Mercury Studios, Universal Music Group’s innovative and multi-faceted content studio, has today announced they have acquired the rights to distribute the iconic Live from Abbey Road series. Mercury will represent the classic series globally after a decade off-screen.
Live From Abbey Road revolutionized music television. Produced by Michael Gleason between 2006-2012, the hybrid performance/documentary format showcases many of the world’s most popular and culturally-influential acts within the iconic, intimate setting of Abbey Road studios (also home to some of the greatest recordings of all time). The show’s mix of live performance and interviews attracted an original global audience in over 100 countries, with a stellar mix of A-list, emerging, local and international guests. As true now as then, Live From Abbey Road offers a magical insight into the world of music and its makers.
Commenting on the news, Mercury Studios VP of Content Acquisitions, Amy Freshwater, said: “Recognition for the legendary Abbey Road Studios is global – and the world-class music and compositions recorded within those walls is unrivalled. Mercury are proud to partner on the re-release of one of the most famous showcases of artist versatility and quality; intimately united with a famous location once more.”
“Amy and her team at Mercury are trusted to deliver the very best in music television entertainment,” said Michael Gleason, owner and producer of Live from Abbey Road. “From Sheryl Crow, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Counting Crows, to Ed Sheeran and the legendary David Gilmour, these performances showcase the magic made inside Abbey Road Studios. I’m delighted to see the series re-released to a global audience.”
Live from Abbey Road, produced under a license from Universal Music Group, the owner of Abbey Road Studios, marries the best in sound with the finest in film. Viewers will soon be able to experience the classic series again as Mercury roll out the collection for international sales after ten years off-screen.
Mercury Studios is a full-service production studio, focused on telling compelling stories through the lens of music. Current and recent projects include Oscar and BAFTA award nominated American Symphony, directed by Matthew Heineman for the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions/Netflix, If These Walls Could Sing, directed by Mary McCartney for Disney+, My Life as a Rolling Stone for the BBC and MGM+, Shania Twain: Not Just A Girl for Netflix, This Town, a six-part series for the BBC from writer, creator, and executive producer Steven Knight, Linda Perry: Let it Die Here, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and the recently announced One to One: John & Yoko from Oscar and BAFTA award winning director, Kevin Macdonald. Mercury Studios also produced Sam Smith: Live at the Royal Albert Hall for BBC, Billie Eilish’s Overheated at the O2 London and Lang Lang Plays Disney for Disney+. Editorially independent, Mercury Studios is powered by Universal Music Group and represents the world’s leading catalog of music-related content, consisting of thousands of hours of premium music-driven film and television programming.
Live from Abbey Road Ltd. is a specialist studio formed by series producer and former MGM Studios board member Michael Gleason along with the late Apple Inc. board member Jerome York. The series is the first music performance series filmed in high definition while utilizing the advance sound recording only available at Abbey Road Studios. The production goal was to produce a series which looks like a movie and sounds like a record. With a production team including Directors Annabel Jankel and Matthew Amos, and co-producers Peter van Hooke and Fraser Kennedy, this vision was achieved by filming over 130 artists.
