On Sunday night, I took a break from my rigorous AP U.S. History studying to watch the American Music Awards. I usually stick to the Grammys when it comes to music awards shows, but I decided to watch the AMAs this year for two reasons—Ariana Grande’s medley performance of “Problem,” “Break Free” and “Love Me Harder” with The Weeknd and Grande’s performance of “Bang Bang” with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj. Although the show was altogether entertaining, amid performances by Iggy Azalea, Taylor Swift and Lorde, I was rather disappointed by the awards portion.

The AMAs allow listeners to vote on every award, from Best Soundtrack to Artist of the Year. While this may seem like a good idea on paper, like communism, it just doesn’t work out well in practice. By allowing the public to vote on such awards, the AMAs shift from being a music awards show aimed at recognizing quality to a music-specific People’s Choice Awards.

One Direction provides a prime example of the AMAs’ voting flaws. Sunday night, One Direction won all of the awards they were nominated for—including Artist of the Year. This category pitted them against artists such as Azalea and Beyonce, the latter of which changed the landscape of the music industry with her fifth solo album, “BEYONCE.” However, One Direction still managed to snag this award because, unlike Azalea and Queen Bey, they have an army of teen girls as their fanbase, willing to do whatever it takes so that their dreamy British heartthrobs can win the award.

Contrarily, awards shows like the Grammys have industry professionals vote on each award category. While the Grammys have received a lot of criticism for this practice, with artists stating that the voters are disconnected from quality music and rarely nominate “out-there” works, I would say their system is still light years ahead of shows like the AMAs. Odds are, teen bands like One Direction won’t be nominated for a single Grammy this year (no hate to the One Direction boys, but we all know it’s true), but artists like Beyonce, Sam Smith and even alt-J will hopefully be recognized for the marks they left on music this year.

I’m not doubting the public’s discernment of good music. If the AMAs are going to continue allowing the public to vote on awards, though, then the show will continue to be a popularity contest. For now, though, I think I’ll just wait for the Grammys.