Culture
06 Dec 22

BBC's Maida Vale studios goes up for sale for £10.5 million

Many of the world’s most notable artists have experienced recorded sessions at the London studio.

The BBC has listed its iconic Maida Vale recording studios for sale for £10.5 million (€12.2 million).

Overall, the building houses a total of seven music and radio drama studios.

Having first been converted to studios for radio broadcast in 1934, the studios in the Grade II listed building form a large slice of London’s musical history for decades.

The John Peel Sessions have been particularly era-defining, with more than 2,000 artists having recorded there. Legendary moments took place from some of the world’s most notable musical acts, including David Bowie, Bob Marley & The Wailers and Joy Division.

A number of electronic music artists also recorded sessions for the Peel show, with the likes of A Guy Called Gerald, Autechre, Daft Punk, Underworld, Jeff Mills and Ragga Twins being featured.

In 2018, the BBC announced that it was planning to move the recording studios to a complex in Stratford in 2025, as part of a redevelopment of the Olympic Park.

The building used to hold Europe’s largest roller skating rink. After hosting the BBC Symphony Orchestra until 1946, the space has since primarily been used for recording sessions for the BBC radio stations.

In May 2020 the BBC Maida Vale Studios site was listed at Grade II by the Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport, in line with the advice from Historic England.

“The Maida sale site has a history of conversion and reuse," a spokesperson for Historic England told the Daily Express. "Built in 1909-1910 as the Maida Vale American Skating Palace and converted by the BBC from 1934, the studios are some of the very earliest for radio broadcast to be established in Britain. It is an early and important BBC building, integral to its radio broadcasting since the 1930s, and has an important place in British musical history, having produced some of the world’s most celebrated performers.”

On 30 October 2009, BBC Radio 1 celebrated 75 years of Maida Vale by exclusively playing 75 tracks recorded at the studios over the years.

Snow Patrol played a live set from the studio with Fearne Cotton to celebrate 75 years of live music from the venue.