Raging against the X-Factor

So little Joe McEldry has lost out to the Facebook campaign, which hoisted Rage Against The Machine to the top spot in the UK pop charts as our Christmas number one.

There are a couple of things about this story that intrigue me, and are worth commenting on.

Firstly, a disclaimer. I was an avid watcher of the X-Factor. I love the combo of reality tv, underdog does good, singing skills of various levels, a tinge of jealousy, and lots of glitz. I have never, ever, taken this Sat night tv guilty pleasure through to actually purchasing any of the singles. They are, without exception, cheesy and manufactured. Miley Cyrus, I ask you. I digress.

Much has been written about the irony of a Facebook campaign exhorting youngsters to buy a single that shouts "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" as part of a group movement. Much has also been made of the fact that many of the people who joined the movement didn't care a jot whether a song they'd never heard from RATM beat another song they'd never heard from someone called Joe backed by someone evil called Simon Cowell. They just joined the online movement, because they wanted to identify with a cause. Similarly, I saw a video recently of the founder of Reddit - Alexis Ohanian - talking about how the users of Reddit got behind a campaign that Greenpeace put out there to name a whale - the users chose the name Mister Splashy Pants. Greenpeace weren't too impressed, and tried to extend the campaign to get a serious name selected, and it turned viral.

So, is this about UK music lovers seizing control of their charts, as the RATM guys have gleefully stated? Or is it more about the growing power of social media, and a generation of people who want to be part of movements that they identify with - which are increasingly online, to the consternation and confusion of the management generation. Increasingly, I think it is more the latter, as I would wager that the people who stood up to be counted in this campaign haven't bought a cd single in approximately 15-25yrs. Just a guess.

I loved the campaign, as I do think it is important for people to stand up for something they believe in. I also thought that Joe took it in really good humour, which is important to me, as it could have been taken as a personal attack on a young 18yr old new to the fame game. He was quoted as saying it was "exciting to be part of such a hard fought race", and I think, I hope, that he has a sensible enough head on his shoulders to understand that the machine he just leapt in to isn't necessarily popular with everyone. He stands to make quite a bit of cash out of said machine though, and is following his dream, so he should be just fine.

I do hope that the trend for people joining movements online 'to be part of something' doesn't morph in to something that obscures the meaning and messaging behind some of these movements. Things like the 'Charter for Compassion' deserve to be read, understood, and implemented in the lives of the people that sign up. They shouldn't become meaningless movements that people just sign up to because it's as easy as typing your email address in to a form online, or clicking a box and paying 28c (in the case of the RATM campaign).

One final word on all of this. Large kudos to the RATM guys. They had the nouse to stand up and say - this wasn't us, we didn't start this campaign, it isn't our fight, but we're proud of people standing up against things they don't like, to reclaim music against "happy meal, prefabricated pop". Their interview on Radio 5 also made me smile, where they blatantly ignored the request by the BBC to edit out their famous line: "Fuck you I won't do what you tell me".
Naieve of the Beeb to think that they'd really honour that. Quite amusing to hear the presenter at the end squeaking - "get rid of it!"

But the best bit was their promise to donate the extra profit from the single to Shelter, the homeless charity, right before Christmas. That, to me, is what this season is all about, and it gave me lots of warm & fuzzies.