Southbank Centre UK's most prolific live music venue

The Southbank Centre in London
The Southbank Centre in London (Image credit: Morley von Sternberg)

The Southbank Centre in central London hosted the largest amount of live performances in the UK last year and has therefore been named the country's top music venue by performing rights collection society PRS For Music.

The collection society totted up the full amount of music events hosted by each UK venue, counting one live performance by an artist/band as one musical event.

The Southbank Centre - which is actually a collection of several venues of varying sizes including the Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall - took the crown by hosting 422 live music events in 2011, closely followed by The Sage in Gateshead, which hosted 400.

The UK's 10 most prolific live music venues 2011

1. Southbank Centre, London
2. The Sage, Gateshead
3. O2 Academy, Birmingham
4. Stables, Milton Keynes
5. Ronnie Scotts, London
6. O2 Academy, Islington
7. Royal Northern College Of Music, Manchester
8. O2 Academy, Newcastle
9. King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
10. Kings Place, London

Matthew Parker

Matt is a freelance journalist who has spent the last decade interviewing musicians for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.