Noel Gallagher on Tidal launch: ‘Do these people think they’re the fucking Avengers?’

Former Oasis man criticises Jay Z's music streaming service in new interview

Noel Gallagher has entered the recent debate about Jay-Z‘s Tidal music streaming service.

Having bought the company earlier this year, Jay Z launched Tidal in March at a star-studded New York event that featured appearances from Kanye West, Madonna, Nicki Minaj, Jack White, Coldplay, Arcade Fire, Rihanna, Daft Punk, Calvin Harris, Usher, Deadmau5 and Beyoncé, among others.

Tidal’s intent, Jay Z has previously claimed, is to give artists a fairer share of revenue than other streaming options, such as Spotify. However, Tidal has found itself as a target of criticism, with the likes of Mumford & Sons, Steve Albini, Lily Allen and Ben Gibbard recently sharing their views on the matter. Their criticisms included suggestions that its model will only favour mainstream acts, and that it’s little more than a vanity project.

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Now, former Oasis musician Gallagher has spoken about the company’s launch in a recent interview with Rolling Stone.

“I thought that the people on the stage might want to be a little bit aware that they don’t look like Jay Z’s minions,” he said. “Madonna was pretty cool the way she cocked her leg up on that desk and signed the [declaration]. I think ultimately with the spiel they came out with, it was like, ‘Do these people think they’re the fuckin’ Avengers? They’re going to save the fuckin’ [world].’

Gallagher continued, “I was speaking to Chris [Martin] the day after, and I said, ‘Are you after a Nobel Peace Prize? Is that what you’re after?’ They were like, ‘We’re going to fuckin’ save the music business.’ And I’m just sitting there, thinking [imitates smoking weed] you might want to write a decent chorus for a fuckin’ start. Never mind fuckin’ royalties and the ‘power of music.’ Write a tune. Fuckin’ start with that.”

“I only watched [the launch] because someone was like, ‘Get on these bunch of cunts on here.’ And I went, ‘Who?’ ‘Fuckin’ your mate Chris Martin and all these cunts.’ I got on YouTube and was like, [makes crinkled face] ‘Oh. Ohhh. Ohhhhhh.'” Listen to audio from the interview below.

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Elsewhere in the interview, Noel Gallagher labelled Zayn Malik a “fucking idiot” for quitting boy band One Direction. He said, “I’ve never met [Malik]. I’ve only met Harry [Styles], who orbits in social circles where sometimes we end up at the same parties. Harry’s not got a great deal to say for himself, but he’s a good lad! For Zayn, though, I’d say, ‘Fuckin’ get a good accountant because life is very fuckin’ long’.”

Gallagher added, “It’s a strange thing for that lad to have done at that age. The greatest quote was – I laughed out loud when I read it ‘ ‘I just want to be a normal 22-year-old.’ Pfft. Who wants to be a normal 22-year-old?! Hang on a minute. You can be fucking anything that moves and gettin’ paid half a million dollars a week, you fuckin’ idiot. You want to be a normal 22-year-old? Have you met any normal 22-year-olds? They’re fuckin’ shit-for-brains. What are you talking about, you fuckin’ idiot?”

SEE MORE: Oasis’ 10 best covers

Gallagher also blamed his brother Liam for the recent rumours that the pair will reform Oasis next year. “He’s being a bit disingenuous to Oasis fans in the sense that he always gets their hopes up,” said the singer and guitarist. “There was a rumour last week that we’ve had a gentleman’s agreement [to reform the band], but that rumour’s come from his people. It’s a ‘source close to him’, and I’ll tell you how close it is: She probably wakes up with him every morning. It’s always left to me in an interview to let the kids down. People say, ‘You’re breaking these kids’ hearts.’ Well, what the fuck, man?”

Gallagher appeared on Channel 4 show Chatty Man on Friday (May 1), where he was quizzed by presenter Alan Carr about the prospect of him joining forces with Liam to form a super group called ‘BirdsEye’, a combination of their post-Oasis bands High Flying Birds and Beady Eye, as well as a reference to the frozen food company of the same name. “Well, as enticing as that sounds, I don’t think it’s going to happen. Sorry,” he replied. “No. No. What more can I say? I’ve got nothing more to say on it that I haven’t already said. It’s not going to happen. No, I can’t be arsed.”

Noel is currently touring the US in support of his chart-topping latest album ‘Chasing Yesterday’.

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