Apple Music to open new concert venue in Battersea

Apple Music says the Battersea venue won't compete with grassroots gigs

The venue, Apple Music Hall, will host one-off shows by major recording artists and up-and -coming bands.

On top of providing a new concert hall for tenured and new artists, the shows would all be filmed and broadcasted live online.

Apple Music's vice-president, Oliver Schusser, told BBC News the space contains "more cameras and speakers than any venue of its size, anywhere in the world."

Expected to open within the next few weeks, it arrives as London's live music scene faces huge pressure, with 45 venues closing in the capital last year alone.

On a national scale, about 400 of Britain's clubs shut between 2020 and 2025 as the cost of living rose and post-Covid habits changed.

The squeeze has also fed into Glastonbury's ticket price hike, which caused backlash this year.

When talking whether the new venture would steal customers from existing venues, Schusser said: "We're not trying to be in the live business. We're not trying to compete with anyone.

"We're going to run the venue like a venue, with tickets and everything, but the sole purpose for us is to do great work with artists, to connect artists with fans, and to broadcast the content on Apple Music.

"We have really no interest in trying to be in the way of anyone else, and that's one of the main reasons it's a smaller space."

The move marks Apple's return to live music in London nine years after it scrapped the iTunes Festival.

The news also lands in a year when demand for big UK gigs has stayed strong, from James Bay's Wembley set two days after he broke his ankle to Oasis's homecoming shows in Cardiff.