The Pop Factory (TPF) is a music and media complex in

Porth Porth () is a town and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. Lying in the Rhondda Valley, it is regarded as the gateway connecting the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach va ...

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley (, 'large') and t ...

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

, which gave its name to a pop music TV show of the early 2000s. The music venue was founded by married couple Emyr Afan and Mair Afan Davies. The Pop Factory was a converted soft drinks factory, formerly belonging to the "Welsh Hills" brand (which later became "

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus or disease responsible for the COVID-19 ...

"). 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 Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

in 2000, by smashing a bottle of

dandelion and burdock Dandelion and burdock is a beverage originating and commonly consumed in the British Isles since the Middle Ages. It was originally a type of light mead but over the years has evolved into the carbonated soft drink commercially available today. ...

against its walls. The weekly shows were first broadcast by BBC1 Wales before being picked up by HTV/

ITV Wales ITV Cymru Wales is the ITV franchise for Wales. The new separate licence began on 1 January 2014, replacing the long-serving dual franchise region ITV Wales & West serving Wales and the West of England, which had previously used the branding "I ...

. The show was presented by

Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist *Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guitar ...

and

Liz Fuller Elizabeth Angela Fuller (born 30 December 1975) is a Welsh actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder known for being Miss Great Britain 1996–1997. Fuller is the former owner of the Miss Great Britain pageant from September 2009 to January ...

, 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. There was also a

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

show, ''Sesiwn Hwyr'', broadcast by

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...

. 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''. 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.

Pop Factory Awards

Every year, TPF hosted an

award ceremony An awards ceremony is a type of ceremony where awards are given out. The ceremony may be arranged by a government organization, a society, a school, a trade association or even a company that specializes in running awards ceremonies. Typically a m ...

, 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

*Best live act:

Funeral for a Friend Funeral for a Friend are a Welsh post-hardcore band from Bridgend, Wales, Bridgend, formed in 2001. The band's members are Kris Roberts (guitar, backing vocals), Gavin Burrough (guitar, vocals), Darran Smith (guitar), Richard Boucher (bass), an ...

*Best live event: The Full Ponty *Rock 'n' roll excess award: Dirty Sanchez *Best new act: Kids in Glass Houses *Best album:

Stereophonics Stereophonics are a Welsh pop and rock music, Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley. The band consists of Kelly Jones (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Richard Jones (Stereophonics), Richard Jones (n ...

Pull the Pin ''Pull the Pin'' is the sixth studio album by Welsh rock band Stereophonics, released by V2 in the UK on 12 October 2007. A Stereophonics newsletter released the ''Pull the Pin'' album artwork to subscribers. The cover was also shown to Myspace ...

*Best Welsh band:

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Wales, Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, le ...

*Best international artist/Export:

The Automatic The Automatic (also known as The Automatic Automatic in the U.S.) were a Welsh rock band. The band's final lineup was composed of Robin Hawkins on vocals, bass and synthesisers, James Frost on guitar, synthesisers and backing vocals, Iwan Gri ...

*Contribution to the music industry: Martin Hall *Outstanding contribution to music: Mike Peters *Best performance on The Guest List: The Enemy *Best Welsh language act: Sibrydion, Genod Droog *Xfm Artist of the Year:

The Wombats The Wombats are an English indie rock band formed in Liverpool in 2003, consisting of Matthew Murphy (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Tord Øverland Knudsen (bass, backing vocals, keyboards), and Dan Haggis (drums, backing vocals, keyboards). ...

2006

*Best live act:

Lostprophets Lostprophets (stylised as lostprophets or LOSTPROPHETS) were a Welsh rock band from Pontypridd, formed in 1997 by singer Ian Watkins and guitarist Lee Gaze. The group was founded after their former band Fleshbind broke up. They later recruit ...

