Is the recognition worth it? Frustration continues at Cleveland Music Awards

Voting for the Cleveland Music Awards may have started, but the frustration continues. Within the first two days of voting, the app was shut down to deal with alleged cheating detected by the app’s owner, Mark Rasmussen, who also founded the awards in 2022. 

Problems with the app, a new requirement to participate in the Cleveland Music Awards (CMAs), started before the app launched. Several musicians and fans have left comments on the CMA’s social media page, but many have not received a reply. 

Prior to the app’s launch, Rasmussen assured nominees that his app would lead to a more secure process than Google Forms. In the past, musicians complained about cheating, he told Upbeat Nonsense in December. On Dec. 28, Rasmussen announced that he found “repeated attempts to manipulate voting results.”

In response, he reset the votes to zero and paused voting while the cheating was “handled,” according to his comment on social media. If the cheating continues, the nominees will be “eliminated from the competition.” Neither the CMAs nor Rasmussen have communicated with nominees about whether or not “legitimate” votes had been restored. At this point, no one has been disqualified.

It’s been less than two weeks since the music awards mandated that nominees not only register through an app, but get fans to download it too. Users are required to download the app, create an account and upload a photo. The app does collect data, and Rasmussen previously denied any interest in using it to make a profit. (Note: Rasmussen does, however, charge licensing fees to cities who want to “be a part of the music business.”)

A growing number of people have publicly questioned why the CMAs are putting people through the hassle of downloading an app that has repeatedly glitched and required maintenance. 

“It’s discouraging real fans and artists while still failing to stop cheating. I really hope CMA listens to the feedback and adjusts the process — because the artists deserve better,” Nagelkirk commented on Facebook.

For musicians in Cleveland, the CMAs represent one of few opportunities to receive recognition louder than the crowd at a show. Some have contacted Upbeat Nonsense privately to express their disappointment in the process so far. 

Previously, Rasmussen said “he fucked up” rolling out the app on such short notice. Since he claimed that individuals were cheating, he has not responded to further requests for comment. 

Multiple negative reviews have been deleted from the app store, causing the overall score for the No Cover app to fluctuate over the last few weeks. The app has consistently boasted a five-star rating on the Apple Store, though it recently fell to a 3.8 after one negative review has been left to stand.

“I have reinstalled this three times now,” the one-star reviewer wrote. “It crashes as soon as you start to use it. Cannot seem to load anything.” This is the only negative review remaining, as others were confirmed to have been deleted via screenshot. 

The app has also received a 1.7 star overall rating in the Google Store. One user, Melissa Cole, said she found the app to be “horrible” and just gave up.

So far, the only five-star review comes from Apostle Jones frontman, Michael Harnichar, who also goes by Mikey Silas: 

“Very excited about this launch of the new app!! [...] It is ultimately very user friendly and recommend doing in with the idea of growth. Would hate to be left behind when this app takes off as a tool for booking and networking for professional gigs! Every artist should be excited about this.”

When Rasmussen moved his media company to Cleveland in 2023, Apostle Jones was the first band on the cover. This is the second year in a row the band has been nominated for the CMAs.

Rasmussen did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Many outstanding questions remain, even setting aside the allegations of cheating and the app’s effectiveness. Venues, for example, are allowed to vote, and new this year, each venue’s vote is worth five times any other vote. 

This has also raised questions by musicians and fans alike about how venues are vetted before participating. According to Rasmussen, venues must create an account and upload at least one “legitimate” event to the No Cover app. 

So far, aside from No Cover’s headquarters in Berea, all of the venues are outside of Cuyahoga County. For example, one of the venues is Garfield High School in Akron.

Given the lack of communication from Rasmussen, musicians report to Upbeat Nonsense that they are asking themselves numerous questions:

The unspoken concern underlying all of these questions: 

Is the recognition worth it?