Academy Music Group buys Oxford Zodiac
One of Oxford's best venues goes 'corporate'
The Zodiac, Oxford has been sold to the Academy Music Group after eleven years of independent running.
The group which owns venues such as the Brixton Academy and Shepherd's Bush Empire in London as well as Academy venues around the UK now is responsible for eleven live music buildings in the UK.
AMG chief executive officer John Northcote says:
“Having grown up in Oxford, it’s a very special City for me and it’s also where I started in the music industry. I know just how important venues such as The Zodiac are to both the local and national live music circuit and we plan to work closely with promoters and agents to continue to build upon The Zodiac's reputation and success over the past decade "
So, Carling for everyone then? Joy.
Pictured above is the whale which died in the River Thames earlier this year. May it, alongside the varied and interesting bill of artists playing the Zodiac rest in peace.
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i heard this through the grapevine
and refused to believe it.
but now i can no longer ignore it.
:(
hurrah for monopolies.
academy will buy more and more over the next few years, then will probably get bought out by clear channel, who will probably also buy mean fiddler, and we'll all be up shit creek.
um...
clearchannel already owns mean fiddler.
or as clearchannel now refers to themselves in the uk, 'livenation'.
well i'm right then
i just didn't know it
what does
this realistically mean, in terms of bands and prices?
it means
we are all fucked! overpriced tickets, beers and no opportunities for local bands.
and only Carling/grolsch/strongbow
ooooooh nice.
It's a bit more complicated
Firstly, in December last year Clear Channel completed the spin-off of Live Nation, formerly known as Clear Channel Entertainment. Live Nation is now an independent company and is no longer owned by Clear Channel.
Secondly, Livenation currently owns 50.1% of the company who owns the Mean Fiddler venues (Astoria, Forum, etc.). Irish music promoter Dennis Desmond owns 49.9% of this company.
The same company is planning to buy 53% of AMG. As a result, one company would own (1) live music venues of around 5,000 capacity in London (Hammersmith Apollo and Brixton Academy), and (2) live music venues of around 2,000 capacity in London (the Forum, Astoria and Shepherd's Bush Empire).
The OFT (Office of Fair Trading) looked at this and concluded that "that the merger situation may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom as a result of the horizontal overlap in the ownership and/or management of indoor live music venues in London." As a result, this merger has been referred to the Competition Commission. Their investigation is currently in progress.
Great
First the Point closes to make way for a sports bar, now the Zodiac's going to fuck.
^^^ this
especially the last one. The beauty of the Zodiac - at least when I lived in Oxford a few years ago - is that you didn't have to have a national profile to play there.
There have been rumours
about this going around for ages now. There's also been talk of the neighbouring tile shop being bought out with the downstairs being ripped out and refurbished to create a massive venue, whilst upstairs stays the same. If that happens, along with the forthcoming loss of the Wheatsheaf, we're going to be running very short on small venues around here!
My house is literally over the road from the Zodiac, maybe I should turn it into a venue? Although I don't imagine the landlord would be into that plan...
What's happening to the Wheatsheaf?
I'm dismayed but unsurprised by that rumour about the tile shop. The downstairs was a decent size for smaller bands, and a good stepping stone, but I can't imagine AMG would be happy running a smallish venue when they can pack more people in.
There's the Cellar, but as for other small venues - Port Mahon's tiddly and a bit far out of the centre... is the Jericho still going?
wheatsheaf
in the process of being bought up by the people who run Raouls apparently
As for small venues, there's The Exeter Hall, but it's way down the Cowley Rd and Port Mahon.. but they're both tiny.
Then there's the Cellar left and that's about it.
does that mean
no more gigs at all at the Wheatsheaf? Or is it just going corporate too?
This
is awful. Just awful.
basically
the current promoters are still booking stuff up till Christmas. After that no one's sure.
this is sad
Growing up in Oxford I have lots of happy memories of the Zodiac (Venue). Sad to see this happen to such an institution.
It's like Jericho Tavern all over again.
.
It's like <i>the</i> Jericho Tavern all over again.
sorry
the jericho tavern still puts people on
frank turner is there on the 20th. but there arent many people there...
by the last part
i meant there arent many people playing there ie there arent many gigs lined up.
Well, hopefully they'll pick up some of the slack
it does sound from this as though Oxford is going down the shitter.
.
Where do the Jericho advertise their gigs? I never see anything listed for that place. Didn't even know Frank Turner was coming up
Anyone been to the Exeter Hall since it was refurbished?
cry.
and cry and cry and cry and cry.
when the wheatsheaf goes i'll cry even more.
even if the exeter hall is right across from my house, it won't be the same as the wheatsheaf.
this makes it even more annoying that nothing productive will be done with the old cinema/bingo hall.
but anyway. blood brothers at the zodiac will be well good.
the jericho is near damn impossible to find listings for!
the Ex is great, needs a little wear and tear to give it some character! so so so sad about the wheatsheaf and very scared about whats going to happen to the zodiac...
they have flyers on the wall. i walk past it when ever i go to co-op, so i see it.
they dont seem to be very good flyers though. i only know about frank turner because i saw it on his myspace.
didn't radiohead own the zodiac?
or are people lying to me again?
ps this makes me sad
i really like the zodiac, it's fun, i hope nothing bad happens.
