Pictures: Apple’s new 600-seat London venue can record a whole album in one night
Key Points
- Apple has opened Apple Music Hall, a 600-capacity venue at Battersea Power Station
- Artists can leave one show with a Spatial Audio recording, broadcast mix and multicamera video
- The venue has a 48-speaker spatial system, two studios and wiring for 16+ cameras
- Apple will livestream shows globally, with tickets available at applemusichall.com
- Apple Music Radio's London hosts now broadcast from new studios at the same site
Apple has opened Apple Music Hall, a 600-capacity live music venue inside London’s Battersea Power Station.
Apple announced the venue on Tuesday (23 September), alongside new Apple Music Radio studios at the same site.
The hall lets an artist play a single show and leave with a finished Spatial Audio recording, a broadcast-ready mix and multicamera video.
Apple said it designed the venue to pair the feel of a small gig with the production kit an artist would expect on an arena tour.
The venue’s main production features include:
- A 38-foot-wide stage that crews can reconfigure for front-facing or in-the-round sets
- A 48-speaker spatial sound system positioned all around the audience
- Two professional recording and mix studios for multitrack capture and Spatial Audio mixing, live or after the show
- Wiring for 16 or more cameras, feeding a purpose-built broadcast control room
- Support for iPhone video capture running alongside traditional broadcast cameras
Apple will also livestream performances from the hall globally for fans outside London.
“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,” said Oliver Schusser, Vice President of Apple Music and International Content at Apple.
The building borrows from the power station’s architecture, with heritage brickwork, fluted arches and bronze balconies modelled on the site’s historic oriel windows.
A giant glass wall gives the venue a panoramic view across the concourse and the River Thames.
“What better way to celebrate this relationship than a new music venue where we get to experience amazing music in an amazing space and share it with the world,” said Zane Lowe, Global Creative Director at Apple Music and Lead Anchor for Apple Music 1.
Fans can find tickets for upcoming shows at applemusichall.com.
