Manchester City Council is set to earmark almost £250,000 to support grassroots music venues in the city and help them share the success of the city’s summer of music. 

In recent weeks, hundreds of thousands of music fans have converged on the city to celebrate its music scene – 340,000 at the five Oasis Heaton Park homecoming gigs alone. Other star names appearing in Manchester this summer include Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Charlie XCX, Elbow, Fontaines DC and Robbie Williams. 

Over the course of the summer it has been estimated that Manchester will have attracted 1.3 million music tourists – a tremendous boost for the city’s economy as a whole, especially the hospitality industry. 

These huge events are also generating income for the Council, either by being hosted in the city’s largest parks – with commercial arrangements for their use – or through the business rates paid by major venues. 

As well as reinvesting part of this revenue in parks, the Council is planning to set aside £245,000 to be made available in financial support for Manchester’s grassroots venues. 

While exact details are being finalised, the intention is that the scheme will be administered by Music Venue Trust to ensure that the money gets to where it is needed as quickly and effectively as possible. 

Kate Lowes, Director, Brighter Sound (sector lead Manchester Music City) said: “Grassroots venues sit at the heart of our city’s music scene – supporting emerging artists, bringing people together, and enriching local communities. 

“Recent research, commissioned by Manchester Music City and delivered by the hub, has shown that business rates relief is one of the sector’s most pressing concerns. We therefore welcome this announcement and are encouraged to see Manchester City Council and Music Venue Trust working in partnership to deliver meaningful and targeted support. 

“Manchester Music City is now working with the council to shape a full sector response and action plan, with a further set of actions to be announced this autumn. This type of collaborative approach and investment is essential to ensuring that Manchester remains a city where music and creativity can thrive at every level.”

It comes as small venues across the country face a difficult economic climate, with a combination of increasing costs and reducing incomes leaving some in a precarious position. One particular challenge is an increase in nationally-set business rates. These had been significantly reduced for the sector in response to the impacts of the pandemic, but this financial year (2025/26) – while still being lower than pre-pandemic levels – they have gone back up significantly. 

Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “Manchester is a big noise in the music world. This summer all eyes have been on the city as we’ve hosted some huge concerts and seen unprecedented success in our large venues as the EMA MTV Music Awards showed. 

“But while the biggest gigs – in the city’s arenas and parks – might dominate the headlines, we know they are only possible because they are part of a wider ecosystem with smaller, grassroots venues providing the launchpads for acts to develop and grow. 

“We know that across the country grassroots venues are struggling. That’s why we want to ensure that our grassroots venues can share some of the benefit from the success of those big events. 

“We’re blessed in Manchester with an array of great smaller venues. They are there to be enjoyed and I’d encouraged anyone who values them to get out and support them.” 

Jay Taylor, Music Venue Trust National Co-ordinator, said: “Music Venue Trust wants to thank and congratulate Manchester City Council for leading on this crucial support for grassroots music venues. It’s inspiring to see Manchester recognise its place as one of the world’s leading music cities, and acknowledge that the fantastic grassroots music venue network in the city is an essential cornerstone of the amazing music being produced by Manchester artists. 

“In April, the government reduced business rates relief in England for many grassroots music venues, significantly impacting their long-term sustainability. Manchester City Council has taken the lead with this bold and innovative action and we hope many more cities and towns across the country can join their efforts to secure the future of the UK’s grassroots music venue network.” 

The programme has been announced for this year’s iconic La Mercè festival in Barcelona, at which Manchester will be Guest City.

Each year the event attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors into the city for a 6-day cultural festival that showcases the very best of traditional Catalan culture, outdoor arts, and music.

Last year Manchester was chosen by its Catalan counterparts to be the first-ever English guest city. The event will take place from 23-28 September.

The programme for Manchester as Guest City has been led by XTRAX and Without Walls. It showcases the diverse cultural communities of Manchester and the rich diversity of the UK outdoor arts scene – including parades, dance, music, poetry, fire and installations.

The Manchester Guest City music programme at La Mercè is presented by Manchester Music City, led by Brighter Sound.

The artists representing Manchester are:

Children of Zeus

Chloe Slater

Clara la San

Porij

Ríoghnach Connolly and Honeyfeet

Space Afrika

In addition, we are supporting a brand-new musical collaboration between Manchester’s Werkha and Catalan artist Queralt Lahoz, which will premiere at the festival.

