Music’s once-anarchic big night isn’t just past its best – the awards have lost their meaning
For a couple of years at the end of the 20th century, British pop stars were so badly behaved at the Brit Awards their debauchery stayed in our collective memory for ever. Jarvis Cocker crashing Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song” performance in 1996, Chumbawumba chucking a bucket of water over John Prescott in 1998, Robbie Williams picking a fight with Liam Gallagher in 2000. We love to look back proudly at this anarchy and tell ourselves this is real, full-throttle British rock‘n’roll with the edge and charisma and unpredictability our squeaky-clean American cousins could only dream of possessing.
That nostalgia is one of the reasons the Brits always feel like a washout. For decades, as how we consume music has transformed and as celebrity chaos ceases to be glorified, they have lost their gravitas and declined into a bland, backslapping corporate away day for music industry bigwigs and just another cursory appearance for stars who happen to be in London and deign to perform.
The show has gone from appointment viewing at which anything could happen to soulless promo, at which only very occasionally does anything fun, outrageous or even bold happen (Dave calling then-prime minister Boris Johnson racist was one exception in 2020). This year’s event is on Saturday – performers include Sabrina Carpenter, JADE, Teddy Swims, Myles Smith – but you’d be forgiven if the “biggest night in British music” had crept up without your notice: this spectacle has faded into irrelevance.
It’s a tragedy, because the Brits should feel exciting, special, and important. This ought to be one of the most prestigious events in showbiz in a country with some of the greatest musicians in the world. It should celebrate taste-makers and star-makers; it should offer unique performances that stun and thrill us; it should tell us something about the state of British arts and how we value them.
But if nobody is watching – last year only 2.5 million did – what is the power of this platform and indeed what is the value of an award at all? Young audiences who actually listen to most of the music nominated aren’t engaged, and the music industry certainly doesn’t need them – it is driven by streaming figures and marketing budgets, not critical acclaim.
The power of a Brit is totally diluted – every few years there are new rules, new awards, new categories and new criteria that become impossible to really care about. Sometimes, the recognition from a Brit really does still feel significant – last year, when Raye made history winning six, it was a striking and overdue moment for a star too long overlooked and rejected by her own record label. But this was an exception.
Most years, the same names dominate the winner lists. In 2023, it was Harry Styles; in 2022, Adele and Ed Sheeran; in 2021, Dua Lipa; in 2020, Lewis Capaldi. Those musicians are not undeserving – their monopoly just adds to the sense that this accolade has become a formulaic popularity contest.
Much of that is down to how they are decided. Every year, an enormous Voting Academy of 1,200 are invited from across the media – I have been one of them – to create the short-list for each category. But with no obligation for members to listen to every song or artist, most judges naturally most gravitate toward what they have heard already or what they “feel” – because of an artist’s fame or cultural prominence – ought to get a look-in.
The eventual “short-lists” are so exhaustive that inclusion feels meaningless. There are 15 in both the Song and International Song of the Year categories; 10 in both the Artist and International Artist of the Year categories. It’s hard to imagine many prominent musicians are getting overlooked, so what is the value of a nomination?
From there, the Voting Academy votes for the eventual winners of eight categories, while the genre categories – which this year count for five of the total 16 – are fan voted. Only three awards are decided by a panel of genuine experts, Producer, Songwriter and Rising Star. Which is absurd. Awards are supposed to have the clout of experts behind them; if we only wanted to find out what’s popular or who has the most active fanbases we can open up Spotify or TikTok ourselves.
This year, Charli XCX is up for five awards (she has already won Songwriter of the Year), Dua Lipa, Ezra Collective and the Last Dinner Party are all up for four, and the Beatles and the Cure are both nominated for the first time in decades.
Charli deserves to sweep it – no other British record in the last 12 months has had the cultural impact or originality of Brat. But when that album has already won her two Grammys and the global zeitgeist the Brits feel like a footnote. If this institution had any conviction or cared about cultural influence, it would have recognised her years ago.
The Brit Awards are on ITV1 on Saturday at 8.15pm
