AMG takes over Zodiac

The Zodiac, which is Oxford's most prominent musical venue, has been taken over by AMG, The Academy Music Group. AMG owns well known venues in London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Bristol, Liverpool and Newcastle, and they all frequently host high name acts. Partnered with AMG since 2003 is Carling, the UK’s most popular beer brand and many venues begin with ‘Carling Academy’ followed by the location.
The Zodiac has been open since 1995 and has hosted Artic Monkeys, Hard Fi, Primal Scream, and Radiohead, who decided to shoot their video for the single Creep on the main stage.

Oxford has long been proud of the Zodiac for its independence, passion for live music, and dedication to bringing the best live music to its stage, both well known and local, and some fear that once a corporation like AMG takes over, the Zodiac may lose some of its charm, as it tries to compete with other venues booking highly popular acts, on other nights being open purely as a bar.

Much of the discussion about the takeover has been whether AMG will decide to rename venue as Carling Academy Oxford, rather than keep its original name of the Zodiac. Many people feel the Zodiac is such a big part of the Oxford music scene, that to lose its unique name to something generic would be a travesty. The fear the local bands would be sidelined to make way for more popular acts has also been a talking point. Others share the view that the takeover is a good thing, bringing bigger, better acts to Oxford, increasing the capacity, funding a refurbishment and helping it towards the status of being one of the best music venues in the country. The new manager of the Zodiac will be Carl Bathgate who previously managed Carling Academy Birmingham who will take over from Nick Moorbath.

FeeDoran (Unverified), 04/12/06

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