By James Hirtle

It’s that time of year again. An expectant hush has fallen on the huddled quartets, trios, and solo artists of the East Coast music scene. With Punxsutawney Phil just barely scrambling back into his cozy den, die-hard Atlantic musicians are already poking their heads out of their basements, garages, sheds, and shacks. They’re hoping that maybe this year the star-like glow of industry recognition will cast their shadows back onto the steel-grey of an angry, late-winter sea.

This year, the East Coast Music Awards are making an attempt to stay top of mind in a global market and competitive industry. With the backing of the CBC, the televised ECMA extravaganza has introduced a new category into the regular program: the East Coast Music Fan’s Choice Award (http://www.cbc.ca/eastcoastmusic/). Following the model of the “Idol” television series, the ECMAs want to put the power of choice back into the hands of the viewers and fans. In doing so, they are shifting the focus from “industry” to “fans”, making the event more about appreciation than trade secrets. Looking at a complete member-list of 257 bands (which far outweighs the usual 100-or-so nominees for the awards); any participant can cast one vote per computer for the member-artist of their choice.

This new “voting” phenomenon presents an interesting twist on the usual experience of East Coast music success. It can be a bone-chilling experience, trying to make it on the East Coast, when so many people come out to shows only if they can duck the $4 cover charge. There is, however, piercing through the miasma of pub crawls, one ray of shining hope. A golden door creaks open, warm and beckoning in the wintery twilight: the East Coast Music Association Awards, a “five-day music and industry extravaganza that facilitates the connecting of artists and industry,” this year hosted in everyone’s favourite party of a town, St. John’s. Many favorite acts, like Joel Plaskett, Dave Gunning, Nathan Wiley, and Classified, have walked through that golden door to end up in the Shangri-la of national recognition on the other side.

For an East Coast musician, earning an ECMA is akin to earning an undergraduate degree: it doesn’t guarantee VIP status, but it certainly validates your presence at the party. From graduation day onward, a successful East Coast act’s name is seldom heard without those four magic letters quickly following.

Still, there can be difficulties for a lesser-known nominee. Sometimes, the East Coast Music Association (which organizes the ECMAs) can seem like a members-only club, which indeed, it is. As a musician, you apply for membership through an application form, and then open your wallet to annual fee. This system encourages the survival and continued presence of the awards. Still, many East Coast musicians – understandably stretched thin to begin with – refuse to submit to this system. Many artists perceive it to be another game played by a desperate industry that is threatened by the role of the internet.

What makes this new system noteworthy is the ripple it spreads through the democratizing power of the internet. Many Atlantic ex-pats out there have probably received a Facebook request to join a user group promising votes for one band or another. Facebook isn’t the only venue for this sort of grassroots campaign either – Twitter and MySpace are home to it as well. If you follow the East Coast music scene, anywhere you look on the web, you will notice a good number of threads springing up, reminding you to “vote for band X.” Even more interesting are the “trend upheavals” appearing throughout the social-networking sites. Recognizable names such as Wintersleep, Matt Mays and others are strangely absent from any sort of solicitation of votes. Instead, it’s the local favourites who garner most of the buzz. Large crowds are flocking to the “vote for” pages of bands such as Aislin House, Chris LeBlanc, Gallactus, Kara Pilgrim, Christina Martin, and Life Support.

On the other hand, some musical acts are choosing to overlook the phenomenon entirely. A quick glance at the web-presence of award hopefuls like Hey Rosetta, David Myles, Wintersleep, Matt Mays, and Matt Andersen, reveals that they are largely either ignoring – or being ignored by (since it is fan driven) – this new democratic phenomenon. At this stage of the “voting” game, the majority of serious-minded musicians and fans seem to be doing the same: paying attention to the creation and presentation of the music itself. Voter turnout seems to be low, at the moment, but that may be due to lack of awareness or poor marketing of the “voting” phenomenon. This may change, however: the numbers that CBC was expecting during the voting process are at the moment unavailable, but the numbers of suspected voters through Facebook seems to double on a daily basis.

This is a difficult time for any industry and music is no exception. As is the case with music piracy – with many people hiding behind their “stick-it-to-the-man” attitude – it is the artists who are always first to get hurt. This new “fan’s choice” phenomenon may breathe some life into an older institution, helping to celebrate some of the best and unknown local artists. Alternately, it may become a popularity contest. Regardless, in today’s atmosphere of economic gloom, many forget that the original intent of celebrations such as this: whatever they have become in the eyes of critics, events such as the ECMAs help to champion a culture’s musical voice, and remind us of the fun that comes from gathering together (usually in your kitchen) and hearing the best music our home has to offer.