Q’s With Katie Musham, Co-Op Live’s Director of Strategic Programming

Katie Musham has been a part of many arena openings, starting with Wembley Arena, which got refurbished and reopened in 2006, and followed by The O2, where she was responsible for programming the 2007 opening season, which included performances by Barbara Streisand, The Rolling Stones, Take That and, of course, Prince’s 21 Nights residency at The O2.

Musham, the director of strategic programming at Co-op Live, also lived and worked in Australia for a few years, first while at AEG Ogden then as part of the Perth Arena team, which opened in 2012 with a concert by Elton John, changing the touring landscape in the region, and adding a significant new play to tours on their way from the Australian East Coast to Asia.

Now that she’s back home and working on the most anticipated arena opening in the UK and Europe, we wanted to know everything about putting together Co-op Live’s opening season.

Pollstar: You’ve been part of several arena openings. What’s special about that particular phase in a building’s life cycle?
Katie Musham:  It is the most exciting part. I think music is exciting, generally, but when you’re part of an opening [where] you know this venue is going to change so much on the landscape of touring, and just push the industry forward, it’s a very fortunate position.

What does the job of director of strategic programming entail?
For me, it’s always about positioning and profiling Co-op Live, and making sure that we are talking to as many promoters, agents and managers, just knocking down doors and having meetings. We like to have face-to-face meetings with the industry wherever we can. The day-to-day [includes] a lot of diary management, the avails, the onsale confirmations and challenges that come with that. And in the lead-up to opening, there’s a lot layered on top of the day job, meetings with our internal operations teams on the fan, artist, and promoter journeys, and planning the launch week of Co-op Live. There’s not enough hours in the day at the moment.

What have you been telling the artists, promoters and managers you’ve been speaking with about Co-op Live?
We’re always trying to get across [Tim Leiweke’s] and OVG’s vision for the venue: it is the most expensive arena outside of North America; it’s going to be industry-leading because of the investment and work we’re putting in the building. It will change the industry and the way arenas operate and what the artists and promoters and agents can expect. We’ve been really lucky that OVG and Populous said, “We want an arena built with the artist’s performance in mind.” There’s no branding in the arena, which I’m very excited about, and it’s been treated by Vanguardia to be the best acoustically.

The suite level has been reimagined. It’s less suites than you’d expect in an arena of this scale, and they’re all discrete with black curtains, so you can’t see people in the box drinking and networking when they should really be watching the show. Those are some of the things we’ve heard from artists along the way, whether it’s Harry Styles or Bruce Springsteen, who said that they want to be in the room and experience the show with their fans. So, we’re trying to get across that the arena is the largest but the most intimate arena you’ll experience because of its unique design.

We’re not based on that ice hockey footprint you see in other arenas, so we were able to bring [everything] closer to the stage. The promoters who’ve seen the arena have been blown away. There’s no other word to describe Co-op Live than intimate. And because of that, the box office pricing can be rethought. Shows that go on sale can be price one up to the fourth, fifth or sixth row on the upper bowl. You’re making a lot more money in Co-op Live through the box office because of its design. And Manchester’s just not had that sized standing floor ever. So, promoters and agents, when looking at their [UK] tours, really need to think about Manchester.

The names already confirmed suggest that you’re making quite a convincing argument to artists and their teams.
We have huge support from the agents and promoters. They all recognize that we’re in a buoyant market, that ticket sales are through the roof and people want to spend their money on seeing live in the best possible way they can. What is more, the people in our industry know what Tim and Irving [Azoff] are doing. They’ve experienced it in the arenas we’ve opened in the States: Climate Pledge Arena, UBS Arena, Moody Center, Acrisure Arena – they’re beautiful well-thought-out arenas, and they’re all doing incredibly well. So, the agents are incredibly supportive, as are the promoters. London is always an important market, but some tours are scheduling around the Manchester dates now, because they want to get in, they want a good date in Manchester. For us, that’s a huge sign that we’re on the right track and that the industry is working with us.

