As I write this another 88,845,326 tracks need to be downloaded on iTunes until the market leader download store has sold over a ten billion songs. Oh, hang on, now its 88,845,259. And now it's 88,845,173. I'm going to close this counter window, it's distracting. Whoever buys the ten billionth download will get a $10,000 iTunes voucher. So, get your finger ready to click 'buy' in 88,844,987 downloads time.

In a bid to start building some hype ahead of that landmark, Apple last week released details of the top ten tracks downloaded on iTunes since its US launch in 2003. Brace yourself for this. There is a chance this list will make you want to jump out of the nearest window, and then you'll have no chance of winning that ten grand iTunes voucher. OK, here we go, in reverse order, the ten biggest iTunes downloads of all time...

10. Ke$ha - TiK ToK
9. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
8. Taylor Swift - Love Story
7. Flo Rida - Low
6. Lady GaGa & Colby O'Donis - Just Dance
5. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
4. Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
3. Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow
2. Lady GaGa - Poker Face
1. Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling

IMPALA has dished out its latest set of album awards. These are the pan-European indie label trade body's version of the BPI and IFPI's gold disk type awards, specifically celebrating big selling albums released by European indie labels (and with lower unit targets than the more mainstream record industry sales-based gongs).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Vampire Weekend's 'Contra' is already high up on this list, despite only just being released. As previously reported, the lastest long player from the XL Recordings signed New Yorkers was the first album released by a UK indie to top the US charts in nearly two decades. However, it is two older albums that top the IMPALA list, sales of Katie Melua's 'Pictures' and The Prodigy's 'Invaders Must Die' having been sufficient to move them up a level in the overall sales charts.

The albums to go gold, diamond or multiple platinum this time are as follows:

Multiple Platinum (1.5 million+)
Katie Melua - Pictures (Dramatico)

Double Platinum (1 million+)
The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die (Cooking Vinyl)

Diamond (250k+)
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug (Domino)
Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables (Cherry Red Records)
Franz Ferdinand - Tonight (Domino)
Various Artists - Pillows Prayers (Cherry Red Records)
Vampire Weekend - Contra (Beggars/XL)

Gold (100k+)
Benjamin Biolay - La Superbe (Naïve)
Chuckie LMFAO - Let The Bass Kick In Miami Girl (Cr2 Records Ltd)
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (Warp)
Gurrumul - Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (Dramatico/Skinnyfish)
Jay Sean - My Own Way (Jayded/2Point9)
Pink Martini - Splendour In The Grass (Naïve)
Scooter - Under The Radar, Over The Top (Kontor Records)
The Gaslight Anthem - The 59 Sound (Side One Dummy/Cargo)
Tom Waits - Glitter & Doom (Live) (Anti)
Tracey Thorn - A Distant Shore (Cherry Red Records)
The xx - xx (Young Turks)

Perhaps unsurprising, but worth noting. The 'Hope For Haiti Now' benefit album, a recording of the performances that took place at last week's George Clooney organised telethon in aid of the post-earthquake relief effort in Haiti, is the first digital-only album to top the US album chart, having shifted 175,000 units in just three days.

The album was rushed to the digital market place by digital distributors INgrooves, who were working for free, in a bid to maintain the momentum of the MTV-produced fund-raiser, which was aired across the MTV network and on numerous US TV stations last Friday. All digital retailers are also passing on all their fees to the telethon fund, who will in turn provide monies to various aid organisations helping with the relief effort.

XL Recordings are celebrating after New Yorkers Vampire Weekend's new album 'Contra' went to the top of the US album charts this week. It's the band's first US number one album and the label's first US number one album. Which is nice.

It's also the first album released by a UK-based independent label to top the US charts in nineteen years. Which makes it something of a bigger news story, methinks. Not since a then still independent Virgin Records released Paula Abdul's 'Spellbound' in 1991 has a UK-based indie got a record to the top of the American album charts.

Richard Russell, founder and top man at the Beggars-owned XL told CMU: "We've always seen Vampire Weekend as a band with limitless potential. They've now reached number one in the world's biggest market with an original, inventive, self-produced album. They have toured tirelessly and built a loyal fanbase. As a completely independent label we are proud to have given such an independently spirited band a platform to achieve this great success without compromise".

OK, so if you want stats that are really interesting, or if you're feeling rather bubbly this morning and want something to end your high, go read this interview with Tom Silverman, the boss of Tommy Boy Entertainment, which has been in the business of making music for nearly three decades now.

As part of the New Music Seminar programme, which Silverman originally ran in the eighties but which was relaunched as a US-wide touring event last year, the Tommy Boy chief has been giving some serious time to considering US record sale stats. And it makes for gloomy reading.

Speaking to the Musician Coaching website, he says that most major label album releases have no hope of breaking even until they shift at least a quarter of a million records, even then releases with particularly high production or marketing budgets will probably be in the red. Silverman says that Soundscan stats for 2008 show only 112 albums sold over 250,000 units in the US that year, of which he estimates up to a half still didn't break even.

Which means the entire record industry (well, the major label sector anyway) is being propped up by the sales of about 60 releases. And only a handful of those are selling serious amounts - like multi-millions - Silverman estimates about five. Give the small number of break even albums, and tiny number of cash cow multi-million sellers, it's no wonder the major record companies are struggling. He concludes: "In the old days, one hit used to pay for 20 stiffs. Now one hit doesn't even pay for one stiff".

Part of the problem, of course, is that the major record companies - despite all the cut backs - still dramatically over-spend on many of their bigger releases, meaning that those albums most likely to pass the quarter of a million sales point actually need to shift between 500,000 and a million to actually break even. Just having a record company involved costs money, of course, which is why the DIY approach of artists self-releasing and cutting out the labels completely is increasingly attractive.

But Silverman has some depressing stats there also. While the DIY model can clearly work for established artists - and always has done really - Silverman says that the self-release route still doesn't really work for new talent. He reckons that 10,000 album sales is the point at which a band is properly onto something. In 2008 over 1500 albums sold over 10,000 units, but only 227 of those were new bands. Of the 227, only 14 were DIY ventures. Of the rest, about half were released by majors and half by indie labels.

