It has been commented upon that the Sound of... survey creates a
self-fulfilling prophecy, because the BBC has a significant amount of control on who becomes a "breakthrough act". And by adding the nominated acts to their radio playlists, they are guaranteeing some level of fame.
Guardian critic
Kitty Empire wrote in December 2007, "Many of us are editors commissioning, and journalists writing, our own ones-to-watch forecasts. In order not to look like idiots, we tend to tip acts with records coming out rather than some lad with a tin whistle we found on
MySpace." The same issue was again raised in 2011, upon the publication of the longlist for the Sound of 2012.
The Daily Telegraphs Joe Burgis wrote, "The Sound of 2012 project faces criticism that it is too heavily weighted in favour of mainstream performers." The head of music at
BBC Radio 1 and
1Xtra response to the question was "The list will inspire debate for sure, but most importantly, it will lead to discovery of artists and musicians trying to stand out from the ever-expanding crowd, and that can only be a good thing". This was due to a change in the eligibility criteria, which states that artists could not have had more than two UK top 10 albums or two UK top 10 singles by 30 September 2024. ==References==