The Christmas number 1!

Albie

Keeping an open eye on the Weeping Angels.
It's quite the coveted thing, for those that care, and so many pop and novelty acts do their utmost to get it.

But this year in the UK, it's a whole new ball game. The X Factor and Simon Cowell has yet again lined up the winner of the show to sing a crass ballad and marketed it to the hilt to make sure it's them, and they have achieved it year in, year out - despite the many Internet campaigns to halt this mighty machine. And good luck to them - after all, they don't force us to buy it.

Along comes this years internet campaign to try to outsell Mr Cowell's prodigy and the chosen song is Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name of. And what do you know, it is, as I type, outselling Joe McElderry (X Factor winner). When the download is only 29p, it's worth a small price to pay to see such a controversial Christmas number 1 (and McCartney is backing them as well).




However, the astute amongst you may have spotted something here - Simon Cowell is in bed with Sony and both Rage Against the Machine and Joe McElderry are Sony artists. It's a win win situation for Sony. An Internet campaign that could so easily have been dreamt up by Sony's very own marketing people. ;)
 
Albie said:
However, the astute amongst you may have spotted something here - Simon Cowell is in bed with Sony and both Rage Against the Machine and Joe McElderry are Sony artists. It's a win win situation for Sony. An Internet campaign that could so easily have been dreamt up by Sony's very own marketing people. ;)

As a conspiracy theorist (at least when it comes to marketing) I am ready to believe that it was. ;)
 
I don't think it's a deliberate Sony conspiracy.

1. There are only a few major labels. If you wanted every song to be on a different label, there'd only be 4 songs on the charts. Artists sharing a label doesn't mean anything anymore (at least not for the major labels).

2. The majors have gotten so huge that it's no longer one big happy family. A fight between factions of a major label can still be real.

3. The biggest thing: Rage Against The Machine have always been true to their name. As people, they walk the walk - not merely talk the talk in their songs. RATM would probably not cooperate if the idea for this came from the label. Since they do seem to be into it, that strongly suggests that this is a genuine fan initiative.

Further, the Rage song in question is best known for the refrain "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me". If Sony was trying to mastermind a #1 single, I think they'd choose a less controversial song - and they'd choose a song that's newer. (The RATM song came out in 1993, IIRC.)

Sony has simply gotten so big that everything in the music industry is win-win for them. They have fingers in all the pies, just like the other major labels.
 
I don't really care, not bothered who number 1 is and who it will be or who it was, regardless if its Christmas or not. I don't listen to popular radio and I'm not paying attention when I do hear it.
At the very least money is going to charity though, but the "goal" is irrelevant for me. Its not like I was going to buy the X-Factor rubbish in the first place and I doubt this will sway those who were, its all just a "haha look at who is number 1" fad.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
Sony has simply gotten so big that everything in the music industry is win-win for them. They have fingers in all the pies, just like the other major labels.
Similar to the situation that Maiden was in when they had their only UK number 1. They released it on Christmas Eve to "Scare the f'ing living daylights out of Cliff Richard" (who was in the middle of his single handed campaign to hammer home to us all the true meaning of Christmas). Both Maiden and Sir Cliff are from EMI. I seem to recall it was Queen that toppled Maiden with Innuendo - again, EMI.

And as much as we like conspiracies, it was a genuine "organic grass roots campaign" (as quoted by Zack de la Rocha) set up by a husband and wife team from Essex.


Rage Against the Machine won, by the way. :D
 
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