Bosses behind Manchester's £365m Co-op Live arena…

Bosses behind Manchester's £365m Co-op Live arena respond after they're told to 'step up'

Bosses at what will soon be the UK’s largest indoor arena say they’re committed to Manchester’s ‘grassroots music sector’ — but some say they need to go further.

The Music Venue Trust (MVT) has released a new report into the sustainability of the UK’s music scene. Within the document, it calls on ‘all new arenas opening in the UK’ to ‘contribute to the wider music eco-system by investing a percentage of every ticket sale into grassroots venues’.

That includes a specific request to the £365 million Co-op Live, which will open next to the Etihad Stadium in December of this year. It will be the largest indoor arena in the country, at 23,500 seats.

“Grassroots Music Venues in Manchester are at breaking point in their ability to support new and emerging talent,” Mark Dayvd, the Trust’s CEO, said in a letter to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. “We can't just go on opening arena after arena with nothing at all being invested into Research & Development.

“Co-op Live is the next one of these arenas due to open and our message to them is simple; you cannot expect to be able to sell 23,000 tickets a night to see artists in five or ten years’ time without investing in the places where those artists start, where their careers begin, where they learn how to be the main stage acts you need and rely on.

“We need [owners] Oak View Group to ensure that every ticket they sell is directly investing in the future of the industry. Music Venue Trust has the tools to make this happen, we need Co-op Live to step up and make it a reality.”

Renders of the inside of the venue (Co-Op Live)

However, bosses at the new venue have hit back. They say they have already pledged to invest £1 million annually into its foundation.

“Music Venue Trust’s statement that Co-op Live have no plans to invest in grassroots venues is inaccurate,” Mark Donnelly, the COO, Oak View Group International, told the M.E.N. “We have previously reached out to the organisation following initial conversation on December 7, and are currently awaiting a meeting to discuss collaboration as we prepare to open our venue.

“We are committed to giving back to the local community, having pledged £1 million annually to the Co-op Foundation, and working towards Manchester City Council’s target of net zero carbon by 2038. This ethos extends further into the grassroots sector, working alongside Manchester’s vibrant Night & Day Café to host our recent countdown event.”

Work on the new arena is continuing, with Harry Styles helping design some of the finishes on the venue bowl. Bosses say they will host ‘100 nights of music a year’, plus other events like UFC.

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