The Kooks set for first UK arena tour as streaming brings in new audiences

The Kooks set for first UK arena tour as streaming brings in new audiences

The Kooks' manager has revealed how the band's back catalogue has enabled them to connect with a new generation of fans.

The Brighton four-piece, who performed to a sold-out Alexandra Palace in London last Saturday, head out on their first UK arena tour in November, 11 years after the release of their debut album Inside In/Inside Out.

Their Best Of... So Far compilation, meanwhile, comes out via Virgin/EMI on Friday (May 19).

"There are returning fans but in the main it's new fans and that is a really exciting phenomenon," Starwood Management's Robert Swerdlow told Music Week. "The Kooks are a masterclass in what Spotify is offering. Spotify has been a big player in building and refreshing the audience.

"When you've got songs like She Moves In Her Own Way, Naive, Shine On and Junk Of The Heart - big indie pop  and rock songs - they're fitting into those playlists. The kids are listening to it, they are popping when they come across The Kooks, they're saving it and putting it into their own playlists. It comes down to the brilliance and power of the songs, no doubt about it."

Asked why it was the right time for the band to move up to arenas, The Kooks' agent Charlie Myatt said: "Zeitgeist. Their audience is young and growing. The band are ambitious and we all felt the time was right." 

Promoter Matt Woolliscroft of SJM Concerts added: "They played the first on at the first gig I promoted when I joined SJM in 2004. They have always maintained a very healthy live business throughout their career but this current tour is the most tickets they have sold on one specific tour since they started.

"Streaming has clearly given them a platform to reach new people who are very hungry to see them live. There will be a lot of people seeing them for the first time at the moment."

And the trend is by no means limited to the UK. "It's something that we're seeing across the world," said Swerdlow. "We're going to America and we have sold out tours in Europe, Latin America and Australia. It's very exciting to have that opportunity ahead for the band.

"The wheels of perfection came off a couple of years ago in terms of how the rules work and how you can do things - and we've not been held back by that."

He added: "We are in the process of making a new record and we’ve got partners lined up that want to be part of that because they can see what’s going on. We hope to have a new record out sometime next year and we continue to go from strength to strength - worldwide." 

Music Week subscribers can read more about The Kooks here



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