Punkfolkrocker, that's one of the reasons that's been cited for keeping the list of judges relatively quiet. I'm not actually aware of much in the way of overt lobbying, and if anything, in my experience it is frowned upon.

I don't know what list Ralph has seen, but most of the people I know who are judges don't work for the BBC. They are event programmers and critics. They are largely people who attend maybe a dozen or more festivals a year and maybe listen to 100+ CDs, which might be one of the reasons the BBC uses a panel of judges rather than a public vote. Perhaps they feel that the average person doesn't get quite as much exposure to music. I also know several people who are regularly on the panel, yet never get invited to the awards. Dunno what that actually proves, but I just thought I'd chuck it in.

Joan (from my phone)