees, making them the majority of the electorate by a wide margin and perpetuating an outdated (and often inherently racist and sexist) ideal of rock music. In order to move towards a more just induction process, prior honorees should not be a part of the voting body.
I have always wondered why we think of “the greats” of rock music as almost exclusively white male bands when in reality there is so much diversity within the genre. As a college radio DJ, I spent my first semester training on a classic rock show that featured artists such as the Grateful Dead, Cream, and the Allman Brothers Band, all of whom have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. (Can you guess another thing they have in common?)
And the Hall of Fame has acknowledged this before. They have inducted jazz and hip-hop artists, proving that at least some of the voters understand that rock and its influences are not monolithic. So, why do they regularly snub esteemed artists who fit even more into the “typical rock” sound, such as Tina Turner, The Runaways, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and more? Because the voting process makes no sense.
Craig Werner, an Afro-American studies professor who was on the Hall of Fame nominating committee for nearly two decades believes the body of voters does not reflect a solid sense of rock and roll history. “I think that the electorate makes dumb decisions on a regular basis,” he confessed to NPR.
While the electorate of more than 800 people includes some writers, executives, and musicians, previous Hall of Fame inductees make up the majority of the votes. So, current nominees’ fates are effectively sealed by Baby Boomers, mostly white and male, whose careers peaked before some of them were even born. These older voters will obviously favor artists who remind them of the heyday of their own careers which keeps new and diverse musical acts largely blocked out.
Music industry veterans argue that sending previous inductees a ballot is a sign of respect and that to not do so would deny the validity of their expertise. But why do rock stars need an annual ballot to acknowledge their expertise in rock music? I thought their status was recognized when they were…inducted into the Hall of Fame. By continuing to include them in the vote, we are effectively saying, “Here’s an award indicating that you’ve made an impact on this genre for years to come. But just to make sure, let’s give you the concrete ability to determine who is successful after you and who is not.”
Not unlike other, more consequential voting systems, this one is completely broken. It is skewed by racial and gender bias and built to perpetuate ideals that are no longer relevant.
By not reforming its voting process to eliminate the disproportionate influence of prior honorees, the Rock Hall of Fame continues to drive a wedge between itself and the future of the genre.
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