Rock Hall proposal: 20 for ’20

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has a major backlog of worthy honorees. This calls for a catch-up year. I propose “20 for ’20” as in 20 inductees in 2020.
This would be like what the Pro Football Hall of Fame is proposing for its ceremony next year. It is expanding its potential inductees to 20 in 2020 as part of the NFL’s celebration of its 100th season, the AP reported.
A catch-up year for the Rock Hall would allow it to induct a bunch of older acts that keep missing the cut year after year. These acts are respected by music industry insiders and historians, but are of lesser interest to your average music fan today.
The hall needs to clear the decks of older acts to focus on more current acts. I’ve previously suggested that the hall do this by means of a veteran’s committee like the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The reasons for a backlog are manifold. For starters, the hall is highly selective, inducting just five to seven artists each year.
A second problem is a broadening of the scope of the rock hall to include more pop music and hip-hop artists. This has been a good thing generally by bringing more diversity to the hall. But the rock hall shouldn’t stray too far from its roots.
There’s already a prominent Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, but some pundits want to include such major country artists as Patsy Cline, Glen Campbell, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton in the Rock Hall. I’d like the Rock Hall to focus on acts that don’t already have a hall of fame for their main genre of music.
Meanwhile, two competing ventures are looking to build hip-hop halls of fame in New York City.
The Hip Hop Hall of Fame Museum project hopes to open a museum, hotel and entertainment complex in Harlem in 2021, according to a news release.
The Universal Hip Hop Museum is looking to open a facility in the Bronx in 2023, according to AM New York.
There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding both projects, but it’s only a matter of time before a hip-hop hall of fame is built.
When that happens, how much emphasis should the Rock Hall place on hip-hop acts? I would suggest that it focus only on those with major crossover appeal and influence.
As for the Rock Hall, a “20 for ’20” promotion would help reduce the lengthening lists of snubs that music writers regularly compile.
Nominations for the 2020 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are due for release in October.

Here are some predictions from Rock Hall followers for the next round of nominees:

Rock Hall: My Predictions For The 2020 Ballot (Zoot Marimba; April 5, 2019)

Official Predictions for #RockHall2020 (Alex Voltaire; Aug. 12, 2019)

Predictions: The 2020 Rock Hall Nominees (E-Rockracy; Aug. 29, 2019)

2020 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominee Predictions (Nick Bambach; Aug. 30, 2019)

2020 Rock Hall Nominee Predictions (Special Edition) (Tom Lane; Aug. 30, 2019)

The Idealist’s Ballot: Mary Picks 15 Nominees (E-Rockracy; Sept. 1, 2019)

Photo: Guitar art at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2004. (Photo by Flickr user Whatknot via Creative Commons.)