Apple Music to open concert venue in Battersea Power Station

Apple Music to open concert venue in Battersea Power Station bbc.com

The tech giant has built its own concert hall, but says its not in competition with small venues.

71 points•dabinat•9 days ago•101 comments•

#concert #power #apple #station #venue #battersea #music #apple music

101 comments

dofm9 days ago

Oh dear.

The redeveloped Battersea Power Station is one of the most soulless, dead-eyed, wealth-obsessed places in all of London. This is a terrible place to put something like a music venue, unless your target market is the adult children of emigres with unexplained wealth, and I think it speaks to Apple’s sanitised, emotionally-distant, luxury-focussed worldview that they would consider it.

Incredible building. Awful development. They could have donated ten million quid to the Music Venue Trust instead.

The free U2 album looks like the work of a tastemaker by comparison.

philjohn9 days ago

I'd have to push back on that somewhat. When I worked there I saw all sorts of people emerging from the flats around the power station. Young familes, young professionals, none of them appeared "wealth obsessed".

In fact, looking at rents on RightMove, it's not out of whack with typical rents for a nice area of London.

Let us not forget this area of London (Nine Elms) was previously a pretty grotty industrial wasteland that you tended not to go to, and the power station itself was at risk of collapse.

cjrp9 days ago

Presumably they’re putting it there because their corporate office is in the power station too.

alexfoo9 days ago

Indeed. Absolutely sterile inside. They could have done so much more with it.

Proposed venue looks in keeping with this theme. Capacity of 600 and I'm sure whatever tickets will be priced to keep the hoi polloi away.

oliwarner9 days ago

While I agree completely, what else was going to happen?

Malaysians poured £10bn into that hole, and the only tennants who'll give them the smallest chance of recouping that money are trillion dollar multinationals.

It's a shame though. The best shopping centres are the ones full of dodgy little shops but they're long gone in new builds now. Cambridge used to have a few good examples but they've all been pushed out.

helsinkiandrew9 days ago

If you like Art Deco and get get a chance to visit Control Room A, do so:

https://batterseapowerstation.co.uk/retailers/control-room-a...

tkocmathla9 days ago

That reminds me a bit of The Harmsworth Room [1] in the Churchill War Rooms, where you can dine while you stare at the "original 1940s electric generator wall complete with dials and switches". Very cool space!

[1] https://www.churchillwarroomsvenuehire.co.uk/spaces/harmswor...

Animats9 days ago

I'd been to the War Rooms decades ago, when they were simply a WWII restoration. It was an obscure grim bunker where important decisions had been made during the worst period in 20th century British history. I remember a small electric bell at an exit with a small sign "Immediate danger above if ringing". Just a warning not to go outside during bombings.

Apparently it's been gentrified to the point of ridiculousness.

elcomet9 days ago

Strange they don't mention the Pink Floyd album in the article!

ssttoo8 days ago

Yeah, I expected the photo of the cover https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animals_(Pink_Floyd_album)

lou13069 days ago

Naomi Klein is the most vindicated nonfiction writer in modern history.

ascorbic9 days ago

aka the good Naomi

PlunderBunny9 days ago

“If your Naomi is Klein, then it’s green…”

ares6239 days ago

Out of the loop, what did Naomi write about this?

thinkingemote9 days ago

no logo

askvictor9 days ago

How is she related to this story?

lou13069 days ago

Well my comment was half in jest, but No Logo talks at length about the encroachment of megabrands into everyday life, and the replacement of the "public sphere" with controlled spaces that conform to the brand's image.

In this case, while the Apple Concert Hall may superficially look like just another music venue (many of which are privately owned in their own right, obviously). But its musical programme will almost surely follow a different set of guiding principles, in conformance to how Apple wants to project their brand to consumers. And the goal itself of hosting live music performances takes second stage (heh) compared to that of marketing them for streaming consumption. Speaking of which: it's not mentioned in the article, but I would be _extremely_ surprised if Apple didn't make this move with Vision users in mind.

burnoutdv9 days ago

Ah its the power station from Red Alert

alexfoo9 days ago

Amongst other films a few scenes in the 1994 MacGuyver movie (Lost Treasure of Atlantis) were filmed inside the power station before it was renovated.

montagg9 days ago

Ah it’s the Wonder I always try to rush and can’t get to

Read the full thread on Hacker News →

101 comments

Related stories