On the up side, Silverman is quite optimistic about the growth of digital, and the impact that is having on wider industry revenues. Of course as digital becomes the dominant revenue stream in the record industry many of the benchmarks Silverman talks about here become irrelevant. In a market where single track sales are more important that album sales, and where licensing income from radio-play and streaming music services is increasingly central to the operation, then you can't really measure viability and success by number of albums shifted.

But what Silverman's stats do show is that while new artists do, in the main, still rely on a label's support to make it, labels are less able to take a punt on risky unproven new talent. Once they could afford 20 flops, but Silverman is saying now they can't afford one. Which is presumably where DIY comes in, new talent need to get themselves somewhere near the 10,000 album point in their career (or some equally tangible but digitally relevant equivalent) on their own, and should then bring in a label to get them to the next level.

Labels, meanwhile, need to find a way to make their operations still more cost efficient, so that more smaller projects go into profit. Interestingly indie labels are generally better at such efficiencies, which possibly means there is a great opportunity for the indie sector in the next stage of the digital era in music.

Whatever, go read the Silverman interview:
http://musiciancoaching.com/music-business/state-of-the-music-industry-pt-1/
http://musiciancoaching.com/music-business/state-of-the-industry-pt-2/

Take That's 'The Circus - Live' was the biggest music DVD of 2009 according to new stats from the Official Charts Company and British Video Association. So no surprise there then. The Take Thaters shifted 574,000 copies of their concert DVD.

Following just behind them was Michael Jackson's 1988 film, 'Moonwalker'. I say "just behind", it only sold 305,000 units, though if I remember rightly most retailers completely sold out of the DVD in the weeks after Jackson's demise, and had the king of pop had the decency to warn Warner Bros about his impending death they could have pressed more copies and shifted many more units - there being relatively few Jackson DVD-based products to choose from until the 'This Is It' doc is released later this month.

Other big selling music DVDs in 2009 were the Cliff and The Shadows' reunion collection, The Killers live at the Royal Albert Hall and an Il Divo flim flam recording in Barcelona.

The BVA says that overall music DVD sales for the year were up 14.1% on 2008, despite the demise of two of the sector's key sellers, Woolies and Zavvi. The wider DVD industry saw sales decline, however, with sales of traditional DVDs down 7.3%, and the sector as a whole down 5.6% when the boom in Blu-ray discs is taken into account.

In news that should come as a surprise to precisely no one, Ellie Goulding has come out top in this year's BBC Sound Of 2010 poll, which asks a team of 165 music journalists, DJs, presenters, producers and bloggers (including CMU Editor Andy Malt, which validates the whole thing, if you ask me) to pick their favourite new artists who'll be making waves over the coming year.

Having already won this year's BRITs Critics' Choice award, Goulding is set to release her debut album, 'Lights', on 1 Mar via Polydor. Previous winners of the annual BBC poll include Little Boots, Adele, Mika and 50 Cent.

The full 2010 top five looks like this:

1. Ellie Goulding
2. Marina And The Diamonds
3. Delphic
4. Hurts
5. The Drums

I know we all know that the Susan Boyle phenomenon is flippin huge, but just to reconfirm that fact, Boyle's debut album has gone four times platinum in the US just 45 days after its release. That's the fastest anyone has gone four times platinum since the Recording Industry Association Of America learned to count that high in 1984. It means some four million copies of 'I Dreamed A Dream' have been shipped out to retailers in the US.

According to Billboard, over 3.1 million copies have already been sold. Despite that achievement, and six weeks atop the Billboard chart, SuBo did not have the best selling US album of 2009. That title goes to Taylor Swift. Though there was only just over 100,000 units in it, and Swift's album was on sale for the entire year, not just the final six weeks. As previously reported, 'I Dreamed A Dream' was the best selling album of 2009 in the UK, and it has also been confirmed as the best selling long player of 2009 in Australia.

Now you've brought up US chart data, you might also want to know Michael Jackson was the biggest selling album artist of 2009 ahead of Taylor Swift, The Beatles, SuBo and Lady Gaga, in that order, though he had the unfair advantage of sudden death of course. Meanwhile, Eminem (who we possibly once incorrectly suggested might have the best selling album in the US last year, 'Relapse' was eighth biggest) was the biggest selling artist of the noughties in the US, shifting 32,241,000 units in total, two million more than next best selling outfit The Beatles.

Finally, those who prefer their US record industry stats to be more corporate in nature might want to know Universal Music maintained its position as the biggest music company in the US in 2009, despite Sony benefiting from the Boyle effect. That said, Universal's US market share was down 1.32% to 30.2%, while Sony's share was up 3.28% to 28.58%. As my granny always used to say, it pays to have a Cowell on your side.

Warner had a 20.55% share while EMI managed just 9.2%, which is par for the course, though will probably add to the gloom of investors in EMI owners Terra Firma. I mean, it's up slightly on 2008, but still down on 2007 and 2006, and it was last year that the entire Beatles catalogue was re-released remember.

There have been countless lists of the so-called best music of the last decade compiled by music journalists, taste-makers and insiders over the last few weeks, but we all know that the only way to truly tell which music was best over the last ten years is to look at what the public spent their money on. If there's one thing I know about the general public, it's that they wouldn't ever spend their hard earned cash on any music that wasn't of the absolute highest quality. If it wasn't for the impeccable taste of all those people, we might live in an almost unimaginable world where artists like James Blunt and Will Young and that awful 'Mamma Mia' film sold more records and DVDs than anyone else. Oh, wait...
 
Yeah, so, the highest selling album of the last ten years was James Blunt's 'Back To Bedlam', followed closely by Dido's 'No Angel' (who also appears at seven with 'Life For Rent'). The number one single of the noughties was Will Young's double-A side debut 'Anything Is Possible/Evergreen', and he's closely followed by the other 'Pop Idol' finalist Gareth Gates with his awful cover of 'Unchained Melody'. The top selling compilation of the noughties was 'Now That's What I Call Music 47' (a classic of the series, I'm sure you'll agree) and the DVD that sold more than any other was 'Mamma Mia'. Excuse me while I weep quietly.
 
Although, I suppose you can't completely blame the public for their lack of taste when the song that was fourth most played to them in the last decade was 'Love It When You Call' by The Feeling. They never had a chance really. The most played song of the decade, according to PPL, was 'Chasing Cars' by Snow Patrol, which was also named Song Of The Decade in a Channel 4 poll.
 
