{"id":806410,"date":"2020-04-15T09:32:34","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T15:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=983508"},"modified":"2020-04-15T09:32:34","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T15:32:34","slug":"direct-message-how-oasis-blur-and-more-are-bringing-twitter-listening-parties-to-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/direct-message-how-oasis-blur-and-more-are-bringing-twitter-listening-parties-to-fans\/","title":{"rendered":"Direct Message: How Oasis, Blur and More Are Bringing \u2018Twitter Listening Parties\u2019 to Fans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tim Burgess is on Twitter a lot, even when there\u2019s not a global pandemic that\u2019s keeping him and everyone else indoors. The lead vocalist of British alt band The Charlatans<\/a> spends an inordinate amount of time on the social platform, tweeting dozens of times a day on just about everything  \u2013 promoting his new solo album, daily updates on his life at home, and of course, what music he\u2019s been listening to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, though, the musician\u2019s Twitter has been transformed into a calendar and promotional tool for <\/span>Tim\u2019s Twitter Listening Party<\/span><\/a>, an album version of a virtual book club. The concept is simple: every night, usually at 10:00 p.m. GMT, a different artist or band member recruited by Burgess live-tweets one of their albums, and fans at home can all press \u201cplay\u201d simultaneously and follow along. <\/span><\/p>\n

Burgess originally intended the listening party as a one-off event for The Charlatans\u2019 album <\/span>Some Friendly<\/span><\/i>, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. \u201cBut it occurred to me that it would be really inclusive to invite people I know from other bands to host more of them, to share their firsthand insight on their own work,\u201d he tells <\/span>Rolling Stone<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since kicking off the series with <\/span>Some Friendly<\/span><\/i> on March 23rd, Burgess has brought on members of Franz Ferdinand<\/a>, Blur<\/a>, New Order, the Flaming Lips, Ride, Oasis<\/a>, Sleaford Mods, Cocteau Twins, The Chemical Brothers, Pulp, Prefab Sprout and more to participate; future listening parties on the schedule include Mark Ronson, Ariel Pink\u2019s Haunted Graffiti, Billy Bragg and Wolf Alice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a way for [the bands] to go through their memories and for the fans to enjoy them\u201d \u2013 Tim Burgess<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

At a time when most artists are using their quarantine time to record at-home performances or host Instagram Live talkshows, Burgess has developed a way to connect to fans that\u2019s surprisingly analog \u2013 or as analog as it could be on a massive social media platform. (It\u2019s up to fans to decide how they want to listen to each album \u2013 vinyl, CD, streaming, cassette tape, sketchy Limewire download \u2013 as long as they\u2019re all listening at the same time.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Likewise, the text-heavy live-tweeting format means that hosts of each session can be as off-the-cuff or as detailed as they want while reminiscing about their own work \u2013 Liam Gallagher, unsurprisingly, didn\u2019t even show up to the Definitely Maybe <\/em>listening \u2013 and can interact with fans however they like. Blur\u2019s David Rowntree, who hosted the listening party for <\/span>Parklife<\/span><\/i>, shared numerous photos and newspaper clippings of the band during that era, with extensive commentary attached.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

THE DEBT COLLECTOR
This one features Damons cheesy organ that he\u2019d bought in an auction. It was Lot 105, which became a very important number for Blur Here\u2019s some more pics of us in the studio. #timstwitterlisteningparty<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Mlll9oen1d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 David Rowntree (@DaveRowntree) March 25, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cHe did an incredible job,\u201d Burgess says. \u201cIt\u2019s a way for [the bands] to go through their memories, and for the fans to enjoy them, probably seeing them for the first time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Other hosts, like Franz Ferdinand\u2019s Alex Kapranos, have taken to sitting back with a beer and watching the fan commentary roll in, via the #timstwitterlisteningparty hashtag. Kapranos and his bandmates, Bob Hardy and Paul Thomson, did their best to answer the overwhelming flood of questions they received during the 38 minutes of their debut album\u2019s runtime alongside offering recollections on each song.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was the first time I had listened to it all the way through since we mastered it 15 years ago,\u201d Kapranos recalls. \u201cIt was cool seeing what people\u2019s reactions were, and also different generations of reactions \u2013 people who would\u2019ve been seven years old who are listening to it now, and people who are reminiscing like, \u2018This brings me back to being in school when this record came out\u2019 \u2026 It reminds you of how you listened to music at that time in your life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond that, Kapranos says, the curated aspect of the lineup allows for a similar thrill of music discovery \u2013 a la Spotify playlists \u2013 but with an organic human touch. \u201cYou can be like, \u2018I don\u2019t know that particular record so well, but I\u2019m going to sit and listen to it tonight \u2013 everything else has been pretty cool, so let\u2019s give this one a go,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cAnd there\u2019s something about the idea of a shared experience and doing something simultaneously with other people that\u2019s such a joyous thing, and something we\u2019re missing out on a little.\u201d He likens the experience to attending a concert with your friends, where part of the fun is discussing the band before, during and after the show.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Charlatans\u2019 Tim Burgess<\/p>\n

