Brit Beat: Manchester, So Much to Answer for? New Arena Launch Stymied by Delays

Mark Sutherland

It’s not often that a new venue dominates U.K. music industry conversation, but that’s certainly been the case with the opening – or not – of Oak View Group’s new Co-op Live Arena in Manchester.

With a capacity of 23,500 people, the new $458 million venue will become the biggest indoor arena in the U.K., although its grand unveiling has been hit by a series of problems.

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A test event featuring Rick Astley on April 20 had to cancel thousands of tickets shortly before the doors opened; while the official opening events, starring British comedian Peter Kay, were postponed, initially from April 23/24 to April 29/30, and then again to May 23/24. Another reduced-capacity test concert featuring The Black Keys, that had been due to take place on April 27 has also been postponed until May 15. A slew of negative headlines – with even Kay quipping “I can’t believe it either” – and social media reaction followed.

A statement from Co-op Live about the latest postponements said: “We deeply appreciate the impact this will have on excited fans, and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that this change will undoubtedly cause.

“Rescheduling Peter Kay and The Black Keys will give us the extra time we need to continue testing enhanced emergency communications and measures thoroughly. This is vital to satisfy the rigorous set of guidelines and protocols that are necessary for a venue of this size to ensure that our fans, artists and staff have the safest experience possible.”

Ahead of that, Co-op Live GM Gary Roden dramatically resigned on April 25, following criticism over the initial postponements and comments he made to the BBC that some grassroots music venues were “poorly run”.

A statement from Oak View president Jessica Koravos thanked Roden and said: “Neither Co-op Live nor Oak View Group share the sentiment expressed by Gary Roden regarding the grassroots industry. Co-op Live remains committed to grassroots music in Manchester and beyond.”

Rebecca Kane Burton, formerly VP/GM of The O2 in London, has been installed as interim GM. The venue is now scheduled to open with a gig by A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie on May 1, followed by Olivia Rodrigo on May 3/4.

Variety spoke to Oak View chairman/CEO Tim Leiweke before the launch unraveled, although even at the time he said, “I’d take another two weeks [before opening] if you had it!” Leiweke was unavailable for further comment after the postponements and Roden’s resignation.

Co-op Live is the first U.K. venue from Oak View, in partnership with the Manchester City soccer team’s owners City Football Group, and will enter a crowded Manchester concert market traditionally dominated by ASM Global’s AO Arena, which is currently undergoing a revamp that will increase its capacity from 21,000 to 24,000.

The AO Arena regularly makes the upper echelons of Pollstar’s top arenas list, but Leiweke told Variety he expects his venue to come out on top, predicting Co-op Live will host twice as many events per year as its rival.

“Everyone’s like, ‘Why would you pick a market where there’s already a Top 10 building in the industry?’” he said. “And what I always tell them is, the building’s not Top 10, the market is. That is a testament to the fans; [Manchester] has been a top market in music sales for 20-plus years, despite the building!

“That’s not a great building, it’s not a great experience – they should have put money into it a long time ago,” he said. “We probably would have thought twice about taking a run at them if they had spent real money, but until we announced our arena, they never spent a penny.”

Co-op Live’s bookings are certainly off to a good start, with multiple concerts scheduled from the likes of Rodrigo, Take That and Liam Gallagher. The MTV Europe Music Awards will also take place in the venue in November and Leiweke says he’s even confident of luring the BRIT Awards north from its traditional London base, claiming that the venue’s specifications, facilities – including a backstage area designed with input from Harry Styles – and increased capacity will make it an easy sell.

“If an artist comes into a building and it’s an easy load-in, load-out so their cost is low; they have a great experience back-of-house; the building is acoustically perfect; their fans enjoy the moment and they can walk out of the building with a 50% higher gate, it’s game, set and match,” he declared. “So that’s what we’ve tried to do – and the artists have all responded.”

Co-op Live has even secured a U.K. exclusive on the final dates from the Eagles – managed by Oak View co-founder Irving Azoff – who will play five dates in May and June, and will not appear anywhere else in Britain, not even London.

Leiweke expects that exclusive to be a one-off, but said Oak View is looking into opening a Co-op Live-style arena in West London to rival the O2 on the other side of the U.K. capital. MSG recently abandoned plans to open a version of its Las Vegas Sphere in the city, but Leiweke has experience in this area: when he was at AEG, he drove the opening of The O2, which became the world’s No.1 venue.

“London is the greatest music market in the world,” he said. “So why doesn’t London have the best arena in the world? I love the O2, it was daring and bold when it was built, but take Co-op Live and put it down on the west side of London and it’ll be the busiest, best music venue in the world bar none. That’s what London deserves and we’re trying to figure that one out.”

Leiweke says Oak View will also invest in other U.K. venues and live entertainment businesses and wants to open arenas in other cities in Europe. But the run-up to the opening of Co-op Live saw the venue embroiled in a row with the Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents grassroots venues. The MVT has criticized the new arena for not investing in the small venue ecosystem and claims requests to meet were declined.

