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Because I’m not real sure who is reading, I’ll just plan a rant, you’ll all deal with it.

As you’ve noticed, there’s a bit of buzz on ME.com right now.  Its our second annual Indie Of The Year. This year, the prizes are better and the registrants are more interactive than the last.  Bottom line of the contest has always been to find new music we wouldn’t ordinarily hear.  This year, we’ve got quite a few new ones…Deadrites, Marlowe Grey and users favorite Skumlove are in the top three.  Placement in the top three is important because the grand prize winner plays at the New Music Seminar and the other two artists will get a JamNow session.  Other prizes can be grabbed as well- those being more focused on the DIY progress of Indie music.  Making your own T-Shirts for swag income, editing your recordings… etc…

This has become my favorite part of the year.  Imagine the set up…I open the IOTY page and some random band that I have never heard of shows up on the list.  They have no label pressure, just innocent passion for their individuality and music. With this contest comes a compiled list of locals from every metro area of the world! All biased accusations aside, this is truly the most productive Battle Of The Bands format on the web.

One thing that all IOTY registrants should know is that I am more than just an editorial contributor, I am a listener as well…I won’t vote until the last days of the contest.  Sure, if you can manage to get your fans to the site and vote for you, that puts you at the top of the list.  But its in the final few days that I make my way down that list.  I’m not sure how the rest of the staff and users vote, but I refuse to burn my three votes until the closing week of the contest.

I do have one complaint about the contest though.  From time to time, an artist gets entered by a random fan and that artist has no clue.  Therefore, they aren’t able to promote to their fan base and they miss out on all the resourceful prizes to be had.  I hate to call them out on it, but this year’s version will be the grammatically incorrect Cactus’s.  These guys have a mainstream metal sound with a bite of aggression that is unique to any genre.  It’s just disappointing they think everything is a scam.

Other contenders for IOTY 08  are Forgotten Archetype who placed eighth in 2007.  They’re currently in the top five and have a solid chance at winning things this year.  Early favorite Ryan Express, the oftenly mentioned Damn Valentines and electric newcomer Revmatic are all viable candidates as well.

Either way, whoever shows up, my advice to all users and staff is to carefully use your three votes.  Listen all the way to the end and don’t jump to vote too soon.