BBC Sound of 2012 list dismissed as 'meaningless'

The BBC Sound of 2012 list is "completely meaningless" and just a "product placement" for the year ahead, the head of an independent music industry trade body has said.

The list, compiled from the votes of 160 music industry experts, features 15 acts expected to shine next year, including grime act MC Dot Rotten, blues singer Jamie N Commons and female group StooShe.

The 2011 tipped act, Jessie J, has enjoyed huge success this year, while previous winners have included 50 Cent, Keane, Mika, Adele and Ellie Goulding.

But Alison Wenham, the chairman of the Association of Independent Music (AIM), feels that the inclusion of only one act on an independent label, the band Friends, shows the irrelevance of the annual poll.

"I think it's very inconsequential because, even going back years, this list has not proven to be particularly accurate," she told NME.

"The independents will do what they do, and I'm not all that bothered about these sorts of polls. I don't think it has very much to do with music, to be honest with you. They say 100 tastemakers put it together, but it essentially cannot be that those tastemakers manage to avoid an entire sector."

Wenham also claimed that the list is essentially just "product placements" for the acts on the major labels, but she noted that the unique character of the music industry always keeps things fresh.

"Something [else] will come along out of nowhere," she said. "That's the glory of the unpredictability of our industry - and long may it reign."

The top five Sound of 2012 artists will be revealed by the BBC in the New Year, with the winner announced on January 6.

The BBC 'Sound of 2012' longlist in full:

• A$AP Rocky
• Azealia Banks
• Dot Rotten
• Dry The River
• Flux Pavilion
• Frank Ocean
• Friends
• Jamie N Commons
• Lianne La Havas
• Michael Kiwanuka
• Niki & The Dove
• Ren Harvieu
• Skrillex
• Spector
• StooShe