People in the uk who are sick of the predictability each year of an x factor winner gaining the x mas number 1 spot have launched a campaign which you can support to change that!
'Killing In The Name' of by Rage Against The Machine has been re released and thanks to a facebook campaign looks like it could scoop the number 1 spot. It is presently 60000 sales ahead of the x factor winners.
Simon Cowell has already called the facebook campaign 'stupid' and is annoyed that the new x factor winners single risks being number 2. Like a lot of people I am sick of the x factor and it's formulaic approach to music and buying a couple of downloads is like a vote to show disdain.
Additionally money raised from the sales are helping the homeless so the cause is very noble
I am in on this. I fucking hate the x factor, it has ruined all the fun that comes with the xmas number 1. It used to be so cool, when you never knew what song was going to be number 1. Now its all the fucking same.
Well i can bet you that the X Factor winner Joe ??? will be # 1 .It's all down to sales figures and it's fixed all the time. Even if Simon Cowell's record company buy them all which will put the X Factor winner at #1 . I cannot see any Granny downloading Rage Against the Machine...with lyrics like "Fuck you i won't do what they tell me"...even though i think its a very aggressive and very METAL upbeat song. The X-factor will be your Christmas #1 Not very Metal, but i'll not be buying it.
Ah well, life goes on. They could have chosen a better song. Killing in the name is a song under BMG by Sony, which is partly owned by Cowell. So he is still laughing his way to the bank.
"The greatest upset in chart history" it is being called- and also the first time a campaign by on a social network site has ousted the favourite.
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE IS THE XMAS NUMBER ONE---SUPERB
Matt
Having a break from online activity for a while to concentrate on music. Please email if you need to get in touch. Matt
however there is a dark side to music i discovered the other day...
according to figures in a national paper it seems only 3 albums sold more than a million copies in the uk in 2009
WTF!
Why the fuck wont people buy albums these days? Why do artists still make albums? People i know sometimes ask me why i dont pursue music as a job in some capacity, this seems a pretty good reason not to bother...
rice_pudding wrote:I was very happy to see RAGE at no.1
however there is a dark side to music i discovered the other day...
according to figures in a national paper it seems only 3 albums sold more than a million copies in the uk in 2009
WTF!
Why the fuck wont people buy albums these days? Why do artists still make albums? People i know sometimes ask me why i dont pursue music as a job in some capacity, this seems a pretty good reason not to bother
Rob
Hi Rob, yes very sad indeed. Infact I was amazed only half a million singles bought these days, gets you to number one in the UK. A few thousand no doubt ensures top 40 status
On a big label like EMI, a popular Classical music cd will only sell about 2000 copies! and that is real mainstream crowd pleasing stuff too.
As a result; I don't know any classical guitarists that can make a living solely from playing and recording. Teaching has become something you have to do in some capacity' (thank God I love it eh LOL)
Happy new year to you my friend
Matt
Having a break from online activity for a while to concentrate on music. Please email if you need to get in touch. Matt
Cpt Matt Sparrow wrote:
As a result; I don't know any classical guitarists that can make a living solely from playing and recording. Teaching has become something you have to do in some capacity' (thank God I love it eh LOL)
Happy new year to you my friend
Matt
Hi Matt,
its been a while, hope you had a good christmas and enjoyed the new year celebrations
Personaly i question what sort of living anyone can make from music these days, i know everyone says "musicians are rich enough" but i don't see how these days. Most article's i've read about working in the industry indicate that you will make little money, a normal job is less hassle.
Downloading just pisses me off, and the "musicians are rich enough" is the laziest get out of jail line ever, i have no qualms about rock stars earning hundreds of millions, the music biz is one of a handful of forms of capitalism i can see eye to eye with. No one forces you to buy music, and most people who buy it enjoy the product, so who's fault is it if pink floyd were very popular and just happened to sell millions of records.
Sorry for ranting but i get sick of dumb fuckers who make up lame reasons for why they cant be bothered to buy music. If its not worth money to you why do you want it??? Interesting complex; they are essentialy communists seeking to dethrone those with money but they are fueled by capitalist greed
I fully agree Alex about how these costs hiked and we just put up with them so maybe as ass a protest at global controled entertainment capitalism ilegal downloads are a way to really stick at them!
