Reader Polls in the music industry are voting mechanisms used by music publications and magazines to engage audiences in selecting winners for various music awards and recognition categories. These polls allow readers to vote for their favorite artists, albums, songs, and performers across different genres and categories. Publications like DownBeat, Rolling Stone, Guitar World, and other music magazines regularly conduct reader polls to determine annual winners, often running alongside or separate from critics' polls. Reader polls serve as a democratic way to gauge public opinion and fan preferences in music, though they can sometimes differ significantly from critical consensus.