British Music Experience
Encyclopedia
The British Music Experience (or simply BME) is a permanent exhibition, taking up more than 20,000 square feet, installed into The O2 Bubble, part of The O2
in Greenwich
, London. Opened with a private gig by The View
in March 2009, it features a retrospective look at the British music industry since 1944, and features a wide selection of content and experiences, presented using a range of interactive media.
Spearheaded by music mogul Harvey Goldsmith
, designed by Land Design Studio and funded by The O2 owners AEG
, BME was created to fill a gap in the UK Heritage sector for Rock and Pop Music. Previously, the National Centre for Popular Music
in Sheffield had attempted to achieve this but failed to attract visitors and was eventually closed.
The British Music Experience has been set up as a charitable trust and has been initially funded by £9.5m worth of investment from AEG who hope to recoup their costs within five years. Sponsorship agreements with The Performing Rights Society, Gibson Guitars and Sennheiser
amongst others have helped establish the exhibition. In 2010 the UK's fifth biggest food retailer, The Co-operative Group
, signed on as the exhibition's main sponsor, pledging to give away 15,000 tickets over the next three years.
Major interactive exhibits which can be found in the museum include:
Many of these interactive exhibits have been developed by specialist software suppliers Clay Interactive Ltd, iso design and Studio Simple and have been led by a curatorial team directed by Robert Santelli, who has worked on other major music exhibits such as The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in Cleveland, Ohio and The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. BME curator Paul Lilley, with Sarah Clark and Laura Bailey, is responsible for the extensive number of artefacts and exhibits on view and the rest of the BME content team is made up of music consultants Rob Dickins, David Roberts
and Mark Ellen
.
. Smarticket technology allows visitors to "tag" areas of the attraction and save recordings which can be accessed via the BME website. Tickets also allow visitors to claim three free iTunes downloads.
Sky Digital
customers can claim a free ticket to the BME, and one additional ticket for half price, because Sky is now the Official Entertainment partner of The O2. The free ticket can be claimed on Sky’s customer loyalty website for The O2.
The O2 (London)
The O2, visually typeset in branding as The O2, is a large entertainment district on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, England, including an indoor arena, a music club, a Cineworld cinema, an exhibition space, piazzas, bars and restaurants...
in Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, London. Opened with a private gig by The View
The View (band)
The View are a Scottish indie rock band. They incorporate various styles such as punk, pop, alternative rock, pop punk, powerpop, folk, and acoustic in their music....
in March 2009, it features a retrospective look at the British music industry since 1944, and features a wide selection of content and experiences, presented using a range of interactive media.
Spearheaded by music mogul Harvey Goldsmith
Harvey Goldsmith
Harvey Goldsmith CBE is a British performing arts promoter. He is best known as promoter of rock concerts, charity concerts, television broadcasts for the Prince's Trust and more recently the Teenage Cancer Trust shows at the Royal Albert Hall.During early 2007 he appeared on the Channel 4...
, designed by Land Design Studio and funded by The O2 owners AEG
Anschutz Entertainment Group
The Anschutz Entertainment Group is a sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports events, the owner of the world’s most profitable sports and entertainment venues, and under AEG Live the world's...
, BME was created to fill a gap in the UK Heritage sector for Rock and Pop Music. Previously, the National Centre for Popular Music
National Centre for Popular Music
The National Centre for Popular Music was a museum in Sheffield, England for contemporary music and culture, a £15 million project largely funded with contributions from the National Lottery, which opened on 1 March 1999, and closed in June 2000....
in Sheffield had attempted to achieve this but failed to attract visitors and was eventually closed.
The British Music Experience has been set up as a charitable trust and has been initially funded by £9.5m worth of investment from AEG who hope to recoup their costs within five years. Sponsorship agreements with The Performing Rights Society, Gibson Guitars and Sennheiser
Sennheiser
Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG is a private German audio company specializing in the design and production of a wide range of both consumer and high fidelity products, including microphones, headphones, telephony accessories, and avionics headsets for consumer, professional, and business...
amongst others have helped establish the exhibition. In 2010 the UK's fifth biggest food retailer, The Co-operative Group
The Co-operative Group
The Co-operative Group Ltd. is a United Kingdom consumer cooperative with a diverse range of business interests. It is co-operatively run and owned by its members. It is the largest organisation of this type in the world, with over 5.5 million members, who all have a say in how the business is...
