For 28 years, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation has recognized artists who have contributed to the evolution of rock ‘n’ roll. Nominees for 2011 were announced Sept. 28.

The nominees include Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, The Beastie Boys and LL Cool J.

“The nominating committee, composed of rock ‘n’ roll historians, selects nominees each year in the performer category,” said Margaret Thresher, director of communications for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. “Ballots are then sent to an international voting body of more than 500 rock experts.”

However, some professors of music at Ohio State have different opinions about the merit and quality of the voting process.

“I think the very idea of a hall of fame is problematic in the first place,” said OSU music professor Graeme Boone. “Is fame really a central criterion in the appreciation of music?”  

An act must have released its first single or album at least 25 years ago to be eligible for nomination and must have demonstrated unquestionable musical excellence, Thresher said.

“The committee seems to prefer artists with success on the record charts, but it would be interesting to see people who aren’t so mainstream, like Mike Patton or Nick Drake, nominated,” said Nicholas Poss, OSU history of rock and roll lecturer.

Performers who receive the highest number of votes and more than 50 percent of the vote are inducted into the Hall of Fame. Five to seven acts generally receive enough votes for induction, Thresher said.

“The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame takes such a broad view of rock and roll that it is difficult to imagine a modern musician who wouldn’t qualify for inclusion,” Poss said.

The foundation has received criticism in the past for ignoring certain genres.

“Rock ‘n’ roll has always had an ambivalent relationship to the establishment, and thus to museums and other institutions of cultural judgment, partly because it grew up in opposition to these very things,” Boone said.

Following induction in 2006, surviving members of punk-rock band the Sex Pistols refused to attend the ceremony in a letter calling the Hall of Fame a “piss stain.”

The foundation has also been criticized for including names with greater star appeal in favor of more influential artists. Rush and KISS are two of the notable bands that have not yet been inducted.

“As a ‘musical expert,’ for what that is worth,” Boone said. “I would say that trying to judge who is really best is pointless at best,” Boone said.