Here are the top tens:
 
Highest selling albums 2000-2009
1. James Blunt - Back To Bedlam
2. Dido - No Angel
3. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
4. Leona Lewis - Spirit
5. David Gray - White Ladder
6. The Beatles - 1
7. Dido - Life For Rent
8. Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
9. Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
10. Take That - Beautiful World
Source: The Official Charts Company
 
Highest selling singles 2000-2009
1. Will Young - Anything Is Possible/Evergreen
2. Gareth Gates - Unchained Melody
3. Tony Christie - (Is This The Way To) Amarillo
4. Shaggy - It Wasn't Me
5. Alexandra Burke - Hallelujah
6. Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It's Christmas?
7. Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head
8. Shayne Ward - That's My Goal
9. Hear'say - Pure And Simple
10. Bob The Builder - Can We Fix It
Source: The Official Charts Company
 
Highest selling compilations 2000-2009
1. Now That's What I Call Music 47
2. Now That's What I Call Music 50
3. Now That's What I Call Music 56
4. Mamma Mia Soundtrack
5. Now That's What I Call Music 68
6. High School Musical Soundtrack
7. Now That's What I Call Music 62
8. Bridget Jones's Diary Soundtrack
9. Now That's What I Call Music 71
10. Now That's What I Call Music 53
Source: The Official Charts Company
 
Highest selling videos 2000-2009
1. Mamma Mia
2. Gladiator
3. Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
4. Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl
5. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone
6. Shrek
7. Bridget Jones's Diary
8. The Shawshank Redemption
9. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
10. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
Source: The Official Charts Company
 
Most played songs 2000-2009
1. Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
2. Take That - Shine
3. Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin
4. The Feeling - Love It When You Call
5. Sugababes - About You Now
6. Take That - Rule The World
7. James Blunt - You're Beautiful
8. Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot
9. Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head
10. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
Source: PPL

Do you remember that time Rage Against The Machine beat 'X-Factor' winner Joe McElderry to the Christmas number one spot? It was yesterday I think. Well, people have said stuff about it. Here's a quotes round up...

Chief rager Zack de la Rocha to the BBC: "We are very, very ecstatic about being number one. We really admire this incredible organic grassroots campaign and the spontaneous action taken by young people throughout the UK to topple this very sterile pop monopoly".

Fellow rager Tom Morello in a statement released overnight: "Rage Against the Machine are honored to have been drafted by this historic grassroots campaign to make our song 'Killing In The Name' the number one song on the UK Christmas week pop chart. This is a huge victory by and for fans of real music and we extend our heartfelt thanks to every fan and freedom fighter who helped make our anthem of defiance and rebellion the Anarchy Christmas Miracle of 2009".

X-Factor winner and Christmas chart loser Joe McElderry: "It's been such an incredible couple of months and I got the best Christmas gift I could ever have asked for in winning 'The X-Factor'. [And the campaign was] more against the show than me ... if any other person had have won, the same thing would have happened, because the petition was going on before the winner had been announced".

Tracy Morter, chief lady conspirer in the Beat Cowell campaign, to the BBC: "It was one of those little silly ideas that make you laugh in your own house. We really love music and remember when were were young the charts were really exciting. We just thought, wouldn't it be funny if that song got to number one? It took something really strong and forceful to get people behind it".

Jon Morter, Tracy's fella and the chief conspirer, admitting last year he'd tried the same thing with a Rick Astley song: "From that experience we learned how the charts work and what you can get away with. When this year came around I just thought, let's have another go. Last year was fun. This year it has gone stratospheric".

A "gutted" Simon Cowell, bigging up Jon and Tracy: "I am genuinely impressed by the campaign they have run. It has been a good campaign with no dirty tricks and without any funding. They have been passionate and worked hard. I offered them jobs at my record company. It could be in marketing or perhaps even running the company! This is their first attempt at putting out a record and they got a Christmas No1, so they have not done badly at all. I wanted them to come and work for us. I [called them and] was deadly serious, but they haven't taken me up on the offer".

The aforementioned Jon M on Cowell's phone call: "He was very nice, really nice to talk to. We had a little chat about music and just things in general really. He was lovely and he wished us well and he also said it was probably the best Christmas No1 race that he has been involved with".

The always ridiculous Louis Walsh to The Sun: "You always have novelty records at number one for Christmas and 'Killing In The Name' is nothing but that. Joe has nothing to worry about at all. With all the fuss about Rage Against The Machine, people might fail to realise that Joe has still sold 450,000 records, which is phenomenal. He only lost by a tiny 50,000 sales. He will sell a million singles. I think 'The Climb' will be one of the biggest-selling singles of next year. Besides, it's all about having a career - look at the albums chart. Alexandra Burke, JLS and Leona Lewis have all come from 'X-Factor' and sold millions".

Rent-a-quote Paul Gambaccini speaking to The Guardian: "Not only was it the meeting of two incredible forces - Simon Cowell versus Facebook, physical versus digital sales - it was a story you could follow day by day. I rarely listen to the chart show these days but I did for the last half hour yesterday. They built up the suspense and milked it for all it was worth."

Former Radio 1 chart bore Mark Goodier, also to The Guardian: "The music business is very good at delivering exactly what the very powerful chairmen of the music companies want, but now and again something different happens. The great democracy of the internet means you can compete against 'The X-Factor' and all of its marketing dollars and make a difference. It could be a sign of similar things to come".

Cowell's 'BGT' co-hort and general irritant Piers Morgan to the Press Association: "I thought it was quite funny and the fact that Simon got wound up was even funnier. Anything that winds up Simon Cowell is good in my book. He appreciates it when someone outwits him - it doesn't happen very often. [But] it will really annoy him".

HMV's infamous words man Gennaro Castaldo: "Joe... shouldn't take this personally. This is all about the stunning impact of the Rage Against The Machine internet campaign in galvanising music fans to protest against the dominance of the reality show in recent years. Rage may not be the ideal expression of the Christmas spirit - and many people will have preferred a more appropriate song to top the festive charts - but their anti-corporate message proved a perfect vehicle through which to register such a powerful protest".

