Once again the Internet has developed a severe case of Epic Win. As I'm sure many of you know, the Christmas number 1 spot this year has been up for grabs with the winner of Strictly Come Pop Hero Talent Factor on one side with the same old drivel we get every year (before they vanish into obscurity), and Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name on the other side. Now, it's not a Christmassy song, but it's a song that took talent to produce and perform, it's a song that many people still enjoy, and (most importantly) it was made by a real band that didn't go under after one hit.
After rather a heated battle, which Simon Cowell called "stupid" and "cynical", Killing in the Name came out in front with 500,000 sales, to the competing song's 450,000. It also set the record for being the first song to reach Christmas number 1 on downloads alone. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what we can achieve if we refuse to accept what we're force fed.
What are Rage Against the Machine going to do to celebrate this victory? Firstly they're planning a free concert in the UK to thank everyone, and secondly they're donating the earnings from the sales to charity. The same charity in fact that the original Facebook group which started this movement was providing links to. The group already raised £70,000 in donations for them. I think that counts as another layer on the growing pile of Win which the campaign created.
Thanks to everyone that supported this, and let's hope the right people got the message.
