MTV European Music Awards 2024 to be held at Manchester’s Co-op Live

The 2024 MTV European Music Awards have been announced as taking place in the new Manchester arena Co-op Live.

Set to celebrate its 30th year in November, the upcoming ceremony for the MTV EMAs will mark the first time that the awards will be staged in the UK city, and also marks its epic return to the UK after seven years.

For 2024, the ceremony will be held on Sunday, November 10, and will be broadcast straight from the new purpose-built live entertainment arena Co-op Live, to over 150 countries.

The event is set to celebrate and unite some of the biggest stars in music, and will also be aired in multiple territories via Pluto TV and on-demand via Paramount+. Past ceremonies have seen live performances by the likes of Muse, Stormzy, Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa.

“The MTV EMAs is one of the biggest global music celebrations, bringing together local and international artists to create iconic performances for fans around the world,” said Bruce Gillmer, President of Music, Music Talent, Programming & Events, Paramount, and Chief Content Officer, Music, Paramount+. “With music at the very heart of Manchester’s rich creative heritage, this vibrant city – with the state-of-the-art Co-op Live – will guarantee a supercharged 2024 show.”

Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, added: “As a city that is known the world over for our legendary music scene, MTV could not have picked a better place for this year’s EMAs.

“With the expertise, experience and reputation we also have for delivering successful, world-class events, we’re confident Manchester will provide a superb platform for the best MTV EMAs yet, and look forward to welcoming MTV and the global music community to our city for what is set to be an epic celebration of music and artists. Manchester meets MTV – we can’t wait!”

The 23,500-capacity venue – which will be the UK’s new largest indoor arena – is set to open its doors in April, and earlier this month it was confirmed that Peter Kay will be the opening act for the space.

Liam Gallagher, Take That, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo and Keane have also been announced to perform at the venue in the following months.

The venue opening comes after the Music Venue Trust last year called on bigger venues to invest back into grassroots music spaces or else not be allowed to open.

Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd has spoken extensively about the dire circumstances facing grassroots venues. “Co-op Live in Manchester will be a 23,500-capacity venue due to open later this year or early next year,” he said last January. “It has no plan at all to invest in the grassroots venues that are going to create the artists that will fill that stage in 10 years’ time. That is not good enough.”

In other news about the arena, bosses for Co-op Live and another Manchester venue, AO Arena, came to blows, with the former accusing the latter of trying to block its launch date for competitive reasons.

As for the EMAs, last year the music awards ceremony was called off due to “the volatility of world events” relating to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. However, on November 5, on what would have been the EMAs date, MTV released the winner’s list. Jungkook, Måneskin and Nicki Minaj all won two awards each.

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