Charlatans Tim’s Flare for helping grassroots venues
Tim Burgess, lead singer of The Charlatans, has teamed up with Flare Audio to launch a brand new custom earphone, helping raise money for UK grassroots music venues.
The announcement coincides with Tim’s appointment as patron of Music Venue Trust, which has helped raise millions for UK grassroots music venues struggling during the pandemic.
Tim and Flare have announced that £5 from every set of the earphones sold via Flare’s website will be donated to the Music Venue Trust.
Tim’s Listening Parties have emerged as one of lockdown’s most meaningful shared experiences.
Hosted on Twitter, Tim invites fans to listen to a fellow artist’s album, as band members and close associates – plus Tim and the listeners – Tweet about its personal and cultural significance.
Flare Audio and Tim have worked on the design and manufacture of a unique special edition earphone, anodised in bespoke purple aluminium and branded with a mini enamel ‘Tim’ on the cable.
Some 50 random orders in the first week came with a signed card from Tim while further 100 orders will receive bonus swag from Flare Audio’s Calmer® (RRP £19.99) to Listening Party badges or Flare accessories.
“A while back I was sent some amazing earphones by the lovely people at Flare – they were big fans of the listening parties and we got talking. The talk turned into a plan and the plan became an amazing set of listening party earphones that Flare will now be making, and together we’ll be raising money for Music Venue Trust,” said Tim.
Flare co-founder and chief operating officer Naomi Roberts said: “We love what Tim has been doing with the Listening Party and after some interesting talks we knew we could do something really great together.
“We wanted the Listening Party earphone, named TLP1, to be unique to Tim
while still having the Flare tech and finish. The earphones themselves give incredible audio clarity and detail that provides high end sound quality without the price tag, and our unique distortion reducing tech helps you to listen better for longer.
“Flare started life as a loudspeaker manufacturer and PA hire company, and spent a lot of time in independent music venues.
“We feel now is our time to give something back and are pleased to be supporting the Music Venue Trust.”
Beverley Whitrick, strategic director for Music Venue Trust, said: “Tim has been acting as a champion for grassroots music venues across the UK for a long time now and has actively supported our #SaveOurVenues campaign.
“Formalising his status as a patron of the Trust is a way
for us to thank him for his considerable efforts and talk publicly about the projects Tim is working on to support venues.
“The first of which is the development of these great earphones with Flare Audio, with whom we have a longstanding relationship.”
Music Venue Trust is a registered charity, created in January 2014 to protect, secure and improve the UK live music network by securing the long-term future of iconic grassroots music venues.
The TLP1 earphones have a range of unique features including distortion-reducing/clarity-enhancing technology, providing high end sound.
They are available to order from www.flareaudio. com, priced £39.99, including £5 donation to the Music Venue Trust.
First orders receive exclusive extras.