As I type, many of you are probably plumping up your cushions for Simon Cowell’s latest karaoke shit-circus, that is the start of the Xfactor live shows on ITV this evening. Meanwhile the Xfactor hierarchy has been called into question over its treatment of a leading music charity and the use of the name Rhythmics for it’s latest manufactured girl band.
Rhythmix is the name of one of the UK’s leading music charities. It works with some of the most vulnerable young people in the UK; children with physical and learning disabilities, bereaved children, young people in care, young people in detention units. Rhythmix works through music to give these young people a way to express themselves. The X Factor is a television show that makes money. Exploits its contestants and manipulates it’s audience serving up a succession of manufactured artists who mostly drop off the face of the earth(or the Syco label) whithin two years.
Last Saturday, The X Factor decided to take the name Rhythmix and use it for a girl band. The four-strong group, who were put together after entering the show as solo acts and beind rejected, are among the 16 finalists who will fight it out in the first live show on Saturday.
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The Charity wrote to the programme pointing out they owned the trademark name and that they were a music charity that stages concerts, puts out CDs, and works with the most vulnerable young people. Regardless of the legal issues, the Charity highlighted the absolutely inappropriate confusion between an X Factor girl band and the severe challenges faced by the young people Rhythmix works with.
Talking to the Daily Mirror, Mark Davyd, the chief executive of music charity Rhythmix, said he had enlisted a legal firm to write to the team behind the hit show asking them to change the band’s name after his earlier request was ignored.
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He said: “The first reply from X Factor was basically ‘We don’t care’. Maybe I’m naive but I work in an area where I expect people to do the right thing.
“No-one would call a band Nordoff Robbins or Shelter. Now I accept that we are not as big as those organisations but we put on concerts and put out CDs and its just not appropriate.
“We’ve started to have to pay out money to protect the integrity of the charity which I just think is ridiculous.”
The charity, which was set up in 1999 and is based in Brighton, organises musicians to work with hundreds of disabled and vulnerable children every year.
An X Factor spokeswoman said: “The charity in question have trademarked the name ‘Rhythmix’ for educational purposes only, which is not in conflict with the band or the show.”
Please don’t let X Factor steal the name and reputation of this very valuable, dedicated Charity.
So how can we help? Firstly go here and donate to this most worthwhile of charities here:
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charity-web/charity/finalCharityHomepage.action?uniqueVmgCharityUrl=rhythmix
Secondly:
•Post this message everywhere you can and tell the producers of X Factor to grow some moral balls. Change the name.
•get tweeting – anything that includes – @RhythmixMusic name and #Rhythmix
•Go to their facebook and like – http://www.facebook.com/RhythmixMusicCharity
The folks behind the successful Rage against the Machine Xfactor campaign of 2009 are again leading the charge again, and we’re fully behind them!
