What a refreshing idea – Rage Against The Machine being the Christmas No.1. I happen to think that “killing in the name’ is their best track. It’s not exactly pop music, but it appeals to my punky dim and distant days. It’s not in my Top Ten, but it is probably close – out of my 13,500 itunes library, it is ranked in the top 25… by times played
Ronnie - unlikely ever to win X-Factor?
But it may have a chance to make No.1 – not because of its festive cheerfulness (of which there is none) but because of a Facebook Campaign! Supposedly 500,000 are signed up to poke Simon Cowells X-Factor in the eye. The cynical commerciality of X-Factor is being railed against – or is it?
I have nothing against the people left in X-Factor – but they are almost guaranteed a No.1 at Christmas because of the show . Not because of the song (which will probably be a cover) or because of their voice is good (I am told they can all sing) or because of the festive-feel (unlikely to be covering Roy Wood?).
The music industry is a money-making machine – and on the face of it I have no issue with this. It is business.
Cowell coming out and saying the campaign is ‘silly‘ is funny at face value. Did 500,000 people rattle his cage? Has his ego been dented? He suggests that the campaign will spoil it for the three contestants. A given then that one of them is somehow entitled to the Number 1 spot? What about all of the other artistes?
Having thought about this I am not sure. The cynic in me suggests that this is all part of the game. All publicity is great publicity. By stoking the fire here a major group of the population will buy ‘Rage’ to keep ‘X-Factor Winner person’ off the top spot. Who wins? Well, both of them do and so do the Record Company – in both cases Sony BMG!
Am I going to buy Rage? I am undecided – part of me says yes to rebel against the inevitable, but the other part says no. But it is not a ‘no’ because I already own it on CD and thus have it a high bit rate (see my earlier blog!) – it is probably because if you buy it on itunes it is not 79p (as most other tracks are) but is 99p. Now if thats not Apple / itunes profiteering I don’t know what is!
I might buy it, but I might just put my 99p in a Charity Box…
Update 12 December: I was told that the reason the track is 99p is that it is DRM free – which is great – except the the restricted copy is not available! But if you want a cheap copy – try Amazon here. Unfortunatley it won’t add to the singles count – there are rules about pricing, and it has to cost 60p to count!
Update 20 December
So RATM beat X-Factor. Amazing power of facebook! And no I didn’t buy a copy – having already owned one. Yes I know – bah humbug!
December 13th, 2009 at 01:45
Lots of guys write about this subject but you wrote down some true words.
December 15th, 2009 at 20:04
just for info, Amazon does count. It has to cost 40p, not 60p to count, but that’s the *dealer* price, not the *retail* price. Retailers are free to charge whatever they want, and in this case Amazon are taking a loss.
You touched on something important here though. Sony BMG gets the rake for both tracks. And that’s what makes me suspect it’s not quite as innocent or rebellious as all we’ve been led to think. Think about it, Cowell’s sales won’t be hurt one bit – maybe even increased by X Factor fans trying to fight back, and Cowell’s colleagues get to tap a market that would have otherwise spent zero on singles this christmas.
The genius of this is that a number of these sales are to people who already own it.
The bitter aftertaste is that I felt for a little while I was part of some people-powered fightback. Literally a “Rage Against the Machine”. The double irony is that I did exactly what I was told – not by facebook, but possibly by the machine itself. Cowell branded the group “cynical” yet if he was involved in it.. well.. who’s the cynic? Ouch.
December 15th, 2009 at 20:44
Leon, I agree with you – I think this is all very cynical – and itunes are culpable too…
September 25th, 2010 at 13:56
[...] the great divide 6. ipad – a new beginning 7. Cruel April Fool 8. I hate Sainsbury’s 9. Rage against Cowell 10. Little Boots food [...]