Sound of 2017

Obviously, it's that time of year again when the industry pretends to be subtly suggesting, rather than discreetly demanding, who will be the big stars of next year. Bear in mind the names who came through big that they didn't mention, so first up is the longlist for "Sound of 2017":

AJ Tracey
Anderson .Paak
Cabbage
Dave
Declan McKenna
Jorja Smith
Maggie Rogers
Nadia Rose
Rag N Bone Man
Ray BLK
Raye
Stefflon Don
The Amazons
The Japanese House
Tom Grennan

Here's an astute complaint about said list:

The tipsters have lost the plot

Here, on a not dissimilar note are the three contenders for the Brit Awards' Critic's Choice:

Anne-Marie is currently number one as the featured performer on Clean Bandit's hit Rockabye.
Dua Lipa, who was on the BBC's Sound Of 2016 list earlier this year, has scored hits with her singles Hotter Than Hell and Blow Your Mind (Mwah).
Rag N Bone Man, meanwhile, has been number one for nine weeks in Germany with his soul-stirring ballad Human. The song is set to enter the UK chart for the first time this week after being performed by X Factor contestant Emily Middlemas.
The nominees were chosen by a panel of music industry experts - from critics and record label employees to heads of the UK's biggest radio stations.

What nonsense.

And to cap it all off, there's the BBC's own Introducing Awards, which goes to: Izzy Bisu, who was also on the 2016 lists.

The selected Critics' Choice winner was Rag n Bone Man, who might be an outside bet for Christmas #1 too

MTV's Brand New strand listed a few names for 2017:

Tom Grennan
Raye
Bishop Briggs (a terrible name!)
The Amazons
Ray BLK
Stefflon Don
Nadia Rose

Again, many of these have already had hits this year (or near misses).

The BBC rundown has been completed today:

5 - Nadia Rose
4 - Jorja Smith
3 - Raye
2 - Rag n Bone Man
1 - Ray BLK

Last year's victor was Jack Garratt, whose debut album Phase entered the charts at number three. He praised the "very diverse" range of acts on 2017 longlist, which also included agitprop rock band Cabbage and folk-pop ingenue Maggie Rogers.
"This list shows it is possible to have a great ear for melody and not just write the same four chords in different keys.
"2017 is going to be such an incredible year for art, especially given how terrible 2016 was for politics.
"We've all got a lot to write about and I think we're going to write some incredible stuff."

Jack "no hits in 2016" Garratt, there. Ray, aka Rita Ekwere, will probably do better on that score, at least.

Nadia Rose's album was out a few weeks ago, to deafening disinterest. Should be more for Rag n Bone Man, who this week has to show that Human wasn't just a kooky one-off by a particularly weird-looking bloke.

Coming up to the halfway stage, and Rag n Bone Man probably just ahead of Raye for the most successful. Most of the others trailing a long way behind.

Stefflon Don has really come on in the past few months, with successful records with Demi Lovato and now French Montana.

Tom Grennan has also managed a few minor successes too.

The Year in Music 2017
A BBC review which gave out a few awards too; Foo Fighters winning Best Live Performance, Rag N Bone Man getting Best Album, Declan McKenna winning the Introducing Act award, and Stormzy winning the overall Artist of the Year.

Music Legends We Lost
A lengthy consideration of 10 of the year's losses, from George Michael to Tom Petty, and checking out Fats Domino, Glen Campbell, two guys from Can, and Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington, with an added roll call of other names at the end.

Top of the Pops Christmas & New Year Specials
Sums up modern music, a zombiefied trotting out of a discredited brand in the pretence that it still has any connection to the much-loved weekly show when they only do 2 shows a year. But they got the predictable likes of Clean Bandit, Ed Sheeran, Raye, Dua Lipa and more to rock up and sing their hits all the same.