Digital MP3 flogger Steve Wheeler, GM of Recordstore.co.uk: "Rage Against The Machine becoming the UK's first ever download-only Xmas number one shows that when the increasingly digital-savvy, progressive-minded public bandy together they can change things without needing the huge media campaign that 'X-Factor' has benefitted from. The battle has also been a great success for encouraging people to get to grips with legal downloads. 'Killing In The Name Of' has registered as number one with the majority of download retailers - including iTunes, Amazon, Play, Recordstore, HMV and Nokia. This chart battle may even make a difference to people's future buying habits as they realise they no longer have go into shops to purchase music".

Chris Cooke, Business Editor of some music flim flam called CMU: "2009 is the year when social networking really came of age, thanks in the main to Twitter. We've all spoken about the power of the internet for years now, but I think it's this year that that power has become a reality. Ironically two of the most obvious manifestations of that power involved Simon Cowell - first the overnight global superstardom of Susan Boyle, second his defeat in the Christmas chart battle. Of course we all know that in both cases Cowell and his business partners Sony Music were the real winners, though I don't think that's any reason to suggest the anti-X campaign was a failure. It was really intended to be a bit of fun, and thousands of music fans had one hell of a ride following the battle over the week, which is surely the real point of pop music and the us Brits' rather strange obession with the Christmas number one".

There's more chatter on the rise of social networking in 2009 in the CMU Review Of The Year here, and Chris has written a piece all about it on his own blog here. You can read all our coverage of the RATM v X thing here.

Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello has just issued a statement regarding his band topping the UK Christmas singles chart yesterday.

And here's what he says: "Rage Against the Machine are honored to have been drafted by this historic grassroots campaign to make our song 'Killing In The Name' the number one song on the UK Christmas week pop chart. This is a huge victory by and for fans of real music and we extend our heartfelt thanks to every fan and freedom fighter who helped make our anthem of defiance and rebellion the Anarchy Christmas Miracle of 2009".

He continued: "As promised we will play a free concert in the UK in celebration of this incredible upset victory over the heavily favored 'X-Factor' single. We are also pleased that so much money has been raised for homeless charity Shelter and are happy to donate as well to aid this important cause. While there are many lessons that can be drawn from this historic upset, the main one is this: that ordinary people, banding together in solidarity, can change ANYTHING, be it the pop charts or the world".

So, in the end the anti-X brigade won one of the fiercest chart battles in recent years by quite some margin. The decidedly un-Christmassy (unless, I suppose, you interpret the story of Christ as that of one man's fight against an oppressive establishment, which you might) 'Killing In The Name' from Rage Against The Machine takes the coveted Christmas Number One slot for 2009 after outselling second place Joe 'X-Factor winner' McElderry by some 50,000 units. Of course the 1992 RATM track beat the X-Factor winner thanks to the much reported Facebook-led campaign by rock fans across the UK to stop the Simon Cowell factory from scoring its fifth consecutive festive chart topper.

According to the Official Charts Company, the RATM track sold over 500,000 units this week thanks to the Facebook campaign, making it the first download-only Christmas number one, and meaning it has scored more download sales in one week than any other one track has before. Not bad for a seventeen year old shouty rock assault with more than its fair share of lyrical 'fucks'.

McElderry's cover of the rather tedious Miley Cyrus song 'The Climb' sold 450,000 copies to take second place. The RATM buyers were, of course, making a stand against the 'X-Factor' and its perceived power over the charts, rather than trying to show any ill feeling towards Joe himself, who can presumably still expect as good a chance at a full-on pop career as any previous winner of the talent show once attention is turned to his debut album in the New Year. If Team Cowell had a sense of humour they'd include a cheesy pop version of 'Killing In The Name' as a hidden track on that long player. I'm not sure they do though.

RATM were ahead from the word go in this chart battle, having a nearly 24 hour head start, with McElderry's track not available to download until after the talent show's final last Sunday evening. However, Joe had a CD release on the high street too, which was expected to provide a boost as the weekend approached. And it did, by Friday afternoon sales of the two tracks were very close, and reports on Saturday morning put McElderry ahead. RATM, though, enjoyed a last minute flurry of extra downloads.

Had Joe equalled first week sales of last year's 'X-Factor' winner Alexandra Burke - who sold 575,000 copies of her 'Hallelujah' cover - he'd have won the battle. But despite all the media hoo haa about the chart race he failed to match Burke's sales. Some might say the snowy weather, keeping some more casual pop fans away from the high street, may have had an impact (so, divine intervention in RATM's favour). Though Cowell's choice of one of the dullest songs ever written is more likely to blame.

Either way, of course, Cowell's business partners Sony Music win big time, releasing, as they did, both records, and therefore enjoying over 950,000 sales out of this chart battle. With McElderry still hot property, while Cowell may have had his ego a little bashed by this defeat, he's still quids in, of course. And while the social networking phenomenon, that really came of age in 2009, was responsible for this defeat, it also helped turn his other talent acquisition of the year - Susan Boyle - into an overnight global megastar, so on balance I think the internet has been kind to Cowell this year.

Commenting on this week's chart race, the boss of the OCC Martin Talbot told CMU: "Congratulations to Rage Against The Machine on their number one - as we have seen in recent years, beating any 'X-Factor' winner in the race for the Christmas number one is no mean achievement. The popular support we have seen for the record this week has been truly amazing - and handed them two all-time records".

He continued: "But congratulations too should also go to Joe McElderry. In taking the number two spot, he has still achieved one of the highest weekly sales of any single this year - in almost any other year, 450,000 copies would have given him the Christmas number one. Through this week, these two tracks have accounted for more than 950,000 single sales, a fact which is truly remarkable".

RATM said yesterday that if they topped the Christmas chart they'd play a free gig in the UK to celebrate. Details of that will presumably follow. Quotes from both sides are flowing in regards the result of this race - we'll have more on those here on the News-Blog tomorrow.

I really thought we might get through one day this week without talking about this whole Rage Against The Machine v 'X-Factor' thing, but then Zach and the boys performed live on BBC 5Live's breakfast show and everything went all Bruno Brookes.
 
The band joined Nicky Campbell and Shelagh Fogarty from a US studio for an interview and, perhaps bizarrely for a talk station, a live performance of 'Killing In The Name'. Prior to the performance, guitarist Tom Morello said that the campaign had "tapped into the silent majority of the people in the UK who are tired of being spoon-fed one schmaltzy ballad after another".
 
