A ROW has broken out over MTV Crashes Plymouth – after judges picked almost exclusively covers bands for the Live and Local Stage.
Of the 10 local bands vying for a place on the arena-sized stage at next month's event, only three write largely their own songs.
A number of local musicians and promoters have now expressed their anger after the shortlist for the stage was announced last week.
After a vote was opened on the Radio Plymouth website to choose five acts from a list of solo musicians and bands, a number of local acts have been left angry with the shortlist.
Out of the 10 acts on both lists, just five will be granted the huge Friday night slot.
"We feel like this is a missed opportunity to have an exciting local festival we can all be proud of, there is such great potential for this," said Ben Turner, music manager of the Underground venue on Mutley Plain.
"We are confused as to how the shortlist appeared.
"There are so many excellent young originals bands who would leap at the chance to play a massive arena stage like this.
"These are accessible, entertaining bands who are going places – I'm obviously not talking about hardcore acts – some of which have already toured extensively, around the UK and Europe."
Dan James is now running The Junction after previously putting on many huge names at the White Rabbit.
He said: "We feel like the whole thing has been organised under the radar and many of the local bands weren't even aware that this opportunity existed.
"We are not objecting to the bands who are up for selection, we just would just like a more level playing field."
Councillor Peter Smith, deputy leader of Plymouth City Council, said: "Artists were asked to submit a clip of their performances which were then viewed by a panel of judges.
"The standard of entries was extremely high which made the decision very difficult.
"A shortlist has been comprised which provides a good variety of acts, including a mix of cover bands and acoustic singers playing their own music, that are suitable for audiences of all ages.
"Unfortunately with a limited number of acts able to perform on the night not everyone can be shortlisted."
Members of Antimatador, who do appear on the shortlist, said they were also disappointed with the range of acts on the list.
He said: ""We're obviously over the moon to be shortlisted, but it's a shame there weren't a few more original acts in the short-listing because Plymouth has some great, varied bands whose career could really take a boost from an event such as MTV Crashes.
"I'm not sure whether the issue here was simply that these acts didn't apply to play but I've heard from quite a few people that they didn't even know they could enter a competition.
"I think the 'voting' process hasn't been too great either.
"Because the votes are unlimited, it's come down to 'may the band who votes for themselves the most win'.
"We asked Radio Plymouth what the deal was there, and they said it was a voting process like that of X Factor.
"It's understandable for X Factor as they make money on each vote.
"Hopefully this is handled a little differently next time."
There Goes Lizzie are a local band playing original material who have been left disappointed after they applied and didn't make the shortlist.
They said: "We're obviously a little disappointed we weren't chosen but more so that so many cover bands were selected as opposed to original artists from the Plymouth scene.
"It's a real shame as there's so much organic musical talent around.
"I don't see much point in hearing musicians replicate songs of other artists, especially at MTV Crashes.
"However, faith is restored by the likes of Antimatador and The Poet Junkies being selected."
The shortlist was compiled as a joint effort between the council and Radio Plymouth and the final ten acts will be announced on Monday, June 29.
Tim Manns, managing director of Radio Plymouth, said: "We don't believe there are too many cover bands on that list.
"The overview from the judges panel was to get a good mixture of styles and types of music.
"We went for the ones that sounded the best when we listened to the group."
Cllr Smith also defended the system which allows people to vote as many times as they wish.
"Ten local bands and 10 acoustic singers will now face the public vote as Radio Plymouth has decided to adopt the same voting system as X-Factor," he said.
"The public can vote as many times as they wish for the acts they want to perform.
"This means that the less established artists have just as much chance as those with a large following.
"To date 8,700 votes have been made."
The shortlist will be announced on Tim Manns' drive-time show on Monday, June 29.
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