I have visions of you still protesting about it all in this thread in three years time

Around 10.40am yesterday morning, the first whispers of a RATM victory in the epic race for Christmas #1 were posted. By 15.23, we had leaked sales figures (although perhaps this was a slight buzzkill). Yet the weekly chart thread still had one its best weeks of the year, with a flurry of activity as the result was officially announced and singles/albums sales figures came in.

But what of the result? Regardless of whether it has any MAJOR impact upon the X Factor next year, just putting a bit more effort into the final product of the X Factor would be welcome really. If The Climb was a good song, we'd have no problem with it going to number one, but a quick rehash of a song that has already charted not so long ago ain't acceptable.

This unprecedented victory raises debate over whether the advent of downloads has led to record companies losing control of their own products, giving us a fantastic opportunity of picking and choosing tracks on albums we can buy if we didn't want to purchase the whole thing. This definitely seems to be a youth-orientated approach to music consumption, perhaps as a result of the two genres that appeal most to younger people (pop and r&b) being notorious for producing albums with a few killer singles and a whole load of filler. Yet there are suggestions that record companies will start to become more selective over what is available on iTunes and other digital outlets. A move which may preserve the album as a complete entity created by an artist to be heard as a whole where the free rein granted by iTunes allows them to be carved up, losing context, intent and positioning.

Of course, noted useless waste of skin Fearne Cotton was on-hand to quickly appease those gagging for her input on the situation (campaign to strap Fearne Cotton to a rocket and fire her into the Sun starts here), branding it "more a case of genuine rock fans versus genuine teenybopper fans." Which assumes only rock fans bought RATM (Not true) and completely ignores the fact that not all pop fans hate rock music and vice versa.

Let's not forget Joe McElderry. He's certainly no Leona or Alexandra, so they SHOULD move quickly and get something out before the summer at least. But they'll have to do a hell of a lot of spin if they rush something out given that even Leon Jackson got an autumn release (mostly to avoid a PR disaster following Leona the year before). Maybe taking into account that this week's chart race was a unique set of circumstances, it would be premature to write Joe off on that basis. The exposure of the new X Factor series and the potential, if he produces a hit, of significantly higher sales than a release in the Spring may be worth the risk.

Check out:
Xmas No.1 Race: Joe McElderry vs Rage Against The Machine
UK Charts (20/12/09) - CHRISTMAS CHART
Predict RATM's position on NEXT WEEK'S chart...
Did you actually buy the RATM or Joe McElderry single?

Joe McElderry vs Rage Against The Machine

Rage Against The Machine vs. X Factor has caused quite a stir so far this week, and Moopy is no different. At the moment, poll results put support for RATM ahead 63.41% to Joe McElderry's 36.59%.

Even those rooting for an X Factor win acknowledged The Climb as tepid at best (well, most people did...) - it's pretty much musical wafers, making tap water look like the flavour option. It's also true that if ANY established artist released that, or any breakthrough artist, we'd RIP THE SHIT out of it like a pack of RABID DOGS.

Yet this also raised the debate of the "real music brigade" - is it sheep mentality to support RATM (furthemore on that point, is the X Factor any less sheep mentality?) - identified as people who only like singers who write their own songs, bands who play live instruments, etc and deride anything that deviates from that. Yet these rules aren't exclusive, as was pointed out using the example of Ricky Wilson from The Kaiser Chiefs, who is neither a songwriter nor an instrumentalist. He's just a singer. However, because his songwriter and his musicians are actually in a band with him rather than working behind the scenes, his music will always be seen by a lot of people as more "real" than, say, Girls Aloud. Indeed, the opinion was put across that as long as real instruments are involved a song could be described as real music whereas a dance track that just uses samples and electronics without an obvious structure would just be SOUND. Perhaps such debate proves only that it's not just rock fans who are music snobs.

Still, despite the X Factor dominance over the past five years, it's reassuring how much people still value the Christmas #1 as something more than an unapologetic display of consumerism - either way, you always have to remember that the X Factor is a talent show and it is voted for by people who regularly watch ITV and enjoy it - i.e. morons.

With RATM at #1 in Tuesday's midweeks, this argument could roll on for some time.

Check out:
Xmas No.1 Race: Joe McElderry vs Rage Against The Machine
What is REAL MUSIC and what IS NOT?
Christmas Midweeks (15/12/09)
Rage Against The Machine for xmas #1