Frontman Zach De La Rocha added: "Simon [Cowell] is an interesting character who has profited greatly off humiliating people on live television and has a unique position of someone who can not only capture the attention of some people on television but also on the airwaves".
 
The band then performed the song, with De La Rocha initially removing the swearing from the lyrics, but managed to shout "Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" four times over the end of the song before being faded out. Fogarty then announced, seemingly without irony: "We asked them not to do it and they did it anyway".
 
But you don't need me to tell you all this, the BBC videoed the whole thing. You can watch it here (with bleeps) right now: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8418158.stm
 
A spokesman for the BBC said in a statement later: "We had spoken to the band repeatedly beforehand and they had agreed not to swear. When they did, we faded the band out and said sorry immediately. We apologise again to anyone who was offended".
 
Meanwhile, back to the RATM v 'X-Factor' battle itself.

And what does Simon Cowell think of the whole thing? Well, he thinks it's stupid, we already know that. But now he's come out and accused everyone who's bought the Rage Against The Machine single of bullying. He told The Sun: "If you take me out of the equation, you have a teenager with his first single being attacked by a huge hate mob on Facebook. It almost feels like a little kid being bullied. It feels like a spiteful campaign aimed at an eighteen year old who won a talent competition. It's David versus Goliath and it's not fair on Joe. It's getting out of hand".
 
Just to clarify, he's saying that the 'X-Factor' winner is David and RATM is Goliath. Though he did then concede that it was good to have a bit of competition for the Christmas number one, and agreed that the result would be close, saying: "One part of me says, good for you guys for bringing on some competition. The other part isn't sure about the point they are trying to make. I think they've got a shot at making number one. The retail numbers are very, very encouraging for us but this Rage record now has a momentum of its own".
 
But what does Joe McElderry's 'X-Factor' mentor Cheryl Cole thing about the whole thing? Well, she's none too happy about it and is starting her own campaign to rid the charts of foreigners (possibly). She told The Sun: "I would be devastated to see Joe lose out. He put his heart and soul into every single week of 'The X-Factor'. I cannot bear to see him lose to a mean campaign that has nothing to do with his efforts. If that song, or should I say campaign, by an American group, is our Christmas number one I'll be gutted for him and our charts".
 
But what does last year's 'X-Factor' winner think of the whole thing? Well, she's backing Joe McElderry. Alexandra Burke told The Sun: "I think Joe McElderry should be number one because it'll be his first number one, bless him. I support him dearly. It's all about what the public want Christmas number one to be - nobody else can dictate that, it's what they want to buy. End of".
 
She also said that she would have been upset if a similar campaign had been launched against her after she won the show last year. You know, say, if people had tried to get Jeff Buckley's version of 'Hallelujah' to number one instead of hers, or something like that. She said: "I would have been upset for sure but what people fail to remember is that the 'X-Factor' isn't forcing someone to be number one. This is not what the show is about, it's not about forcing people to buy into the single".
 
But what does Dave Grohl think of the whole thing? Well, he's backing Rage Against The Machine. He told Rock Radio yesterday: "We were on our way here and we stopped at a rest stop. It was 4.30 in the morning, I hadn't slept all night and there was nobody in there except the one guy who works at the sandwich stand. I was paying for my sandwiches and he said: 'Are you going to buy the Rage Against The Machine single this week?' I said, 'Yeah, I think I might have to!' There's some music that I question for its intention. I think when people rise up and decide, hey man, I'm sick of this, let's derail this other thing for something real - I'm all for it. It's an incredible song and it's meaningful - maybe people are craving something that actually means something".

But what does Paul McCartney think of the whole thing? Well, he's leaning towards Rage Against The Machine, despite appearing on the 'X-Factor' final last week. He told Sky News: "Everyone expects Joe to do it. If he goes to number one then good luck to him. He's just some kid with a career ahead. I've got nothing against that, but it would be kind of funny if Rage Against The Machine got it because it would prove a point".
 
But what do the record buying public think of the whole thing? Well, they're still backing Rage Against The Machine, too. Just. The band maintained their lead after their first day of competing with sales of the CD single of the 'X-Factor' track, which, unlike most physical singles, is expected to sell very well. Yesterday morning the band's lead had dropped from 65,000 to just under 37,000, and as of this morning it stands at just 9000, having sold 306,000. Just over half of McElderry's sales have been physical CDs so far. As previously mentioned, the true test for RATM will be Saturday, when shoppers most likely to buy the 'X-Factor' single on CD will be out in force.
 
But what do Ladbrokes think of the whole thing? Well, despite reopening the book on the chart and putting RATM at the top on Wednesday, they've shifted their allegiance back to McElderry. The company's spokesman, Nick Weinberg said: "Joe has recovered from his black Wednesday. Earlier this week there was a very real chance that he could miss out. But that's diminishing with every day that passes". William Hill have also made McEldery their favourite.

We'll have to wait until Sunday to find out the result, of course. The votes (or sales, if you want to call them that) will continue to be counted up until midnight on Saturday.

PS: While many people have pointed out that Sony Music, and therefore the mainstream music industry, will be the winner either way in this battle, because they released both songs, the wider record industry will, in one way, be the loser again. That very well made mash-up video making 'X-Factor' contenders seem to sing the RATM song has been taken off YouTube because of a copyright claim made by record label trade body the BPI. Others have re-uploaded it, but presumably YouTube will continue to take it down when they can. It means that when people click on the video snippets many media have posted on their websites people see "removed because of a copyright claim by British Phonographic Limited".

Presumably the BPI are acting on behalf of Sony, or someone else related to the 'X-Factor' or 'Britain's Got Talent' machine, on this. But when people see 'BPI' they read 'the record industry at large'. So, once again the industry looks, at best, like a bunch of boring spoilsports, and worse like a bunch of evil bastards. When will the major labels and their trade body learn about the importance of public perception towards their businesses and industry if they want political support for anti-piracy measures and copyright extension? Can I come and give every record label chief some basic corporate PR training in the New Year please? Things like this drive me insane.

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UPDATES ON THIS STORY...

FRI 1.30PM: According to 7Digital sales of the two tracks are now neck and neck.

