Generator and The Glasshouse International Centre for Music have announced the launch of Newcastle Gateshead Music City, an initiative to drive investment, boost jobs and supercharge education and skills.
Newcastle Gateshead Music City will empower the region’s musicians and music professionals to succeed within a thriving music ecosystem, with career opportunities to rival anywhere in the UK.
A Newcastle Gateshead Music City office will be established by The Glasshouse and Generator, creating:
- A visionary and ambitious music strategy in collaboration with other creative organisations across the region, which will outline how the region can use music to supercharge growth and support the community.
- Vital research needed to understand the region’s current assets and potential for growth, starting with a map of the region’s music ecosystem, making it easier for musicians to find the venues, studios and support available to them.
- A Music Board, with representatives from music, business and creative industries, including grassroots venues, studios, and major labels, that will help North East artists launch and sustain brilliant creative careers from the region.
Newcastle Gateshead Music City will work to bolster the rising levels of visitors enjoying and iscovering live music, with music tourism to the region up by 29% in 2023 according to figures from UK Music.
It will also inspire and develop the next generation of musicians from the region, with opportunities to play and learn about music.
Goals set by Newcastle Gateshead Music City include the generation of between 2,000 and 4,000 jobs related to music, and £750 million increased contribution to the local economy from the music sector.
Award-winning North Shields singer-songwriter Sam Fender said: “I fully support the launch of Newcastle Gateshead Music City. I couldn’t be prouder of my region for its vast wealth of musical heritage. Music is an integral part of our culture that has been neglected historically in the North East. It’s about time we put more resource into nurturing our local talent to ensure it is taken seriously as a priority sector.”
North East headquartered music development agency, Generator has been pivotal in shaping the plans and vision for Newcastle Gateshead Music City. In the past two years, the organisation has forged partnerships with major record labels, including EMI North and Warner UK, introducing some of the most influential individuals in music to the opportunities which exist in the North East.
Generator CEO, Mick Ross said: “We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put the region on the global map for music and the creative industries. Newcastle Gateshead has the perfect ecosystem of development organisations like Generator, existing and future venues, educational facilities and industry investment, and crucially, a cultural environment and population that wholly embraces the creative sector and the economic opportunities it presents for everybody.
“At Generator, we feel an enormous sense of duty, pride and determination to be the beating heart of what will be a collective commitment of so many to make this happen and see the region thrive creatively and economically through these plans.”
Alongside Sunderland Music City and Sonic Futures in Tees Valley, Newcastle Gateshead Music City is set to create a music strategy for the North East that will position the region as a national music powerhouse.
Wendy Smith, creative director of The Glasshouse International Centre for Music said: “Newcastle Gateshead Music City will build an even stronger music community, helping us to understand the assets and the gaps so that together we can build an even better and more resilient music ecosystem in the city and wider region.
“We have an amazing music history that we can celebrate, a vibrant music scene right now and an even more exciting future. Growing music here will create jobs, increase people’s skills, and make sure every child or young person can get involved with music, as learners, creators and audiences. We want to see children from all backgrounds and life circumstances learning music now to be the artists on our stages in the future. This Music City will be for everyone, impacting people of all ages and from all walks of life in our region.
“The recent announcement of the MOBOs coming to Newcastle in February 2025, alongside the MOBO Fringe Festival, highlights national awareness of diverse artists and audiences growing in the North East.”
The North East music scene is thriving, with major label attention on the region following in the wake of artists like Fender, critically acclaimed performers like Nadine Shah and Lanterns On The Lake, and rising names like Frankie Archer, Finn Forster, Kay Greyson and a buzzing live music network. Newcastle Gateshead Music City will supercharge this sector in the North East and build profile, investment and generate more musicians and music for those that live in the North East and music fans all over the world.
A Music City, sy the organisers, is “a place with a vibrant music economy and music community, meaning everyone involved in music either side of the River Tyne will work together to make Newcastle Gateshead and the North East one of the most significant places for music in the UK and internationally.”
Photo: Raph_PH/Boardmaster 21/Creative Commons