I think outside Britain you really do get stuffed on DVD CD costs because on my last trip to Antwero I couldnt believe ho expensive thet are, they matched the prices you mentioned yet here they are often half that price! as you might guess I waited until I got home before I went out on a CD/DVD spree.
Matt,
One thing the recent campeign to get Rage' to #1 instead of just another talent show wannabe proves that politics are not dead and they really managed to lead a good movement, I am only saddened by the fact that this level of comitment won't be displayed in more 'Root and Branch' politics which might help to bring about real change in things that actualy make a difference to us.
Imagine if the strengh and articulation that drove the Rage' movement could change Labour/Tory politics and usher in politicians that mean business? we might get real people instead of this blured mush that both leading parties have become.
Cologne she'll wear silver and americard, She'll drive a beetle car and beat you down at cool Canasta. And when the clothes are strewn don't be afraid of the room touch the fullness of her breast feel the love of her caress she will be your living end.
I cant say media doesn't cost a lot, because it does, sometimes a stupid amount, but i blame retailers for that more than i do the film studios and record companies.
but at the end of the day i am still happy to buy online, even though the golden age (a couple of years ago IMO) of online buying is over. And i am not bothered about waiting for things either, patience is a virtue after all.
But, each to his own, i just question what will happen to our music industry, i suspect that albums could soon be a thing of the past, single's are far more important because people are more likely to download them, legaly or otherwise. The internet is good for unkown artists, they get noticed, but nobody is going to make serious money from x thousand downloads, so who is worthy of going on tour? damned if i know, identity is another problem, i can't name a single new artist to have emerged in 2009. Thats pathetic, but even with the media trying to jam stuff down my throat artists are now becoming too obscure, hey have a fleeting single and then gone. I am only aware that Lady Ga Ga (who i know little about) is quite popular. She is one of the three artists to sell more than 1million. But apparently other notable bands like the black eyed pees had albums out last year and i had no idea.
Music festivals may one day be filled with artists nobody really knows about and one hit wonder pop stars.
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Here is something interesting i heard about, its not entirely related but interesting noetheless:
I was told recently that in Norway they are developing 1TB broadband or something ridiculous like that, i don't know of the validity of the claim but it highlights something i feel is very wrong about our society; we want everything and we want it now.
Supposedly this internet would allow you to download a High definition film in under a minute. While thats good an all it just seems preposterous to me. Cant you wait a day, an hour, ten minutes? Why do we need things instantly 1TB broadband could probably open UR in a 100th of a second but soemthing half as powerful could do the same so... why bother.
Undoubtedly people will give in to greed and be surrounded by an empire of media that they simply cant consume within their own lifetime.
As Bill Viola says;
“Information is in a way the opposite of garbage, although in our contemporary commercialised world they may at times appear identical. [...] If technology were frozen right now, it would take years for us to catch up with and use the technology at our disposal and to realise its fullest potential”
Infomation management is more important today than infomation retireval
Theoreticaly you could download every film and song ever created for free, but you would die long before you made a significant dent into you're collection, and the fruits of your wealth would mean nothing.
Trigger wrote:
One thing the recent campeign to get Rage' to #1 instead of just another talent show wannabe proves that politics are not dead and they really managed to lead a good movement, I am only saddened by the fact that this level of comitment won't be displayed in more 'Root and Branch' politics which might help to bring about real change in things that actualy make a difference to us.
Imagine if the strengh and articulation that drove the Rage' movement could change Labour/Tory politics and usher in politicians that mean business? we might get real people instead of this blured mush that both leading parties have become.
Well we live in a political bog really or dare i say a dictatorship
I think what we really need is proportional representation, that would at least get rid of the Tory's who have plagued britain for long enough, and give new "relevant" political groups a chance. Sadly though i don't see any bright future for british politics, the conservatives don't seem to understand what century it is, want to bring back foxhunting and probably wouldn't mind slavery either and the labour party is full of buffoons who have lost the will to live. And those are realisicaly our only options at the next election, i wouldnt mind a two party dictatorship if someone actualy had a clue what their doing.
or dare i say a dictatorship 