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Rage Against The Machine vs X Factor Christmas Chart Race Is On
The race for the Christmas number one is on with downloads of Rage Against The Machine's 'Killing In The Name' now eligible for next Sunday's chart. The Facebook group urging people to buy Zack de la Rocha and co.'s 1992 rock anthem is listing several outlets to download the track from before Saturday December 19 at 23.59pm.
EMI artist Norah Jones performing in Dublin. Photograph: ShowBizIreland/Getty Images Private equity group Terra Firma is looking to bring in outside investors to help prop up music company EMI , which is creaking under £2.6bn of debt. City pension funds, insurance companies and foreign banks have been approached amid fears within Terra Firma that EMI could default on interest repayments to Citigroup , which bankrolled the £4bn buyout of the music group on the eve of the credit crunch in 2007. But Terra Firma would retain majority control in the event of any restructuring, and its boss, financier Guy Hands, would remain chairman at the company, whose roster of artists include the Beatles, Robbie Williams and Norah Jones. EMI is profitable at the operating level but has been hit hard by borrowing costs that have forced Terra Firma to twice inject equity into the operation in the past 18 months.
EMI seeks outside investors as fears of debt crisis grow | Busin
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Simon Cowell has offered Jon and Tracy Morter a job in his record company after their Facebook campaign blocked his X-Factor winner from having the number one song in England this week. The Morters mounted the Facebook campaign to get people to buy Rage Against The Machine’s 1992 hit ‘Killing In The Name’ to stop Cowell’s 4 year monopoly at the top of the Christmas chart. It worked. ‘Killing In The Name’ by Rage Against The Machine sold 500,000 units in the UK last week, beating Joe McElderry ‘The Climb’ by 50,000 units.
The big winner in the music world this year (apart from Rage Against the Machine , obviously) was Spotify . The music-streaming service signed up millions of users, launched some hugely well-received mobile apps and had the music industry purring at the prospect of a genuinely appealing alternative to piracy. Not to mention making a minor Internet folk hero out of one of its employees, the velvety-voiced Roberta. But what's next for Spotify? 2010 will be a crucial year for the company, with challenges including more competition, global expansion and the need to start, y'know, making more money than it spends. What's top of Spotify's new year's resolutions list?
What is next for Spotify? - Crave at CNET UK
BBC News - Singles sales soar to record high
According to Official Charts Company figures, 4.22m singles were sold in the last week of 2009, beating the previous record of 4.03m over Christmas 2008. Lady Gaga was named on Sunday as last week's top-selling singles artist as Bad Romance returned to the number one spot. X Factor winner Joe McElderry's single The Climb went down to number two. Williams told the BBC that the growth in the download market had changed the way that consumers behaved immediately after Christmas. "It used to be on Christmas Day you'd have your lunch and maybe go for a brisk walk or settle down and watch the afternoon film," Williams said.
5 Superb Social Media Tools for Musicians
Zach supervises social media strategy at Martin|Williams Advertising in Minneapolis, MN and runs 808 Management , a consultancy for independent artists. Follow him on Twitter at @zackolantern . As we roll in to 2010, the selection of band-friendly social media tools is growing. Say goodbye to sporadic MySpace updates and incomplete tour information on Facebook. There are now more options for sharing your music with fans and empowering them to share it with others.musicbiz
Camper Van Beethoven Funds Their SXSW Trip By Letting Fans Spons
from the that's-a-nice-rtb dept American rock band Camper Van Beethoven is traveling to South by SouthWest this year without the support of a record label, so in order to raise funds, they're selling off the right to choose the songs that go on to their setlist for the 2 shows that they're going to play . The first 35 fans to pony up $102 get: A Santa Cruz Roller Derby Girl will walk/skate across the stage carrying a placard announcing your sponsorship of the song, within full view of the audience or cameras, to have the moment captured on film or video for all of eternity!