I stand corrected.

A few weeks back I wrote about Radiohead In Rainbows and their rather unique marketing strategy (read: pay whatever you like…we don’t mind). At that time, it was rumoured that Oasis’ new album could potentially be following suit.

Guess what? No dice.

I think Liam summed the band’s response up quite nicely (as ilovemusicibuymusic.org and music-news.com pointed out) - “over my dead body”.

You want to know what I think? I think he’s got a good point.

If you are otherwise unaware, Oasis fans are loyal and have a considerable amount of momentum behind them - remember Wonderwall?

That ‘anthem’ came from Oasis’ biggest U.S. seller, 1995’s “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” which sold 3.9 million copies in the U.S. and about 19 million worldwide (according to Nielsen SoundScan). Ten years later, Oasis’ 2005 release, Don’t Believe the Truth, sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

Were the 2005 album sales smaller than 1995? Yes.

Have the number of people downloading/not paying for music increased since 1995? Absolutely.

There’s a lot of moving parts here. On one hand you’ve got a band whose sound/writing has improved dramatically since 1995 (at least, I think so). On the other hand, you’ve got a target market that’s probably changed once over (i.e., fans in the front row for a 2005 show probably heard Wonderwall through their older brother or sister’s stereo).

There’s definitely ‘mixed opinion’ on the new album, and I completely understand why the brothers may feel a little worn out after all these years.

One thing’s for sure, if Oasis’ new album is anything like their first release, Lord Don’t Slow Me Down, I’ll be very happy.

But don’t take my word for it:

…It shouldn’t be hard making music. We’ve been doing it long enough…We don’t really speak that much. We just do what we do.

Liam Gallagher, November 2007

darren