Leiweke, however, told Variety he was willing to meet with the MVT as and when Co-op Live is up and running – similar sentiments were also expressed in Oak View’s post-Roden-resignation statement.

“The one thing you will hear about my reputation is, I don’t think there’s anyone that goes out of their way to develop relationships better than I do,” Leiweke said. The MVT is campaigning for a £1 levy on tickets for arena concerts to be used to secure the future of grassroots venues and artists. When he spoke to Variety, Leiweke did not dismiss that idea, but said he needs more time to consider options.

“I’m well aware of the investment they’re trying to derive to keep the grassroots alive,” he said, noting Co-op Live will donate £1m ($1.25m) a year to local community charities and projects. “But there are a lot of people knocking on our door and there are a lot of needs in this community. I love grassroots music but it has to be done the right way, and I never like it when somebody tries to put a gun to my head, like they were trying to do at one point. But we’ll talk to them once we get open.”

In response, Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust, tells Variety: “It’s unfortunate that this important conversation has descended to this level. We have consistently said that all we want is a professional and measured exchange of views around the wider issues affecting grassroots music venues and the talent pipeline. It is a shame, therefore that Tim Leiweke, whom we have never met, has chosen to characterize our concerns with such inflammatory, provocative and misleading language. We have never ‘held a gun’ to anybody’s head and to claim otherwise is wholly disingenuous and completely unnecessary. “

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It remains to be seen if the BRIT Awards will move outside London in the future, but this year’s ceremony certainly racked up record-breaking viewing figures online.

Like most awards shows these days, the BRITs had slipped in the TV ratings, losing 800,000 viewers from last year’s ceremony, but the awards’ partnership with Meta yielded 1.1 billion views of the live performances on Instagram Reels in the 30 days after the show. It was part of a booming digital presence for the show, with a further 12.2 million views on YouTube and huge reach across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and X/Twitter.

BRIT Awards chair Damian Christian hails the numbers as “off the charts” and says they more than make up for any decline in TV viewers.

“The [TV] ratings can be an ego thing,” Christian tells Variety. “Last year’s TV numbers were higher than they’ve been for a long, long time – and, of course, I would have loved to have kept those numbers. But once I knew the online figures were so ridiculously big, that compensates.”

Christian – also managing director and president of promotions for Atlantic Records U.K. – took over the show last year, but agrees this year’s event was “a bit of a challenge” to book, due to so many of Britain’s superstar artists not being in cycle.

While Dua Lipa opened the show, and honorary Brit Kylie Minogue picked up the Global Icon Award at the end, lesser-known names including Jungle, Raye and Chase & Status took center stage during the show, some appearing on prime-time Saturday night TV for the very first time.

“Let’s be honest, ITV want as many big names on as possible, while keeping it relevant to the BRIT Awards – we all do,” Christian admits. “We have our superstars, and then there’s the artists who’ve been grafting for years – it was those artists’ year to be celebrated, and they really stepped up. ITV knew it was a reflection of the last year of British music and they were cool about it.”

The 2024 edition also struggled to attract major international talent. While Tate McRae and Rema did play live, none of the international winners (Miley Cyrus, SZA and Boygenius) made it to the ceremony and the industry rumor mill suggests several other A-list American stars rejected the chance to perform.

“Hopefully that’s a one-off,” says Christian. “Last year we had Lizzo, who is a big international superstar. This year, at one stage it was looking like we’d have some of the winners in the room but, in the end, they couldn’t for various reasons.

“A lot of the big American stars live in and around Hollywood so the Grammys are on their doorstep, but I still think people love winning a BRIT Award,” he adds. “The BRITs still mean a lot to artists on a global scale.”

In the superstars’ absence, Christian notes that several independent acts had a good night at a show that is traditionally dominated by the majors. Raye picked up a record-breaking six BRITs after leaving her major label, Polydor, to release music independently and also saved the BRITs the embarrassment of the previous year, when the nominations and winners were dominated by male artists.

“Last year, we were criticized and rightly so, so for a female artist to mop up and clear the board was a good moment,” Christian says. “Is the problem fixed now? If it isn’t, we’ll be having this chat again next year!”

And talking of 2025, Christian says he’d “definitely be up for doing it again” next year, which will be the final event of Warner Music’s three-year chairmanship.

“Everyone seems really happy with the way it was executed and how it was run,” says Christian. “So I’ll sit down with [Warner Music U.K. chairman/CEO Tony Harlow] and we’ll see.

“Everyone feels they can do it better, everyone thinks it’s a walk in the park but it’s not quite like that,” he adds. “But I’ve absolutely loved it – it still feels like the biggest night in the music calendar and we have to keep that going, it’s really important.”

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Running Britain’s most influential radio station is a similarly high-profile, high-pressure job – and BBC Radio 1 boss Aled Haydn Jones has given the network a major shake-up of late, with significant changes made to its line-up of DJs.

Popular music industry opinion may suggest radio is less important these days, but youth-oriented network BBC Radio 1 still pulls in 8.1 million listeners aged 10+ every week, according to RAJAR. More to the point, it remains crucial to breaking new music and artists across the U.K., despite heavy competition from streaming services and social media platforms.

