Alcohol_Prone

Re-released to raise money for the Help For Heroes and The British Forces Foundation charities. :) http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=127584357260846

Paul Weller's double A-side is AIM High. ;)

Terrible move by Meat Loaf for the next single. Doubt it'll get released physically anyway.

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Francis Rossi's single is called FADED Memory. ;)

A video chart countdown would just mirror whatever the singles chart is, so it would lead to more people buying the same songs and the chart would stay the same. There needs to be artists in there that don't get played as much on radio, so the charts are aimed at ALL ages. It would be great if there was a show that could represent all ages and musical genres, but make it a condition that an artist is only allowed to be featured if they have a new single out or they have risen up the charts. That way it would combat against songs such as IGF and BR, which despite going DOWN the charts are played MORE on radio. Stations will no doubt continue to play what they are playing at present and the charts won't change that much, but it at least gives artists that do release new singles a chance to get noticed over those who are overplayed on radio.

People will buy whatever is considered popular at the time on TV and radio, and they will download what is high in the iTunes charts, e.g. artists like Esmee who are put there in the first place by people who can discover music for themselves and not have it spoon-fed to them.

Unfortunately, there are millions of people in the UK who will not donate to the Haiti appeal or whatever charity it is by the conventional methods, but they will when there is a charity single on the go and they get something in return. Helping someone isn't enough for these people, and if the charts can be used to raise more money then so be it. Cowell knows an opportunity when he sees one, but I don't think he is solely to blame for the state of the UK charts. If you look at the radio airplay charts from last week then there's a dozen tracks in there that shouldn't be anywhere near the most played songs of the week, so it leads to the charts becoming stale because people only download what they hear on the radio. At least X Factor offers variety with different themes and songs from different artists every week.

Why is Phil Collins' 'No Jacket Required' in the shortlist for the BRITs Album of 30 Years when it DID NOT win a Best Album award?

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Completely agree. Aside from the fact that the X Factor is responsible for the Christmas No.1 for four years running, I don't think I would mind as much if at least one of the songs had been a bit racy and uptempo - something like Sound Of The Underground.

As I said, radio stations play safe with their music, and they will continue to do so - this will change nothing about the way the music industry works. What this campaign has shown is the power of the internet, and fans of bands such as RATM who don't get promotion should be using sites like Facebook to promote new material, instead of relying on half-assed attempts by rock stations. Anyone would be a fool to suggest that none of this happened, but I would be condemning Joe fans too if he had got the No.1 instead.

WE lost??? :blink: I for one wanted RATM to be No.1, but the manner in which they did is what is pathetic. Their "fans" cannot say they won the battle fair and square, and as for gloating about all the money going to Shelter, well they could have donated the same amount by downloading the track just the once and donating the rest directly. That itself would have been fair and admirable, but they showed themselves up to be as manipulative as Cowell when it comes to the charts. RATM getting to No.1 will not change the music industry in this country one iota. Radio stations will continue to play the same songs by the same artists week after week and pop fans will continue to buy in the same manner, and so will fans of RATM and the like who don't actually care about the charts the 51 other weeks of the year.

A campaign to have another song at No.1 isn't wrong, but for people to blatantly break chart rules by downloading the same track dozens of times, use vouchers/promotions that they are not entitled to, those from OUTSIDE THE UK being able to influence who gets the UK No.1 by downloading as well, people going into shops and sabotaging sales of another product by hiding/covering it up - THIS IS ALL WRONG. FWIW, I don't actually like The Climb and would prefer something else to be No.1, but if the amount of people who actually pretended to give a f**k had acted in a manner which complied with chart rules then there wouldn't be a question of who was No.1 - the result would be guaranteed. And the Facebook campaign has been all above board, has it? If the commercialist aspect is what you're getting at, this one campaign isn't going to change what supermarkets stock, or what radio stations play. These are far greater issues on what controls the charts.

Bookies Paddy Power is now offering 2/1 on ANY OTHER act for No.1 amidst fears that Joe and RATM will be pulled from the chart.

Surely not... FkkdkQ6XJ80 :lol: :lol: :lol:

I was fully behind the campaign to start with, and have no reason to believe that whoever is running it is being paid for it, but when I hear of people downloading the RATM track dozens of times because nowhere near all of the people who promised to buy it have actually done so, I find myself not really caring if it makes No.1 on Sunday. If whatever the amount of people only downloaded the track just the once I would see it as a victory over X Factor, but the sales figures are being heavily manipulated with people being told that they are allowed to buy so many times from each online retailer, and are further exploiting this loophole by using different email addresses, card details, etc every time they do it. I have to admit the campaign has been very well run, and no other song would have come close to getting the same backing, but it's gotten out of hand now. Anyone who thinks there can be a regular occurrence of this (i.e. next Christmas vs the X Factor), then they can think again. Most of the people who are involved this time won't keep on spending their money on something they really aren't bothered about anyway (the charts), and there won't be another song that will match up to the anti-Cowell, rebellious nature of KITN. For all people say that they want an actual Christmas song at the top of the charts despite the fact that there have been tons released in the last five years, they don't actually want it because a Christmas record would be cheesy and fun for everyone, instead of "cool" and sweary words abound, which is one of the main reasons this campaign has been so successful.

