The move wiped out more than half of the Hall's Early Rock and R&B Influencers subcommittee.

On Thursday, Jon Landau -- the head of the nominating committee for the Rock and Hall of Fame -- emailed an undisclosed number of committee members telling them their services are no longer needed. Sources suggest that as many as 16 of the 42 nominating committee have been their walking papers. But what's got some worried is that the move wiped out more than half of the Hall's Early Rock and R&B Influencers subcommittee.

But some Hall of Fame watchers worry that this latest move by Landau and Jann Wenner -- widely seen as dominating figures in the Hall -- is meant to reduce the focus on the pioneers so that going forward the Hall can focus on artists who came to the fore in the 1980s and soon the 1990s, who might still have more cache with mainstream music fans and HBO, which broadcasts the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's show.

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