Rage Against The Machine For UK Christmas Number 1

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Renegade_Turner
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Rage Against The Machine For UK Christmas Number 1

Post by Renegade_Turner » Mon Dec 21, 2009 6:45 am

In the overkill of fervour with which some people have been hailing Rage Against The Machine's Christmas Number 1, what seems to be lost on most people is the fact that Sony own the rights to both Joe McElderry and RATM's music.

RATM's four albums, which I have in my CD collection, were released on Epic Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music.

Joe McElderry's music will be released on Simon Cowell's record label, SyCo, also a subsidiary of Sony Music.

The resulting conclusion is that Sony Music is benefitting most from all of this publicity, and I would not be surprised in the least if this stunt was masterminded by some Sony PR rep.

David Byrne says the following in this article (http://www.wired.com/entertainment/musi ... ntPage=all) :

"The record company bankrolls the recording and handles the manufacturing, distribution, press, and promotion. The artist gets a royalty percentage after all those other costs are
repaid. The label, in this scenario, owns the copyright to the recording. Forever."

I suppose you can say that it's a victory for real music or rock music or whatever spin you want to put on it, but it all seems a little bit cheapened by the reality that the "big four" major labels, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, EMI Group and Universal Music Group, own most of the other record labels in the world. These guys are all about capital, and they own more record labels than you think they own.

Sony Music alone owns Epic Records, Columbia Records, Jive Records and many others. These probably sound familiar, and you probably didn't realise they were owned by Sony.

WMG owns Bad Boy Records, Roadrunner Records, Atlantic Records, Epitaph Records, Fueled By Ramen, and many others. Same idea.

EMI Group owns Capitol Records, Apple Records, Virgin Records, Solid State Records, and many others. Same idea.

UMG owns Def Jam Records, Island Records, Motown Records, Mercury Records, Polydor Records, Interscope Records, and many others. Same idea again.

All of this leads me to the conclusion that all popular music is controlled in some way by the big four in record labels. Be it a rock band like Rage Against The Machine whose fanbase largely consists of adolescents with feelings of teenage angst and Stick-It-To-The-Man outrage, or be it a pop music songboy like Joe McElderry whose main fanbase consists of 14-year-old girls and doting grannies who tune into the X Factor every week. There are exceptions, but the vast majority of the really popular acts are owned by one of the big four.

A band I love, Enter Shikari, whose independently created record label Ambush Reality was a prime example of DIY music, has recently signed a distribution contract with WMG with, in my opinion, detrimental consequences. I still love them, but was a tad disappointed with their decision. It's all about making money at the end of the day, I suppose.

I'm not knocking Rage Against The Machine. I love Rage Against The Machine. The main reason I went to Oxegen in 2008 was to see Rage Against The Machine. I love them. I'm just struck by the irony of apparently "sticking it to the man" by organising a chart contest between two artists signed to subsidiaries of the same major label.

Yeah, let's all stick it to the man by giving Sony Music more money than the billions they already have.

On a more lighthearted note, Rage Against The Machine's refusal to censor the lyrics to their song for a performance on BBC Radio Five Live was absolutely and utterly hilarious, and the guys have to be applauded for really delivering on the whole "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me" sentiment.

That Radio 5 host really SHOULDN'T have told them not to swear. In fact, she should have insisted that they swore. Reverse psychology see. Stupid bitch.

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Re: Rage Against The Machine For UK Christmas Number 1

Post by Jendraz » Mon Dec 21, 2009 4:54 pm

Renegade_Turner wrote:
All of this leads me to the conclusion that all popular music is controlled in some way by the big four in record labels. Be it a rock band like Rage Against The Machine whose fanbase largely consists of adolescents with feelings of teenage angst and Stick-It-To-The-Man outrage, or be it a pop music songboy like Joe McElderry whose main fanbase consists of 14-year-old girls and doting grannies who tune into the X Factor every week. There are exceptions, but the vast majority of the really popular acts are owned by one of the big four.

It's all about making money at the end of the day, I suppose.
The more integrated I become with the industry, the more this dawns on me. It should have been obvious all along, of course. The contradiction of commercial art. The exceptions are when these eclectic guys with a huge amount of energy and creativity become popular and then have the 'potential money making' clout to do whatever they want. I'm thinking of Hitchcock. And, someday I hope, Joss Whedon.

edit: I just realized your theory of Sony masterminding this is another example of Astroturfing! (which a recent post made me aware of) What a hilarious concept..

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Re: Rage Against The Machine For UK Christmas Number 1

Post by Spartan X » Tue Dec 22, 2009 6:41 am

Right.

Having RATM win the UK christmas number 1 spot isn't about money, or what record label they are on. Its about breaking the cycle of the X factor winner hitting number one every time, to the point where it isn't even worth looking at the charts, who know who's at the top.

RATM was chosen primarily for their name, raging against the machine of society of the media, and as for the song name, it was chosen by the internet for the repeated lyrics "FUCK YOU I WON'T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!", leading the rebellion against the x factor.

