The binary division of pop and traditional music further implies people have a limited perception of what music is, just as all the rock, folk, hip-hop acts are cooped up in the Best Band Awards competing with each other.
"The definition of popular music has become broader and there exists a great variety of genres between the two ends of the spectrum … . Yet, most people still believe the myth that pop music equals stars," said Chung, adding that even though Lin Sheng-xiang has been a frequent GMA titleholder, local media still describe the accomplished musician as a "dark horse" since they think anyone who is not featured in the entertainment news is a surprise winner.
As the music industry has been experiencing declining album sales, the idea that pop and indie music can be defined and divided in terms of record sales is increasingly becoming obsolete; indie productions often have matching, if not greater, sales to those of pop stars, according to Ho and Chung.
In light of the changes in the industry itself, music professionals believe GMA should adapt itself to the current trend and encourage the burgeoning indie music scene and the flourishing diverse genres that are not geared to the market.
While the nominations are generally considered to reflect musical creativity and talent, the ceremony itself is often denounced as a hollow show for big-ticket pop idols, rather than praised as a music event celebrating the achievement of the nominees. "For musicians, it's an awkward place to be," Chung said.
To avoid the marginalization of non-mainstream musicians, this year's Golden Melody Awards sees the first separation of the award ceremony into traditional and artistic music as a separate event from that of pop music. Held at Liberty Square's Convention Center (自由廣場大樓國際演藝廳) last Saturday, the starless event nevertheless failed to attract the media's attention, which determines what the general public can and can not have access to. It's a dilemma without a solution if GMA is continuously perceived as a piece of entertainment for the pop audiences.
"If the media clings to its market-oriented logic, then members of the general public can never learn about those music talents that are overlooked ... by the entertainment apparatus," Ho said.
In the eyes of Canadian environmentalist and musician Matthew Lien, the split acts out as a form of segregation that further ghettoizes non-pop musicians and alienates artistic audiences. It's a retrogressive move away from the event's duty to foster a healthy environment for all music and artistic communities to be recognized and received with respect.
"We should go back to the basic question of what the music awards celebrate: the glittering commodities or the music and what is valued and what is not? It's a question that all organizing entities involved in the event need to ask themselves," Lien said.
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