The City of London is looking to celebrate the grassroots of the London music scene, and in particular women performers and industry professionals.

How fantastic!

There will be an official #SoundsLikeLondon concert of some kind every day throughout June in UK's capital. These will take place across the whole city, at grass root venues (if you haven't been to Ain't Nothin But Blues Bar you haven't lived yet), AirBnB concerts (shoutout to Shoreditch Treehouse – a particularly fantastic one!), and bigger events in collaboration with BBC, BRIT Awards, and Musicians' Union – to name but a few.

Of course the city continues to buzz with regularly scheduled programming, of small events intended to give a platform to new talent. Worth mentioning in that category are Secret Sessions, Live from Salon Noir, and of course the plethora of Sofar Sounds shows!

“London is a powerhouse of music, having produced artists from Adele to Stormzy, and the xx to Dua Lipa.

Grassroots music venues are at the very heart of our success as a global capital of music – they are the places where emerging artists are able to hone their talent, and great producers and promoters are able to cut their teeth in the industry.
– Mayor of London, Sadiq Kahn

As the Mayor of London said himself, the grassroots are where the talent gets developed and gains experience and is able to build up their initial audience and start forming their careers in music. Now that live music is the biggest generator of income across the spectrum, this is more valuable than ever.

It is absolutely vital to keep the small venues –of not just London but small venues everywhere– alive and healthy; and support new talent as well as the infrastructure it needs. Even if you're not in London, why not be inspired to find some cool local event and grab a ticket?

We've included a playlist of a fraction of the music that came up through London – which sure is rich in legends and icons and absolutely remarkable talent.

...and believe it or not, we didn't use all the London album covers we could find. Here are more and here are yet more with a fun Google Maps Street View overlay.