The Pop Factory

The Pop Factory (TPF) is a music and media complex in Porth, Rhondda, South Wales, which gave its name to a pop music TV show of the early 2000s.

The music venue was founded by Emyr Afan and his wife Mair Afan.

The Pop Factory was a converted soft drinks factory, formerly belonging to the "Welsh Hills" brand (which later became "Corona"). The pop factory was situated in the Thomas and Evans building. Thomas and Evans, were both buried in the Rhondda, also owned Bronwydd House and Porth Park. It was officially opened by Tom Jones in 2000, by smashing a bottle of dandelion and burdock against its walls.

The weekly shows were first broadcast by BBC1 Wales before being picked up by HTV/ITV Wales. The show was presented by Steve Jones and Liz Fuller, with Welsh bands like Feeder, Stereophonics, Lostprophets, Kosheen and The Kennedy Soundtrack appearing. More mainstream pop acts like Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Mis-teeq and S Club 7 also appeared.[1] There was also a Welsh language show, Sesiwn Hwyr, broadcast by S4C. In 2008 the show disappeared with no official reason given and no new series have been screened, though performances from the early BBC shows have been used in BBC Four music compilations such as St David's Day at the BBC.[2]

The Pop Factory was also the studio home of local musical entrepreneur Rob Reed of Magenta fame.

In 2011 the site was bought by Valleys Kids and is used as an office, hub and live venue.[3]

Pop Factory Awards

Every year, TPF hosted an award ceremony, which in 2005 was focused mainly on the Welsh music scene, possibly due to the axing of The Welsh Music Awards. This did not happen in its entirety in 2006 but went back to its full Welsh format in 2007. The 2007 event was also launched in conjunction with XFM Wales.

Previous winners

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

References

  1. ↑ "Television: Big names lined up for music show; The Pop Factory is back, with the best UK and Welsh bands, but this time on HTV. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com.
  2. ↑ "BBC Four - St David's Day at the BBC". BBC.
  3. ↑ Owens, David (13 November 2014). "'It's not the end of live music at The Factory at all'". Walesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
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