Justin Moore, an artist on Borchetta's Big Machine Records, seems like a really great guy who for one reason or another, despite a catalog of awesome songs, has been largely ignored by awards show. He even complained last year about being left out of the shows and not knowing why.
Well here's a thought, maybe if the awards shows stopped thinking of him as a new artist and started putting him in the correct categories, maybe he'd have a better experience.
Case in point, Broadway recently spoke with fellow music blogger, Windmills Country, and she revealed that she had recently done a little digging and found that Justin isn't eligible for a New Artist of the Year ACM because, by their own criteria, he's sold too many albums.
You know, because he's not a new damn artist.
What are they thinking?
From the ACM's own criteria for New Artist, Justin just doesn't fit.
Any solo artist that has sold 500,000 copies of a previously released album (with general exclusions of specialty albums, such as seasonal or live recordings) according to Nielsen SoundScan, are not eligible for this category. Additionally, solo artists that previously served (or are currently serving) as lead vocalists for, or otherwise fronted duos or groups that have sold 500,000 copies of previously released albums, according to Nielsen SoundScan, are not eligible for the this category.
See, Justin has released three albums. According to Wikipedia (and Windmills in the interview), Justin's 2009 self-titled release sold 550,000 copies and his 2011 Outlaws Like Me has sold 577,000 copies.
The boy is doin' alright and isn't even eligible for the new artist category that they keep pigeonholing him in. As Broadway and Windmills said, he needs to be let loose to play with the big boys, I think he deserves that.
As they said in the interview, this isn't taking anything away from Justin, he deserves all the nominations he gets, but he has to be getting tired himself of being called a "new artist" when he's selling albums like an old pro.
So, do you think the ACMs just didn't do their homework or is there something else going on behind the scenes? What are your thoughts?
Check out Broadway's interview with Windmills below and don't forget to vote for the ACM nominations you can vote on here. The ACMs will be hosted once again by Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan and will air Sunday, April 6, on CBS.
