Oh Yeah is Belfast's dedicated music hub, a resource for music makers and also for the business of music. It was constituted in 2007 in the belief that music is a valuable agent in Northern Ireland, a catalyst that changes lives for the better.
Our mission statement is 'Open Doors To Music'. We combine the verve and resourcefulness of the music industry with a programme of social value. We provide affordable rehearsal space, a live venue, a music exhibition, a café space, a recording studio, a songwriting room and workshop spaces. We rent offices to local music enterprises and currently have nine dynamic projects and businesses operating from the building. These include Start Together Recording Studio, Quiet Arch Records, AVA Festival, Big Wild Creative Collective and the RNR Instrument Repair Shop. Oh Yeah is also a host campus to Belfast Metropolitan College, facilitating the students on their music and performance courses across the academic year.
Our programmes focus on talent development, promotion and celebration, industry mentoring, youth development and community outreach, as well as arts and older people projects, music industry incubation, and music tourism and heritage.
We are a charity and social enterprise and we are supported, partner or work with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Esmée Fairburn Foundation, Heritage Lottery, Belfast Harbour, Creative & Cultural Skills, PRS Foundation, Musicians' Union, Help Musicians UK, UK Music, British Council and PRS to name only a few. Our programming provides a structured channel into existing music and arts infrastructure. We are PRS Foundation and Help Musician UK talent partners and an OCN accredited centre.
The Oh Yeah vision was born in December 2005, from a conversation between Stuart Bailie, Gary Lightbody, Snow Patrol and some of Belfast's dedicated music industry people. Since then we've welcomed 180,000 visitors and over 6,000 artists.