Yes, agreed – I think if Spiral Earth voted among its own contributors and produced the awards that way it'd be more edifying.

And then, crucially, backed the awards up with features/interviews about/with the artists, saying why it was they were nominated, why they won, what really did it for them this year etc. Otherwise it's just info-free names floating in space.

You can always have a single public-vote award for an overall best act...