Music

The London leg of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour will generate in the region of £300m for the capital's economy, the city's Mayor Sadiq Khan has said.

Music Week reports that the eight night run at Wembley stadium will be attended by 700,000 people, a significant proportion of which will be tourists from overseas.

The estimate was calculated using data from UKInbound’s Tourism Statistics for 2018, which showed that, excluding day visits, each domestic and international tourist to the UK generated about £396 in the UK economy in 2018. 

Adjusted for inflation (using the Consumer Price Index, including Housing), this would translate to £471 in 2023.

Khan said: “The Eras Tour has broken records and created huge excitement, so I’m delighted that Taylor Swift has chosen to perform more nights in London than anywhere else in the world. 

"Her eight performances will bring nearly 700,000 fans from across the country and beyond to Wembley Stadium, providing a huge boost to our hospitality industry and further proof that London is the greatest city in the world to watch live music."

Alder Hey Children's Hospital is the sixth NHS organisation to become part of Liverpool Philharmonic's Music and Health programme.

The initiative, funded by Alder Hey Children’s Charity, aims to improve the health and well-being of children, young people, their families, carers and staff across the hospital through weekly music-making sessions.

The programme, now in its 15th year, is one of the longest-running and largest arts and health programmes in the UK. 

Michael Eakin, Chief Executive of Liverpool Philharmonic, said: “We are delighted to welcome Alder Hey to our Music and Health programme and are grateful for their commitment to this new partnership. 

"We now work with six NHS organisations in the Liverpool City Region, being able to expand our support to children and young people is very important to us. 

"This programme has demonstrated the long-term positive impact music and creativity has on improving the physical and mental health outcomes of patients and participants and we’re excited to continue to grow the programme and support more people in the region and beyond”.

Fiona Ashcroft, Chief Executive of Alder Hey Children’s Charity said: “Music and the arts are a huge part of what we do at Alder Hey to help our children and young people recover. 

"The charity has funded Arts for Health projects across the hospital totalling £354,524 this year alone and we’re delighted to be able to now partner with such a prestigious organisation as Liverpool Philharmonic.”
 

Make Noise Studios, a musicians’ hub in Sheffield, has been saved from closure.

Since opening in June last year, the studio space has welcomed up to 70 bands per week and now employs seven staff members and up to 15 workers on a freelance basis. The facility is also used to teach young and neurodivergent people.

Doubt was cast over its future as it faced eviction, with a developer planning to convert the studio’s current home into a car park as part of a residential development.

Over £2,500 was raised to help save the studio. The developer has now agreed to sell Make Noise Studios the building next door to its current premises.

“We are in a much better place knowing where we are going,” Chico Couto, the company’s Business Manager, told the BBC. “[The developers] are really, really good people and they have been really nice to us.”

Young people’s music charity Youth Music has announced a ninth funding round of its NextGen fund.

The fund is designed to help emerging artists and professionals develop the skills needed to participate in the music industry and to equalise access to the music industry for young creatives. 

Grants of up to £2,500 are available for 18- —to 25-year-olds, but applicants can be up to 30 if they are d/Deaf, disabled, or neurodivergent. Youth Music says it is encouraging applications from the North East, East of England, East Midlands, and Northern Ireland, in particular.

While performers are welcome to apply, the fund is also available to producers, A&Rs, managers, and agents, as well as roles in the music industry that may not yet have been defined.

To date, the fund has invested nearly £650,000 in 276 early-stage musicians and emerging music industry creatives.

Applications for the ninth round are now open and will close on 28 June, with notification given in September. Further details on Youth Music’s website.

A tenth round is scheduled to open later this year, with an application deadline of 15 November.