Tim Burgess’ Custom Earphones With Flare Audio Support Grassroots Venues
The project will raise money for Music Venue Trust (MVT), of which Burgess has also been confirmed as a patron.
Tim Burgess, lead singer of the Charlatans, has announced the launch of new custom earphones in collaboration with Flare Audio. The project coincides with the musician’s appointment as a patron of Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents and raises money for grassroots venues across the UK.
Burgess has become a popular champion of shared musical experiences during the year of lockdown via his Tim’s Listening Parties, hosted on Twitter. The live sessions have celebrated many classic albums in the company of fans and those involved in the making of the records, in mutual discussions of their cultural and creative importance.
Flare’s TLP1 earphones feature distortion-reducing and clarity-enhancing technology, providing high-end sound for £39.99. From each sale via the company’s website, £5 will be donated to the MVT, which has raised millions of pounds for independent venues during this time of crisis for live music, helping to prevent the closure of many much-loved and historic gig locations with its #SaveOurVenues campaign.
Logo: Music Venue Trust
The earphones are anodised in bespoke purple aluminium and branded with a mini enamel “Tim” on the cable. They’re available to order from March 26 at 10am UK time for £39.99, with shipping from April 5. Fifty random orders in the first week will arrive with a signed card from Burgess; a further 100 orders will receive such bonuses as Flare Audio’s stress-reducing Calmer device, Listening Party badges or Flare accessories.
“A while back I was sent some amazing earphones by the lovely people at Flare,” says Burgess. “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.”
Great ears hear alike
Flare co-founder and COO Naomi Roberts notes: “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 MVT.”
Music Venue Trust strategic director Beverley Whitrick adds: “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. Formalizing his status as a patron of MVT 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.”
