History of the WPM Awards

Every year, the WPM Awards are almost always won -- and will always be won -- by a select few who try their hardest to win the awards either for themselves or for others. Imagine that you are one of these ardent voters. If donations are restricted to one dollar per ballot, and ballots are restricted to one ballot per voter, what are you going to do to help your favorite nominees win? You'll print out twenty ballots, stuff them into twenty envelopes with twenty one-dollar bills, spend $8.80 on postage stamps, and mail in the ballots. Think of all the hassle you just went through. Wouldn't you prefer to get the same results with just one ballot, one envelope, a twenty-dollar bill, and only 44 cents in postage?

By lifting voting restrictions and allowing voters to substitute dollars for ballots, we're not just saving those voters a lot of time and paper, but all of their money that would have been wasted on envelopes and postage can now be put toward their donations.

And, to quell another misconception, you do not need to spend any of your own money to generate votes. All you need is the ambition to do a little promoting and campaigning. If you can solicit $12 in donations from twelve people who support your ballot, you're already two votes ahead of the voter who donated $10 of his own money.

Although it is possible that someone could literally buy all of the awards for his or her favorite nominees by donating an unusually large sum of their own money, it would be no different than if they bought lots of envelopes and mailed in lots of individual ballots. It's also important to remember this awards program is, above all, a fundraiser. The awards are fun, but, like all other music awards, should not be taken too seriously. Regardless of who wins the WPM Awards, the real winners are those who benefit from the donations.

	HISTORY OF THE WPM AWARDS When we started the Wisconsin Polka Music Awards program in 2005, our goal was to give the public a fun and free way of recognizing and honoring outstanding accomplishment in Wisconsin's polka music industry. It was our belief that by allowing the public to vote, the result would be a genuine cross-section of public opinion. What we learned, however, is that awards could be won through strategy -- individuals or groups could win awards by harvesting the most votes. This brought the prestige of the awards into question, since the awards were perhaps honoring nominees for their campaigning skills rather than their talent or accomplishments. Over the next few years, we discouraged campaigning for votes, but it didn't solve the problem. Finally, in the fourth year of the awards, we outright banned vote harvesting and used our previous years of experience to identify and disqualify campaigned ballots. We enforced many rules (i.e. one ballot per voter, two ballots per envelope, etc.) and used our experience to weed out the ballots that violated the rules. It was successful to a degree, but the controversy surrounding the practice led to two sets of awards, further defeating the original purpose of the awards program. Our experience with the WPM Awards has been an educational one. We learned that music awards programs all share the same, inherent problem -- the awards can and usually do go to the most popular nominees regardless of their level of talent and expertise. Anytime an awards program uses a large body of voters, such as an organization's membership or the general public, the results will be heavily influenced, if not outright determined, by popularity. The Grammys, National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame Awards, Wisconsin Polka Hall of Fame Awards, WAMIs, PACE Awards, WPM Awards, and all other music awards programs that rely on a large body of voters are affected by this predicament. This realization left us wondering if we should continue the WPM Awards after the 2008 voting season. Then musician Ron VanDenboom suggested turning the WPM Awards into a fundraising effort, since the ballots reach hundreds of voters every year. It made perfect sense to us, so, in 2009, the awards program was restructured to raise money for Wisconsin-based, non-profit polka organizations. Initially, we gave voters the option of donating a dollar (or more) with their ballots. Donations received fell far short of our expectations, so, starting in 2010, a minimum one-dollar donation was required to validate one's ballot. Also new for 2010, a voter's ballot counted once for every dollar donated. Instead of campaigning for votes, ardent voters could now opt to campaign for donations and/or donate more of their own money to better their favorite nominees' chances of winning. This resulted in the awards raising a thousand dollars in 2010. While the practice of "buying votes" may be unconventional for any awards program, it actually doesn't affect how the awards are won. Here is the explanation why: Every year, the WPM Awards are almost always won -- and will always be won -- by a select few who try their hardest to win the awards either for themselves or for others. Imagine that you are one of these ardent voters. If donations are restricted to one dollar per ballot, and ballots are restricted to one ballot per voter, what are you going to do to help your favorite nominees win? You'll print out twenty ballots, stuff them into twenty envelopes with twenty one-dollar bills, spend $8.80 on postage stamps, and mail in the ballots. Think of all the hassle you just went through. Wouldn't you prefer to get the same results with just one ballot, one envelope, a twenty-dollar bill, and only 44 cents in postage? By lifting voting restrictions and allowing voters to substitute dollars for ballots, we're not just saving those voters a lot of time and paper, but all of their money that would have been wasted on envelopes and postage can now be put toward their donations. And, to quell another misconception, you do not need to spend any of your own money to generate votes. All you need is the ambition to do a little promoting and campaigning. If you can solicit $12 in donations from twelve people who support your ballot, you're already two votes ahead of the voter who donated $10 of his own money. Although it is possible that someone could literally buy all of the awards for his or her favorite nominees by donating an unusually large sum of their own money, it would be no different than if they bought lots of envelopes and mailed in lots of individual ballots. It's also important to remember this awards program is, above all, a fundraiser. The awards are fun, but, like all other music awards, should not be taken too seriously. Regardless of who wins the WPM Awards, the real winners are those who benefit from the donations. No matter how you view the WPM Awards, there is one fact that cannot be denied: everyone who votes does so out of his or her own free will. If you win a Wisconsin Polka Music award, maybe it's not because you're the most advanced musician or successful promoter in the state. Maybe it's just because your fans, family, and friends truly believe you deserve it, and want you to have it. We think that's something to be quite proud of. That is why the WPM Awards truly are awards. <<< Go back to the main awards page
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