Apple Just Built a Concert Hall Under Its London Office

Apple is opening its own concert venue in London. Called Apple Music Hall, it sits underneath the company's European headquarters at Battersea Power Station, a landmark building on the Thames. The room holds just 600 people, which is intimate by arena standards — roughly the size of a large school gym. But it's unusually well equipped: Apple says it has more cameras and speakers than any venue of its size in the world. Every show will be professionally filmed and broadcast live on Apple Music, so a gig you can't get a ticket for could still show up on your phone.

So why does this matter to you? Two reasons. First, it's a sign that your music subscription is turning into a TV channel too. Apple is betting that exclusive live performances will make people choose Apple Music over Spotify or Amazon Music. Second, for anyone in London, it brings big-name shows back to a city whose live music scene is shrinking fast — 45 London venues closed last year alone, and about 400 British clubs shut between 2020 and 2025 as costs rose.

There's a catch, though. A deep-pocketed tech giant moving into live music worries independent venue owners, who fear it could pull artists and audiences away from small local clubs. Apple's music executive Oliver Schusser insists that isn't the plan, saying the company isn't trying to compete with anyone and chose a small room on purpose. Still, the venue is only 600 seats — so don't expect cheap, easy tickets. And if you want to see a show in person, you'll likely be competing with a lot of other fans.

Apple has done this before. From 2007 to 2014, its iTunes Festival hosted free concerts in London featuring Lady Gaga, Adele and Elton John. The new hall also houses Apple Music's radio studios, plus rehearsal and songwriting rooms, all wired for audio and video — an artist could record a podcast, do a radio interview and stream a concert in a single day. The opening act will be announced soon.