mlbsupport

May 21, 2020

North Carolina Awards Committee,
N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources,
4601 Mail Service Center,
Raleigh, North Carolina 27699

Dear Committee Members:

I am pleased to be included in the nomination of Clay Aiken for the North Carolina Award in Fine Arts.

I am confident that there are others in this nomination process who can and will speak to Mr. Aiken's exemplary career accomplishments, better than I.

My purpose, however, is to make one critical point, which in my mind, speaks to why Mr. Aiken, at his relatively "young" 41 years, is uniquely deserving of representing this state as a recipient of this award.

And that is this: the measurement of Mr. Aiken's extraordinary career accomplishments, from 2003 to present, compared to how we have typically measured the success of artists in decades previously, is the very example of apples & oranges.

When Mr Aiken's career exploded in 2003, following his performances on American Idol, it coincided with significant changes to the entertainment industry & society. It would quickly change the landscape of the music industry forever. Facebook, Twitter, iTunes, YouTube & mobile phones, all burst into our lives, changing how we access information, & connect with each other. We could now post & share information, download digital music-& record live performances with our cell phones.

The old standard path to commercial success by setting out on inexpensive, uncomplicated road tours & selling records, leading to industry recognition & awards--was quickly disappearing. To attract patrons, concerts became more elaborate productions. Touring became an expensive proposition requiring enormous commercial sponsorships. No longer did fans have to physically attend a concert of their favorite artist to enjoy their work. Fans could also purchase digital music, or access widely shared digital content & videos.

Just ask Mr Aiken. His fans may very well have been the first to discover ways to attend concerts & use their cell phones to record his entire performance live, broadcasting audio to thousands of members logged into private message boards. They would also load videos of his performances from each city on tour, onto YouTube. You would think that it would have greatly diminished the crowds that filled arenas to see him. But it didn't. And he successfully toured for 10 yrs.

What is most striking about Mr Aiken's career, is the sheer talent reflected in the high demand for him, in evidence during this extraordinary time of change. What used to take artists of a different era, decades to accomplish, also making them much older than Mr Aiken--he has managed within the compressed spanse 17 yrs in which digital access & social media platforms turned entertainment on its head.

His catalog of work is extensive & deserving of recognition. And while he continues to excel in entertainment, his societal contributions across the country with the National Inclusion Project, are also immeasurable.

I hope you will thoughtfully consider Mr. Aiken as the recipient for this year's award.

Respectfully

Mindy Lynn Bakker