The X Factor's impact on the charts...

Wertz

Okay it's the music forum, X factor doesn't belong here etc etc and obviously it's cool to bash the show and be a hater and whatever, but I have to just comment on something that I noticed during the week.
Was at work and listening to Radio 1's midweek chart update...in the top 40, three new entries were all relatively older hit songs that featured as covers on the previous weekend's X factor, one of them managing to make it in at #2...BTW this isn't a new phenomenon but it's becoming a regular thing in the UK charts, judging by the DJ's comments.

Doesn't it say something very sad about the musical taste of the British (and by association and similar viewing figures, the Irish) public, that previous chart entries find new chart life from being covered by nobody special on a glorified talent show?
This is aside from the influence that the show has on the charts and the music industry with it's finished articles, christmas #1 etc.

I'm not a musical snob and will listen to just about anything, but for the life of me I can't see why a few thousand people rush out to download/buy an old hit based on a poor cover version (also haven't these people heard of youtube?)
That the like of this goes on whilst new talent gets pushed aside (chart/commercial success wise) is another one on the list of reasons why I despise this programme...I do realise that charts aren't really an accurate reflection of musical taste in the general public (and that they don't really matter any more) but they are indicative and the trend seems to be that old safe cover versions = good and new independent talent with actual new songs = bad.

Perhaps I'm just bringing my pre-conceptions of said show and it's audience to bear on this issue and I should quit being a hater and get with the program, but I just wanted some other opinions on it...

karaokeman

Totally agreed X Factor has been blown out of proportion and overrated to the highest level.

I don't get the whole covers market either. X Factor should maybe be replaced by a show that looks for proper musical talent, people who write their own songs, can play instruments etc. And the contestants should not be allowed release any music to the public unless its their original work.

I know this is unrelated to X Factor but I still don't understand the appeal of Ellie Goulding's version of Your Song.

InTheTrees

I've never understood xfactor and I sincerely believe simon cowell is the anti-christ.

I admit to being a bit of a snob, but its only because 90% of the music buying/consuming public really doesnt give a ****e, which means the 10% of us who have some discernment are labelled as snobs...

But given 90% dont give a crap it makes sense that covers are in demand; if they worked before then they'll work again is the logic. The audience doesnt really care, they just want to hear an easy vaguely familiar catchy tune.

InTheTrees

Wertz wrote: »

Perhaps I'm just bringing my pre-conceptions of said show and it's audience to bear on this issue and I should quit being a hater and get with the program, but I just wanted some other opinions on it...

No. Dont feel guilty for having some taste. And let anyone else make you feel guilty for their lack of taste.

Aesthetics, quality are important.

Da Shins Kelly

I think it's also interesting to point out that on the X Factor they are always claiming that they're trying to find someone "original", but everyone on the show sounds like someone else - Adele, Ellie Goulding, Amy Winehouse, Christina Aguilera, Paulo Nutini, etc. These are artists that are already out there and are not in need of replication. The X Factor is just out to capitalise upon and make money off of what is already currently popular and the work of other artists. They just churn out people who sounds exactly like already existing artists, except not as good, and hope to make money off a certain sound. Most of the people on the show are not songwriters and will probably end up with completely inauthentic sounds that have been engineered by someone else and given to them. They are by no means 'creators'. And I have no problem with pop stars - I think Britney Spears was and is a great popstar, Madonna was in her day too - but the difference is, they're trying to create pop stars on the X Factor, but the people on the X Factor are not in any way edgy, shaking things up or doing anything new, which is what pop music is all about. They're just copying other people. Britney Spears is not a wonderful singer or a great songwriter, but she did her own thing and chose songs that were perfect for her and created some brilliant sounds (Toxic, I'm A Slave 4 U, Hit Me Baby One More Time). She changed the face of pop music. That's what X Factor is lacking - innovators, people who are fearless, people who aren't afraid to be themselves, people who don't copy anyone else.

I don't see the harm in people watching the X Factor if they know what they're watching - an entertainment show. It's by no means a show which is at the cutting edge of music, finding new and innovative artists. It's an entertainment show for a Saturday evening. No harm in enjoying it for what it is, but don't expect to find the next great artist on it. X Factor is about creating a product to make money off already popular trends in music, nothing else.

