Manchester mayor Bev Craig has pledged £2m in funding to nurture local artists by improving access to rehearsal and production space, saying the city's music scene is about more than just Oasis.
Speaking at Beyond the Music's creative industries AI summit at MediaCity in Salford on Friday, Craig said there was a "real intentionality" to what Greater Manchester was doing in terms of growing its own music industry and attracting international events.
Funding for diversity in music
Craig said the investment would help ensure that "the next generation of talent" gets the support it needs to break through in an industry that is "becoming more and more middle-class, more and more London-centric".
"There's more to Greater Manchester's music scene than just Oasis," she said, adding that she was "struck by the diversity, the creativity, the talent that we see".
Earlier this year, Manchester's Co-op Live arena hosted the Brit awards and the Mobos, Europe's biggest celebration of Black music and culture. Craig said she wanted to host the Mobos' 30th anniversary "because we knew it would be the last one that the Mobos founder Kanya would be able to come to".
Support for artists and technology
The summit featured performances from up-and-coming black and minority ethnic artists including Bawo, JayaHadADream and Alt Blk Era. Craig also outlined commitments to support AI literacy for music professionals and to monitor the impact of new technologies on employment, income and diversity in the sector.
The final day of the conference was convened by the prime minister, Andy Burnham. Culture minister Ian Murray told the conference: "With a prime minister who picks up his guitar to murder Smiths tracks, we have a passion from the very top." He added, joking: "That's probably a career-limiting sentence for me."
Murray said: "The future of creativity will not be shaped by technology alone. It will be shaped by the choices we make today, and how we support talent, how we reward creativity and how we embrace that innovation."
Additional investment and Oasis tour
The £2m funding is in addition to the £4m Culture Fund investment announced earlier this month, which will fund music projects from grassroots venues to world-renowned institutions. The additional funding aims to improve access to rehearsal and production space, provide practical support, and ensure there are jobs for musicians in their communities.
Despite her comments about the music scene being about more than Oasis, Craig said she would be going to see the band on their sellout tour next year, which includes 11 nights at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium. She said she was "as excited about seeing [Merseyside band] the Ks at Beyond the Music as I am about seeing Oasis".
"I'm a little bit more into my dance music than the previous mayor as well," Craig added. "So maybe a bit more varied in my tastes, shall we say."
