maida vale studiosbbc
19:00 Thursday, 1 December 2022
Time Out is reporting that a massive piece of London’s storied musical heritage goes on sale today for a cool £10.5 million.
For more than seven decades, the historic BBC Maida Vale Studios has seen sessions from some of the world’s biggest recording artists, including David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Beyoncé and Radiohead. It also hosted the era-defining John Peel Sessions, which broke some of the UK’s greatest (and weirdest) acts. But now, the BBC has made the controversial decision to sell it off.
The plan is for the studio complex to move to Stratford in 2025, into a new development that’s part of the Olympic Park, and offers high-tech facilities and two spaces for public concerts. Unsurprisingly, not everyone’s too happy that the BBC is leaving decades of musical history behind, with both locals and music industry bigwigs harbouring a lot of nostalgia for Maida Vale’s quaint wedding-cake-like Edwardian façade and rich, history-soaked atmosphere.
When the news was announced, Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich took to Twitter to say ‘Don’t destroy this beautiful studio!!! There are so few of these places left and this particular room is steeped in history.’
Read more at Time Out, and watch some Maida Vale sessions below:
