Music Awards and Online Betting:
Winning through predicting the outcome of musical events
In the past, only sports games were being bet on by people. Through informal means or by the help of professional bookers, betting has always been enclosed within the realms of sports such as basketball, baseball, football, and horse racing. However, with the dawn of technology and social media, people from all over the world can now place bets on almost anything including reality-TV shows and musical awards.
Betting on TV show contests is similar to how wagering on sports events works. Contestants who are predicted to win the event will have the highest odds but small payouts, while the underdogs will have the highest payouts.
The Barclaycard Mercury Prize in the UK is one of the shows that have a betting market. To the uninitiated, the Barclaycard Mercury Prize is an event that promotes the best UK and Irish music and the people who produce them. The event, as mentioned in its official website, is the equivalent of the Booker Prize for literature and the Turner Prize for Art. Apart from promoting the best albums of the year, it is also an affair that captures the overview of the music scene within a given year and a venue to launch new musical albums of different genres.
In 2013, David Bowie was among the highest contenders in the odds betting race. In a report by betting author Max Liu, the legendary rock musician David Bowie’s return in the music scene with a new album made him a strong competitor in the Mercury Music Prize Awards (source: http://betting.betfair.com/) . David’s amazing performance in his hit single The Next Day almost made him bag this year’s trophy. On the other hand, Laura Mvula was also a tough competitor in this year’s Mercury Awards, with a few bettors who placed six-figure bets under her name (source: www.telegraph.co.uk). Unfortunately, despite the inferences, it was James Blake who took home the trophy for his amazingly-arranged electronic music album Overgrown.
To some, betting on music may seem new and odd, but many have already accepted it as a new form of entertainment. After all, betting on who will win on musical events such as the Barclaycard Mercury Prize is just like predicting who will win in sports matches. In short, the transition from sports to popular media betting wasn’t very hard to recognize and accept as a new norm.
Pittsburgh Music Magazine 