RMV\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Kapranos was the first person Burgess reached out to about the listening parties, and has been avidly involved ever since; he\u2019s tweeted along for fun to Burgess\u2019 Charlatans recaps, and even co-hosted the party for The Cribs\u2019 <\/span>Men\u2019s Needs, Women\u2019s Needs, Whatever<\/span><\/i>, which he produced, on April 7th. By virtue of Burgess reaching out personally to his friends, the majority of participating bands, at least at first, were a part of this same music scene and era: Nineties or early 2000s British bands that straddled the line between Britpop, post-punk and shoegaze. Newer bands in the lineup, like Dublin\u2019s Fontaine D.C. and South London\u2019s Shame, tend to fall into that same tradition of British alternative rock \u2013 though as the listening parties have gone on, electronic acts like the Avalanches and Hercules & Love Affair have also signed up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jason Williamson, frontman of the Nottingham electro-punk duo Sleaford Mods, says that every act shares a fandom that still prioritizes record collecting and listening to full albums. \u201cWe\u2019re not exactly a young pop band that would probably be better served doing a live performance,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re more of a collectors\u2019 band.\u201d As such, Williamson is taking full advantage of that \u2013 he\u2019s on the schedule to host a total of seven listening parties (and counting) down the line.<\/span><\/p>\n

Simon Raymonde, a former member of Cocteau Twins and current head of the indie label Bella Union, had just signed Burgess to the label and was in the midst of helping him promote his solo album when \u201cthis whole weird nonsense\u201d began. Raymonde agreed to sign on to a listening party slot, and was taken aback by the fan response to the series within the first week and a half.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo money has been spent on an ad campaign for it, or a social media campaign,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s literally just taken off.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

What I particularly love about @thecribs<\/a> is kind of summed up in this song. <\/p>\n

The rawness juxtaposed against the romanticism. <\/p>\n

And what a bloody melody!#timstwitterlisteningparty<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 \u0391\u03bb\u03b5\u03be \u039a\u03b1\u03c0\u03c1\u03ac\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 (@alkapranos) April 7, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He calls the listening parties \u201ca godsend\u201d for the newer bands on his label who are participating, like Lanterns on the Lake, who released their latest album <\/span>Spook the Herd <\/span><\/i>in February. Unable to go on tour or make the usual media rounds, the band promoted the LP by live-tweeting it as part of Burgess\u2019 series. Even for classic albums, the listening parties have boosted their numbers: Rough Trade\u2019s store in London sold 83 copies of the Charlatans\u2019 <\/span>Tellin\u2019 Stories<\/span><\/i> the day after Burgess live-tweeted the record.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re in between singles on radio, and you\u2019re supposed to be on tour right now, it\u2019s a really deflating feeling, getting that email saying, \u2018We put the shows off till October,\u2019 when you\u2019ve spent the last two months practicing, getting your merchant, getting yourself mentally prepared to go away,\u201d Raymonde says. \u201cThis does not replace it at all, but at least it keeps that interest going.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cNo money has been spent on an ad campaign for it, or a social media campaign. It\u2019s literally just taken off\u201d \u2013 Simon Raymonde<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The benefits of live-tweeting the album versus performing it for a livestream are numerous, especially for music groups. Separated band members who are attempting to perform one song together via Zoom call have had to resort to unconventional methods<\/a> to ensure everyone is in sync, and that process gets rid of some of the enjoyable spontaneity you\u2019d find at a concert. On the flipside, getting to see artists performing acoustic sets at home in their natural habitat can be its own form of amusement, and the listening parties, much like Reddit AMAs, provide a similar window \u2013 when else will you get the opportunity to see your favorite artists talk so extensively, and casually, about their past work?<\/span><\/p>\n

In that sense, listening parties could be a way forward for a wider range of bands with no other options in promoting their new music, requiring minimal effort and virtually zero budget. Raymonde suspects that, depending on how long self-quarantine lasts, larger labels may soon seek to formalize the process for their own acts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI fear that once people see what\u2019s happening with Tim\u2019s thing, maybe something more formal or  branded comes along,\u201d he says, \u201cwhere something is being pushed to us, rather than it all being about a genuine appreciation of music. \u2018Tim\u2019s Twitter Listening Parties\u2019 \u2013 \u2019listening\u2019 is the most important word in that sentence. Because it is all about listening to the record and reacting to it in real time. It isn\u2019t just to chat with your favorite musician.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tim Burgess is on Twitter a lot, even when there\u2019s not a global pandemic that\u2019s keeping him and everyone else indoors. The lead vocalist of British alt band The Charlatans spends an inordinate amount of time on the social platform, tweeting dozens of times a day on just about everything  \u2013 promoting his new solo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-806410","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-14 01:31:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806410\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}