Apple has opened a permanent London performance space designed to turn a single concert into an intimate live event, a global livestream and a professionally recorded release.
Named Apple Music Hall, the 600-capacity room is located inside Battersea Power Station. Its technical infrastructure includes:
- A reconfigurable 38-foot stage
- A 48-speaker spatial sound system
- Two recording and mixing studios
- A broadcast control room
- Connections for at least 16 cameras
The setup allows an artist to perform for a relatively small audience and leave with a multitrack recording mixed in Spatial Audio, a broadcast-ready mix and multicamera video from the same show. Apple said performances will also be livestreamed globally, extending events held in the London room to fans elsewhere.
Staging and production control
The scale is part of the pitch: Apple Music Hall is small enough to keep fans close to the stage, but its technical infrastructure is closer to what artists might expect from a much larger production environment. The stage can support a traditional front-facing concert or be adapted for an in-the-round performance, giving artists more control over how an event is staged and captured.
Zane Lowe, Apple Music global creative director, said:
Apple has not simply opened another London concert room. It has built a vertically integrated performance pipeline: the physical show, audio master, video production and worldwide broadcast can all originate in one place.
Live music model
That model reflects a larger shift in live music. A concert can now be both an event for the people in the room and raw material for livestreams, films, clips and immersive audio releases. For artists, one performance can generate several audience touchpoints without rebuilding the production elsewhere.
The launch also extends Apple Music’s history in live programming, which includes the former iTunes Festival and Apple Music Festival. Unlike those event brands, Apple Music Hall gives the company a permanent venue and production base.
Radio studios and ticketing
Apple also opened new Apple Music Radio studios at Battersea Power Station. The service’s London-based hosts and programs will now broadcast from the site.
Ticket information and upcoming performances will be announced through Apple Music Hall’s website.
