Bands and artists nominated for the upcoming Cleveland Music Awards were shocked to learn on Dec. 21 that they had three days to download an app or risk losing their chance at the award altogether.
The No Cover app, launched by the founder of the Cleveland Music Awards (CMA), is a last-minute addition to the voting process. This is the first time that voters – and nominated performers – have been required to download anything to participate.
Almost immediately, musicians were not having it, taking to Facebook to air their grievances.
“So many people won’t be able to vote this year due to this,” a member of Pink Maskerade, a pop grunge band from Akron, wrote on Facebook on Dec. 21. “It was much easier for the people to vote for their favs through a website.”
On Dec. 24, Tom Nagle from Rustic Skies also pointed out that this will prevent people from participating. Within a few hours, the CMA Facebook account replied to Nagle:
“Most people in the world, including third world countries, have smartphones. [...] The reality is that one vote from that friend without a mobile phone is not going to decide the winner.”
Mark Rasmussen, the founder of CMA, said he launched the app to create more secure voting practices. He agreed that the rollout was far from perfect, but that the bugs were being worked out in real time.
“I want this to succeed and for it to be a good experience for the artists,” Rasmussen told Upbeat Nonsense.
Rollout troubles
Musicians have continued to reach out to Rasmussen and CMA on Facebook, citing continued issues with communication and the app itself. Although Rasmussen acknowledges that some of the concerns were valid, he pointed to the 100+ users he acquired in only a few days as proof that it worked.
Still, on Dec. 22, CMA announced that nominees now had until Thursday, Dec. 26 – two additional days – to register. No further extensions will be offered and bands that don’t sign up will be replaced by runner-ups in their category, according to the initial post.
Some of the confusion may be due to CMA’s inconsistent communication across both a Facebook page and a Facebook group with the same name. Some announcements – including the new Dec. 26 extended deadline – appear on one and not the other, leaving some musicians in the dark.
Rasmussen doubled down and said that he’s emailed everyone and uploaded an instructional video to the page – although not the group – walking people through the registration process.
“I know I fucked up,” Rasmussen told Upbeat Nonsense. “I should have announced it sooner.” Rasmussen did not respond to further questions about the reasoning behind the tight timeline.
Next year’s Cleveland Music Awards show has been moved up to Feb. 1 at The Agora. Proceeds are used to pay for the venue and other costs associated with marketing the event, according to Rasmussen.
So far, artists are not compensated for their participation or performance in any shows related to the CMA. Rasmussen told Upbeat Nonsense that artists selected to perform in CMA showcases in January may receive a portion of ticket sales, but details have not yet been confirmed.