Kate Lowes, Director, Brighter Sound (sector lead Manchester Music City) said: “We’re thrilled to announce such an exciting group of artists representing Manchester at La Mercè 2025 – a powerful showcase of the city’s rich and genre-defying music scene. As a member of the Music Cities Network, Manchester is proudly international in its musical outlook. This is a fantastic opportunity to deepen creative exchange between Manchester and Barcelona, and to celebrate our shared love of music on an international stage.”

Music for the Senses has taken over the streets of Manchester with a trail of artworks, murals, mosaics and installations celebrating the people, places, moments and instruments of the city’s music scene.

On King Street, Manchester artist Lazerian has created Guitar Street – an interactive installation made from 40 donated guitars. Each one features the stencilled face of a young, up-and-coming music artist from the city, all brought together in a powerful hanging exhibition.

You can also step inside Lazerian’s Cathedral of Sound at Mayfield Park – a show stopping installation built from hundreds of reclaimed acoustic guitars, reimagined into a living, breathing sanctuary of sound. At the end of the trail the guitars will be auctioned to raise money to support grassroots music projects and venues throughout Greater Manchester.

There are four brand-new murals from international street artists Lei Mai LeMaow, Nomad Clan, .EPOD and AKSE P19 to discover. Along the way, don’t miss the Manchester Music Mooch – an interactive journey through the locations of Manchester’s grassroots music community. The trail is open to all until 31 August.

The art trail is part of MCR Live ’25 which sees Manchester welcoming over a million music tourists to the city.

Councillor Garry Bridges, Deputy Leader Manchester City Council, said: “Manchester is already known the world over for our music and our fantastic music scene that draws people to the city from every corner of the globe. With 1.3m music tourists expected in Manchester this summer along with the historic homecoming Oasis dates in Heaton Park the economic impact on the city will be significant – with bars, clubs, restaurants, shops and hotels all set to benefit.”

For the first time in its history, The BRIT Awards with Mastercard will leave the capital and make its way north.

The iconic celebration of British music is set to take place at Manchester’s Co-op Live in 2026 and 2027, marking a bold new chapter for the event, after nearly five decades in London. The BRIT Awards 2026 will take place on Saturday 28th February, and broadcast exclusively on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.

2026 will be the first of three years under the stewardship of Sony Music UK, who spearheaded the move to Manchester. The Chair of the BRITs Committee, who oversees all aspects of the show including performer bookings, hosts, show creative and categories, will be announced at a later date. 

Jason Iley MBE, Chairman and CEO, Sony Music UK & Ireland said: “This is a very exciting time for The BRIT Awards. Moving to Manchester, the home of some of the most iconic and defining artists of our lifetime, will invigorate the show and build on the BRITs legacy of celebrating and reinvesting in world-class music. Hosting the show in Manchester, with its vibrant cultural history, perfectly captures the spirit and energy of the BRIT Awards. I can’t wait to see the show at the amazing state-of-the art Co-op Live venue.” 

Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council said: “This is a massive boost for Manchester and we are delighted that The BRITs will be coming here for the first time in its history. Manchester is at the forefront of the UK music scene, from our iconic grassroots scene through to major events and this news is a major vote of confidence in Manchester.  We have got here through a great partnership between the BPI, Co-op Live, Sony Music as well as our own businesses in the city and we hope this is the beginning of a long and successful partnership.”

The BRITs in 2026 and 2027 will continue to raise funds to support education and well-being for young people through The BRIT Trust, which supports the BRIT School in south London and nationwide music therapy charity Nordoff & Robbins, among other organisations adjacent to the music industry.

Read more on The BRITS website, and keep across their social media channels in the coming months for further news and updates. 

Earlier this year, we commissioned the team at the hub to work with us on a project designed to give Manchester’s grassroots music venues a say in how Manchester City Council and partners like us can better support the city’s grassroots
music scene.

As an organisation that brings together people and organisations from across Manchester’s music landscape to support the city’s vibrant music sector and build and sustain an inclusive music ecology, we know how important grassroots music venues are. We also know that for the city’s venues are to survive, they require greater support, and we are committed to playing our part in that.

Against this backdrop, we’re really excited to be working with the team at the hub on this project. Music specialists who grew up working in music venues, they’re real champions
of grassroots music, and the report they did last year to evaluate Arts Council England’s Grassroots Live Music Fund helped unlock £5m new government funding for grassroots
music.

