LONDON (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Live Nation's UK partner, Academy Music Group has announced deals to manage student unions at universities in Liverpool and Hertfordshire.
The Forum is part of the University of Hertfordshire’s newly developed, state-of-the-art £38,000,000 development, which opened in October 2009 and has a full building capacity of 2,000. Liverpool Guild of Students is one of the City’s largest venues, with a main room capacity of 2,300.
Student Unions have long played an important role in live touring, providing ready access to performance spaces and audiences. Following the boom in the live music sector some 10 years ago, artists and promoters were looking for improved standards and services to fill a gap in the market created in part by the SU’s restrictive trading practices and curfews. At this time, AMG’s CEO, John Northcote accelerated his strategic development for nationwide gig and club venues outside of London, and considerably raised the bar for high quality entertainment venues across the UK.
“AMG puts considerable investment into every new site, somewhere between £4,000,000 and £6,500,000 in major towns and Cities in the UK, ensuring they are the ‘must play’ premier venues,” says John Northcote, CEO – AMG. “Students’ Union venues are now looking to the expertise within AMG that the industry expects from booking gigs and club nights, to promotion, marketing and its technical infrastructure. This management deal will create further key venues, operated to a high standard in wider reaching locations with improved facilities that promoters can now utilise on the touring circuit, with the full backing of AMG.”
The Forum’s Commercial Director Max Ross echoes these sentiments: “Having provided live gigs and club nights to Hertfordshire students for decades, the University of Hertfordshire Students’ Union has long been an industry-leader in the student music market and is excited to bring our venue management and entertainment expertise to the general public in partnership with AMG.”
AMG aims to host 120 events per annum across the two University sites in 2010. – CelebrityAccess
