UK Government Terrified : Internet Campaign

I found this VERY interesting. For readers outside the UK , I'll summarise - there is a highly successful Facebook campaign going on right now aimed at getting Rage Against The Machine to the Christmas Number 1, and in doing so make a statement against Simon Cowell's annual X-Factor (the British equivalent of American Idol) release from getting to the top of the charts.

Why would the authorities be at all concerned about such a trivial matter? Well, this is one of the first times that a small, grass-roots internet campaign has caught the public mood, gathered momentum, and reached the stage where just about everyone in the country is aware of this ongoing Xmas chart battle.

This particular internet campaign is about protesting against saccharine, formulaic bland pop music. But we are seeing how massively successful it has been. What, however, happens if the next protest is about something else ; something more important? What if there is a campaign to boycott some of the big banks after the scandal of the bail-outs and their subsequent massive Xmas bonuses? What if there is a campaign to encourage all credit card holders to stop paying the ridiculous interest rates and default in their millions? This type of power is relatively new - made possible by the communication potential of the internet.

A close friend of mine work's at the internet call-centre for one of the online stores of one of the larger British supermarkets. Not only are they being instructed to massage the sales figures for internet purchases (not counting duplicate purchases ; not counting discounted purchases, etc), but they have been encouraged to make the Rage Against The Machine album available in their stores. Purchases of the album (as opposed to the single song 'Killing In The Name') will not count towards sales figures, which most buyers won't be aware of.

How do I feel about this? Angry? Frustrated?

No.

I feel optimistic. This apparently trivial issue has shown that it is still possible for the so-called helpless masses to take back the power and have some kind of impact again. By acting together, we become a unit, and our power rises exponentially. They're scared, people, and it feels great!

John

RATM on BBC doing Killing in the Name...producer unaware of the Lyrics. Typical beeb response

Superb - absolutely superb!!!!

Thanks for the link - hopefully this interview will help people to see that this isn't just a music issue but is about giving power back to the people! And its working too - at last something to ffel good about.

John

Why this is in the US Political Madness forum I have no idea, however the REAL conspiracy here is the way the British public have been fooled into an "anti-Cowell" campaign, making us think we are "sticking it to the man", when in actual fact we are playing into "the mans" hands.. Rage against the machine belong to the Sony label, of which.... Yes you guessed it... Simon Cowell is on the board of, so even if RATM get to number 1 this Christmas, Simon will STILL earn a packet from it!! So all in all, Simons got it all sown up and its all thanks the the sheep that is the UK public

FYI, I loooove RATM, alternative rock is deffo my cup of tea, especially MUSE, however love Joe too, he is gorgeous!! And has some pipes on him, and living in the North East, NOT liking him, would be career suicide lol. However there is only so much sickly sweet pop i can take before i reach for some My Chemical Romance or MUSE

Your point isnt lost though; however if the public had the WHOLE facts, of which 9 out of 10 people wont activly seek; a point TPTB knows all too well, then forever we will be manipulated, and those who arent sheep will just sit here moaning on the web instead of getting the information out there!!!

[edit on 053131p://f26Thursday by Selahobed]

reply to post by Millions


I would not be surprised if the UK govt. is actually the one behind this so-called campaigns so it can pretend to be terrified of the people thereby giving it reason to censor the nets.

See? It pays to be paranoid.

Its all manipulated hype in my opinion. It reminds me of Tv and how people are sucked in by the mundane like x factor and Im a celebrity. It keeps people in the hamster cage running inside the wheel.

The government is more afraid of those who are not in this rebellion than those who are. Actually with the major aspects of what is going on world wide just now, I dont care about a christmas No1.

Respects

I love how in this article Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole try to get the sympathy vote by making this campaign seem like bullying.

What they fail to understand is that it isn't a personal attack on Joe whatever his name, but an attack upon the X-Factor show itself and i suppose by extension for some people Simon Cowell. But as others have said Simon is probably getting his pockets lined from sales of Killing in the Name.

Guardian Article

Also Paul McCartney seems to like the idea of Rage getting to Christmas Number One.

Paul McCartney backs Rage Against the Machine

smell a rat. Don't all these boys work for Sony? Simon Cowell with all his fake outrage, Would such a clever man really complain so bitterly knowing it would encourage the public to actually buy the Rage Against The Machine single

reply to post by crowkey


Cause it is fake, they sold out as soon as they signed for these people.

I will not bother with this, as i see all bands as part of there system.

reply to post by Millions


They are worried because this could be the first step towards Anarchy...

People are getting fed up and need to do something about it!

It will start off with something small like this! Then we can slowly regain our true rights!

Originally posted by eldard
reply to post by Millions

 

I would not be surprised if the UK govt. is actually the one behind this so-called campaigns so it can pretend to be terrified of the people thereby giving it reason to censor the nets.

See? It pays to be paranoid.

Nope wrong.

The person who started this campaign is a B3tan, from the website www.b3ta.com.

Yes, Sony will be making a fortune, but then again try and name a band who isn't covered by the big four these days.

No conspiracy here, just a lot of people pissed off with Cowell's assumed right to dominate the charts.

FYI Although Cowell is a member of Sony, he does NOT have anything to do with RATM.

I think the choice of band was chosen, not on their record label, but more on the message they want to get across.