Reading The Guardian yesterday, came across this article that might be of interest to some;

Ahem ... fuck The Guardian and fuck the Mercury prize, I'd rather metal stayed as far away from such bullshit as possible.

For the fans, by the fans. For the love of the music, not the critics. We don't need the mainstream media, for me it's completely at odds with everything metal stands for.

Seriously, what more "award" does a band need than healthy album sales, praise from our own dedicated media and a room full of people headbanging to their music when they tour?

I can't for the life of me understand why a group of people would protest at the lack of metal in the mainstream media. Said media is awash with bullshit, mediocrity and style over substance. I for one enjoy the distance between it and metal.

Thanks for that link trout, you've wound me right up there

Well the article did pretty much say that it suits metal to not be included in such things, so it does agree with your sentiments, unless you just hate The Guardian for other reasons
Like to hear from a bands point of view though, would they like to hold on to their outsider/elitist status or win £20k and still continue doing what they do?