At the beginning of the 2009 Christmas season, a fight for the number 1 Christmas song began between Rage Against the Machine and Simon Cowell. RATM claimed that it was tired of Cowell's "karaoke acts" taking the no. 1 spot, and urged their fans to make their 1992 hit, "Killing in the Name" the best seller. Although RATM is one of the biggest (and in my opinion greatest) rock bands of all time, MANY were expecting one of Cowell's X Factor acts to take the top spot. This is because as we all know, in recent years, Cowell has been one of the biggest influences in the music industry with his roles at American Idol, X Factor, and Sony. RATM, however, managed to beat Cowell, and many people were surprised by this feat.
So, how did RATM manage to beat Cowell for the no. 1 Christmas song? They reached out to their fans by using social networking sites like Facebook. A group named "RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE FOR CHRISTMAS NO.1" emerged on Facebook, and within 2 weeks, had over 450,000 members. Not only Facebook helped, but also their websites, various blogs, and many other media outlets. It's surprising to me, yet really really awesome that RATM found a way to make a song from 1992 a bestseller in 2009. It just goes to show how artists can use the internet to spread the word about their product to the consumer.
The funniest part about this feud though has to be the fact that Sony is behind both of the acts. Yes, that's right...RATM is under Cowell's Sony deal, so even though Cowell "lost," he still gets that money in his pocket at the end of the day.
-Ashley Stokvis
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/dec/11/rage-against-machine-christmas-no1
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