Brit Music Scene

Oasis’ Noel Gallagher Criticises Radiohead | ‘Dig Out Your Soul’ Will Not Be Free

by Dave Parrack on July 9th, 2008

Radiohead have received almost nothing but praise for challenging music industry standards when they released In Rainbows on to the Internet last year, and invited people to pay what they wanted for the privilege of downloading the album.

In effect, this meant you could nab a brand new album by one of the best British bands ever, for free.

Step forward Noel Gallagher, Oasis’ guitarist and chief songwriter. He’s not impressed with the idea, and vows never to do the same for an Oasis album.

Which is a shame because Oasis’ new album Dig Out Your Soul is due out in a few months, and I would have loved the chance to nab it for a penny.

Gallagher of course, is no stranger to controversy, and is a master of saying what he thinks in a blunt manner, knowing that he will gain publicity for his comments. This can sometimes land him in trouble though, as his negative comments about Jay-Z headlining Glastonbury spectacularly backfired when Jay-Z mocked him at the start of his set, and then went on to triumph.

So I wonder what the fall out will be from his latest comments about Radiohead, In Rainbows, and releasing a new album.

According to NME, Gallagher told BBC6 Music:

“That’s not our bag. I didn’t spend a year in the most expensive studio in England, with the most expensive producer in America, and the most expensive graphic designer in London to then give it away. Fuck that.”

“To be honest, to me it looked like marketing – a great way of getting a load of marketing for free really. But good for them. That’s what they do, they’re rebels and outsiders.”

I wouldn’t quite call Radiohead rebels, although they are definitely outsiders to a degree, keeping themselves to themselves, and letting the music do the talking. But Gallagher’s comments come off as very short-sighted and close-minded.

There’s no question that the music industry will have to learn to adapt and evolve as means of distribution, and piracy increases. Gone are the days when a record company could release an album and be guaranteed to make oodles of cash from it.

I predict that Noel, and the rest of the band will live to regret comments like this when Radiohead’s model, or one very similar becomes the standard in a few years time. It’s old school artists like Oasis (who I love by the way) which are going to be left behind while forward thinking bands such as Radiohead, and even Coldplay, become the standard bearers for a revolution in music.

[Photo Source: LividFiction at Flickr]

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POSTED IN: Albums, Artists, Gossip, Indie, Interviews, New Releases, News, Oasis, Op Ed, Radiohead, Rock