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Melkweg stands for pop culture in the most broad of senses. Each year, hundreds of concerts, club nights, films and music films, theatre performances, expositions and multidisciplinary events together attract more than 400,000 visitors. The venue is located in the only surviving factory building on the Amsterdam canal ring, a former sugar and, later, milk factory. This historical building houses two concert halls, a cinema, a theatre, and an exposition space, which each can be used separately or combined together. In the Melkweg, established names can be seen alongside new talent and emerging styles get the chance to reach a broader audience. The diversity of its programming and visitors, together with its different spaces and special location, have for years made the Melkweg a unique place.

From a window at the Amsterdam ArenA, two gentlemen gazed over at the parking lot opposite the stadium. Consultations were held and an idea was born. In 2008, the first plans for a new concert location took shape on the back of a cigar box. A first sketch of a then nameless Ziggo Dome. The idea also arose elsewhere. The Black Box organisation in Delft had been playing with the same idea. At first, both parties came together but eventually decided to part ways and Black Box continued the project independently. In order to build a music venue with the best acoustics, partners needed to be found and a vision needed to be developed. Starting with a vision. The new location would be designed especially for live music. Good sight lines were needed for optimum enjoyment of the concert, perfect acoustics, comfortable chairs, and plenty of catering facilities. ‘Single purpose design, multi-use’ became the overall leading term. This concert venue should also be able to host other events where no concessions had to be made in the premises of the auditorium. Everything had to serve two audiences: the fan and the artist with his or her management. For these two groups, the keyword was: optimum experience.

Het was Bernard Haitink die Het Concertgebouw ooit roemde als het beste instrument van het orkest waaraan het onderdak biedt. Dat moet de Amsterdamse notabelen ook voor ogen hebben gestaan toen ze in 1881 besloten de hoofdstad een volwaardige concertzaal te schenken. Zeven jaar later prijkte er in het drassige weidegebied net buiten de gemeentegrens een wonder van neoclassicistische architectuur, Het Concertgebouw, dat zich inmiddels, evenals zijn belangrijkste bespeler het Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, in een wereldwijde belangstelling mag verheugen. Met 800 concerten en andere evenementen trekt Het Concertgebouw jaarlijks 700.000 bezoekers.