Interesting to discuss on mudcat but I wonder if any of the people involved are regulars here?

The Track Panel 2017 are:
Lynette Fay – Presenter, Folk Club (BBC Radio Ulster)
Alex Gallacher – Editor-in-Chief, Folk Radio UK
Frank Hennessy – Presenter, Celtic Heartbeat (BBC Radio Wales)
Jon Lewis – Producer, The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe (BBC Radio 2)
Bella Hardy – Musician and songwriter

The Young Folk Award judges 2017 are:
Andy Bell – Record producer and sound engineer
James Fagan – Musician
Steve Heap – Director, Towersey Festival and General Secretary, Association of Festival Organisers
Nancy Kerr - Musician
Kellie While – Producer, BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards

The Folk Awards Committee 2017 are:
John Leonard – Group Editorial Director, 7digital Creative (Chair)
Kellie While – Head of 7digital Creative
Al Booth – Editor Specialist Music, BBC Radio 2Mark Simpson – Producer, Bob Harris Show (BBC Radio 2)
Colin Irwin – Journalist and author



"The Voting Panel are asked to nominate up to 3 artists in each category. Nomination forms are sent out on 12th January 2017. The panel need to return their nominations by Tuesday 31st January 2017 to Smooth Operations. To avoid any possible conflict of interest, panellists are not permitted to nominate artists in whom they have a close professional interest. Managers, agents, publicists or record company members of staff are not allowed to vote for any artist(s) that they represent. The returned nominations are collated and the top four receiving the most nominations in each category are then listed on the voting form in Round Two."

One way of getting involved, next year? :
"The main Voting Panel is made up of 150 people. Panellists must have a professional or semi-professional connection to folk music and be reliably exposed to a wide range of folk, roots and acoustic music. This may include journalists, broadcasters, promoters, publishers, musicians, festival and folk club organisers, members of arts organisations, academics, publicists, agents and label and distribution company personnel. Membership of the Voting Panel is determined by the BBC & Smooth Operations and is reviewed every three years. You can apply to be on the panel by emailing your name, position and credentials to folkawardspanel@smoothoperations.com "

~~~~~
The programme is produced by Smooth Operations (7digital) ..."7digital fosters industry growth and innovation by simplifying access to music for clients such as Onkyo, Guvera, OpenLIVE, and The Overflow. From years of being the largest independent producer of programming for the BBC, launching Radioplayer in multiple territories, and powering services for partners like HMV, Panasonic and ROK Mobile, 7digital is perfectly positioned to lead innovation at the intersection of digital music and next-generation radio services."
Ok, this page makes them look a bit more cuddly "Our greatest strength is devising formats with enduring appeal, ranging from Radcliffe and Maconie's daily show on BBC Radio 6 Music, to our long-running associations with the Cambridge Folk Festival and industry-facing events such as the Radio Festival and the Radio Academy's prestigious award ceremony."
http://about.7digital.com/company/smooth-operations
~~~~~~~~~~~~
About Nick Barraclough & John Leonard - Smooth Operations , 2007
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/business/business-news/ubc-smooths-in-for-radio-deal-1118230