Apple Music has announced it will be opening a brand new state-of-the-art music venue in London.
The new space, named Apple Music Hall, will open at the capital’s Battersea Power Station where the company has its London headquarters. An opening date or news of the first performing act has not yet been confirmed.
The 600-capacity space features the opportunity for artists to perform live, record the show in Spatial Audio in a broadcast-ready mix, and capture multi-camera video directly from the venue and its studios.
Apple Music Hall features a mixture of standing and seated areas, and the 38-foot-wide stage can be reconfigured for traditional front-facing sets or more in-the-round experiences. The venue is also equipped with a 48-speaker spatial sound system.
The building operates as a full production facility with two recording and mix studios built to professional standards.
“The venue is also hardwired for 16 or more cameras that feed a purpose-built broadcast control room with infrastructure that supports iPhone video capture running in parallel alongside traditional broadcast cameras,” according to a press release.
Apple Music Radio’s London-based hosts and shows will also broadcast live out of the space in Battersea. For more information about Apple Music Hall, including how to access tickets for upcoming shows, fans can visit applemusichall.com.
Battersea Power Station, previously a coal-fired power station on the bank of the River Thames, has a longstanding connection to music. The building featured on the artwork for Pink Floyd’s 1977 album Animals, which shows an inflatable pink pig suspended between the four towers. Mumford & Sons performed a concert in the grounds of the park for Apple’s 50th anniversary celebration in March. In 2014, Sir Elton John performed a private concert at the venue to mark the building’s residential and commercial redevelopment.
The building of Battersea Power Station began in 1929 and finished in 1955, and provided coal-fire to the capital until 1978. The building remained empty for decades, although a number of investors proposed redevelopment and alternative uses, including failed plans to host a theme park. In 2012, football team Chelsea F.C. had a bid to purchase the site for a new stadium rejected.
In 2012, a group of Malaysian businesses purchased the site with plans to regenerate it into a commercial and residential building. About nine years later, Transport for London opened an extension of the London Underground’s Northern line to the site; in 2022, Apple took occupancy of a portion of the building and occupied 500,000 square feet for its London-based employees.
Oliver Schusser, Apple’s VP of Apple Music and international content, said: “Apple’s deep love for music dates all the way back to the very beginning, from the launch of the iPod to the long-running iTunes Music Festival to the debut of Apple Music.”
He continued, “Today, with the opening of Apple Music Hall, we are once again taking an unprecedented step further in our commitment to artists and fans by supporting live music in ways only Apple can do.”
Zane Lowe, Apple Music’s global creative director and lead anchor for Apple Music 1, added: “Apple Music has always been the home for artists, a creative partner, not just a platform. Our Brand New Apple Music Radio studios are the next step in our commitment to provide the best possible space for artists to express themselves from performing live, to telling their story on radio, to creating incredible content for their fans. The team and I couldn’t be more excited to open the doors to our new home in Battersea.”
Rachel Newman, head of Apple Music, said: “As well as Apple Music Hall, the surrounding campus — which includes recording studios, radio studios, photography and more — is a true creative space where artists can not only perform live, but also record an interview on Apple Music Radio, mix their music in Spatial Audio or host special events.”
She added, “We wanted to create a space that artists can use however they choose and tailor to their needs, one that reflects our continued commitment to supporting artists, championing storytelling, and giving fans a way to connect with their favourite acts.”