FRI 4.30PM: I see the Daily Mail is quoting sources who say Team Cowell think BBC TV and radio are giving RATM excessive plugs as revenge for the 'X-Factor' trouncing 'Stictly Come Dancing' in the TV ratings. That assumes a lot more coordination than the Beeb is probably capable off.

FRI 5.30PM: Former CMU columnist Ben Myers shares some interesting thoughts on the chart battle in The Guardian here. You should read it. We did.

SAT 9.00AM: Last day of record buying begins. Joe McElderry's CD single is expected to sell well today. RATM fans have one last push. Meanwhile, overnight Tom Morello announced RATM would play a free gig in the UK if they get the Christmas number one.

SAT 11.00AM: 7Digital report that X-Factor Joe is now 11,000 sales ahead of the Rage boys. I wonder if there's a bunch of RATM fans thinking of buying last minute?

SAT 12.00PM: The Sun played Joe X 'Killing In The Name' and wrote down what he said - "They can't be serious! I had no idea what it sounded like. It's dreadful and I hate it. How could anyone enjoy this? Can you imagine the grandmas hearing this over Christmas lunch? I wouldn't buy it. It's a nought out of ten from me. Simon Cowell wouldn't like it. They wouldn't get through to boot camp on 'The X Factor' – they're just shouting". [Insert your own variation of "well, duh" here].

SAT 11.30PM: Oh look, the cut off for buying RATM or Joe X in the race for Christmas number one approaches. We've just heard Jedward have approved of the RATM campaign. Good job this only came to light this late in the day - I'm guessing Jedward support could have seriously hindered the RATM campaign. They're quoted in the Birmingham Sunday Mercury: "Every 'X Factor' winner knows they will be No 1, but we think the competition is a good thing. It is cool that someone else hasn't just sat back and let it happen. We think it is cool there is competition".

SUN 12.00AM: Race over, now just 18 hours and 50 minutes until winner announced. Apparently the snow might have hindered Joe X's retail sales today. See, God did his bit too.

SUN 7.00PM: And so, the big count is done and RATM are victorious - more here.

Lady Gaga is the most popular artist of 2009, according to Last.fm, who saw the singer wrack up just under 18.5 million track plays by just over 755,000 of its users since the start of the year. In terms of track plays, she easily saw off her main rivals, The Killers, who came in at number two with just under 12.5 million plays, although those came from over 1.2 million listeners, which is either good for them because more people wanted to listen to them, or bad because fewer people wanted to listen to them repeatedly.

Here's the top ten in full:

Artist (track plays/listeners)
1. Lady Gaga (18.5m/755k)
2. The Killers (12.5m/1.2m)
3. Lily Allen (10.5m/645k)
4. The Prodigy (8.9m/550k)
5. Franz Ferdinand (8.8m/930k)
6. Beyonce (8.6m/574k)
7. Animal Collective (7.6m/365k)
8. Green Day (7.6m/796k)
9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs (6.9m/683k)
10. Kanye West (6.6m/691k)

See the full rundown here: www.last.fm/bestof/2009

Hey, guess what, since yesterday there's been yet more yabbering about this whole Rage Against The Machine v 'X-Factor' winner Joe McElderry Christmas number one thing.

First up, RATM guitarist Tom Morello has again come out in support of his band. Which is big of him. He's also said that he'll donate some of the money he receives from the boost in sales 'Killing In The Name' has received this week to charity.

Speaking to BBC 6music about the campaign, Morello said: "This shouldn't be misinterpreted. This is a grass roots effort. It's nothing against the candidates or the guy that runs the show ['X-Factor]. A little dose of anarchy for the Christmas holidays is good for the soul. I love the independent spirit of the British rock fans. Your country has a great rich history of cutting-edge, exciting rebel music. Whether it's the early Stones and The Who, or The Clash and The Sex Pistols, or Prodigy and Muse, I think that people are just fed up with being represented every Christmas holiday, being spoon fed some overblown, sugary ballad that sits at the top of the charts. That top spot doesn't belong to anybody - any TV show or any 90s political rock band. Let the people decide".

He added: "The one thing about the 'X-Factor' show, much like 'American Idol', if you're a viewer of the show, you get to vote for one candidate or the other but you don't really get to vote against the show itself... Until now!"

Well, apart from all the other times. But, yeah, this is for charity, so we'll let him off. Morello revealed that he will be making a donation to a UK-based children's music organisation in the near future in the hope that some of the kids it supports will follow in his footsteps. He explained: "Me personally, I am going to donate part of my proceeds from the sales to an organisation in the UK called Youth Music, which is the UK's largest children's music charity. My hope is that one of the results of this whole thing is that there will be a new generation of rockers who will take on the establishment with the music they write".

In addition to that, the official Facebook-based campaign group to get RATM to the top of the chart has raised nearly £40,000 for Shelter, and now online retailer Recordstore.co.uk has also announced that all proceeds from the sale of 'Killing In The Name' on its site will go to the same charity.

Recordstore manager Steve Wheeler explained on the company's blog: "This isn't about money. It's about the statement it makes: that millions of pounds in TV exposure may make a powerful tool but when dissenting voices join together they can make an equal impact. Some may scoff that this is hardly an important cause for people power to suddenly take effect but if the members of the public who have joined the Facebook group that began this quest take a minute to check out Rage Against The Machine and the views they hold then maybe we'll see some real changes in the world".

Which all sounds like battle lines have been firmly drawn. So, what message would Morello like to send to Simon Cowell? He said: "I bear him no ill will. He's going to be fine either way".

That's all good, then. But what stage is this race at now? Well, as we reported yesterday, while Rage took an early (and substantial) lead, the band and their supporters were dealt a potential blow by the release of the CD single of the 'X-Factor' song yesterday. Hmm, it's the physical CD single release that might make the difference, not words I have to type very often these days.

Official Charts Company boss Martin Talbot explained: "Joe McElderry's single will do disproportionately well physically. The single's market now is 98-plus per cent digital. The physical market doesn't really exist for most releases, but for releases of this status and ones that are going to cross over to the gift purchase market as well, is going to sell significantly on CD".

However, bookmakers Ladbrokes are backing the underdog, having slashed the odds on RATM making it to number one on Sunday to 8/11, making them the favourite. The move comes just days after they said that RATM had no chance and closed the book on Christmas number one bets. The company's Nick Weinberg, said: "Joe's loss of favouritism is a landmark moment in Christmas number one betting. It was inconceivable just a few days ago, but the gamble on Rage Against The Machine has taken us completely by surprise. For so long the battle for festive supremacy has been a procession for the 'X-Factor' - not any more".

