Here is Rock and Roll Hall of Fame expert Charles Crossley, Jr’s detailed analysis of the 2016 nominees (reposted here with permission from his message board):

Here's my yearly analysis of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominee Ballot.  Each year, the nominating committee (I refer to them as the "nomcom") select a group of acts eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Acts are eligible 25 years after their first national release.  The nominating committee is composed of rock critics, music industry executives, managers, a few musicians, one or two music historians and a few people I’m not sure who they are. . . .  Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone magazine is Chairman of the R&RHoF, Joel Peresman is CEO of the R&RHoF Foundation, Greg Harris is CEO of the R&RHoF Museum, and Jon Landau, manager of Bruce Springsteen, is President of the R&RHoF Nominating Committee.   The Foundation oversees the Museum, the Library and Archives, the nominating and induction processes, fundraising and the induction ceremony, its biggest fundraiser. 
It seems many people define rock as “white boys playing loud”, with maybe a few exceptions that seem to prove the rule.  Many others have a broad definition of rock using one rule of thumb or another.  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame uses a broad definition, pointing back to the beginning of rock in the late 40s on.  Personally, I define rock from the perspective of Alan Freed, the disc jockey who popularized the term “rock and roll” to refer to the music rather than just sex.  Freed played what we would call early R&B and doo wop, and called that “rock and roll”.  I define rock and roll as any music Freed played and any music that is derived from what Freed played.  And that covers a lot of music. . . . 
My analysis started as a reaction to many theories about who the nomcom nominates.  People have written that the nomcom nominates this type of act or that type of act.  The analysis has now grown beyond a tool of disproving theories to just being plain interesting. 
So, first, let’s look at this year’s R&RHoF nominee ballot:

*The Cars
*Cheap Trick
*Chic
*Chicago
*Deep Purple
*Janet Jackson
*The J.B.'s
*Chaka Khan (Note: this is as a soloist, not as a member of Rufus)
*Los Lobos
*Steve Miller (Note: unless the R&RHoF changes its mind, this is just Steve Miller, and not the Steve Miller Band)
*Nine Inch Nails
*N.W.A
*The Smiths
*The Spinners
*Yes

Next, let’s look at the subgenres represented. 

Note:  artists don’t like being labeled by subgenres or styles.  It’s not how they usually look at creating music, and they see it as a type of pigeon-holing that keeps people from hearing their music.  That said, fans, radio stations and retailers use subgenres or styles to help them sort through the myriads of acts to find acts that to them seem similar.  I don’t mean to offend any artists, but please understand – this is how fans view music acts.

2 – Alternative
1 – Dance pop
1 - Disco
1 - Funk
1 – Jazz rock
1 - Metal
1 – New wave
1 – Philly soul
1 – Pop rock
1 – Power pop
1 – Progressive rock
1 - Rap
1 – Roots rock
1 – Soul

Next, by members, including birthplaces. Asterisks (*) indicates members who will most likely be inducted, either because they appeared on two important recordings or because, in the case of Nine Inch Nails, they were Trent Reznor (yes, I'm blunt).... Any members not listed did not appear on a major recording. ??? indicates unknown birthplace or birthdate


The Cars
*Ric Ocasek - lead vocals, rhythm guitar (B. 23 Mar 1944 in Baltimore, Maryland)
*Greg Hawkes - lead guitar (B. 22 Oct 1952 in Fulton, Maryland)
*Elliot Easton - keyboards (B. 18 Dec 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, New York)
*David Robinson - drums (B. 24 Apr 1949 in Maiden, Massachusetts)
*Benjamin Orr - bass, lead vocals (B. 08 Sep 1947 in Lakewood, Ohio - d. 03 Oct 2000 in Atlanta, Georgia of pancreatic cancer at the age of 53)


Cheap Trick *Robin Zander- vocals, guitar (B. 23 Jan 1953, Beloit, Washington)
*Tom Petersson- bass (B. 09 May 1950, Rockford, Illinois)
*Rick Nielsen- guitar  (B. 22 Dec 1946, Elmhurst, Illinois)
*Bun E. Carlos- drums (B. 12 Jun 1950, Rockford, Illinois)
Randy “Xeno” Hogan – vocals (B. 02 May ???, Rockford,Illinois)
Ken Adamany – keyboards (birthdate ???, birthplace ???)
Stu Erikson – bass (birthdate ???, birthplace???)
Pete Comita – bass (birthdate ???, birthplace ???)
Jon Brant – bass (B. 20 Feb 1954, Chicago, Illinois)
Daxx Nielsen – drums (B. 12 Aug 1980, birthplace ???)


Chic *Bernard Edwards- bass (B. 31 Oct 1952, Greenville, North Carolina-D. 18 Apr 1996, Tokyo, Japan of pneumonia)
*Nile Rodgers- guitar (B. 19 Sep 1952, Greenwich Village, New York, New York)
*Tony Thompson- drums (B. 05 Nov 1954, Queens, New York, New York-d. 12 Nov 2003, Encino, California of kidney cancer)
*Norma Jean Wright- vocals (B. ??? in Ripley, Tennessee, R. in Elyria, Ohio)
*Luci Martin- vocals (B. 10 Jan 1955, The Bronx, New York, New York, R. in Queens, New York, New York)
*Alfa Anderson- vocals  (B. 07 Sep 1946, The Bronx, New York, New York)

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