‘The kinetic energy is palpable’: Manchester embraces its first Brit awards | Brit awards
VVisitors to Manchester this week were visibly enjoying themselves arriving at Olivia Deansgate station, with many taking selfies in front of the temporary sign. The tribute to the chart-busting musician is indicative of how Manchester has embraced the arrival of the Brit awards on Saturday, the event’s first venture outside London in its fifty-year history.
British awards president Stacey Tang said the move to the Co-op Live arena was about recognizing the geographical diversity of the country’s musical talent. “Creativity in the UK doesn’t happen in one postcode… so the idea that the biggest night in music always has to be in London I think is becoming obsolete,” he said.
The approach of local authorities and Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has been “really different” to what they have experienced in London. “They really opened up the city,” he said.
Awards organizers are holding a side event in Manchester featuring work with grassroots artists, as well as intimate appearances from pop stars including Olivia Dean, who has been nominated in five categories, and Robbie Williams, who is helping charity War Child.
Tang, who is also co-chairman of RCA Records, which is part of Sony, said Manchester had a creative positivity that was not always shown in London. “The investment in Manchester, the kinetic energy around the city is really tangible,” he said. “There’s always something you can go to where you can meet like-minded people but also feel like ‘wow, I belong in this city’ whether you live there or not.”
The Manchester Britons ceremony is behind the Mobo awards, which are held in many northern cities and will celebrate its 30th anniversary in Manchester at the end of March. The MTV Europe music awards were held at Co-op Live in 2024, the same year as the Northern music awards launched in Manchester.
Jo Twist, chief executive of BPI, the record industry’s trade association, said the organisation’s research showed Manchester was consistently the best place to produce chart-toppers in the UK.
He said: “Perhaps there has been a shift recently where the industry has realized that it needs to do more to actively source talent and be on the doorstep, supporting the ecosystem in meaningful ways. Global success stories don’t just happen and artists don’t become global successes overnight; they can require years of label support.”
Twist said this was part of the BPI’s decision to bring the Mercury prize to Newcastle for the first time last year, after Leeds group English Teacher finally broke their decade-long winning streak in London in 2024. The 2025 award went to Sam Fender, who was born and raised in North Shields and was able to celebrate in his home city.
Scott Lewis, record label executive at Leeds-based EMI North, spent the week in workshops with up-and-coming artists; he gave them advice on how to approach labels and shared feedback on their demos. He said it was important to hold these big music events in the north. “I believe in the adage, ‘If you can see it, you can be it,’” he said.
His role was established in 2023 in his first major label office outside London, and he said it was about recognizing that it could be harder for northern musicians to get a look in. “It’s a case of talent being everywhere, but opportunity isn’t necessarily everywhere,” Lewis said.
However, serious progress has been made. Alongside organizations like Brighter Sound in Manchester, Generator in Newcastle and Launchpad in Leeds, which are quietly helping to nurture new talent without much recognition, in 2028 the new British school will open in Bradford, a young, vibrant northern city with a rich cultural heritage and a huge grassroots arts scene to build on.
Lewis felt there was “a real integrity and humour” in artists from the north of England such as The English Teacher’s Lily Fontaine, Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, John Cooper Clarke, Jarvis Cocker and Self Esteem.
“To me, Northern artists are storytellers,” he said. “I think it’s a bit of a northern thing to be a storyteller. I think you go into a café or a bar and you end up sitting next to someone and you end up having a conversation and they tell you one of the best stories you’ve ever heard in your life. And you may never talk to them again, but you take that with you. There’s a real beauty in that.”
