Noel Gallagher: “Albums Are Now Made By Committees And Focus Groups.”
The premise of modern-day music marketing is that the consumer actually knows what he or she wants, and oftentimes has already voted. And that goes for signing, investing, and branding artists as well. But what if the pendulum has swung too far on that thought, and killed the art of shaping trends and taking risks?
“The consumer has become all powerful now, and the consumer is king. So the consumer gets what he wants. But as I understand it, the consumer didn’t fucking want Jimi Hendrix, but they got him, and it changed the world. And the consumer didn’t want Sgt. Pepper’s, but they got it, and they didn’t want the Sex Pistols, but they got it.
And now there’s an attitude in the music business where it’s like ‘let’s keep the consumer happy because that’s what keeps the music business going around.'”
Gallagher made the comments ahead of his Coachella set this past weekend. “What’s changed is the way that people get music and pay for (or don’t pay for) music. That’s changed profoundly, and the people that sign bands are aware of that, and so the rules of the game have changed.”
“Albums are now made by committees and focus groups.”
“Let’s put it this way: if a fashion house is a record label – like, Dior – do you think fashion would stay the same if they asked the consumer what they wanted to wear next summer? Why does fashion always move forward and we all look different with different haircuts and we’re all different?