"Bum Rush the Charts" Campaign Launches

Man, the RIAA hasn’t been making many friends, lately.

A bunch of podcasters have been touting a "Bum Rush the Charts" campaign for weeks, calling on everyone to visit iTunes on March 22nd (i.e. today) and buy a track called "Mine Again" by the band Black Lab.  The reasoning being:

People are sick of the watered-down, cookie-cutter content that networks and record companies expect us to enjoy. People are tired of watching friends and loved ones get sued by record labels who only care about profits and nothing else, not even the artists they supposedly represent. … On March 22nd, we are going to take an indie podsafe music artist to number one on the iTunes singles charts as a demonstration of our reach to Main Street and our purchasing power to Wall Street.

Apparently, the band had been signed with both Geffen and Sony/Epic in the past, but was dropped by both.  Part of me wonders if this is just a well thought PR campaign to generate buzz for the band.  It would’ve been more impressive to propel a great, more creatively diverse, unsigned band out of the depths of anonymity.

Ah well.  Either way, I’m curious as to how this will work out, and will probably spend the $1 along with my fellow media junkie lemmings.  The sale commissions will go towards college scholarships, which is cool.  (If interested, you can participate here.)

…Add this to Gizmodo’s March RIAA Boycott, and the recent RIAA-lobbied internet radio rate hike, and you’ve got a growing list of active, pissed off music fans…

UPDATE: The campaign didn’t propel Black Lab to #1, but it did get them to #11 of the US Rock Charts. Check out some of the results here.

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2 responses to “"Bum Rush the Charts" Campaign Launches”

  1. Raf Avatar
    Raf

    So, what happened? ANy update on this? I’m curious to know how it went.

  2. dreamspin Avatar

    Raf – I just posted a quick update about the campaign results. Not to shabby for a couple podcasters…

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