I think it is a coincidence. It's no surprise why he went for Rick Astley last year, then RATM this year. For these campaigns to work you have to have a gimmick to keep people interested, and the whole anti-Cowell / anti-commercialist angle has paid off. No-one cared last year if Sony were getting the money for the multiple versions of Hallelujah in the charts, and it's the same this year - it's all about the No.1. If he picked a Christmas song to promote then it wouldn't have got anywhere near the same backing because it's just a Christmas song, and no matter how good it is there's no angle there. Even if that had been on Sony, would you have still accused of him getting paid for promoting it? No, it's because of how well run a campaign it is and the attention it has received that you suspect it could only be the work of someone bigger or higher up in the music industry. Were those who promoted Jeff Buckley in any way affiliated with Sony? Be careful you don't pick a Sony act or you'll be accused of getting brown envelopes passed your way. :teresa:

The 40p minimum is the DEALER price (the amount Amazon pay for the track), not the RETAIL price. Amazon can charge what they want for a track and it still counts towards the chart.

Muppets and Gaga are out there to make as much money as they can, which is one of the reasons why some people are against X Factor having the Christmas No.1. That and the fact that the race for the Christmas No.1 shouldn't be as clear-cut and predictable as it has been for the last four years. No.1's in the past haven't been musical brilliance but about novelty and something diverse, instead of cover versions of songs that have already been successful in the charts. If the X Factor is as good as it is made out to be, why can't they have an original winner's song? The answer is that they won't make as much money because it has no history to it. The same reason why Lucie and Danyl were put in the bottom two this series, even though they were the best performers on the night on each of their songs - because the public want to hear something tried and tested. As I said, if the protest is to be anti-commercialist then Muppets and Gaga aren't the way to go. Disney have fast-tracked a single release purely and simply to make money, and Gaga is played all the time on radio. RATM was chosen partly because of the band's anti-commercialist ways, but equally partly because of the name of the band and the name of the song. Those behind the campaign tried last year with Rick Astley and failed, so this time they had to come up with something which sounded better, more rebellious and was more of a personal attack towards Cowell - so Rage Against The Machine (Cowell) was it. It may be a gimmick, but it's no more gimmicky than a bunch of puppets singing along to a Queen song, or a girl climbing out of a bathtub to perform her latest single. So what if the guy ran a similar campaign on Facebook last year? It wasn't the one that had the majority of people getting behind it, so because he's doing it this year again shouldn't be cause to suspect him of benefitting himself or a record company. I have run campaigns in the past to get songs into the charts, but it wasn't about me or anyone else getting financial rewards.

My first post on this thread, but for anyone that says that a big hitter should have been picked or "download The Muppets instead", isn't that the point of why people are against the X Factor having the Christmas No.1 in the first place? It's the only time of the year when having a No.1 means something more because it is Christmas - a time when anything should have a chance at the top spot and it isn't necessarily about making money. X Factor completely destroys any notion of a fair chart battle. Backing Gaga, Robbie or even the Muppets for No.1 wouldn't be making a very good case because they too are only in there to make money, and are played on radio all the time. RATM aren't mainstream and are available to download as a result of the band wanting their fans to have access to their music, and not about them wanting to make money. They are an ideal candidate to protest against the X Factor. They may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they are about the only non-commercialist artist that could have gathered the support needed to have any chance at the No.1. Whether that's because it's all in the name is up for debate, but it's no different to the gimmicks that the other artists I mentioned use to sell their records. As much a con as the Big Top 40 is, making people think those 40 songs are the most popular songs that week, when they don't include physical sales and instead use airplay figures for stations that make money from playing those songs. Don't get me started on downloads - as much a positive they have been to the charts in that they have boosted sales, someone can download the same song in multiple weeks and it gets counted every time. If singles were still only available on CD, I don't think people would be in such a rush to bulk buy with the amount of CD's they would end up with! Music is so disposable nowadays and people download willy-nilly without thinking about what they are buying. Shows like X Factor exploit people, and shouldn't end up with honours such as the Christmas No.1 because of it.

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