One of Manchester’s newest and most exciting festivals, Beyond The Music, is set to return for its second instalment later this year and the first raft of artists has just been announced.
BTM is a multi-venue live music festival and fundamentally global music conference that spotlights new up-and-coming artists, grassroots gig spaces, as well as key voices in the industry, with an at changing the face of the modern music landscape.
Having first launched in 2023, much of their flagship Manc music festival and conference still felt somewhat like a work in progress, but with the inaugural weekend now under the bag and plenty of time and experience to build upon, year two is looking promising already.
Announcing Aviva Studios as the main hub for this year’s festival, along with a number of beloved Northern Quarter venues this week, you can find the first wave of artists set to play Beyond The Music 2024 down below:
Credit: Supplied
Taking place from 9-12 October, they have already confirmed 70 artists and 20 different stage partners (BBC Introducing, Clash and Unity Radio just to name a few) who will serve as ‘tastemakers’ alongside the multiple venues helping put on what is, without doubt, one of the UK’s most diverse live showcases.
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Set to platform over 200 artists when the full lineup is confirmed, this is one of the best ways for any budding musical talent based in and around Greater Manchester to try and find a platform, with plenty of out-of-towners sure to join too.
On the conference side of things, under the title, ‘Is It Time For The Music Industry’s Great Rest?’, the groundbreaking look at the inner workings of the music industry will centre around Aviva Studios as already mentioned, with new-look summits and talks programme available to all attendees.
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The hope is not just to make this an even bigger and better music festival than last year but to create a unique and global music forum to find solutions to the most pressing issues within the sector. They already made a decent start on it in 2023.
Commenting on its return, festival partners Clash said of the event, “There is hope and we felt it in Manchester… the beginning of something incredibly special”, and Hunger Magazine added, “It could be the spark that sets the scene alight. Manchester is already a centre of creativity, but the extra push could see it become the centre of the musical universe” – as if it wasn’t already.
To sweeten the deal even more, there’ll be a whole host of afterparties following the horde of gigs being held over the weekend and if you sign up for pre-sale, not only do you get a discount on your entry fee but you’ll also be entered into a prize draw, with drinks vouchers and upgrades up for grabs.
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Pre-sale for Beyond The Music 2024 is already live and tickets are now more affordable than ever before, with a standard Delegate Pass (including full festival access) priced at £170, a one-day festival ticket costing only £20 and a full weekend pass to enjoy all three days of music setting you back just £45.
After All 2026 – the affordable grassroots music festival happening in Northern Quarter
Danny Jones
Grassroots music event After All Festival is returning to Manchester this weekend, with rising local artists and affordable tickets.
Now well over half a decade since it was founded, All All Fest takes place in the heart of the Northern Quarter, and this year they’re proving that their slow and steady approach to backing the best new up-and-coming bands at core intimate venues is more important than ever.
With plenty of previous acts having impressed in recent years, we’re looking forward to seeing how 2026 stacks up in comparison to its predecessors.
Increasingly prolific native group Dirty Laces are set to headline the whole thing, Manilla Times are locked in, and Bolton’s very own James Holt also stands out on the lineup, just to highlight a few.
As the festival continues to grow in size and popularity, they have obviously had to scale things up even further this year.
That being said, beloved live music spot and Manc institution, Band on the Wall, is among the chosen arts spaces for this latest iteration.
BoW will be offering up their 500-capacity main room to the organisers for the very first time, serving as the de facto main stage of After All Fest 2026.
Joining them will be the Rose and Monkey next door, as well as cult favourite pub, Gullivers on Oldham Street, who have a long history of supporting local musicians and the arts in general.
And would you look at that, now you’ve got all the stage splits and set times, too.
Labelled by Dead Records’ Rob Fiddaman as “one of the UK’s most exciting new music festivals”, homegrown DJing legend Dave Sweetmore has also described it as “unique in so many ways”, hailing it as a “brilliant event with a great atmosphere to discover new music.”
Having been ourselves on multiple occasions since its inception in 2019 – both as Audio North off-duty and as punters before then – we can’t recommend it highly enough.
The latest edition takes place at 12 noon onwards this Saturday until 2am on Sunday, 17 May, and while the cheapest early bird tickets (£16.50) are long gone, general admission tickets are still available, with prices starting from just £20. Grab yours HERE before they sell out.
It’s not the only live music event worth being a part of this month…
Global girl group Katseye add Manchester to huge new world tour
Daisy Jackson
Katseye have announced a major arena world tour for this year – and the global girl group are coming to Manchester for the first time.
The pop superstars will be performing at the Co-op Live as part of their WILDWORLD TOUR, which is taking them right across the UK, Europe and North America.
Katseye formed through The Debut: Dream Academy, which narrowed 120,000 applicants down to just six talented singers and dancers – though the group will be touring as a five-piece this time (Manon Bannerman has taken a hiatus from the band).
The Los Angeles-based global girl group, formed by HYBE and Geffen Records, merges K-pop dance training with Western pop sounds, with members hailing from across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and beyond.
The group is currently made up of Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza, and Yoonchae Jeung.
Katseye have not yet released a full studio album but have achieved major commercial success with songs like Gabriella, Pinky Up, Gnarly, and Internet Girl.
The group have already performed a major slot at Coachella, as well as taking the stage at the GRAMMY Awards this year where they were also nominated for two awards (including Best New Artist).
Katseye will be releasing their third EP, WILD, this summer ahead of their world tour, which reaches Manchester in September.
Tickets will first be on sale via a Weverse Artist Presale from 11am on Wednesday 20 May, followed by the Katseye.World presale from 3pm.
Fans can also register for presale access by pre-ordering Katseye’s new EP WILD or by signing up – no purchase necessary.
General sale will begin at 3pm on Thursday 21 May HERE.
Katseye WILDWORLD Tour – UK and European dates
1 September – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
3 September – London, UK – The O2
6 September – Manchester, UK – Co-Op Live
9 September – Paris, France – Accor Arena
11 September – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
Danny Jones -
14th June 2024 
