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HITS Daily Double
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SCHOOL'S IN SESSION
5/18/23

London venue The Roundhouse is opening a center, Roundhouse Works, to offer training to 15k young people each year in creative skills. It’s said to be the largest center of its kind in Europe.

The building in Camden, which opens next month, will include studios for music, circus, performance and podcasts as well as multi-use spaces, according to a report in The Guardian.

Sixty percent of those who join the program offered at the space will be from disadvantaged backgrounds. The center has cost £8m, funded by philanthropists, foundations and corporate donations.

The Roundhouse Chief Executive and Artistic Director Marcus Davey has called on the U.K. Government to assist in funding. "I do think public money should be put into this because it’s about investing in the future of young people, investing in growth for our society, investing in diversity within the creative industries," he told the Guardian.

At the same time, record label trade body the BPI has submitted a bid to the U.K.’s Department of Education for a new specialist creative arts college, which will be based in Bradford, in the north of England.

The school is inspired by London’s BRIT School and aims to help redress the balance of opportunity for 16-to 19-year-olds, which, until now, has largely been based around London.

“The BPI and our members want to ensure that the U.K.’s music industry, and wider creative industries, are reflective of society – both in the artists we listen to or the performers we watch, and the teams that support them behind the scenes,” said BPI Chief Strategy Officer and Interim Chief Exec Sophie Jones.