competitions for promotional showcases are open to everybody because they
ARE intended to raise the sales of a new album by addressing possibly new fans.
However...I see it too often that people enter such competitions just because they have a chance to win free tickets and because it's always nice to win something.
And when they win, they don't attend the showcase,
because they didn't have to pay for the tickets and maybe aren't in the mood to go that evening... And that's what bothers me very often.
Or they go there for chatting during the whole set...
Being a fan or what size (or weight...
) of a fan has nothing to do with it and is not measurable anyway imo