In other related news, stars of both 'X-Factor' and 'Britain's Got Talent' have come out in favour of Rage Against The Machine, sort of (click here) and others are just wondering why they can't all get along (click here too).

David Bowie's 1972 album 'The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars' is the gayest of all time, according to a new poll conducted by Out. The magazine asked over 100 gay celebrities, including Boy George, Rufus Wainwright, Cyndi Lauper, Perez Hilton, Jake Shears, Junior Vasquez and Janis Ian, to name the album most important to their lives.

The full list is as follows:

1. David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
2. The Smiths - The Smiths
3. Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
4. Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls
5. Judy Garland - Judy At Carnegie Hall
6. The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
7. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
8. Madonna - The Immaculate Collection
9. Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
10. Antony And The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now

What, no hip hop or dancehall?

So, Rage Against The Machine's 'Killing In The Name' is leading the way in most of the download charts, though the anti-X brigade shouldn't get too excited, because a sizable portion of Joe McElderry's fans buy their music from Tesco rather than iTunes, and the CD version of the single only goes on sale today (I might have previously suggested it would hit stores on Monday, but that, of course would be logistically impossible unless the whole 'X-Factor' viewer vote was totally rigged).

With that in mind, that Simon Cowell chap remains confident that his man will top the Christmas chart come Sunday, telling the Daily Star yesterday: "We've got 500,000 singles going out on Wednesday and Joe WILL be number one". The 'X-Factor' man also took the opportunity to again diss the Facebook-led campaign to get RATM to the top of the festive chart rather than the winner of his telly franchise. He told the tab: "Why not let the kid have his moment? It's all very Scrooge. It's miserable to put down young talent. We should celebrate it. I am! I've had a glass of champagne or two".

Meanwhile in an interview with the NME (he's their Christmas cover star, in one of those typically NME 'let's do something that'll piss off 87% of our readers' stunts), Cowell countered the idea that the festive number one spot had been all about quality music and Christmassy songs before he started releasing 'X-Factor' singles in Christmas chart week. He told the mag: "I think we were getting to a point where it was all becoming like [Cliff Richard's] 'The Millennium Prayer' and I just didn't like that song.I think we all have this belief that the Christmas number one was just amazing songs... but actually when you look at them over recent years it was Bob The Builder, Mr Blobby. There's a tradition of quite horrible songs. I think I've done everyone a favour".

Not that I'm wishing to get all pop-psychology on poor Mr Cowell here, but why is the man who took the Teletubbies into the music charts complaining about Bob The Builder having a Christmas number one? Not because Bob stopped his boys Westlife from having their second festive chart topper in 2000 and in doing so broke their 'all singles to number one' record? Is Bob beating Westlife to number one really what's behind Cowell's campaign to make us have to listen to a mediocre cover of a tedious Hannah Montana song this Christmas? Couldn't he just take some happy pills instead?

Of course, the more Cowell talks down the RATM campaign the more music fans are going to go download 'Killing In The Name', which brings me back to my conspiracy theory he's actually trying to boost sales of both Christmas number one contenders, both of which are released by his record label partners Sony Music. Talking of conspiracy theories, why was iTunes trying to persuade me to buy the whole 'RATM' album earlier - "featuring 'Killing In The Name" it assured me - are they trying to drive RATM sales to the album chart rather than the all important singles countdown?

Anyway, enough of that, let's have a word from RATM guitarist Tom Morello, who has come out in support of the campaign to get his band's song to the top of this week's UK single's chart. So that's nice. Actually, he didn't specifically say which song he's supporting, I'm only assuming he prefers his own song to McElderry's Miley Cyrus cover. He announced via Twitter yesterday: "Rage's 'Killing In The Name' and the X-Factor's goofy Christmas single are neck and neck for num one spot on UK chart. England! Now is your time". A pep talk which might just give McElderry the boost he needs North of the border.

Talking of the Cowell NME interview, which we were, briefly, once NME readers get over the shock of seeing Mr X on the cover of their magazine they'll find an article in which he responds to a bunch of negative questions provided by indie pop stars. You see NME, if you really wanted to do something avante garde that would shock the indie kids, you really should have published a puff piece.

Anyway, asked by Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil whether he liked rock music, Cowell responded: "I went to a very, very small Stranglers gig in this horrific venue and literally everyone was gobbing at each other ... That made me realise this was not for me".

To Elly 'La Roux' Jackson's awfully clever question 'how do you feel about ruining the music industry?' he gave us: "Well, look, that's her opinion. What La Roux has to understand is that the music industry isn't dominated by us, or influenced by us for that matter. It's influenced by people who buy records and I believe in democracy".

And finally, asked by Johnny Marr to explain how 'X-Factor' makes the British music scene better, he concluded: "The music industry was in a huge decline. What I would argue in my defence is that shows like 'Britain's Got Talent' and 'The X-Factor' have actually got people more interested in music again and are sending more people into record stores. We haven't seen this kind of uplift in years".

Why didn't anyone ask him what makes him think we all believe that the Christmas number one used to only feature amazing songs? Christmas number ones have always been shit, we'd just prefer someone else's shit to have a chance.

While, as previously reported, Nsync had the best selling artist album in the US this decade, when you allow compilations into the mix, The Beatles top the chart, having shifted over eleven million of their main greatest hits compo over the last ten years. So well done them. Will Nsync's greatest hits be the best selling album of the 2040s? No.

In terms of total album sales for the decade, stats from US chart counters Nielsen say Eminem has had the most success, selling two million more records overall than The Beatles, who come second place in that chart. But will Eminem's best of compilations and re-releases make him the second best selling artist of the 2040s? Well, they might. 

It's always interested me a little that while Simon Cowell is clearly a genius at building up multi-million-generating brands around mediocre pop singers, and was a pioneer when it came to recognising the mega-cash that could be generated by marrying two of the modern eras most popular art forms - pop music and kids TV - the music mogul and leading A&R man isn't very good at the A&R bit of A&R.

