I did not watch the Grammys. I do not know who hosted, who presented, who performed, who won. I did not even realize that time of year had passed until I recently watched the Academy Awards time of year pass.

Generally, the whole thing makes me roll my eyes and exhale loudly in disgust. Yes, there are some unique collaborative performances. Yes, there are some poignant moments of recognition. But I can always pass the wasting of a few hours of my life when predominately mediocre bands are being critically heralded as the bringers of the year's best music. "Candy Shop?" "Don't Phunk With My Heart?" Seriously? Seriously? The rap world has no better options to stand alongside "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" in the category for best song?

I could, perchance, be bitter. My bands rarely get nominated. My bands rarely get to perform. My bands rarely get to present. If my bands even make it inside the Staples Center in Los Angeles, they are more likely applauded for their superior work as seat-warmers than legitimate musicians.

Such is the trouble of any awards process relying on the vote. Like it or not, the ultimate result is a parading of the most popular talent in lieu of, well, the most talented talent. There is no doubt much to be said about those who can reach the musical masses, those who can receive nods from a wide range of musical tastes. Yet where is the recognition of those adeptly bending genres, successfully pushing lyrical limits, craftily exposing new musical grounds? With the Grammys being recognition of the corporate-musician, where is the recognition of the artist-musician?

Following last year's Madison Area Music Awards, more than enough local artists griped about the very same thing that keeps me ignorant of the airing dates and times of the national awards shows. Of the already rather inclusive music community, an even tighter knit crew seemed to pull the strings. As the third annual awards show approaches, I have to wonder whether local organizers have found a means of addressing the voting issue any better than those on the larger scale.

Unlike previous years — and now paralleling the Grammys — only members can vote. To become a MAMA member, one must pay the $5 fee. Although the required donation goes directly to fueling the community music education crusade, it simultaneously eliminates a large portion of fans. It thereby excludes a significant portion of bands that cannot get fans to become members and vote.

Now I am ultra-frugal. I will wear shoes until the soles are very literally worn through. I will walk all the way across town in abusive weather — in those sole-worn sneakers — to save cab fare. I will empty the liquor bottles at home and sip tonic water with a twist all night in the clubs. In my world, paying $5 to become a voting member might very well mean I will be $5 short and unable to afford the $20 ticket to attend the actual awards ceremony.

With something as silly as a $5 fee preventing me from balloting in my useless preferences, all the bureaucratic bullsh-t comes bubbling up. And we forget the whole point of the charitable organization. Just like we forget the Grammys have a whole hidden infrastructure of fostering the creativity of the next generation music-makers and encouraging the remembrance of the musical predecessors.

First and foremost, MAMA Inc. is an organization attempting to encourage music education throughout the community. The monies gathered by donations, the show itself, the voting process, are meant to make music on the side of producer rather than consumer more accessible, particularly through local public schools. Put guitars in kids' hands, put them behind drum kits, teach them Armstrong techniques of the trumpet, show them Mingus mechanisms of the bass.

The awards show comes as an extra entertaining means of getting Madison citizens interested in, aware of, enthusiastic about the lively, thriving local music. For the local music novice, the ceremony provides intensive access to a wide variety of sounds infiltrating downtown clubs. Whether you agree with the winner of the MAMA for best jazz album, you suddenly realize there is a jazz scene.

For the local music aficionado, the ceremony provides a bang for your buck experience. Not only are area music heavyweights directly at hand — well, more accurately directly in line of sight, as most non-musicians end up in the balcony of the Wisconsin Union Theater — but quite a few take the stage to perform. This year, East High School's Encore Swing Choir, Phat Phunktion accompanied by Brittany Hayes and Jan Wheaton, and SevenOneFive are scheduled — and there will certainly be surprises.

Regardless of the festivities, you might determine to maintain your disdain of the distribution of awards. You may only see a selective community standing around in dramatic lighting giving high-fives and congratulatory slaps on the ass. We should be friends.

I do not want to diminish the musical accomplishments of local artists. Knowing the community hears and appreciates you certainly stands for something. Even more, I do not want to diminish the objectives of MAMA Inc. Enabling people to be surrounded by music is a great and essential endeavor. Regardless of your politics, your scoffing of the system — there will always be scoffers with no solutions — you have to applaud the efforts. More and more, music becomes a thing not which any of us actively make or actively participate in, but from which we are removed.

My new friends and I are in luck, however. Not only does the organization allow us to contribute to the cause without becoming involved in all the voting and whatnot, but it also brings us back to the activity. Throughout the year, benefit shows sprinkle the club circuit, such as that at the King Club tonight. MAMA's 2005 Cinderella Boys Awesome Car Funmaker will be joined by My Firefly and Motor Primitives in rocking it alternative style.

If you simply cannot bring yourself to the awards show, at least consider bringing yourself to a show of those who have received — or might soon don their mantle with — an award. And if you simply cannot bring yourself to the rock show, at least consider making some noise of your own or donating that dust-collecting trumpet of your youth to a local school. Allowing the music to become active does not require knowing who hosted the show, who presented or who performed. And it certainly does not require knowing who won.

Christine Holm is a senior majoring in English and Psychology. Questions? Comments? Want to talk music with her? Reach Christine at [email protected].