The UK is abuzz this week with a collection of men and women who are all in a Rage. Tired of what can quite honestly be described as the death of creativity and individuality in the UK music scene, they have decided that the Christmas Number 1 is the place to make their stand, and oh what a tizzy they have caused!
I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about, the push to have the Rage Against The Machine song ‘Killing In The Name’ be Christmas Number One. However, equally as shocking as the chosen song is to some people is the spectacularly bad way the mass media in the UK have reported the events of the week; doing almost no actual research into the protest group, its motives or aims and instead relying on sensational headlines and out of context quotes, mixed with outright misinformation, to create whatever spin they deemed would sell the maximum amount of their newspapers or bring in the most viewers.
Shocking I know, because the media never normally behave that way! Hopefully however this open letter will spread far enough that maybe someone, somewhere in the media will take notice and actually report the facts of the situation.
If you agree that Music in the UK should represent all our fantastic, creative musicians and our full range of audiences you can join the facebook group HERE where you can find more info and links to download the song.
Firstly however, a little about me. Like the huge cross section of the public who listen to bands such as Rage, I am not an “angry young man”. Like all bands and groups, the fans stretch from the good to the bad, with quite a few ugly thrown in, and we encompas a wide range of personalities. But what we are not is the mindless group of thugs the media likes to occationally label us.
Personally, at almost 30 years old, I have been a musician since the age of 6 and a DJ and sound engineer for around 12 years now. I hold a degree, and also a post graduate qualification in Primary School teaching. On top of all this I spend a huge amount of my free time volunteering at an award winning local music charity, breaking down barriers to music education and participation for underprivileged children and organising events and shows designed to divert young people from crime and give them something to do in their free time that doesn’t involve street corners and alcohol. Further, despite the views of one Daily Mail reader this morning, I have never been involved in any crime more serious than being flashed by a speed camera once.
(The listener in question demanded of Radio 5 Live’s presenters, following an interview with the band in which an expletive was mentioned that let’s be honest, is heard all over the country in all walks of life every hour of every day of the week, “How many youths, influenced by this morning's disgraceful behaviour (and oh yes, I have complained to the BBC too) would have gone out and committed a violent crime. I would estimate that the figure would be in the HUNDREDS and it wouldn't surprise me if either of you two were involved in some criminal activity either.”)
Clear Up….
So let’s clear up some quick misconceptions about this whole cufuddle and get them out of the way.
Firstly, we do not hate Joe! As much as this seems to puzzle many people, this isn’t a protest against Joe personally, he is actually quite a nice young man who has a good, if middle-of-the-road and a bit musical theatre, voice.
Neither do we really hate Simon Cowell (well much, anyway!). Despite his arrogant assumption that the campaign and the whole world revolves around him personally, this isn’t a protest against him per se, just his and the whole industry’s treatment of the music market and the British public (and by this I mean the 45 million majority that weren’t glued to their TV every Saturday as opposed to the 13 million-ish that were).
Also, we DO realise that Sony is the overarching record company that owns both artists. We know that no matter which one wins we have lined their pockets, so there is no need for the media to keep pronouncing this as some sort of battle cry because again, you miss the point entirely.
(P.S. To help out the many reporters who continue to insinuate that we are being somehow used or duped, pointing out that we are lining Mr Cowell’s pockets by supporting Rage and thus defeating the purpose, we’ll provide you with the research and fact checking that you as a responsible journalist should have done yourself instead of being so quick to jump on the bandwagon. Simon Cowell DOES NOT own Sony Records. SyCo, which is Simon’s record label, is a completely different entity from Epic, with whom Rage are signed. Yes they are both owned by Sony but Simon is FAR from the head of Sony records (at least for now!) and so neither he nor his record label get anything from the sale of any Rage products or tracks!)
While on the subject of money it’s worth noting here that almost all news reports, before today, also failed to notice or report on the fact that the group members have also given almost £45,000 of their own money to homeless charity Shelter and that the band’s guitarist Tom Morello has promised to donate his royalties from the extra sales of the single to both Shelter and Youth Music, another music organisation helping to break down the barriers for young people to be involved in music.
Finally, it’s also not necessarily about the song. Yes it’s a good choice because the band are a very politically driven band whose lyrics often discuss themes of the media, and it’s control and treatment of the population, and that this song was both their first single released and also one of their most famous and well loved, and so it does represent many of the goals of the campaign well, but at the end of the day, it’s just a song. A rallying call. This is bigger than a single song.
So….
From The Beatles, The Who and the Stones, to David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. From Queen, The Clash and Black Sabbath to the Sex Pistols, Cream and Deep Purple.
