Tony's speech at the music industry breakfast
Guest ContributorTony Wadsworth, Julie's Bicycle Chair and BPI Chairman
JB was created almost three years ago by a cross section of people from across the music industry who felt strongly about the need for concerted action to improve the environmental impact of the music business. We are a not for profit company with a small staff and a board made up of senior figures from the music industry.
JB packs a strong punch, and in the 3 years since its inception has achieved several significant milestones. We now have a clear understanding of the most meaningful environmental impacts of our business activities. We’ve looked at festivals, CD packaging, venues, and offices and audience travel. And now our final baseline project is on touring. We have introduced a certification scheme which we call industry green or ig, in order to give a focus and a shop window for the measurement and reduction of carbon emissions.
In the last 3 years our industry has made significant progress in several areas.
So, where have we got to?
In your offices you are changing your energy suppliers and switching to green energy
With CD packaging, you are moving toward card packaging, and moving away from the carbon heavy plastic jewel case. Recent key releases by such artists as Gorillaz, Kate Nash, Robbie Williams and Seasick Steve have been certified Industry Green by moving from plastic to card.
Live venues around the country are being certified industry green including Wembley Arena, Wembley Stadium, Sage Gateshead, Academy Music Group venues and Ambassadors Theatre group venues across the country.
The many outdoor festivals around the country we are working with this summer are tackling audience travel as a key focus for action. Festivals including Latitude, Reading, Leeds, Bestival, Isle of Wight, Big Chill, Shambala, Lovebox, T in the Park, Wood, Oxegen, Lounge on the Farm and Big Tent are all IGing this year, and some have signed up to 1010.
Our research and data has not gone unnoticed elsewhere, and now JB is the first stop for the mayor of London’s green guides initiative – JB has provided London green guides, not just for music, but also for theatres, art galleries and art fairs.
Indeed with theatres, JB has set up a a nationwide theatre project that includes the National Theatre, Really Useful Group, Royal Shakespeare Company, and Ambassadors Theatre Group, to do for theatres what we have done for music in the last 3 years.
That’s a great tribute to the music industry in having the foresight to set up something unique like JB, and a tribute to Alison Tickell and her team whose work has been recognised and coveted by other sectors.
As an industry we have been ahead of the curve in taking this pan industry approach, believing that we can achieve more things more quickly by harnessing the whole industry.
Three years back when we started, environmentalism was fashionable and sexy. It was still counter-cultural and so something that we, who work in music, found easy to sign up to. Three years down the line, the prevailing international mood has resulted in environmental concerns losing some of the attention and profile with people in the West.
Why is this? It isn’t seen as new anymore; the banking crisis and economic downturn means that people think they have more serious problems to deal with. They are wrong. And the environmentalist message has gone mainstream and lost some its counter-cultural aspect.
All this means that green issues are now struggling for attention.
This makes absolutely no sense.
The issue is more important and urgent now than it ever was.
Our focus on carbon emission reduction was because co2 is the symptom of an economy over dependent on fossil fuels – if we have any doubt that this is still dangerously very much the case, you need only think about news coming from the gulf of Mexico.
We must reduce that dependence on oil.
And music and the creative industries need to stay ahead of the curve, in talking the talk and walking the walk. We are an influential industry and our example has the potential for a major effect on consumer behaviour.
So my message today is – let’s celebrate and then get going on all the practical recommendations and actions that Julie’s Bicycle has offered us.
A transcription ofTony's speech at the music industry breakfast and launch of Moving Arts: Managing the carbon impacts of our touring, June 17th 2010 at the Royal Albert Hall.
