Apple Music Opens 600-Capacity Venue at Battersea — SkimNews
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- Apple will open a 600-capacity venue called Apple Music Hall beneath its UK HQ at Battersea Power Station in the coming weeks, with VP Oliver Schusser claiming it has "more cameras and speakers than any venue of its size."
- Oliver Schusser told BBC News the company is "not trying to be in the live business" and has "no interest in trying to be in the way of anyone else," framing the sole purpose as connecting artists with fans and broadcasting content.
- The London launch comes as the capital's live scene contracts: 45 venues closed last year and roughly 400 UK clubs shut between 2020 and 2025 amid cost-of-living and post-Covid shifts.
- Apple Music Hall marks the company's return to London live music nine years after scrapping the iTunes Festival, which hosted free concerts by Lady Gaga, Elton John, Britney Spears, and Adele at Koko and The Roundhouse.
- Culture secretary Lisa Nandy called the development "a huge vote of confidence in the UK as a global creative powerhouse."
- The facility also houses studios for Apple Music's radio stations relocating from King's Cross, plus DJ mix rooms, writing camps, and rehearsal spaces all wired for same-day podcast, radio, and livestream production.
- Jimmy Iovine warned in February that streaming services are "minutes away from being obsolete" because they function as "an ATM machine" without artist-fan connection — a critique Schusser echoed in justifying the venue.
Why it matters: With 45 London venues closing last year and roughly 400 UK clubs shuttering since 2020, Apple's entry — explicitly framed as non-competitive — still puts a deep-pocketed tech firm with broadcast infrastructure into a market where independents are losing ground. If Apple Music Hall's livestreamed shows redirect artist bookings or audience attention, the squeeze on grassroots venues could accelerate even without Apple intending it.
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