Now it’s official: The results of the Best Of Ska polls at joescholes.com are here. And I am happy to announce the winners in the three categories are:
1. Best Album: Alaska, “Something In Between”
2. Best Song: The Aggrolites, “The Sufferer”
3. Best Live Band: Alaska
Some of you might be surprised by the results (as I was) because prior to the polls I hadn’t heard of a band from Switzerland called Alaska. Shame on me, but I already confessed I haven’t been following lots of Ska music in 2009. For those interested in the details of the votings: Until last Wednesday it wasn’t clear that Alaska would outclass heavy-weighters like The Aggrolites or The Slackers. Thus the success of Alaska is also sign to the power of Social Media (and especially Facebook).
Facebook Up
Why? Because last Wednesday I went out to contact all the bands that were on the shortlist in the three categories, via email/their accounts on myspace. In the mail I suggested to the bands to activate their fans. I hoped for viral promotion of the polls through the different outlets of the bands. Some bands started to work their followers more than others. And Alaska were tops! Okay, they just had to post a call for votes in the status bar of their facebook profile: Thus they proved to reach many of their 523 fans on Facebook. That again is a sign of Alaska’s outstanding class, because you don’t get such a lot of fans on Facebook for nothing. Which makes me believe that the names in the winners’ list hit the right people. To be sure about it I should have a listen to Alaska’s album. Now guys, feel free to contact me at joe.scholes@gmail.com, if you care to send me a copy.
Myspace Down
Another thing that I learned while doing these polls was that Myspace seems to be deserted. I tried to send messages only to those of my myspace-friends that I expected to be interested in voting. I took some effort, creating lists choosing just the right ones for sending info about the polls. When sending mails to multiple recipients you get the info from myspace how many have read your mails. In my case it was sent to 60 people, only 16 have opened the mail until today. The rest of them probably didn’t even check their Myspace account in the last five days. That’s not a good sign I think. I would love to hear what your experiences with Myspace, Facebook and other social gatherings on the Internet are. Has Myspace really lost it?
Doing polls is fun I think. Next I will be seeking the best Ska album of all time. Is there any album you would like on the shortlist? Just post a comment with that name. Thanks.
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