, signed on as the exhibition's main sponsor, pledging to give away 15,000 tickets over the next three years.
Exhibits
The BME contains a wide and varied collection of both genuine musical artefacts and interactive experiences using digital technologies. These exhibits are arranged thematically to explore different areas of interest in music. Surrounding these exhibits are seven zones exploring different eras in British music since 1945 up to the present day, held together by a giant timeline containing thousands of facts, headlines, images, videos and animations that can be explored through the use of a trackball.Major interactive exhibits which can be found in the museum include:
- Timelines
- Showcases
- Hey DJ!
- Where It's At
- Anatomy of a Pop Star
- Gibson Interactive Studio
- The Great Divide
- Dance The Decades
- Pre-Show
- Sound Tunnel
- Rock Galaxy
- Table Talk
- Atlantic Crossing
- Transmission
- Playback
- Future Wall
- The Beat Goes On
Many of these interactive exhibits have been developed by specialist software suppliers Clay Interactive Ltd, iso design and Studio Simple and have been led by a curatorial team directed by Robert Santelli, who has worked on other major music exhibits such as The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in Cleveland, Ohio and The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. BME curator Paul Lilley, with Sarah Clark and Laura Bailey, is responsible for the extensive number of artefacts and exhibits on view and the rest of the BME content team is made up of music consultants Rob Dickins, David Roberts
David Roberts
-Politics:* David Roberts , mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S. American Entrepreneur-Sports:* Dave Roberts , college football coach in the United States...
and Mark Ellen
Mark Ellen
Mark Ellen is an award winning magazine editor, journalist and broadcaster who lives in West London.Whilst at Oxford University in the 1970s, he briefly played bass in the band Ugly Rumours alongside Tony Blair...
.
Artefacts
Highlights of the artefacts that can be found at the British Music Experience include:- Some of Elton John's glasses
- Five Spice GirlsSpice GirlsThe Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
outfits - Humphrey LytteltonHumphrey LytteltonHumphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton , also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster, and chairman of the BBC radio comedy programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue...
's VE-Day trumpet - David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
’s Ziggy Stardust costume - Noel GallagherNoel GallagherNoel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
’s Union Jack guitar - Roger DaltreyRoger DaltreyRoger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
's outfit from a gig at Woodstock - Amy WinehouseAmy WinehouseAmy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
's dress from her ‘Tears Dry on Their Own’ video - Guitars from Keith RichardsKeith RichardsKeith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
, Bill WymanBill WymanBill Wyman is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings...
, Pete TownshendPete TownshendPeter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
, Brian MayBrian MayBrian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
, Jamie CookJamie CookJamie Robert Cook is the lead guitarist for the British indie rock band Arctic Monkeys.He is the most outspoken member, going on record as saying he "fucking hates the [print] news" and defending the band's numerous successive records by saying, "I couldn’t see us being like Coldplay, it’d just be...
and Paul WellerPaul WellerPaul Weller is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the band The Jam , Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council...
Tickets
Adult tickets to the British Music Experience cost £15 and can be purchased at the main entrance to The O2 or via TicketmasterTicketmaster
Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. is an independent American ticket sales and distribution company based in West Hollywood, California, USA, with operations in many countries around the world. In 2010 it merged with Live Nation to become Live Nation Entertainment...
. Smarticket technology allows visitors to "tag" areas of the attraction and save recordings which can be accessed via the BME website. Tickets also allow visitors to claim three free iTunes downloads.
Sky Digital
Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)
Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...
customers can claim a free ticket to the BME, and one additional ticket for half price, because Sky is now the Official Entertainment partner of The O2. The free ticket can be claimed on Sky’s customer loyalty website for The O2.
External links
- Anschutz Entertainment Group Official Website
- Harvey Goldsmith Official Website
- Sky at The O2 Official Website