Having RATM win the number one spot taught Simon Cowell, X factor, the media, and everyone a very valuable lesson. Don't fuck with the internet, it wins every time.

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Re: Rage Against The Machine For UK Christmas Number 1

Post by Renegade_Turner » Tue Dec 22, 2009 2:36 pm

Who gives a shit about the charts though? The UK Top 40 has generally never been a source of good music, except in the 1960's when the Beatles were in it. lol

The charts are not my source of music. I find my bands from word of mouth and youtube and things like that. The charts are meaningless.

The point is they're trying to teach Simon Cowell a lesson by purchasing the music of a band signed to the same label and therefore still indirectly paying Simon Cowell's wages. lol

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Re: Rage Against The Machine For UK Christmas Number 1

Post by Spartan X » Thu Dec 24, 2009 4:03 pm

To be honest, its nothing to do with Simon Cowell. Its about breaking the rules of society.

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Re: Rage Against The Machine For UK Christmas Number 1

Post by Renegade_Turner » Thu Dec 24, 2009 6:24 pm

It's everything to do with Simon Cowell. A lot of the focus was on Simon Cowell. He created the show, he creates these X Factor artists, he owns the label. Where were you?

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Re: Rage Against The Machine For UK Christmas Number 1

Post by shadow717 » Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:08 pm

Renegade_Turner wrote:Who gives a shit about the charts though? The UK Top 40 has generally never been a source of good music, except in the 1960's when the Beatles were in it. lol
That's just a blatant lie. There had never been any good music in the UK top forty ever.

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Re: Rage Against The Machine For UK Christmas Number 1

Post by Spartan X » Fri Dec 25, 2009 5:29 am

shadow717 wrote:
Renegade_Turner wrote:Who gives a shit about the charts though? The UK Top 40 has generally never been a source of good music, except in the 1960's when the Beatles were in it. lol
That's just a blatant lie. There had never been any good music in the UK top forty ever.
Theres been a few good ones. Evanescance had a few number ones few like, a month, and so did a few rock bands.

And I never recall anyone saying "lets show Simon Cowell!!!", so anyone who did focus on getting at him, is a pooface.

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Re: Rage Against The Machine For UK Christmas Number 1

Post by Uberbeard » Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:38 am

Renegade, I am totally with you (and your horrible purple font) on this one, and it's nice to see someone else who found it all a bit bland. Whatever skew you want to put on it the whole 'lets all make a win with Rage' it just seemed pretty juvenile to me.

I think there was a bit too much weight given to the UK charts in this whole campaign, as if they were ever an indication of taste (and not a sad collection of reasons against free commercialism and the human race as a whole). I get the association with the name, and that's fine, but RATM aren't exactly new material, I can't help but feel if this was a better structured campaign there could actually be something truly positive come from it.

I know most of my friends only spent the 98 pence to give Cowell the middle one.

Rules of society? There isn't a rule suggesting you have to buy an X Factor CD, they only do so well because of how well they are distributed through the media, but it's not like they're successful because they're brainwashing people (which is arguable, I guess).

I don't like how constructed X Factor is, but they still end up with the right music that appeals to the majority market. They are pop charts, as in, popular music, as in, the music that gets bought and not downloaded off of pirate bay by cheap students and so on. If people want to support the music they like, they can go and buy it, and not get on some bandwagon aimed at farting on some rich idiot who probably doesn't care either way (because let's face it, it's not like the people buying RATM are doing so instead of the X factor guff).

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Re: Rage Against The Machine For UK Christmas Number 1

Post by Uberbeard » Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:41 am

shadow717 wrote:That's just a blatant lie. There had never been any good music in the UK top forty ever.
As if X Factor winners weren't enough, here you come along as if just to prove that there is no accounting for taste.

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Re: Rage Against The Machine For UK Christmas Number 1

Post by shadow717 » Fri Dec 25, 2009 5:38 pm

Uberbeard wrote:
shadow717 wrote:That's just a blatant lie. There had never been any good music in the UK top forty ever.
As if X Factor winners weren't enough, here you come along as if just to prove that there is no accounting for taste.
I've lived in England for almost three years. Since I've been here I haven't heard a single good song. That's probably just personal taste though, especially considering I'm the only person I know who hates the Beatles.

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Re: Rage Against The Machine For UK Christmas Number 1

Post by Renegade_Turner » Sat Dec 26, 2009 6:04 am

Spartan X wrote:And I never recall anyone saying "lets show Simon Cowell!!!", so anyone who did focus on getting at him, is a pooface.
You're out of the loop. All the articles on it have focused on Simon Cowell in some way too.
Spartan X wrote:
shadow717 wrote:That's just a blatant lie. There had never been any good music in the UK top forty ever.
Evanescance had a few number ones few like, a month, and so did a few rock bands.
Exactly, no good music.
Uberbeard wrote:I know most of my friends only spent the 98 pence to give Cowell the middle one.
That's an admirable cause. He is a bit of a smug prick. I kind of like that though. He's kind of like a troll, only in real life, which is much more difficult.

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