Oasis co-manager Alec McKinlay says there are no plans for the band to release new music, with their hugely anticipated reunion marking "the last time around".
Read the full interview fin Music Week here.
Music Week's June issue also includes an exclusive interview with Big Brother Recordings' GM Clare Byrne and head of creative and retail marketing Sarah Mansfield, while a selection of top names from across the industry as they reflect on their favourite Oasis tracks.
Some quotes from this interview are below.
Some quotes from this interview are below.
How advantageous did it come in the long run for Oasis to have their own label?
AM: “Oh, it was massive. Over time, it became clear that having that degree of independence and that ability to constantly prioritise what you wanted to do was a huge thing for the band. We were in a position where, post-Be Here Now, there was perhaps a little bit of a feeling that Oasis had had their moment, and it was our role to go, ‘No, really, this is just the start of the next phase.’ If you look at what happened over the next 10 years, over the next three albums, each sold more than the last. From Standing...to Heathen Chemistry to Don’t Believe The Truth, you had sales increasing, continued No.1 singles, continued airplay success, and that was reflected in the band’s own touring success as well. The biggest tour they did was in 2008, so all of that was helped by having their own team who were constantly on board in a way that you would never get even with another indie. You had 100%
attention all the time.”
It was during that era that a new generation of Oasis fans began to emerge. What was your approach in utilising that and helping them really dig into the band’s history?
AM: “We always made sure that with every campaign, we were at the cutting edge of whatever technology, media or movement was happening. Every campaign had something that was an industry first, or we were making sure that we were doing things that perhaps other bands of their ilk weren’t doing. This is pre-streaming, and we had a very good relationship with Apple and iTunes and worked that very well, and with MySpace we did a few things with them when they were at their height that were widely reported as being industry firsts. But at the end of the day, it was about the music and how it came across. In those days, the key thing was staying on Radio 1 and the band did - every single was on the A-list and was heavily supported. You could see it every time they toured, you'd look at the front 10 rows of the crowd and they were always kids.”
How much did the gameplan for Big Brother change once Oasis had split up in 2009?
AM: “I think it was just a continuation of what we'd always been doing. We were very conscious of the need to maintain the legacy and always had plans in the offing for what we’d do on the various anniversaries. I think that has been the key to supporting the sales of the catalogue, that it’s an ‘always on’ campaign, always something coming up. It did take a while to adapt after the band split, but the first anniversaries were coming around pretty quickly. In fact, they'd already come around, but it all seemed like the natural thing to do.”
In the years that they were away, Oasis have become a huge success on streaming platforms. How did that happen?
CB: “Oasis first joined streaming platforms in 2014, around the 20-year anniversary of the band’s first release. Back then, it was basically introducing the whole catalogue to a younger audience, a new audience, with the storytelling and using all these moments that were happening to bring them front and centre. Part of our strategy is to look at creative ways of storytelling. One of the key things was The Masterplan campaign, which has got so many great B-sides, and being able to highlight those. We also did an exhibition in Shoreditch, which was part of the Chasing The Sun series, where the first three albums were re-released with rare content that hadn’t been made available before: B-sides, live versions, box sets. We had an interactive lifesize replica of the Definitely Maybe cover and over 40,000 visitors in 10 days. International demand then saw it being taken to Japan, We also made a podcast, Listen Up, for the debut album’s 25th.”
Oasis are also still a huge draw for physical. How important a part has that been of Big Brother’s approach?
SM: “It’s massive. The uplift we’ve seen since the tour announcement has been staggering, vinyl particularly; it’s mad how much it sells. We always make sure that the physical offering is really strong, focusing on quality rather than just doing formats for the sake of it. It’s important to us that fans feel like they’re getting something of value. It’s also really important to Noel and Liam; they’re obviously from the physical era and they still view the album as a physical product.”
It must have been pleasing that all the work the label did when Oasis were no longer together finally aligned with the reunion...
AM: “We've been working throughout that time to keep the music in people’s consciousness, whether with the anniversaries or the various films, Supersonic, Knebworth 1996 and, obviously, we’re doing a new film with Steven Knight around the tour. These are all part and parcel of how you keep that alive and how you keep the catalogue alive.”
What can you tell us about plans for the impending 30th anniversary of (What’s The Story)...?
CB: “It’s really important for us to do the album justice and what ‘we've got planned is really special, really exciting, and being able to work that alongside the live dates is going to be wonderful.”
SM: “We have also spent the last year-and-a-half getting the whole catalogue transformed into Spatial Audio, which has been an absolutely huge feat. As far as we know, no other legacy act has done this to this extent. It’s massive; it brings the whole entire catalogue to a whole new audience to be heard in a completely new way.”
Finally, will there ever be a new Oasis album on Big Brother?
AM: “I mean, this is very much the last time around, as Noel’s made clear in the press. It’s a chance for fans who haven’t seen the band to see them, or at least for some of them to. But no, there’s no plan for
any new music.”