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Facebook 1: 0 Simon Cowell - Rage Against The Machine is UK #1 single for Xmas

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Re: Facebook 1: 0 Simon Cowell - Rage Against The Machine is UK #1 single for Xmas

#11

Post by natrius »

handelaar wrote: post #2

Why we might care: for the last several years the winner of Cowell's reality TV show has been propelled immediately to #1 in time for the culturally-significant-for-Brits Xmas Top 40. This year a backlash campaign to shove 'Killing in the Name' above it took off on Facebook and, in an unlikely outcome, the people who joined the group actually followed through and bought the RATM track during the correct time window.…

"the culturally-significant-for-Brits Xmas Top 40"

You've just made an entire storyline from Love Actually make more sense to me.

Re: Facebook 1: 0 Simon Cowell - Rage Against The Machine is UK #1 single for Xmas

#12

Post by motters »

lukifer wrote: post #8
motters wrote: post #6

Personally I don't care about the views of Simon Cowell. I doubt that the music charts accurately reflect what people are actually listening to, due to the diversity of ways in which music can now be obtained and played.

The musical angle is secondary. The real story is that a centralized cultural influence (Cowell) was overshadowed by a distributed cultural influence (Facebook).

Good point. So this is an indicator the the continuing decline of the old non-interactive media formats, like TV shows, and the rise of online social networks.

Re: Facebook 1: 0 Simon Cowell - Rage Against The Machine is UK #1 single for Xmas

#14

Post by TheSOB88 »

gabrielroth wrote: post #9
lionhearted wrote: post #4

You know, I thought pop music might've turned a corner a few years ago when producers were starting to use more electronic elements in pop. I thought there'd be some decent, slightly innovative pop music coming out in the future. I was mistaken.

I'm a little confused by this comment. Electronic elements have been a mainstay of pop production for a quarter of a century.

You and me both, sexy cakes.

Re: Facebook 1: 0 Simon Cowell - Rage Against The Machine is UK #1 single for Xmas

#15

Post by gaius »

lukifer wrote: post #8
motters wrote: post #6

Personally I don't care about the views of Simon Cowell. I doubt that the music charts accurately reflect what people are actually listening to, due to the diversity of ways in which music can now be obtained and played.

The musical angle is secondary. The real story is that a centralized cultural influence (Cowell) was overshadowed by a distributed cultural influence (Facebook).

There is slightly more to it than just centralized vs distributed. Consider the demographics. X-Factor viewers as a group are probably poorer, older and less educated* than Facebook users. The recent cold spell, the BBC speculates, meant fewer people who would have bought the X-factor single could get to a store to do so - even if a Facebooker wanted a physical CD, he or she would simply order it from Amazon and not care when it arrived, since the sale would be logged. At 79p for a single on iTunes, Facebook users could fix the UK charts every week without even noticing the expenditure in time or money. However what the X-factor has is people who really will loyally buy its single every year; the Facebook crowd has a very short attention span.

* I don't mean this in a disparaging way at all.

Re: Facebook 1: 0 Simon Cowell - Rage Against The Machine is UK #1 single for Xmas

#17

Post by cruise02 »

omouse wrote: post #5
cruise02 wrote: post #3

I'm sure Simon is crying all the way to the bank over this.

It's not about the money. It's about the message. Even if all the albums cost $0, the message would remain the same. Not everything in the world is about money or banks or finances (no matter how much that's mentioned on HackerNews...)

For Simon Cowell it is all about the money. You think he's promoting a record because of its message? The attention that this promotion brought to both records put sales through the roof for both. Look at the sales of the 3rd place record and compare.

Re: Facebook 1: 0 Simon Cowell - Rage Against The Machine is UK #1 single for Xmas

#18

Post by Batsu »

handelaar wrote: post #2

Why we might care: for the last several years the winner of Cowell's reality TV show has been propelled immediately to #1 in time for the culturally-significant-for-Brits Xmas Top 40. This year a backlash campaign to shove 'Killing in the Name' above it took off on Facebook and, in an unlikely outcome, the people who joined the group actually followed through and bought the RATM track during the correct time window.…

Strange how this explanation changes a flagged post into a genuinely interesting one.

Re: Facebook 1: 0 Simon Cowell - Rage Against The Machine is UK #1 single for Xmas

#19

Post by Blasa »

gaius wrote: post #15
lukifer wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The musical angle is secondary. The real story is that a centralized cultural influence (Cowell) was overshadowed by a distributed cultural influence (Facebook).

There is slightly more to it than just centralized vs distributed. Consider the demographics. X-Factor viewers as a group are probably poorer, older and less educated* than Facebook users. The recent cold spell, the BBC speculates, meant fewer people who would have bought the X-factor single could get to a store to do so - even if a Facebooker wanted a physical CD, he or she would simply order it from Amazon and not…

What are you estimating as the demographics for each?

As a 30 something alternative music type the RATM campaign was big on my facebook page. At least back in 2007 the xfactor was big with the 16-34 age group. So about the same age group, I'd have thought.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1560802/X-Factor-back...

Poorer, I'm not sure. The Xfactor crowd does seem less geeky/bookish than the ratm crowd, from the people I have met.

What this all means I'm not quite sure. Perhaps we will see the start of micro payment campaigns. 40p to support some cause is not much. You just have to make it have wide enough appeal.

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