I'd have thought 'Rape Me' could've worked...

Essentially yes, it is 'let's stop XF from getting Xmas #1 again and conveniently get Nirvana there at the same time'. The fact SLTS is already an extremely well-known and popular song is the exact reason they picked it. A campaign for any other Nirvana song would have no chance in hell of working.

 

I think it's also meant to tie in with the 20th anniversary of Nevermind. A recent boost in awareness of the band (what with the re-release) offered a convenient excuse to use a Nirvana song. Or THE Nirvana song, I should say. There are probably quite a lot of people in this country who don't know any other Nirvana songs.

 

I think the public could get behind any song if it had a strong meaning, enough exposure, hype and media attention. Killing In The Name managed to be relatively well-known but at the same time a completely brilliant choice for an anti X Factor campaign lyrically. I just feel like Smells Like Teen Spirit is too obvious a choice and not a particularly effective one. I still reckon it could be xmas #3, but I also think that quite a few people will be buying it solely to try and get the song a higher chart peak. In terms of trying to beat X Factor, if Little Mix are becoming barely even a threat for next week's #1 then what would be the motivation to try to counteract it? Perhaps the campaign should be changed to Nirvana vs. Military Wives, but considering the cause of the latter, it would look like incredibly bad taste :lol:

 

I'd have thought 'Rape Me' could've worked...

 

Exactly, I reckon for these 'anti' campaigns they need to find something at the complete opposite end of the spectrum to X Factor. RATM vs. a sweet teenage boy singing a Miley Cyrus song was about as contrasting as you could possibly get which was the beauty of it. A girlband covering an indie song vs. an incredibly popular rock song that could feasibly be covered on said show that they won = not such a strong sentiment/motivation imo :lol:

I think the public could get behind any song if it had a strong meaning, enough exposure, hype and media attention. Killing In The Name managed to be relatively well-known but at the same time a completely brilliant choice for an anti X Factor campaign lyrically. I just feel like Smells Like Teen Spirit is too obvious a choice and not a particularly effective one. I still reckon it could be xmas #3, but I also think that quite a few people will be buying it solely to try and get the song a higher chart peak. In terms of trying to beat X Factor, if Little Mix are becoming barely even a threat for next week's #1 then what would be the motivation to try to counteract it? Perhaps the campaign should be changed to Nirvana vs. Military Wives, but considering the cause of the latter, it would look like incredibly bad taste :lol:

 

Well, I disagree. To quote the Nirvana page's FAQ:

 

[3] Why Teen Spirit? I think [iNSERT NIRVANA SONG HERE] is better

Look, Nirvana recorded LOTS of brilliant tunes and some better than SLTS, but the fact of the matter is that to get a No.1 you need to get the support of the 'mainstream' music listener. Lots of people will be familiar with SLTS, yet tracks like Rape Me or Polly won't be. The media are more likely to give us attention using SLTS too so that's why I felt this was a good choice.

 

I don't think a track like 'Rape Me' would pick up support from many people outside hardcore Nirvana fans. SLTS is the best shot of getting any Nirvana song anywhere near #1 for the reason explained in the above answer. You can't just start a campaign for a song almost no one knows and expect it to take off.

 

The Nirvana song is supporting a charity too (and a far more worthy charity IMO but that's a different argument entirely) so it's not as if it's something like 'let's get f*** Tha Police by N.W.A to beat Band Aid to #1' :P

I'm not saying pick a song that nobody knows (and I wasn't necessarily agreeing with Rape Me being the one) but I'm sure a more well known song with a more hard hitting and fitting message could have been found, although granted perhaps not another Nirvana song.

 

'the fact of the matter is that to get a No.1 you need to get the support of the 'mainstream' music listener'

 

Pretty sure that the 'mainstream music listener' wouldn't be that into Killing In The Name, and that managed to work rather handsomely! The public got behind the message and the meaning more than the actual song there though, this is very much more a song/band motivated campaign than the RATM one which was far more political and much more of a statement, they're entirely different beasts. Not to say that this won't work, it just imo has far less impact and it will show next week.

 

I will of course be prepared to eat my words if Smells Like Teen Spirit sails to #1 on a 400k sale :P

I'm not saying pick a song that nobody knows (and I wasn't necessarily agreeing with Rape Me being the one) but I'm sure a more well known song with a more hard hitting and fitting message could have been found, although granted perhaps not another Nirvana song.

Pretty sure that the 'mainstream music listener' wouldn't be that into Killing In The Name, and that managed to work rather handsomely! The public got behind the message and the meaning more than the actual song there though, this is very much more a song/band motivated campaign than the RATM one which was far more political and much more of a statement, they're entirely different beasts. Not to say that this won't work, it just imo has far less impact and it will show next week.

 

I will of course be prepared to eat my words if Smells Like Teen Spirit sails to #1 on a 400k sale :P

 

I think you're probably right, this is a far less "angry" campaign that the RATM one was but it's also far more "serious" than The Trashmen. Hence I fully expect it to fall between the two sales-wise. Right now my best guess is over 100k but not by a great deal, I'll revise that at the end of the week. That may not even be enough to beat Little Mix but a Cannonball / Smells Like Teen Spirit top 2 I wouldn't mind THAT much as at least then it gets the same peak as "Hallelujah" which seems about right.

If they were truly looking to make a statement against X-Factor AND use a credible alternative artist they should look no further than this lyrically perfect track. However it would have literally no chance of gaining popular support (even with censored lyrics)

 

And of course the other thing against "Smells Like Teen Spirit" going to Number one is that a hell of a lot of people already have it. I'm certainly not prepared to pay a quid for something I already have just to try and change a position in the charts.

Voted No/No

I can't see this campaign working.

And of course the other thing against "Smells Like Teen Spirit" going to Number one is that a hell of a lot of people already have it. I'm certainly not prepared to pay a quid for something I already have just to try and change a position in the charts.

 

I agree, if not on Nevermind or legally downloaded already then it's probably pretty much one of the most illegally downloaded songs of all time. Killing In The Name is a well known song but at the same time, it's quite feasible that a large proportion of the buyers of the song in 2009 were obtaining the song for the first time. I know that I never had it legally or otherwise prior to buying it xmas week 2009. I don't think I know anybody that DOESN'T already have Smells Like Teen Spirit somehow or somewhere...they needed something more obscure, not too obscure but not one of the most well known songs of all time either :lol:

i agree with GD above for each campaign which fails it dilutes the genius of the RAGE campaign, hopefully the MWC come from nowhere to claim the no1 by 'natural' means, that would be class!!

Pretty much everything GD said I echo, the only thing positive that this will bring will be a deserved higher peak for the song, I suppose I wouldn't mind if it was number 1 on that basis alone, but generally these campaigns are becoming even more irritating than the actual XF winners song - the point has been made, why soil its record?

 

the Military Wives would be a good Christmas number 1 in the sense its totally non-reality show related and not engineered

They should have picked this...

 

If they were truly looking to make a statement against X-Factor AND use a credible alternative artist they should look no further than this lyrically perfect track. However it would have literally no chance of gaining popular support (even with censored lyrics)

Surely Half Man Half Biscuit must have recorded something suitable :huh:

The highest version is #19 on iTunes so far, looks comfortable for a top 20 re-entry with multiple versions and sites taken into account but considering it looked like I was being pessimistic suggesting an opening of #3 on 60k and suggesting a low conversion rate of group members to sales, it seems strange that this has underperformed so badly thus far. I'm not altogether surprised at it not working for the numerous reasons I've already listed, but I did expect top five at least :o