Alison Tickell
Founder and Director | Julie’s Bicycle
The company’s founder and director, Alison Tickell, says, “The music industry, just like any other industry, is locked into a much bigger supply chain system. It’s the way the global economy is organized at the moment. We are living in an age of supercharged capitalism and consumerism, and the music industry is no different.
“We need to be very intentional about the work we do, and communicate the reality of climate change and biodiversity loss in a way that is actionable, that generates agency, commitment, passion, and inspiration, instead of the feeling that it was such an insurmountable task you couldn’t possibly have a decent relationship with it.”
Everyone wants a clean, safe, and healthy future and, according to Tickell, therein lies the opportunity.
“The climate crisis,” she says, “is fundamentally a cultural crisis. It’s a crisis of values and ideas, and culture, particularly music, should be at the heart of driving solutions, both in terms of how people feel about it, but also in implementing solutions like battery power, optimizing energy at festivals, etc. Whatever it is, we’re brilliant at this, when we put our minds to it.”
Decarbonization, solar and battery power, locally sourced food and beverage — the possibilities are real, and have been implemented by artists like Coldplay, Billie Eilish, The 1975 and others.
Venue projects like Co-op Live in Manchester had 80% of the construction work done by local businesses.
Tickets to shows include the use of the city’s public transport system. Wasserman Music developed a green artist rider.
There’s real momentum coming from all sides. According to Tickell, Julie’s Bicycle has been “working with international partners to bring the creative industries into climate policy much more substantially. This matters, because at the moment, all this work that we do is not being deployed at scale or at speed, internationally or even nationally.”
And she concludes with “A big thank you to all of the organizations and companies who are really beginning to lean into this work. I mean that very sincerely. It’s such a privilege to work with so many organizations, companies, who are doing really granular work. It’s complicated, but wonderful work, and it’s the work of a lifetime.”
