Greater Manchester’s Mayor Bev Craig has pledged \u00a36m to support the music industry, combining a new \u00a32m investment in rehearsal and production space with \u00a34m from the Combined Authority’s Culture Fund announced earlier this month.<\/p>\n
The funding will support projects ranging from grassroots venues like the Snug in Atherton to established institutions including the Hall\u00e9 Orchestra.<\/p>\n
Craig, addressing the Beyond the Music Creative Industries AI Summit, set out plans to diversify opportunities in the music sector while supporting AI literacy for music professionals.<\/p>\n
Bev Craig said: “Greater Manchester is made of music, and music in Greater Manchester is for everyone. From small venues to world-class institutions, we’ve got one of the strongest music scenes in the world. Our new plan, backed by \u00a32m investment, is all about creating the conditions for the next generation of artists, businesses, venues and music professionals to succeed.”<\/p>\n
More than 700 stakeholders have shaped the Greater Manchester Music Plan, which is set to go through the GMCA’s formal approval process in December.<\/p>\n
The region has over 1,100 premises that play live music across its ten boroughs, contributing over 11,000 jobs to a wider creative industries sector that generates about \u00a31.4bn annually.<\/p>\n
The Brit Awards’ move to Manchester for the 2026 ceremony provided a \u00a35m boost for the city region and created 3,000 temporary jobs, equivalent to 15,497 days of employment.<\/p>\n
Craig added: “We’ve also heard from hundreds of musicians and industry professionals around their ambitions and concerns for A.I. I’ll do everything I can to support and secure the industry so that creatives have the freedom to take a risk, follow an idea, and build something.”<\/p>\n
The mayor and Beyond the Music have called on the industry to collaborate on principles ensuring new technologies help rather than hinder those working in music.<\/p>\n
Next week, the GMCA will launch the Global AI Cities event report and the GM AI Ecosystem study.<\/p>\n
The GMCA has also launched an AI and Data Innovation Office and AI Strategic Framework.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mayor unveils AI principles alongside funding boost at Beyond the Music<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":264565,"featured_media":2180555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"coauthors":[116163],"class_list":["post-2180552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative","tag-featured-story","tag-greater-manchester","tag-northwest"],"yoast_head":"\n