Sound CheckAl Walser, the questionable Best Dance Recording Grammy nominee
If you've never heard of Al Walser, you're not alone.
Electronic dance music (EDM) fans were left scratching their heads on Dec. 5 after the Grammy Award nominations were released and contenders such as Avicii, Calvin Harris, Skrillex and Swedish House Mafia were named alongside seemingly unknown artist Walser in the category of Best Dance Recording.
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Check out his tune "I Can't Live Without You" that is named in the category.
Critiquing the clip, Philip Sherburne of SPIN writes, "The song's clunky rock/trance fusion and low-budget video make Rebecca Black's 'Friday' sound and look cutting-edge in comparison, and a video of Walser performing looks like something 'Saturday Night Live' might come up with if it revived 'Sprockets' for the EDM era."
At press time the singer/CEO of Cut The Bull Entertainment has 590 followers and 1,627 subscribers on Facebook, but who is he?
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According to MTV News, Walser was born in the Principality of Liechtenstein, is now based in Hollywood, California, and started out in the '90s with the German euro-dance group Fun Factory before branching out.
"I've been in this game for decades," he said. "I traveled the world as a DJ, as a singer, as a songwriter, as a producer. Believe me, I've worn all hats. It's a beautiful thing to be rewarded. Especially the Grammys."
MTV points out that Walser is also the author of the book "Musicians Make It Big: An Insider Reveals -- The Secret Path to Break in Today's Music Industry," that says to contain "secret industry loopholes that will have masses of new fans discover you."
He also has a connection to Grammy voters and is one himself, saying, "I've been a voter for years. And there were some relationships that were established. Especially me being in Los Angeles."
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He also said, "They see me. I perform in Los Angeles, and I let them be a part of the process of the song growing. I'll shoot an email to a few of the guys and say, 'Look do you like this? This is how the hook sounds. What do you think?' ... There are thousands and thousands of [Grammy voters]. I'm not connected to all of them, but they can grasp me. They know Al Walser."
Upon closer inspection, it turns out that a lot of people do know Walser. The Huffington Post notes that his Grammys members-only social networking page on Grammy365.com boasts 104 pages of "friends," which translates into about 4,160 contacts.
"It's unclear how many of those 4,160 contacts are voting members but there are around 10,000 voting members and reportedly 13,000 members total (so 3,000 non-voting members like me)," Daniel Weisman, blogger and founder of the Los Angeles-based music management company Elitaste, Inc., explains.
"So roughly 76 percent of members are voting members. Apply that to his 4,160 contacts and you have 3,200 voting members which is certainly enough to secure a lesser known category nomination."
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Weisman's conclusion is that Walser may have spammed his way into a nomination and it will be interesting to see who takes home Grammy glory in February 2013.
Is anyone else wondering what the outspoken Canadian DJ deadmau5 thinks about this?
