LIVERPOOL’S GAME-CHANGING MUSIC ANNOUNCEMENT
Following the announcement that Massive Attack, IDLES and Nile Rodgers are scheduled to perform a series of concerts at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena in November to honour the city’s designation as the world’s first ‘UN Accelerator City’ for climate change, Liverpool’s UNESCO City of Music Head, Kev McManus writes about why this is a milestone moment for the city.
Liverpool has a rich musical history and it’s one we are rightly proud of and celebrate. However one of my messages since I’ve been in my role in Culture Liverpool is that we should always be looking forward and not be over reliant on this music legacy. Liverpool is an exciting, dynamic city and if people around the world associate us with music then our music sector needs to reflect this. We should strive to make ourselves the global music city that everyone else is looking at and wants to emulate.
So the announcements we have made over the last few days are really significant because they show the scale of our ambition. Any of these initiatives is a game changer in its own right but when you put them together they demonstrate just how serious we are. We want to be innovators and leaders in areas such as music tech, immersive technology and in the rapid decarbonisation of live music events.
If you haven’t seen the details then the highlights of these announcements are:
The Music Lab: this is a recognition that the music industry is a vital part of our economy and a dedicated facility like the proposed Music Lab can be a catalyst for regeneration. . We already have some innovative music businesses based here, like Sentric Music, but we need more. We have a bid in to secure funding for a bespoke facility ( the Lab) which will bring together music with creative and digital sectors and reimagine the way we create, consume and experience music in the future.
Creative Cluster – the city is part of a public/private sector cluster seeking Arts and Humanities Research Council funding to become a national centre for creative innovation in music. If this bid ( entitled Music Futures) and the Music Lab bid are successful they will work closely together and will be a real statement of intent about our ambitions in this space.
A further bid is in for an ‘Abbey Road of the North’ which if successful will allow us to develop a leading national facility for emerging and established artists and provide a new world class home for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Immersive Liverpool – The City Council have entered into an exciting development relationship with Mercury Studios and Universal Music Group to help create the future of immersive music entertainment right here in Liverpool. Together we will lean on our music heritage to become the birthplace for a new form of music entertainment.
The announcement which has already attracted attention from across the world is that Liverpool has become the world’s first ‘Accelerator City’ for climate action under the United Nations Climate Change’s Entertainment and Culture for Climate Action.
This hasn’t just come out of the blue. The reason we have received this designation is because of our commitment to innovation and smart regulation to rapidly decarbonise the live music and TV/Film production sectors. Conversations have been taking place for some time now with the UN, Act 1.5(an artist led research and action effort), climate scientists from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, and Massive Attack themselves.
Massive Attack are headlining a three night live music series at the Liverpool Arena between 28- 30 November. The line up for these gigs is stunning anyway but these aren’t just your average shows as they are being used to showcase innovations in sustainability and the smart design of live events.
Alongside these shows we will also be hosting an industry event called Expedition 1 at the ACC. This will be home to an incredible two days of activity including testing and showcasing pilot projects for rapid decarbonisation across live music, TV and film productions scheduled in 2025.
The gigs and the industry event will attract attention from across the world and particularly from the music and TV/film sector. That’s brilliant for the city but what is really exciting for us is that this is just the start of this activity. Over the next year we will expand on this use of policy, technology, infrastructure and transport policy to pilot and then embed decarbonisation methods into the fabric of the city.
All of these initiatives have taken a huge amount of work by ourselves and our partners but it now feels like we are ready to take this massive step forward. The eyes of the world will be on us and I don’t think we would want it any other way. This is Liverpool and we are ready.
For more information on Accelerator City, read here.
Written by Kevin McManus
