Why are music opinion polls so popular

A.� Music arouses strong opinions in people, that's a large part of its durability and appeal. If people have an opinion on something, they are often keen to express it, and opinion polls are a perfect platform to do just that.

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Q.� Where can music lovers find polls to express their views

A.� The music press caught the mood of its readers from its earliest days.�Venerable weeklies like the New Musical Express ran an annual Musicians Poll, and threw a massive celebration party to showcase the results from the early sixties onwards. These days the mantle has been taken over by Smash Hits whose annual pop jamboree is a media and TV fixture with massive attendance and viewing figures. Polls are very popular.

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Q.� How much do they express genuine opinions

A.� That depends on the poll, and the voters. For example, if you ask people to vote in a 'best drummer' category, Ringo Starr will receive thousands more votes than, say Stix Hooper from The Crusaders. Is that because Ringo is a more technically accomplished drummer than Stix Obviously not, and Ringo would undoubtedly endorse that opinion, but The Beatles are obviously miles more popular than The Crusaders, so in this instance, fans of The Fabs will vote for Ringo, and they outnumber Crusaders'� followers by millions to one. Ringo would be voted 'best drummer', but that's just what that particular poll says, it certainly doesn't reflect levels of talent, just popularity, which is not necessarily the same thing.

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Q.� What kind of poll can music fans find to vote in

A.� How long is a piece of string Just about any aspect of music can find an opinion poll somewhere, which is more a testament to the strength of the opinions held, than the validity of the poll results.

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Q.� That sounds like some results are wide of the mark

A.� Some certainly are. Take, for example, a poll reflecting the cultural impact of Manchester and it's thirty-mile radius environs. The poll results offer the theory that four of the ten greatest songwriters of the last thousand years live within that 'ball-park' area. Sounds a little dubious

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Well, for a start Manchester apparently extends as far as Liverpool, in order to include Lennon and McCartney�and it also incluses Robbie Williams! Leaving aside Robbie's musical contribution to the millennium (no pun intended), he happens to have been born in Stoke-on-Trent which is�over thirty-five miles south of Manchester.�

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Q.� This is getting out of hand now isn't it!

A.� Absolutely, but that's how easy it is to make a poll fit any category you want, if you're prepared to stretch your criteria far enough. There are plenty of other examples.

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Q.� Let's have some then

A.� How about this.�Someone, somewhere, has taken a poll of gym users to find out the type of music they prefer to listen to when working out. Rock music wins a healthy 36% of votes, no surprise there, but rap music, which may sniff at the notion of providing a soundtrack to the huffing and puffing of wannabe fitness fiends should be seriously concerned, at its paltry 2% poll showing, beaten soundly by Easy Listening, and Country and Western!

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Q.� Are there more like that

A.� When asked to vote for the most influential musician of the millennium, John Lennon was posted at the top, no surprise there, but Mozart limped home in tenth place, behind Robbie Williams.�

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Q.� Plenty of people would see that kind of voting as an outrage.

A.� Of course�- that's the fun of music polls, they can produce vitriol and backlash with a force and fervour experienced in few other areas of culture, because music really does inspire such firmly held notions of worth and merit, or lack of them depending on your point of view.

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Q.� So music Polls shouldn't be taken too seriously

A.� Probably not, no, given that they are no respecters of proven track records based on worldwide album and concert sales. How else can you explain the voting in the 'Great Canadian Music Poll', which saw Celine Dion, a heavyweight contender in any statistical battle where sales and success are terms of reference, beaten into second place by Gordon Lightfoot.

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Similarly, the 'Boston Phoenix' newspaper readers, having considered the evidence regarding the Best International Music Act, decided that Macy Gray should receive the accolade, whilst Eminem, with album sales of nine million copies and counting, managed a rather disappointing fifth place. When asked for their opinion of Britney Spears' Oops, I Did It Again! opus, the viewers of MTV Asia were pretty definite about the pop poppet's value as an artist of merit, 43% of them gave it 1 star out of a potential 5. ���

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Q.� It sounds as though Music Polls are popular, and pointless in about equal measure!

A.� Well,�that's certainly an opinion, and someone somewhere will probably run a poll on it, so we can see.

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