Plan for ‘Abbey Road of the North’ recording studio

A new national recording studio in Liverpool could be “the Abbey Road of the North” the region’s metro mayor has said.

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram has announced his ambition to create a recording studio that would both accommodate the city’s Philharmonic orchestra and be a recording base for new talent.

The plan is one of several ideas to increase the city’s appeal to the music, TV, film and gaming industries.

Liverpool City Council opposition figures welcomed the plans but said they needed to be “thought through and not just pie in the sky”.

Rotheram, who revealed the plans at a Creative UK event as part of the Labour Party conference in the city, said the “ground-breaking projects” would “remix the way music is made and experienced”.

The city could also be the home of a new immersive music experience, similar to Abba Voyage in London, which features digital avatars of the group performing a virtual concert on stage.

Liverpool City Council leader Liam Robinson said the authority is working with Mercury Studios and Universal Music Group “to help create the future of immersive music entertainment”.

The previous conservative government gave the city £2m in 2021 to develop a business case for the immersive experience.

Rotheram said that will be submitted to the new government to in coming weeks.

“We want to ensure that when we do announce the full package that the people in the Liverpool city region will be absolutely in awe of what we are trying to achieve,” he told BBC Radio Merseyside.

The four projects, which are expected to be funded by private sector sources with government support, are:

• The Music Futures Lab which would bring together music businesses and musicians to use AI and VR to “reimagine the way we all create, consume and experience music in the future”.
• MusicFutures Cluster, which is described as a mix of academic and private sector bodies which will develop talent through the music lab.
• Immersive Liverpool, an immersive audio and visual visitor attraction.
• Recording and Rehearsal space. A new rehearsal home for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and a national facility for emerging and established artists.

Carl Cashman, the leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council, said: “My only caution is that we have seen these big ideas before and they have come crashing down.

“The people of Liverpool deserve that these projects are thought-through and not just pie in the sky.

“I would welcome a more formulated strategy with more ‘meat on the bones’.”

The Beatles recorded the majority of their singles and albums at London’s Abbey Road studios between 1962 and 1970.

It was owned by EMI until it was taken over by Universal Music Group (UMG) in 2013.