Their approach to this project is deliberately consultative and collaborative, and they’ve built consultation with venues into the heart of the process. Across the project they’ll be:
– doing interviews
– running focus group discussions
– facilitating bigger gatherings of venues from across the city

They’re also talking with reps from other music cities in the UK and overseas to draw on their experience, and will work closely with an Advisory Group whose members include reps from Music Venue Trust, the Association of Independent Promoters and Attitude is Everything. By summer 2024, the aim is to have arrived at a set of recommendations that everyone can get behind and that set out a clear path for supporting the city’s venues.

If you’d like to find out more about the project, we’d love you to get in touch. Use our contact form and we’ll get back to you. We are stronger together, so please do get
involved!

Image: Manchester Collective, Rosewood at The White Hotel. Photo by Chris Payne

Music is front and centre in the New York Times, who have included Manchester in their ‘52 Places to Go’ list for 2024.

It’s going to be a great year for music across the city-region, kicking off with the opening of Co-Op Live, which alongside AO Arena, will make Manchester home to the two of the biggest arenas in the UK. No doubt this is one of the reasons why international music conference WOMEX has chosen the city as its host, when it brings 2,600 music professionals to Manchester in October.

We’re delighted to announce that Manchester has been nominated for ‘Best Global Music City’ at the 2023 Music Cities Awards.

We’ve been nominated alongside Sao Paulo, Brazil and Frutillar, Chile.

The winners will be announced on October 18th at an Awards Ceremony on the opening day of the Huntsville Music Cities Convention in Alabama, USA.

You can read more about the nominees on the Music Cities Awards homepage.

All Manchester’s music organisations and promoters were invited to submit suggestions to GMCA to create a longlist of potential candidates. Indicative of the breadth of exciting talent that Greater Manchester has to offer, the longlist was representative of genres as wide ranging as Hip Hop and indie, and included both emerging acts and those already established on the local and international scene.

Discussed by a panel of Manchester music industry professionals over the summer of 2022, the longlist was whittled down. After careful deliberation, two acts were selected to represent Manchester’s varied music scene – avant-pop trio The Orielles and punk band Loose Articles.

GMCA are hopeful to make the delegation an annual event that will grow Greater Manchester’s presence at SxSW year on year, so that international opportunities can be extended to as many artists as possible.

Manchester’s live music economy is second only to London in the UK, according to a 2022 published report conducted by industry specialists Nordicity and Sound Diplomacy.

Commissioned by Manchester City Council and Manchester Music City to review Manchester’s economic landscape, the report found that the total economic impact of Greater Manchester’s music ecosystem between 2019-2020 was £469 million in Gross Value Added (GVA) and 11,270 FTE jobs (FTEs). This comprised a total economic impact of £390 million in GVA and 9,590 FTEs from the music sector, £63 million in GVA and 1,340 FTEs from music tourism and £16 million in GVA and 340 FTEs from the night-time economy.

The research found that Manchester’s live music scene makes up 64% of the ecosystem, while concert producers, booking agents and promoters account for 38% of music businesses in the city, making Manchester a particularly strong live music destination for both audiences and those working in the sector.

The significance of Manchester as a major national hub for classical music education via the Hallé Orchestra, Manchester Camerata and the BBC Philharmonic, was also underlined, while Manchester’s global reach through tourism, events and heritage were highlighted as making Manchester competitive against other music cities.

All Things Equal champions and celebrates all those who experience sexism and cissexism inclusive of all identities, backgrounds, social classes, ages, bodies, races, ethnicities, religions and disabilities. As such, the All Things Equal manifesto has been developed with contributions from hundreds of intersectional voices through consultation, collaborative action and an ongoing programme of research.

The research process highlighted five individual areas that need to change.

1. Education – to support more young people to learn, experiment and see themselves in all areas of the industry.

2. Talent Development – to demystify creative careers, create opportunities and cultivate safe spaces for artists of marginalised genders.

3. Live Music – to create an environment of respect in live music, for performers, professionals and audiences alike.

4. Parents and Carers – to support parents and those with caring responsibilities to find success and balance in their careers.

5. Leadership – to challenge outdated concepts of leadership and support opportunities for all types of leaders.

All Things Equal believes that progress in these areas will have long-term impacts and help to create an inclusive and welcoming industry for all.