Apple Music Opens 600-Capacity London Venue as 45 Live Music Sites Closed Last Year
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Sep 22
Apple Music Opens 600-Capacity London Venue as 45 Live Music Sites Closed Last Year
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Sep 22
Summary
Apple Music Hall is set to open in Battersea Power Station in the coming weeks, giving Apple a 600-capacity venue beneath its UK headquarters for filmed shows that will also stream live online.
Apple says the hall is built to deepen artist-fan ties and set its service apart from Spotify and Amazon Music, with integrated radio studios, rehearsal rooms and production facilities for podcasts, DJ sets and live gigs.
Oliver Schusser said Apple is "not trying to be in the live business" or take customers from other venues, arguing the smaller format is meant for bespoke content rather than broad competition.
The launch lands as London's music scene is under strain: 45 venues closed in the capital last year, and about 400 clubs shut across Britain between 2020 and 2025.
Apple's return to live events comes nine years after it ended the iTunes Festival, with Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy calling the new hall a vote of confidence in the UK's creative sector.