Monday 19 January 2009

The Future's Trite

Quick! A band you've never heard of have done something you don't care about! What a surprise to see Alan McGee popping up - he signed Oasis, you know! - in this tiny masterpiece of invented shockery. The fact he signed this band five years ago but this is the first time they've ever passed through your consciousness says a lot, doesn't it? I presume he dropped them in the mean-time, which is a tiny point in his favour, I suppose...

Andrew Future?!!! What is this? The facking eighties? Give him a fifteen month sentence says I!


-----Original Message-----
From: ateacher@bpf.org.uk
Sent: Sat, 17 Jan 2009 7:01 pm
Subject: REBELLION AS BAND OUTSELLING KINGS OF LEON, COLDPLAY IS BARRED FROM CHARTS

For immediate release - Sunday January 18
REBELLION AS BAND OUTSELLING KINGS OF LEON, COLDPLAY IS BARRED FROM CHARTS

The Official UK Chart Company has been slammed SLAMMED! IT HAS! for refusing to include The Boxer Rebellion's new album even though they’re outselling Kings Of Leon, MGMT and Coldplay on the US version of iTunes.

The album is currently at Number One in the iTunes US Alternative Chart and Number Four in the iTunes UK Album Chart.

Despite being a self-released effort with no record label or press, 'Union' has been refused entry into the Official UK Charts today - because the band have only released the album digitally.

The success of ‘Union’, which was released on 11 January is finally seeing them live up to the hype they initially built up when Alan McGee, who discovered Oasis, signed them to his Poptones label five years ago. FIVE YEARS! Lead single 'Evacuate' is a depth-charging rocker I LOVE "DEPTH-CHARGING ROCKER"S! mixing the finest elements of Interpol and early-Oasis. It wowed fans across Europe where The Boxer Rebellion toured as support act for Editors last year. AMAZING DETAIL!

Fans on the Boxer Rebellion messageboard have been campaigning to get the rules changed.

A band statement said: "This is a completely independent release and with no label backing, no finance, no radio play and no press in the UK. We have, with the support of (and a massive gamble taken by) iTunes, managed to break through and chart very highly in the iTunes stores so far.

"This basically means that The Boxer Rebellion will not see benefit from this success in terms of a chart position [in the Official UK Charts]. At this point, the possibility of pressing CDs was not viable. Should we be penalised in the charts?”

Boxer Rebellion fan Andrew Future, music editor of Fashion Music Style magazine which promotes unsigned bands, said:

“This is long deserved success for a band which for many years has produced wondrous, cinematic rock music I LOVE "WONDOROUS, CINEMATIC ROCK MUSIC"! that’s light years ahead of so many copycat British bands. It’s ludicrous that the Official UK Charts won’t allow them in. It makes a mockery of them. What’s the point in having charts if they don’t accurate chart what is popular?” WEVS, YEAH?

Andrew Future, music editor, Fashion Music Style

3 comments:

Dave the Flack said...

No press? Apart from Andrew Teacher, Media Manager for the British Property Federation (WFT?!!) sending out press releases to actual journalists. Logic Fail. Or does he mean they've had no press coverage?

I LOVE the line that claims that iTunes have taken such a risk. How? By allowing members of the public to spend money on a digital audio file from an unsigned band? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the sort of "massive gamble" that any number of aggregators and white label distributors allow unsigned artists to do ALL THE TIME.

To be fair I kinda symaphise with Rebellion's plight at the hands of the OCC. I too once managed to get a band banned from the UK charts, but that was for trying to hype a record into the Top 40 using buying in teams (now that is VERY 1980s). Sad face that I was caught doing it.

Unknown said...

This blog started off quite well, bad PR deserves to be shown up but now it's just vindictive and sadly, it's petty too as this little outburst proves. I have nothing to do with The Boxer Rebellion or indeed, Mr Future but I have to say that there's nothing wrong with the PR that Andrew sent out. Even the 'amazing detail' bit adds a little bit of depth to the story. The Boxer Rebellion are an interesting band in current times, getting to number 1 in any chart is no mean feat and surely being disqualified from a chart for lack of physical product is worth at least some discussion, especially as the music industry continues to get its knickers in a twist about the very subject, isn’t it?

This is their second album (that's sophomore to you, mate) and it only took so long to follow up their debut effort because of an illness to a band member, which covers the 5 years thing, (not that I really understand your problem with that). Anyway, despite the long gap, they have apparently kept their fan base, again not too easy to accomplish these days. Finally, you may not have been interested but NME, the Telegraph and the Evening Standard were.

It’s all well and good to denigrate PR deserving of scorn but when your outpourings are just mindless, bilious frothing for no apparent reason, you cease to be of interest.

Tim Bick said...

Aw, did the nasty man take the piss out of your favourite band? Diddums. It all looks perfectly justified to me, and more to the point this is a non-story as it is not news that the UK chart requires a physical product to qualify - perhaps the band should have done a bit of research and gone to the minimal expense of releasing a couple of CDs if they wanted to participate? The only reason papers like the Telegraph (OMG CUTTING EDGE MUSIC JOURNALISM!) have picked it up is because they love anything with an internet flavour that makes them look like they have a clue about the modern world. See also non-stories about Lily Allen only making it in music thanks to MySpace friends and that girl who did the rubbish song about punk rockers with flowers in their hair "breaking through" with internet videocasts from her flat that, erm, were paid for by her publishing company or somebody.