A music enthusiast says fans will be taking second billing when the 20th annual East Coast Music Awards hit Fredericton in February.

Johanna Bertin said she had wanted to attend the ECMAs for years and when she found out that the 2008 gala would be in Fredericton she knew she was going to buy tickets.

Bertin said she was among the first to reserve tickets but the best seats were already gone.

Many of the seats in the Aitken Centre have been reserved for nominees, sponsors and representatives from the music industry, said Steve Horne, executive director of the music awards.

"The ECMAs combine a music industry festival with a music conference — I think that's important," Horne said. "I think everyone is there to celebrate — that every seat will be a good seat."

But Bertin said she's disappointed that 2,000 of the 3,500 available seats weren't up for grabs by the general public.

"If the sponsors are getting all of what I call the good seats then the general public has no opportunity to get the good seats and that seems very wrong to me," Bertin told CBC News.

"I've spent $195 for two tickets for two events and I'm sitting in the furthest corner, nine rows up. It's not like I waited until the last minute to get those tickets. I was right on the mark for those tickets," she said.

The ECMAs honour the best in music from the Atlantic region.

The East Coast Music Awards, Festival and Conference begins Feb. 7, in various locations throughout Fredericton.

A special concert celebrating the event's 20th anniversary will take place Feb. 9.

The celebration ends with the awards gala at the Aitken Centre on Feb. 10.

CBC-TV, which usually airs the awards gala live across Canada, announced in November it would instead produce a one-hour special featuring performances drawn from the four days, slated for broadcast March 2.