FAC joins London Mayor & TfL's London Creates Music campaign

 

The London Creates Music campaign brings together industry and leaders from across the capital to champion all aspects of London’s grassroots music scenes

  • First ever specially-designed Grassroots Music Tube map created, featuring London’s iconic and contemporary artists, nightclubs, venues, songs, albums, independent record labels, record shops and locations of music heritage

  • The unique map will be screened for a month at the Outernet London

  • London’s grassroots music scene helps to make the capital a world-leading music city, with grassroots venues hosting hundreds of thousands of performances each year and contributes £313m to the economy

  • FAC Director, Gus Unger-Hamilton joins London Mayor, Sadiq Khan at the Outernet launch event

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today launched a cross-London campaign to champion the capital’s world-leading grassroots music scene.

The Mayor and TfL have joined with music industry and media leaders including the Featured Artist Coalition, Outernet, the Metro, Music Venue Trust and Universal Music to shine a spotlight on London’s fantastic artists and music venues, and the significant impact they have on the capital.

The London Creates MUSIC campaign includes the first ever special Grassroots Music Tube Map celebrating all aspects of the capital’s music scene and connecting Londoners and visitors with its grassroots gigs. Transport for London (TfL) has reimagined the iconic Tube map with a brand-new black background and lines turned into electric cables and named after key parts of the industry.

 The map, which is part of TfL’s 25th anniversary celebrations, features:

  • The Bakerloo line as songs

  • The Central line as genres

  • The District line as 25 artists to see in 2025

  • The Jubilee line as albums

  • The Metropolitan line as independent record labels

  • The Northern line as iconic artists

  • The Piccadilly line as contemporary artists

  • The Victoria line as subcultures

  • 25 grassroots venues

  • 25 nightclubs

  • 25 record shops

The map was today exclusively published in the Metro newspaper and will be screened for a month at the Outernet London, the largest digital exhibition space in Europe. The interactive display of the map will be shown in the Arcade space, which links the HERE nightclub to The Lower Third grassroots music venue on Denmark Street.  

An enhanced digital version will be available on the TfL website, VisitLondon and through the social media platforms of those involved.

Ticketing platform DICE has created a listing of 25 grassroots artists to see in 2025 over the next six months, alongside a social media campaign encouraging Londoners and visitors to make the most of London’s music scene. The Metro is also hosting a series of interviews online with artists and venues in partnership with the Featured Artist Coalition (FAC).

Next month the capital will be welcoming SXSW London for the first time ever. The renowned US celebration of the tech and creative industries includes a music programme showcasing up and coming talent across more than 20 grassroots music venues.

The Mayor is committed to supporting the capital’s music venues and nightlife. He has created an independent Nightlife Taskforce to help examine and address the issues facing life at night, and is encouraging councils to support late-night openings during this spring and summer period to boost our economy and tourism, ahead of a landmark pilot from the Government providing new strategic licensing powers to the Mayor.

David Martin, Chief Executive Officer of Featured Artists Coalition, said: “The FAC is proud to support the London Creates Music campaign, celebrating the vital role of London's grassroots and underground scenes. Artists are the lifeblood of the city’s diverse, culturally significant and globally renowned music movements. For those artists to thrive, it is essential they have the backing to perform, innovate and succeed."

 
Sneha Mervana