That is to say the artist and repertoire bit. Cowell is the king when it comes to spotting the million dollar pop star. But I really don't think he's very good at spotting a good pop song. I hate to say it, but he'd probably be better off consulting fellow judge Louis Walsh or old cohort Pete Waterman on such things.

Hence 'The Climb', the tediously dull Miley Cyrus song that 'X-Factor' winner Joe McElderry has been saddled with for his debut single. However, Cowell has been defending his choice though more against allegations that it was more suitable for McElderry's voice than fellow finalist Olly Murs, therefore giving the winner an advantage.

Cowell told reporters: "Do you know what? A good song is a good song. When we record the songs, we tried them out with five different singers. If they couldn't sing the song, we wouldn't have done it. I thought Olly's version was really, really good... I actually think, if you want my honest opinion, they were both as good as each other with that song. Olly really liked that song and was really comfortable with it".

Anyway, I am bringing this up here in the charts slot because this is meant to be an update on the chart battle between the 'X-Factor' winner's tedious Miley turn and Rage Against The Machine's sweary 'Killing In The Name', which petty Cowell bashers (like various members of CMU staff) are all buying this week in a bid to stop the 'X' machine getting another Christmas number one. 

People are following the relative performance of McElderry and RATM on various download platforms. Given the latter is not available as a CD single, it will need to lead the way in the digital charts in order to have a hope of beating the 'X-Factor' winner to the top of the overall singles chart. After an initial lead by RATM, McElderry is now ahead in the iTunes Top 10, though RATM is leading in the Amazon MP3 chart as I write this.

Actually, RATM are at both positions 1 and 3 in the Amazon top 10. This is presumably because Amazon are selling 'Killing In The Name' as both a 79p download and a 29p special offer download. There was much speculation online yesterday that the latter would not count in the final chart calculation, because chart rules insist on a 40p minimum price point, which is presumably why some people have been buying the 79p version.

However, the Official Charts Company confirmed to CMU last night that the 29p downloads from Amazon - of both RATM and Joe McElderry - will count, because the 40p minimum applies to wholesale prices not retail price - ie the price Amazon pay the record label, not the price you pay Amazon. The etailer's 29p special offer downloads are loss leaders, on which Amazon takes an 11p hit, meaning tracks bought this way do count when the chart is calculated. So, go ye and download yourself a bargain. It's up to you whether you go with RATM or 'X-Factor' Joe, we wouldn't want to influence you in any way whatsoever, buy McElderry's version of that tedious piece of shit if you want to. 

By the way, and assuming this has been at the centre of everyone's thinking for the last 24 hours, eighteen year old McElderry has confirmed he's a heterosexual virgin. So that's a relief. Here's what he told the Sun: "People say I'm squeaky clean but I don't see things like that. I'm a normal person living the dream. What you see is what you get. I'm straight. I've had girlfriends, but I don't have one right now. I haven't slept with anyone, but I'm a young lad and I'm concentrating on my music. I know I'll probably get offers but, for me, it's all about the singing for now".

All of which is very interesting but, and this is the really important thing to be considering this morning, how am I going to cope with the Adam & Joe 6music radio show going off for a three month sabbatical in the New Year?

PS: Bringing this back to the actual story here, the Official Charts Company tweeted this morning: "Rage Against The Machine starts the week with a 7% lead over Joe McElderry. The race to be Christmas number one is on". So, there's lovely.

So, we now know that it will be Joe McElderry who will take on Rage Against The Machine in the battle for Christmas number one. If he wants anything nearing a credible music career, he should come out in support of 'Killing In The Name' for the festive top spot.

McElderry beat fellow finalist Olly Murs to become this year's winner of ITV talent show 'X-Factor' last night, the two having seen off competition from third placer Stacey Soloman the night before. He's now set to reach the dizzy heights of pop stardom previously only seen by the likes of Steve Brookstein and Leon Jackson.

But before all that excitement there's the business of this week's Christmas chart, which, if only because of tradition, McElderry is now the bookies' favourite to top. So, sorted. Except, of course, for the Facebook campaign to get Rage Against The Machine's sweary 'Killing In The Name' into the festive top spot instead, mainly to bloody the nose of the Cowell machine, even though the song is released and published by his business partners Sony Music.

The bet takers still reckon McElderry is most likely to get the Christmas number one, like the preceding 'X-Factor' winners, but with 718,648 people signed up to the anti-X Facebook group (as I write), I'm becoming less cynical about this campaign's chances of succeeding.

While it's true that RATM had a headstart, because McElderry's cover of Miley Cyrus tune 'The Climb' only went on sale after last night's 'X-Factor' show, and while he, unlike RATM, will benefit from CD sales as of this morning, the fuck song is currently number one in the iTunes Top 10, while the 'X-Factor' tune is trailing at number ten.

Last year's 'X-Factor' champ Alexandra Burke topped the Christmas chart by selling 576,000 units. Beating those kinds of sales would rely on a relatively high number of those signed up to the Facebook group coming good on their promise to buy the RATM single. But, while 'X-Factor' is as popular as ever, remember that Burke had the advantage of being given a great song to sing.

While we might not have all appreciated her version of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah', it is a classic rousing number, with a Christmassy name, if not lyrics. McElderry has been handed a song so dull, you'd struggle to even say anything negative about it.

How many people bought 'Hallelujah' because they were 'X-Factor' fans, and how many because they liked the tune? I reckon sales of 'The Climb' could be a lot less than 576,000, which, coupled with the passion with which thousands of people have embraced the RATM campaign, means I don't think McElderry is as assured his Christmas number one as some bookies reckon. Either way, I think we'll all be watching this week's midweek chart reports more closely than usual.

With the RATM campaign getting so much press, now loads more anti-commercial bands with records to flog are proclaiming themselves as the best 'X-Factor' antidote. If I didn't think the RATM project had a chance of actually winning the Christmas number one battle I'd support the campaign to get the wonderful Tim Minchin to number one, but given the way things are going, I think anyone wanting to kick it to the man should stick with Zach and co.

In sort of related news, Miley Cyrus's version of 'The Climb' has been taken off the shortlist for the Best Film Song Grammy. Though not because it's so tedious a song it sent all the Grammy judges to sleep, but because the song, although appearing in the 'Hannah Montana' film, wasn't specifically written for the movie, so is not actually eligible for the prize. Why it was shortlisted before anyone noticed I don't know.