We interviewed Tim Burgess, the lead singer of The Charlatans, to find out more about his band's online giveaway of its latest single, which is available on the band's website as well as the British radio station Xfm. Weirdly enough, the band announced the plan to give away the single only two hours before Radiohead announced its In Rainbows strategy.
Listening Post: Why did the Charlatans decide not to go the traditional record label route for this release?
Tim Burgess, The Charlatans: We were on a record label that was in the process of being bought out -- Sanctuary was being bought by Universal. We had left Universal and ended up on Sanctuary, and therefore it was a record deal we didn't think was satisfactory. So the band decided that we wanted to do it ourselves, and I went on a DJ tour with my manager Alan [McGee], and we discussed how we were going to further The Charlatans career, and he said, "for a start, I reckon we should give away music." This was like 9 months ago.
We decided not to go with a record label, and decided to form an ideaof giving away our music. We didn't know how we wanted to give it away,
but we knew we wanted to give it away to as many people as possible.
Further down the road we came to an idea [inaudible] a radio station inEngland, and decided to give it away as a joint thing.
LP: I saw it's on XM and also on The Charlatans site.
TB: Yeah Xfm would be the radio station...
LP: Xfm, sorry, I always say that...
TB: Cuz XM is in America. So that happened, and it was actually bycomplete fluke that the day that we announced it, two hours laterRadiohead announced that they were going to do their thing also...
LP: [Laughs]
TB: And that kind of made the story absolutely huge.
LP: Definitely. So you were two hours ahead of Radiohead, actually.
TB: We were two hours ahead, yeah, which was quite, like... [laughs]
LP: Yeah, I can imagine. And I'll make sure to make that clear.
TB: [Laughs] Excellent.
TB: So what's different about what the Charlatans are doing and whatRadiohead did. I know it's a different deal, but if you can get intothe specifics, or why you did it the way you did it...
TB: Well, we knew that CD sales were going down really badly, and weknew all about this peer-to-peer ratio, where 1 legal download is like51 illegal downloads. So we thought giving it away for free is like -- "bang, in your face" -- giving it away for free has a really bigpunch. Whereas Radiohead... I love that idea. They're a genius band,
and what they're doing is really interesting. I think ours is just,
kind of different, really.
LP: That's what's striking me. For a second there, people, theonlookers, the blogosphere, the media, whatever, everybody got allworked up about "this is a new model for music"...
TB: Yeah...
LP: But it's starting to look more like there's a different model for each band that makes sense.
TB: I think so, and I think that's the really interesting thing, andI'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next, you know? I
think the music industry's never been so exciting, really, becauseeveryone's going to be coming up with their own ideas and their owntake on it.
LP: True. Are there any ideas you can share with us about the future,
future digital plans, or are those under wraps at the moment?
TB: We're just taking every day as it comes. When we decided to giveit away for free, it was only at the last minute that a radio stationcame on board and did it with us, so everything was happening as wewere going, really, which is quite beautiful thing.
LP: It's quite the contrast to a multi-year record contract.
TB: Yeah, exactly.
LP: What's the response been from fans, either through the website orXfm, do you have an idea of how people have responded to this?
TB: I was on the 10 O'Clock news in Britain, and it was, like, thebiggest the band has ever been, as far as being newsworthy,
more than the music. It felt like the beginning of something reallydifferent. We just want as many people as possible getting ahold ofour music, and we felt like record companies were getting in the way,
artistically, and... you know, get the music actually out there.
LP: Which is the point.
TB: Yeah, which is the point.
LP: Are there plans -- I should have done research on this already -- but is there going to be a US tour coming up?
TB: We're going to Europe in February, and I would imagine Asia, andI'm sure we will come out at some point. It's a wonderful place tocome visit. But I live in LA anyway... It's all good, but it's goingto be interesting. I noticed in your magazine today, there was anarticle about Doug Morris giving away music for free... There's fourpages, I've not finished it yet, but it just goes to show, really, thata big change has got to come.
LP: I sometimes feel like a lot of those guys want to keep everythingthe same until they finish their careers -- they want it to be the sameas when they came up, and they don't really care what happens to thelabel after they leave, you know?
TB: Yeah, that's kind of the [sound of dog barking]. Oh, excuse me one second...
LP: I actually had a cat interfering with this interview a little while ago
TB: What do you think about the 360 deals that people are talking about?
LP: I'm not sure how to take it. It seems like the labels are losingin one area so they're trying to grab from another area that hastraditionally belonged to the artist, but...
TB: Yeah, I really felt like what the Charlatans are doing as well isreally sticking up for the artist. I know a lot of kids in bands whowould pretty much do anything to get a record deal. It's seemingly thebiggest thing in their lives, really, but to sign away all that seemsridiculous to me -- giving them some of the merchandising and some ofthe live income.
LP: You have Alan McGee managing.... to me, it seems like what bandsneed more than a label, is good management that knows what they'redoing, and knows how to distribute music online. Is that yourfeeling? Are you going to go back to a label, or are you stickingwith...
TB: No, I really don't want to go back to a label! And obviously,
working with Alan, he's kind of the law unto himself anyway. When wegot together it was a team made in heaven, really, me and Alan. Weboth needed each other at the time, and both forged the plan, really.
And I think managements where it's at -- decent managers rather than arecord label.
LP: I'm trying to look at this Radiohead idea -- that it's not one-sizefits all, and that there are as many potential business plans as thereare bands.
TB: Wow.
LP: That there are so many different ways to go now, that people needto stop thinking in a cookie cutter way and get creative, the way theCharlatans did.
TB: In a way, it's like punk all over again, isn't it?
LP: It's like punk, but pro-technology this time, I guess.
TB: Yeah, exactly. Amazing.
(image from ijamming)
