Is your fanbase alive? Why Black Veil Brides dominated the 2013 AP Readers Poll

It’s no secret that Black Veil Brides absolutely annihilated the competition in our 2013 Readers Poll. The results were not even close—the Brides pretty much cleaned house. The skewed results don’t exactly come as a surprise if you take into account the known devotion of the “BVB Army”—an overzealous devotion to say the least. (Sorry BVB fans, but “Andy Biersack” was not a proper response for Best Photographer.) What does come as a surprise, though, is the uproar of disappointment and backlash against Black Veil Brides (and sometimes AP) for their consecutive string of blowout victories.

People were pissed.

hey good job @AltPress for giving all the awards for 2013 to black veil brides; they’re awful and aren’t nearly as deserving as other bands.

— ~Lyndon~ (@jesusboner) December 27, 2013

Black Veil Brides winning in almost EVERY category in the @AltPress readers poll this year makes me want to move to another planet, ew.

— stabahoe (@hstabahoe) December 30, 2013

Its safe to say Alternative Press Magazine has lost their creditbility for having Black Veil Brides as artist of the year. So ridiculous

— Mike Miller (@Mikeachino) December 27, 2013

Where was all of this negative energy during the voting process? If people were so opposed to the Brides winning so many of our readers poll categories, they should’ve at least showed up to vote against the band. Better yet, they should’ve just put positive energy into voting and showing support for their favorite bands.

The notion that we gave the awards away is ridiculous enough (fans vote; fans choose; AP does not give anything). But people even went as far as to say the poll was rigged. I can assure you, the results were not rigged; they were manually counted, with care, by the thousands. (And what a lovely way to spend the holidays that was!) Besides, if we lived in some obscure world where a music magazine would rig its readers poll, don’t you think it would be rigged in favor of the band AP staff already selected as artist of the year? >>>

Speaking of AP’s artist of the year, where were the Sleeping With Sirens fans for the voting? SWS barely managed to make a blip on the poll of their crowning year. The band did, however, manage to go virtually unchallenged in the Most Overrated Band category (in a year where they certainly were not overrated in the polls). The most overrated band were barely even rated.

If we go by the numbers, SWS should’ve easily trumped BVB in the polls. Their latest album, Feel, sold approximately 60,000 copies in its first week of release, while the Brides’ most recent album only moved 42,000 copies its first week. SWS played to massive crowds on the 2013 Vans Warped Tour. Our last issue, featuring Sleeping With Sirens on the cover (AP 306), has gone on to become one of our most successful issues of 2013. But with all of that success noted, Sleeping With Sirens were a complete dud in the readers poll. Their fans simply didn’t show up to vote.

Sleeping With Sirens fans weren’t the only group who didn’t show up to vote. Here are some more bands whose lackluster voting turnout completely surprised us:

Fall Out Boy
Don’t get me wrong: Fall Out Boy did okay in the polls. But this was the year of Fall Out Boy’s glorious return. This was the year they finally released a new album. This was the year of Fall Out Boy. We were expecting much more of a turnout on the band’s behalf.

Falling In Reverse
Falling In Reverse did far better in the previous year’s readers poll. Ronnie Radke’s adoring fans have an almost unparalleled level of loyalty to their favorite singer, but their support was just not there this year.

Paramore
To say that Paramore had a huge year would be an understatement. In a situation where most bands would’ve called it quits, Paramore pulled it together and released one of the year’s most successful and critically acclaimed albums. But Paramore did not win a single category.

letlive.
letlive. are widely regarded as one of the best live bands, and they released one of the best albums of 2013. Anytime AP has covered the band, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. But frontman Jason Butler’s victory in the Best Beard category was the band’s only nod this year.
Maybe some fans have grown complacent. Maybe some bands are just losing steam. Regardless, Black Veil Brides’ fans showed up to vote in 2013. Where were you for your favorite band? Simply dismissing the Brides’ impressive string of victories as “the work of annoying fangirls” is not an acceptable excuse for apathy on the part of other voters. We encourage all fans to vote and show loving support for their favorite bands, all the while not condemning the motivated as “annoying fangirls.” Don’t sit out the election; you might not like the results.