Selection Bias in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

To begin this essay, I would like to make one thing perfectly clear. I am not a music historian like the people who choose the inductees to Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Aside from a one-semester class on popular music history, I have no academic background in the subject. However, it has been an interest for me for quite some time, and I often do research on influential bands and musicians in my spare time. This has led me to develop a very large appreciation for music history, and that is why I have chosen this topic. With such a deep interest in the music I will be discussing, however, it is inevitable that I will fall victim to the same bias that I believe is inherent in the Cleveland museum's selection and display. In an attempt to avoid this as much as possible, then, I will first present only factual evidence with as little bias as I can manage, and then open up the second part of my essay to my own personal opinion on the subject. I believe this to be the most effective method for this discussion, in my effort to prove the bias of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.