*Best live event:

Green Man Festival The Green Man Festival is an independent music, science and arts festival held annually in mid-August in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. Green Man has evolved into a 25,000 capacity week long event, showcasing predominantly live music (in particular ...

*Rock 'n' roll excess award:

*Best new act: The Blackout *Best album:

Liberation Transmission ''Liberation Transmission'' is the third studio album by Welsh rock band Lostprophets, released on 26 June 2006 by Visible Noise. Recording This is the first Lostprophets album recorded without original drummer Mike Chiplin. Josh Freese drummed ...

*Best Welsh band:

*Best international artist:

Katherine Jenkins Katherine Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns.Lemmy Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was a British musician. He was the founder, lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter of the metal band Motörhead, of which he ...

*Best performance on The Guest List:

*Best Welsh language act: Frizbee *Red Dragon artist of the year:

The Feeling The Feeling are an English rock/ pop band from Horsham, Sussex. Following a limited release of their first single " Fill My Little World" in late 2005, the band entered the UK Singles Chart at #7 with their first full release " Sewn" in Fe ...

*Community music award: Winner: Community Music Wales

2005

*Best Pop act:

Liberty X Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are a British girl group consisting of Michelle Heaton, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. The group's best-known line-up also included Tony Lundon and Kevin Simm. The group was formed by the five finalists of ...

*Best Album: Feeder:

Pushing The Senses ''Pushing the Senses'' is the fifth studio album by Welsh Rock music, rock band Feeder (band), Feeder. It was released on Echo Records, Echo, Liberation Music and PIAS Recordings, PIAS on 31 January 2005 in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zeal ...

*Best Live act:

*Best Welsh band:

*Best Welsh language act: The Poppies *Best Welsh export: Jem *Best new act:

*Best live event: Wakestock *Best Performance on the Guest List:

Bullet for My Valentine Bullet for My Valentine, often abbreviated as BFMV, are a Welsh heavy metal band from Bridgend, formed in 1998. The band is currently composed of Matthew Tuck (vocals, rhythm guitar), Michael Paget (lead guitar), Jason Bowld (drums) and J ...

*Outstanding contribution to music:

*Contribution to the music industry: Dai Davies *Community music award: SONIG *Rock and roll excess award:

Goldie Lookin' Chain Goldie Lookin Chain are a Welsh comedy hip hop group from Newport, Wales. The group produces humorous, and often explicit songs that satirise hip hop, today's consumer society, the "chav" culture and life in Newport and Wales in general. Hist ...

2004

*Best Pop act: Estelle *Best Album:

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

*Best Live act: Embrace *Best Welsh band:

*Best new act: Along Came Man *Outstanding contribution to music: Pino Paladino *Contribution to the music industry:

Greg Haver Greg Haver is a Welsh music producer, based in New Zealand. He is best known for his work with the Manic Street Preachers and Melanie C. He has worked on a number of award-winning singles and albums. With Manic Street Preachers, he was involved i ...

*Community music award: Immtech *Rock and roll excess award:

Stuart Cable Stuart James Cable (19 May 1970 – 7 June 2010) was a Welsh rock drummer and broadcaster, best known as the original drummer for the band Stereophonics. Early life Cable was born in Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, on 19 May 1970. When he was 10 ...

2003

*Best Pop act: Blazin' Squad *Best Album:

Permission to Land ''Permission to Land'' is the debut studio album by the British glam rock band The Darkness (band), The Darkness, released on 7 July 2003 in the UK and 16 September 2003 in the US. The album topped the UK Albums Chart and reached number thirty-s ...

by The Darkness *Best Pop Factory Performance: The Darkness *Best Live act:

Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff in 1993. For the duration of their professional career, the band consisted of Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), Cian C ...

*Best Pop Factory Debut:

*Best New Talent: The Crimea *Best Welsh Language Talent: Texas Radio Band *Best Welsh Language New Talent: Jakokoyak

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pop Factory, The Recording studios in Wales ITV (TV network) original programming Welsh music awards