Power To The People!

A big thank you and congratulations to everyone who bought the Rage Against The Machine single ‘Killing In The Name’ thus ensuring it reached number one in time for Christmas 2009. This unprecedented event seemed to have everyone involved; even radio dj’s seemed to have the tone of naughty schoolboys and girls as they announced the winner. Sales far exceeded the amount necessary to hit the number one spot, outselling the X Factor single by about 50,000 copies. This is the first download only number one in the UK charts, and the first that has been a record not recently released (the Rage track is 17 years old).

So what is the lesson or the victory here? A good summary of the intention behind the campaign can be seen at http://saveourmusicindustry.com/ stressing that this was not a campaign directed at Simon Cowell personally, or little Joe and his distinctly average single. The whole point was to break the monopoly the X Factor has had in recent years when it comes to the Xmas number one single, and to re-introduce the fun we traditionally had, waiting to see who the winner would be.

Simon Cowell appeared on Newsnight last week, doing his best ‘I’m a nice person really’ impression, which he then completely spoiled by showing his total ignorance. To my horror (and the horror of the presenter) he suggested that a future project could well be a political show where issues are debated then voted for by the public. We all know already that ‘lowest common denominator’ politics would be a disaster; sometimes the correct political decisions are not necessarily the popular ones. Surely we pay our politicians to be experts in matters we don’t fully understand, and vote them in to make difficult decisions that they are more qualified than us to make. Cowell’s proposed format could result in scary scenarios such as a campaign to bring back capital punishment, or deport recent emigrees. We all know that ‘public opinion’ can be fickle and easily swayed or brought to hysteria by recent news stories or media over-sensationalist tactics, so anyone who thinks this is a good idea is frankly stupid!

Finally, the whole ratm4xmas campaign has given food for thought. Although people are already suggesting records to rival next years’ X Factor release, I am unsure as to whether this could work again, or whether it was a one-off. RATM’s track is an extremely potent song that captured the imagination of thousands because it somehow had the ‘Zeitgeist’… the right title, sentiment and lyrics to unite everyone behind it. It does provoke the question of what we could do en masse if we could only all agree on other matters so easily; perhaps we could actually effect some real political changes or stop the war in Afghanistan, for example. We just need people with the imagination to start the campaigns and generate the passion.

Until then, let’s just celebrate this small victory and enjoy the fact that sometimes, the people will have their say, and look forward to the promised free gig that Rage are set to play in 2010. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!