The good, the bad and the ugly of the 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee announcement:

The Good:

• The inductees! With this ballot it was impossible to make an induction class that wasn't going to be fantastic, but there are some special things about this group: Missy Elliott being the only first ballot black woman and the first female hip hop inductee; The Spinners finally getting over the hump; Rage Against the Machine injecting some much-needed rebelliousness; rewriting George Michael's legacy; honoring Willie Nelson while he's still active; and Sheryl Crow's positivity towards the institution.
• Link Wray's induction! When the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame created the "Singles Category" in 2018 to honor significant songs from artists who weren't in the Hall of Fame, it felt like a consolation prize and a sign that those artists wouldn't be nominated as Performers eligible for induction. And up until now, that had held true. After nominations on the main ballot in 2014 and 2018, Link Wray was selected by the renamed "Musical Influence" committee to be a Hall of Famer this year. This opens up the potential for others who had previously been dismissed as candidates because of their Singles Category honor. It's also a direct consequence of the Hall of Fame's expanded use of the Special Categories to make up for oversights on the Performer ballot. The Hall of Fame had already thrown out the original definition of "Early Influence," which was intended to honor pre-rock 'n roll artists, so Link Wray is a natural fit for this category.
• No artists jumped from the Performer ballot to the Special Categories in the same year! This may seem like a minor point, but last year Judas Priest failed to be inducted on the regular ballot for the third time but were named in the Musical Excellence category anyway. That felt a lot like a consolation prize in the minds of fans, and even Rob Halford. LL Cool J's induction was done the same way in 2021. This year, the Rock Hall kept Chaka Khan off of the ballot clearly knowing they were going to induct her no matter what. This is a far better solution and makes the Hall of Fame seem like they aren't insulting artists while they're trying to honor them. Credit goes to new Nominating Committee chairman Rick Krim for the new discipline (assuming he's responsible).
• Another huge induction class! In each year under the direction of chairman John Sykes, the Rock Hall has had at least 13 inductees. In the years just prior to him taking over, classes were usually around seven, which made the backlog grow deeper every year. Whether the new standard of 13 is enough to make a dent in the snub list remains to be seen, but the larger classes have helped tremendously to honor artists who never would have had a chance in the old system.
• The Fan Vote's impact on the results. After last year's Fan Vote top five all got swept into the Hall of Fame, the significance of the results may have been overblown in the minds of fans. Yes, this year's winner got in again, but outside of that, the others in the top five were shut out. This was a similar result to 2020 when the only top five finisher to get in were the Doobie Brothers, and the runaway fan vote winner Dave Matthews Band did not. This year, Cyndi Lauper fans put up an admirable fight for first place, but ultimately finished in second. Similarly, in 2021, Fela Kuti's fans pushed his name to second in the poll. But after the disappointment of him missing out, they completely abandoned voting for him in 2022 so he finished last. If Cyndi Lauper or Warren Zevon return to the ballot next year, we'll see if their fans return with the same passion they had this year.
• Returning to Cleveland in 2024. The Rock Hall confirmed they are recommitting to hosting the induction ceremony in Cleveland every other year, beginning in 2024. Other cities in the rotation like New York and Los Angeles will have to share the "odd" years (L.A. in 2025? Brooklyn in 2027?), not to mention other cities like London and Nashville that John Sykes teased could get into the rotation.

The Bad:

• The inductee announcement. The Rock Hall tweeted on April 30th that the announcement would be made on May 3rd, but with no additional time or information. Since the SiriusXM deal apparently expired, they were silent as well. The Rock Hall finally tweeted a video of LL Cool J reading the names just after 8am Eastern, and directed people to Apple Music 1 to hear the "complete announcement." That show didn't seem to be live and have any of the energy or discussions that existed on SiriusXM.
• The length of the Fan Vote. There's no reason to encourage fans to vote daily for nearly three months for something with such little impact. That's not an argument in favor of increasing the importance of the Fan Vote, but just to decrease the time devoted to it all.

• The metal problem. Anyone who follows the Rock Hall closely knew that Iron Maiden had no shot at being inducted by way of the Performer ballot. The Voting Committee has proven time and time again that unless an artist has had multiple radio-friendly "hits," they're not interested. The Hall of Fame keeps using the Special Categories to address this deficiency in their system, but they may need to provide more guidance to the voters about what they should be rewarding if they want it to actually change. (Go back to explicitly saying it's not about sales and hit records. Remind voters that innovation and influence is critical. These were some of the guiding principles they used to promote, but have clearly strayed away from.)

The Ugly:

• Messy personal histories. Don Cornelius's career is unquestionably worth celebrating, it's just unfortunate his personal life puts a stain on his legacy.

Like any other year, there are plenty of other things to criticize about the induction process, but on the whole, this year has fewer issues than most and has lots of reasons to celebrate.