Maybe it's me, but it seems like there are a lot more music awards these days than there were, say, ten years ago. Everybody wants his/her/their day in the sun. And though most are often viewed as self-serving congratulations, awards do serve valuable purposes. For consumers they expose new music and reaffirm their love of the favorites. For artists they act as savored moments that can boost careers. For labels they're a chance to sell some music. For the press they're an opportunity to critise an egotistical industry (its words, not mine) and their boring awards shows (everybody's words).

And so tonight in New York we have the Plug Independent Music Awards at the famed Webster Hall. Indendent music also has the Shortlist Music Prize, in which the industry nominates albums that have sold less than 500,000 copies.. In the UK there's Q Awards, the Brits and the Mercury Prize (which will definitely be given to the Arctic Monkeys next time around) to name a few.

Next week, on February 8th, is the Grammy Awards, the Oscars of music. On the 9th the articles are sure to read something like this: "The Grammy voters are out of touch with the pulse of the country, and this year's telecast was among the worst ever." A week later Soundscan results will show that droves of Grammy watchers sent sales of winners soaring. This year shoppers may get their Grammy fix on iTunes before the night is even over. Good luck, nominees.