Kold

The music in the charts is already atrocious, why should it bother anyone that it's also got covers? I am not particularly bothered about what chart music says about collective taste. In fact, all they really account for is who is selling the most. Selling and having your music heard are not necessarily linked.

viadah

Too many people miss the point of X Factor - it's a television show. End of. A successful career for whatever lucky plumber that wins it is both accidental and incidental. When the voting lines open, that's the point of the show. When people pay a fortune for advertising during the show, that's the point of the show. Even the people who vote for the winners generally don't give a **** what happens to them after the final.

adox

I've been known to watch it.

I like watching people sing. Its good throw away tv IMO.

Wertz

Had forgotten even posting this thread...

First off, I'm not criticising anyone for watching it...subjective taste etc (just the whole nicey nicey, everyone hugging, obviously fake element to the show annoys me, and way more than the singing itself tbh) I'm more so perplexed at how past chart hits then covered on that saturday's show, end up back in the charts (the original artists versions NOT the cover) the following week.
Why the hell would you buy/paid-download a song because Tina and Treacy from Nuneaton made a dogs dinner of it the previous weekend?

My OP doesn't even mention the whole side to the show that fills the music scene with mediocre talent and tracks around christmas...no doubt it's a huge money maker on so many levels...nothing wrong with making money, but the negative effects on competing actual talent has to be huge. The show and it's output are ubiquitous at this stage...

blow69

The same thing happens in America with Glee. Whenever an episode is broadcast, a song or two from that episode (all covers) shoots to the Top Twenty in the charts and sometimes the Top Ten.
Granted it has died down somewhat as the success of the show has waned, but it's retarded how some overly autotuned whiney version of an otherwise decent song makes people go 'ZOMG best song eva' and rushes to download it.

And to say The X Factor is just a TV show is bit ill-informed.

Kold

Wertz wrote: »

My OP doesn't even mention the whole side to the show that fills the music scene with mediocre talent and tracks around christmas...no doubt it's a huge money maker on so many levels...nothing wrong with making money, but the negative effects on competing actual talent has to be huge. The show and it's output are ubiquitous at this stage...

If you're a talented musician, people will end up listening to your music.


If you're a talented karaoke singer, who is also good looking and has a marketable story.. Yeah maybe you might have some competition on the show.


It's like painters getting pissed off at poster sellers.

bret69

Old songs re-entering the charts as a result of it either being played in a movie/tv show or sang/played on the x factor is not a new phenonmenon.

Case in point, I downloaded Foo Figters My Hero the other day after hearing it being played in a movie.

The difference now is that people can download music straight away, we couldn't do that before.

Goo Goo Dolls 'Iris' was back in the charts this week after being played on x factor but that's just cause people thought "oh I forgot that song, it's really good" and then they download it then and there.

I don't see the issue at all or the reason for snobbery!

Wertz

What snobbery? I can't understand why so many would pay to download an old track that is easily available on youtube...they did the same for Damien Rice's cannonball too judging by this week's chart and a Lady Gaga number that only charted less than a year ago.
Curious phenomenon IMO.

bret69

Wertz wrote: »

What snobbery? I can't understand why so many would pay to download an old track that is easily available on youtube...they did the same for Damien Rice's cannonball too judging by this week's chart and a Lady Gaga number that only charted less than a year ago.
Curious phenomenon IMO.

But every song is available on youtube so why are you only surprised about the old tracks? If songs being readily available on youtube was enough for people, then no songs would ever be downloaded again!

I'm sure you have old albums / songs on your ipod, why did you bother putting them on when you could just get them on youtube?

Wertz

Many of those old tunes I put on mp3 player were ripped from youtube, usually because it's the only place to get some of them these days.
Anyhting else I have on it was either d/led illegally or I already own the CD...

Perhaps to some of these buyers, the old track is "new" and warrants buying on itunes...which draws another question re; the X Factor....the bands/labels allowing their track to be covered know they'll get renewed sales through this...I wonder how much influence there is behind the scenes to cover certain bands or from certain labels...I don't watch it so I don't know; are performers given lists of covers to choose from or are certain tracks nominated for them?