Now, Haydn Jones has moved to switch up the station’s tastemaking presenters. There are new faces at Drivetime (with Jamie Laing and Katie Thistleton joining Vick Hope) and afternoons (Matt Edmondson and Mollie King), as well as at various weekend shows. But the most significant change for the industry comes in the early evening “Future Sounds” slot, previously hosted by the likes of Zane Lowe, Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley.

It’s now been rebranded as Radio 1’s New Music Show, which launched this month, with Jack Saunders taking over from Clara Amfo. She will remain with the station, while the highly rated Sian Eleri takes over Saunders’ old Future Artists show, which concentrates on emerging artists.

Haydn Jones, speaking exclusively to Variety, says that Saunders – who has already built up a formidable reputation for breaking artists on Future Artists and Radio 1’s Indie Show – brings “a ferocious energy” to the show and will ensure that the station’s commitment to breaking new music is amped up still further.

“If you’re a label from around the world, you have a true music fan in Jack,” Haydn Jones says. “We know how important that show is and we’re doubling down on giving it the space and the platform it deserves. It’s about breaking music from established artists wherever they come from, whether it’s the U.K., North America or global.”

Haydn Jones considers Radio 1 to be a global brand these days, with audiences from all over the world consuming the station’s content on platforms that go way beyond the FM waveband.

“When labels give us the hottest records and work with us for big moments, we’re reaching millions of listeners in the UK,” he says. “But you also have access to the world’s biggest YouTube channels for a radio station and the world’s biggest social accounts for a radio station, as well as potentially tapping into the wider BBC system.

“Breaking new music runs through our DNA,” he adds. “We did it with BTS, we were there with Drake and we were there at the very beginning with so many artists that other stations weren’t around to help break into the U.K.”

Haydn Jones admits that the competition for young listeners is intense, with the station up against global digital giants such as Spotify and TikTok. But he’s confident that Radio 1 still brings its audience things that they can’t find elsewhere.

“We take artists and give them a large platform of exposure,” he says. “That’s what streaming doesn’t do very well, because it’s about tracks. Or on TikTok, which everyone likes to talk about at the moment, you’re just getting hooks. But with radio, and Radio 1 in particular, you’re getting to understand what the artist is about, their body of work, who they are – it’s the whole journey.”

The station also puts on major events, with its Radio 1 Big Weekend festival taking place in Luton on May 24-26, and featuring the likes of Coldplay, Raye, The Last Dinner Party and Sabrina Carpenter. Haydn Jones describes the event as “such an important part of what Radio 1 and the music industry does”, noting that “tens of thousands of people will leave Big Weekend having discovered so many new artists, as well as getting to experience the headliners in a location they probably wouldn’t usually play”.

Haydn Jones says part of his job is “making sure the right presenters are in the right seats” but one thing he says won’t be changing is long-running Breakfast Show host Greg James, who will rack up six years in the prestigious slot this summer – the second longest stint in the station’s 56-year history.

“As long as Greg is fine with getting up at 4am, he’s welcome to do this show,” he says. “He’s doing phenomenal stuff.”

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Finally, one of the most long-awaited events in the U.K. music industry finally happened this month, as the Intellectual Property Office’s Creator Remuneration Working Group met for the first time on April 18.

The group was announced by the government in June 2023, as one of the recommendations emerging from the Culture, Media & Sport Committee’s report on the economics of music streaming, and was first mooted long before that.

But anyone hoping for swift progress now the group has finally convened looks set to be disappointed. According to Variety sources in the room, the first meeting saw creator groups and rights-holders unable to even agree on what should be on the agenda for future meetings.

Four representatives from the Council of Music Makers (CMM) umbrella group of creator bodies are on the 20-plus strong working group, and they opened the meeting with an address that pulled few punches. CMM members are keen to view future sessions as a de facto negotiation over minimum digital royalty rates, equitable remuneration and the right to rights reversion and contract adjustment.

But rights-holders representatives on the group want to discuss a range of other issues, from AI to TikTok payments. Earlier this year, an IPO study said the equitable remuneration model “does not offer a simple solution”.

The government has said it will consider legislation around artist remuneration if the music industry can’t find its own solution. With the U.K.’s Conservative administration seemingly on its last legs, some members of the group may be hoping to delay any decisions until the next government takes over following a General Election expected later this year. Although, in fact, it seems likely that any incoming Labour government would be more amenable to a legislative solution, particularly if #BrokenRecord campaigner Tom Gray succeeds in his bid to become an MP.

Nonetheless, labels body the BPI hailed the meeting as “constructive”, while indie labels body AIM said it would “look forward to working collaboratively to achieve growth, assess the data behind the issues, and ensure widespread best practice and fair returns from streaming for all participants”.

A date for the next meeting has yet to be scheduled. But it’s clear that, while the industry has successfully reached agreement on metadata standards and a transparency code, finding common ground on remuneration is going to be an uphill battle.

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