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Rage Against The Machine - UK Charts Christmas Number One


Quite cool isn't it.

The Christmas number one is a big thing over here. Every year, even if you didn't normally listen to the chart show, people would tune in on their radio to find out what the UK Christmas number one was.

Since 2005 however, Simon Cowell and his popular TV show The X Factor has stolen Christmas and the number one spot with the TV show's winner's single. This year the show was won a week ago by a young lad called Joe McElderry and has released his first single "The Climb" (originally Miley Cyrus) in the hopes of fulfilling the X Factor tradition and be the fifth X Factor winner to steal the Christmas number one spot.

To some people this has taken some of the magic away from Christmas, and so a Facebook group has been campaigning to get people to buy none other than Rage Against The Machine's 1992 track "Killing In The Name" in the hope of getting it to the Christmas number one spot and being the "David to the X Factor's Goliath" as Tom Morello has commented.

It started as an unrealistic idea to protest against Simon Cowell and his stranglehold on the UK charts, but soon captured the nation's attention and right now the group currently has nearly one million members! The Christmas number one battle is back, and has been one of the top national stories all week.

The Rage Against The Machine song was at a slight disadvantage by only being available via download, where Joe's single was in every shop in the country as well as available for download sales.

And we did it! The people of the UK have made themselves heard as we made Rage Against The Machine and "Killing In The Name" Christmas number one 2009 and stopped Simon Cowell's run of the charts he has had for four years.

The Facebook campaigners can be proud of themselves for bringing the rap/funk metal anthem back into the spotlight and certainly making headline news tomorrow morning. History has been made this evening, the people have spoken!

Tom Morello has promised a free headlining Rage Against The Machine show in the UK next year to celebrate. Zack de la Rocha has commented that the money made is going to be going to a shelter charity, and confirms the band will do a free show here next year.

Also making a one-off appearance in the top ten was Journey, with their 1981 hit "Don't Stop Believin'" at number nine after a similar, smaller campaign to stop The X Factor single reaching number one.

Band profile: Rage Against The Machine
Posted: 20.12.2009 by Baz Anderson


Comments page 2 / 2

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Comments: 35   [ 4 ignored ]   Visited by: 236 users
21.12.2009 - 16:29
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Mmm, why an OLD song. 17 years old. Porbably most of the people that downloaded it now didn't even know it when it when it was originally a hit. Yes it did enter the charts at the time.

So, actually quite lame this campaign, if you ask me.
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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21.12.2009 - 16:35
Marcus
Doit Like Bernie
Written by gid on 21.12.2009 at 10:23

Written by Marcus on 21.12.2009 at 09:26

Written by gid on 21.12.2009 at 09:10

Written by Marcus on 21.12.2009 at 04:15

Written by Idioglossia on 20.12.2009 at 21:28

Written by Guest on 20.12.2009 at 21:17

Written by Idioglossia on 20.12.2009 at 21:10

This is hypocritical and rather pathetic. People who support this spend half of the year dismissing the UK charts as meaningless and "not real music", and then do this and think they're accomplishing something. Little do they realise that they are just playing into the hands of Sony, who in turn fund the release of the X Factor singles that these muppets claim to be rebelling against.

No .... absolutely you misjudged that. Read this mister (from the Mirror):

"Rage Against The Machine will donate the proceeds made out of their Christmas number one battle with Joe McElderry to charity.

Guitarist Tom Morello told BBC 6 Music that the profits will help young musicians "take on the establishment".

The money will go towards Youth Music, a charity which helps children work with music who ordinarily could not afford to. "

So the money will go to some people who need it.... not into the pockets of Simon my ass


You really think RATM will get all the money generated from this? They will only see a fraction of it. Most of it will go straight into the pockets of the big bosses at Sony, who will then be able to (if they choose to) pump more money into Simon Cowell's company Syco, as Sony is its parent company.


About 80-90% of the money from downloads goes to the artist, I believe.


I'd love to see where you got this figure, because most of the time digital downloads bring the artist next to nothing. Yes, it's cool that RATM are going to give the money they make to charity, but you'd have to be naïve to believe most of the money doesn't go to the record label. Which happens to be the one Simon Cowell works for.


http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2008_Jan_8/ai_n24225355/

End of the second paragraph, "artists get the lions share of revenue"

http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-retail-stores-not/4620784-1.html

Artists get 50% of revenue, at least from Sony BMG, which happens to be the label Cowell is under. My ass he gets most of the revenue.

Unfrotunately I couldn't find the exact figure that i mentioned, not sure where I read them. But as you can see, Artists get much more from downloads than the usual 15% they receive from record sales.


You've managed to cherry pick figures out of both articles you linked without actually putting them in context. In the first link it says artists will increasingly get the lion's share once record labels become marginalized. Which they haven't done yet. And the second article is about how Sony BMG are being sued by artists who are only get 4.5 cents per 99 cent track, rather than the 30 cents they believe they are owed. So they think they're owed about 30% of the total revenue, and are only getting 4.5%. Nowhere near the 50% magic number you came up with from somewhere.

I never said Simon Cowell himself is getting the majority of the money, I said Sony BMG is, which is the label Simon Cowell works for. Whichever single won, Sony BMG gained from it, and Simon's just laughing all the way to the bank. Do you think he honestly cares where his money comes from? He's a pop music peddlar.

3rd paragraph: "Sony BMG is violating contractual obligations to share 50% of the net licensing revenue from digital music transactions with artists"

Thus, Sony BMG promises to give its artists 50% of the revenure from digital downloads. As far as I can remember, contracts are bound by law. Anyways I wasm't referring to what you said when I stated he wouldn't keep it, just everyone else who is convinced that he would.

No matter what, this is a stupid argument. My first figures were wildly exaggerated, and so were yours. we stand corrected.
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22.12.2009 - 12:38
Passenger
Lost To Apathy
FUCK YOU I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MOTHERFUCKRE!!!!!!!!!!!
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You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it ~ Mean Streets
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22.12.2009 - 13:00
Silent Jay

ANGEL OF DEATH FOR CHRISTMAS #1 2010!!!!
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28.12.2009 - 16:55
Baz Anderson

Joe was number one on Sunday... which was to be expected. Surprisingly though, Rage Against The Machine stayed up there at number two.
Seems people are still buying it and the "protest" is over...
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