Even artists like Jimi Hendrix, who made his name in Europe long before becoming accepted across the pond, owe a debt to the UK music scene, and if your tastes don’t run so ‘rock’ you could try artists such as Cliff Richard, Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, The Bee Gees, Rod Stewart, Tom Jones, the Smiths and many, many more.
These artists captured the spirit of their respective generations all over the world, acted as their voice and provided their identity. The whole world looked to US for the ‘next big thing’ and excluding the few that were affected by the untimely death of a member, they are almost all still going strong and creating exciting music and performances 30, 40 or 50 years after they began.
Who won X Factor even two years ago? Or before that?
And so I ask in my best teacher voice: hands up boys and girls if you think any of those great artists would flourish under one of today’s record companies?
Would Mick Jagger or David Bowie (or good old Ozzy!) have made it through the auditions of the X-Factor?
Very few and no are the answers to those two questions. Today’s record companies are profit driven money making machines who would prefer to turn a quick buck re-hashing and repackaging a cover version of an old song complete with a nameless, forgettable face providing the focal point who will be gone and replaced this time next year, than invest the time and money needed to grow a real artist or group and allow them to reach their full potential.
It took many of the artists mentioned above, and the huge list of similar groups from all over the world, time, nurturing and two or three albums to really find their feet. They were only given this time and creative space because it was a more innocent time where people in the music industry actually cared about music, and were passionate enough to believe in these artists and back them.
Even if they did manage to perform the miracle of being signed to a big label today some Simon Cowell wannabe, who would only know them as an entry in their accounts spreadsheet, would strike them off the list and drop them from the label as soon as their first album didn’t go to number 1. Just ask Steve Brookstein, who won the first series of X Factor but was swiftly dropped by Simon Cowell and who is fully behind the protest, claiming Mr Cowell “ruined the Christmas No. 1.”
THIS is what the campaign is all about.
I was equally torn between laughter and outrage I read some of Mr Cowells comments about the protest, where he stated that the protestors “….treat our audiences as if they're stupid.”
Anyone spot the pot and the kettle in that sentence? We are tired of record companies treating people like they were annoyance, something to take money from while refusing to listen to their opinion. Going for the lowest common denominator in order to raise their profits and allow their shareholders to buy the ten million pound yacht instead of the eight million pound one. Companies who put on TV shows that claw in money from sponsors and advertisers, and more money from the telephone and text votes cast, and then even more from the subsequent sale of the singles and records, while ignoring almost all real, hardworking musicians playing in bands across the country.
(And don’t even get me STARTED on the whole legal action/downloading debate. What industry has ever in the history of the world treated their customer base so shockingly and ignored their opinions so completely).
I was also split when in the same interview he arrogantly told us “I think it's quite a cynical campaign geared at me which is actually going to spoil the party for [the finalists].”
Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you Mr Cowell, but the Christmas number one slot isn’t ‘yours’ to give as a party prize as part of the competition. They get the record deal and the single launch, and probably an album a couple of months later, but that particular title is ours, the British Public’s, to give away.
Overall...
What we are after in this protest, above all else, is freedom of choice. We are not saying that Rage 'should' be number one, any more than Joe 'should', simply that it should be possible. We’re not saying cancel X Factor, it is a very popular show and if people want to watch it they are free to, but simply also provide alternatives.
Use some of the vast profits generated by the show, and by Sony’s much reported double whammy of sales this Christmas, to invest a decent and realistic sum into real bands and musicians so that all of the UK is represented. The musicians who write their own songs and play their own instruments. The ones that don’t need to prove in front of a TV audience that they can sing because they have had so much practice over the past 10 years touring every crappy bar and club in the country in search of that elusive “big break” that they would never even consider miming to a backing track.
Yes, in the short term you would make a fraction less money, but maybe we could begin to relive some of those heady days where the term “the British Music Scene” actually meant something, and was something that the rest of the world looked at with respect, awe and excitement.
Then when we begin to grow and inspire the next generation of Whos and Stones and Bowies and Beatles, you would be rewarded in full not only with our money but also with our respect.
Finally….
At the end of the day, while actually achieving the Number 1 spot would be a huge bonus it is to some extent irrelevant. Our main goal was to prove what the Christmas race and the UK Music Scene as a whole could and should be. There should be discussion and arguments, excitement and fun, variety and choice, and in all genres from pop to hip hop and classical to heavy metal, both fans and record labels standing behind their artists supporting them and propelling them to new heights never before imagined.
Not just one form of bland karaoke being spoon fed to us by Lord Cowell from atop his mountain of cash because it costs the least to produce and generates the most short term profit for the fat cats at the top.
Yours,
The Group.