Keane's Tom Chaplin Slams The Voice

As producers pull their hair out over The Voice’s plummeting ratings, one man who definitely won’t be watching this weekend’s semi-final is Keane singer Tom Chaplin.
 
With this year’s The X Factor auditions getting under way in Liverpool, Tom believes both talent shows are “damaging pop music”.
 
In an exclusive interview with MTV.co.uk, Keane’s frontman told us: “I think these shows are pretty meaningless and really just an advertising vehicle for record label moguls like Simon Cowell to make a quick buck.
 
“Just because someone can sing that doesn’t make them a great artist. Can you imagine if Morrissey had auditioned for The Voice? They’d have panned him for having this strange, nasally voice and said he can’t sing, but it compliments what his music is trying to say.”
 
The 33-year-old added: “Pop music is the greatest of all art forms but so much of it is superficial and throw-away at the moment. The singles chart is a bit of a novelty-fest and the fact that physical singles have pretty much completely disappeared makes them almost pointless these days.”
 
While Keane sit pretty at the top of the album chart with their new LP Strangeland, last week’s album sales in the UK were their lowest for 12 years.
 
And Tom admitted to us he is concerned: “It’s a very weird, dangerous time and the mentality has to improve or the industry will die on its arse. Apparently 90% of the music that’s listened to at the moment has been got hold of illegally, which is crazy and morally it’s completely ridiculous.”
 
But Keane are still celebrating the success of Strangeland, which stormed to number 1 and scored the boys from Battle their fifth consecutive chart-topping record.
 
“It’s the album we feel happiest about and our fans’ response has been really fantastic. Now to be chasing The Beatles’ record of seven successive number 1 albums feels pretty strange, but it’s lovely and proof that people still love what we do.”
 
Keane release Sovereign Light Café - their second single from Strangeland - on 23rd July.

Ben Lowe