Thuggish security all the way it is then...
...don't take a camera into the venue in future, or, well, enjoy yourself too much. If Bristol Academy's anything to go by, anyway. I've seen with my own eyes what they're like.
a darn shame
but as the punt indicates, there are plenty of venues that could put on small bands if they were such inclined
Breeding Ground
Oh dear. Oxford was such a good place to start a band specifically because there was a 'circuit' of local venues where you could build up a local following and get your shit together prior to venturing into London....done some of my favourite gigs headlining upstairs at the Zodiac. :-(
Despite the corporatisation, though I can't really see how the music policy can vary much from what went before. The people who built it up seemed to have a good grasp of the business side...like everyone's saying, probably the only change will be maybe Carling sponsorship.
I had my first
"proper" gig experiences at the zodiac. I've seen better bands at various london carling venues but as gigs they've not been half as good. ffs. The competition commission should make someone like kronenbourg buy some venues, at least we could get some decent lager. And whoever tells me which corporate bunch of cunts owns kronenbourg wins no prize.
I'm actually pissed off at whoever the owners were for selling up, they must have been making money. Bastards. I hope they still let the wheelchair bound guy I always used to see upstairs back in the day get down the front. For all I know he was the owner, but he did look ace.
I fear this is very bad news
I saw lots of fantastic shows there when I was based in Reading and though I don't go there much anymore will be rather upset if they stop booking local/indie acts. Rubbish.
Aye, maybe
but there's a difference between Borders putting on some singer-songwriters once a year and becoming a full-time venue (just one example - I'm sure there are other places that'd be more willing)
and...
live nation are already promoting the occasional show at the zodiac and have been for a few months...
clever of them to ditch the clear channel name, but let it be known it is still them, the bastards!
we're all doomed, doomed i tell ya!
well, not quite but the uncertainty is worrying.
i've lost loads of good gigs due to this but apparently it's "business as usual" for now which means we can go beyond Christmas but i can just see getting a load of gigs booked up only to find out they'll have to be pulled at the last minute (again).
to be honest, if the 'sheaf does close there's fuck all else of the same standard to move to so i'm looking forward to taking a break from doing the live shows.
it's getting harder and harder to get enough people in these days to cover costs and pay the bands a decent whack anyway.
perhaps we can teach all those people who think the zodiac is the only venue in oxford that there are other things going on in smaller venues, including gigs by some bloody great bands too.
one day they'll learn, one day...
ady
BAD
essentially its another venue getting worse. What it means to us is massively inflated ticket prices, a lack of choice in what we drink, and, sadly an increase in twats who want sanitised music, as these are the sort of people the Carling venues aim themselves at. A very sad day for another good venue. I never drink Carling on principle. A minor protest I know, but hey. There we go.
I never drink Carling on principle
but mainly coz it tastes like piss.
I never drink it
because Carling are owned by Coors and are therefore evil. I'd put some links to proof here but I can't be arsed.
i want to
cry.
life isnt worth living.
hold on...
Errr...guys, just because the Zodiac is going to be owned by someone else, it doesn't mean that the they're going to use different promoters....tctmusic has been putting on gigs and promoting new bands there for ages, the new people are hardly going to stop using what is the Zodiac's greatest asset are they!....
if they do....*then* you can cry.....
I've had quite a few conversations about this
TCT are a great asset to the Zodiac and have helped make it the great independent venue it has been for the last few years. Whether AMG feel they need them, however, is debatable, since they could probably impose their own bookings and promotions team with the clout of AMG behind them. That might mean less variety of acts playing the main stage (to be downstairs) but there is still a plan to turn the upstairs into a smaller venue (a reverse of the current layout)and I'm sure local promoters will still be able to use that.
The situation with the Wheatsheaf is confusing. There's a lot of talk about continuing live music but it's clearly not prioritised and lots of bands have been double booked there recently. Last I heard from Joal he didn't seem to know either way.
The Jericho Tavern is much maligned because of 6 Continents' cuntish attitude in the past. I've played there a couple of times since the reinstatement of local music and it's not a bad venue. Unfortunately its promoters are new yet again and so it isn't properly advertised or pulling in the big local acts yet.
People always seem to underestimate the Cellar. It doesn't have any capacity for more promoters, really, but I personally love it as a venue, both to play and as a punter. Maybe the future of local music and more 'niche' out-of-town nights like Vacuous Pop lies there and at the refurbished 'X'.
Corporate Cowley Road?
I used to live in East Oxford as a student, and still visit the Cowley road weekly for social activities and what not. What I'm finding rather disturbing is the general influx of chains and larger business’ into the area. Within the last six months two sandwich shops belonging to a chain which will remain unnamed have moved into the area (one opposite the now 'carling' approved zodiac), both without planning permission or consultation with local residents. The absorption of the zodiac into the academy chain just seems the latest sly encroachment of larger business into the area. On the music front, let’s just hope other venues pickup the cause of independent music with as much vigour as the zodiac has done for the last 11 years.
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