What are you personally looking forward to the most in your opening lineup?
For me, it was working with Simon Moran on Take That. I grew up [with the band]; I was there at Wembley when they did the reunion, and to now do seven shows with Take That is just phenomenal.

But then, Olivia Rodrigo doing two nights; The Killers doing four nights; Liam Gallagher, four nights; Eagles, five nights; plus a lot of the Manchester bands coming through, including James and Elbow. Eric Clapton, who doesn’t normally like to play big rooms. Peter Kay, Nicki Minaj, Jonas Brothers – there’s some surprising artists in there as well. We’re very pleased with the lineup.

In your own words, what does strategic programming mean, particularly at a building like Co-op Live that’s been built with artists and their music at heart?
For us, it’s just about being very knowledgeable about who is touring, and when they’re touring, and making sure we have the right dates held for the right artists. We do want varied artists and events. We have been built for music. It’s our number one tenant, but we do want to go out and secure different types of events, including large-scale award ceremonies or heavier shows like Hot Wheels where you need the reinforced concrete floor, basketball, netball, UFC. We really want to be a venue for everyone and let everyone know about the capabilities of the building. We’re very excited about what’s to come for Co-op Live. Quarter four is looking really strong, and we’ve already got shows on sale for 2025. That’s a trend developing, that shows are going out super early just to get their dates in that diary.

Can you talk about The Street?
It’s a 2,500-capacity club/gig space that we will be programming outside of the main auditorium. Whenever we’ve got dark days, build days [or] any empty days, we will be doing gigs and club nights in there. We’ve been very focused on the main arena diary, but there’s a real joined-up thinking about what else the venue and the entire Etihad Campus can do. We’ve got five rooms, small lounges that can host fringe events and corporate bookings. One of our rooms is sponsored by Bentley – it is just absolutely stunning with lots of marble and leather, but there’s other spaces, as well, that will host events in their own right. It’s got huge potential, a bit Printworks-esque in its design. Some agents and promoters are quite excited about it.

When will you announce the first shows at The Street?
It will see events posted from July and August, just so we can get over the opening season [first]. And then we will start to program that space, as well.

So, while the huge 23,500 capacity of Co-op Live is making most of the headlines, you could host a wide variety of smaller capacities inside the building as well.

Exactly. We want to do a lot of events and be appealing to all different artists. Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham runs an Artist of the Month program. And we said we will host the artists on stages within Co-op live. We want to host lots of different scales of events and artists.

What’s the best and worst part of your job?
I’m finding it really hard to think about what is the worst part of this role because at the moment, it’s all just so exciting for us. We feel like the whole industry is behind us and working with us. We’re working with a really great Manchester-based team while bringing the transatlantic OVG experience into it as well. At the moment, all of it is just quite enjoyable.

You’ve worked in many places around the world. How does Manchester compare?
Although I’m not based in Manchester, I spend a lot of time here now. I get to understand the culture and the people who are shaping and influencing it. We support things like the Beyond the Music conference that happens here in October. I’ve been incredibly lucky with my career to be part of these openings in significant cities and really get to understand each of them. Manchester, particularly, does have an incredibly rich history, but they also want to be known as progressing forward. So, when you see the city just absolutely booming with all these hotels opening, all these restaurants opening, it is progressive, and they are at the forefront of change. And great bands are coming out of Manchester: The Blossoms, Corella, the Ks, Lottery Winners. So, yeah, I’m incredibly lucky.

Is there anything you feel like we haven’t touched upon?
I was just reflecting back on when I left the UK and came back 10 years later. And it’s quite funny – you’re back on the phone, just negotiating like you were never gone with the likes of Simon Moran, Matt Woolliscroft, John Cornwell, Phil Bowdery. It’s very familiar and makes it nice to come back into the UK market: everyone’s still doing what they were doing because they’re so passionate about the industry. Everyone wants to keep the industry moving, they dedicate their whole career to the industry, and they will stay where they are. It’s humbling.