"I am not very keen on the idea of these awards,what is the point we all have differing tastes, it publicises their work, good, but the idea of competitons and or awards, is it as important as getting young people to play music?"

It is common practice for papers, magazines, websites etc to do a roundup at the end of the year of what they consider the 'best of' in various catagories. The publicity does more good than bad.