Murmur Funding Recipients for 2024 and the launch of Murmur Artist Support  

 

London, 4th October 2024

Murmur are proud to share with you the recipients of Murmur funding for 2024, which is made up of funds contributed by our partners in 2023. Over £240,000 donated by art and music organisations is being given to groundbreaking projects which drive and inspire change in the art and music industries and across the wider world. 

Today also marks the launch of Murmur Artist Support, a new initiative that will work with artists and musicians who want to speak up on climate and on behalf of the planet. 

This is all made possible by the vision and generosity of our partners and we extend our deepest thanks for your commitment to this vital work. 

The recipients of Murmur funding span three thematic areas: 

‘Change the Industry’ – initiatives that drive positive change within the visual arts and music sectors, supporting them to become more environmentally sustainable.

‘Change the Conversation’ – inspiring new ways of storytelling and positive action around climate change.

‘Change the World’ – organisations that support lasting and tangible impacts globally in tackling the climate crisis.  

The recipients have been selected by expert advisory boards working across these three areas and each project exemplifies our mission to promote creative risk-taking and foster meaningful conversations. 

As Murmur Trustee, Chris Stark said at the launch of this initiative: “Artists are key to changing the climate discussion because they inspire millions of people that love and respect their art. Thanks to Murmur we finally have the right platform and funding to engage the right actors and empower them to have real agency over the climate problem.”

The complete list of inaugural recipients is as follows:

Change the Industry: Music

Climate Partner (in partnership with the Music Climate Pact and the Vinyl Alliance) to launch a project on Record manufacturing Supply Chain to better understand supply chain opportunities in record manufacturing – closing out knowledge gaps, improving data and agreeing a framework for suppliers to demonstrate long term sustainability performance. 

IMPALA, the Independent Music Companies Association, to support the further development of the IMPALA Carbon Calculator, the first bespoke carbon calculator and environmental impact measurement tool for the independent recorded music sector, powered by Julie’s Bicycle. 

The Expert Advisory Board which awarded this grant was chaired by Will Hutton – Premier League and includes Ian Stanton – Beggars Group, Horst Weidenmueller – !K7, Peter Quicke -Ninja Tune, Ben Swanson – Secretly and Chloé Van Bergen – Secretly.

Change the Industry: Art

Climate Action Services International (CASI PROJECT), a new social enterprise by the founders of the Gallery Climate Coalition, seeded to service consulting, auditing and training in the art sector.  CASI offers paid-for services such as training or carbon/waste audits to support climate action and environmental responsibility for arts organisations, looking to make a significant impact.

The Expert Advisory Board which awarded this grant was chaired by Matthew Slotover and includes Cliodhna Murphy – Hauser & Wirth, Catherine Wood – Tate, Hannah Wright – Thomas Dane and Eva Langret – Frieze.

Change the Conversation

Murmur Artists Support (MAS), a programme to support artists and musicians to tell inspiring stories and advocate for positive action. MAS will bring artists together with communications experts and environmental organisations, supporting them to change the climate conversation and unlock the enormous potential of cultural actors to drive change. (More information below).

The Expert Advisory Board which awarded this grant was chaired by Rich Dawes – DawBell, and includes Ellie Fallon – Brunswick Group, Matthew Phillips – Groundswell, Caius Pawson – Young.

Change the World

Repórter Brasil is an NGO that works at the intersection of supply chains, human rights, slave labour, and environmental issues. With headquarters in São Paulo, it seeks to promote a more just society through investigative journalism and campaigns, and has gained renown for exposing illegal deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon and Cerrado forests. The organisation received the prestigious Brazilian National Human Rights Prize in 2008, and its current executive secretary, Marcel Gomes, the Goldman Environmental Prize 2024 for his work in South America.

Friends of the Earth Europe (FoEE) and European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) – FoEE and ECCJ are leading a campaigning coalition of 20 NGOs working at the intersection of climate and human rights. They are leading a public campaign for groundbreaking laws that ensure companies and their financiers reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. 

The Expert Advisory Board which awarded this grant was chaired by Vendantha Kumar – CIFF and includes Joana Setzer – LSE, Anahita Yousefi – Harvest, Nathan Méténier– YCJF, Hex Picot – Oak Foundation.

Today also marks the launch of Murmur Artist Support, the initiative funded by Murmur partners via the Change the Conversation category. At Murmur we believe that art can influence society by changing opinions, instilling values and translating experiences. Artists have previously helped to shape thinking and policy on major societal issues such as race, sexuality and the AIDS epidemic. Music in particular has consistently had a significant cultural and political impact on real-world events and provided power for positive change and unity at historic moments.  

Murmur Artist Support has been developed in consultation with leading artists. The advisory committee that has developed this new initiative is chaired by Richard Dawes, founder of Dawbell PR (Oasis, Harry Styles, Elton John) and includes Caius Pawson, founder of Young (Robyn, The xx, Sampha) and Matthew Phillips, lead of Groundswell, part of the Global Optimism movement.

Karen Edwards has been appointed Director of Murmur Artist Support and will start this new role in November 2024. Karen is an experienced music, sustainability and travel editor and writer, with over 20 years of experience contributing to national publications. Deeply passionate about inspiring impactful change to reduce the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss, she has worked closely with PRs, managers and music artists to produce engaging interviews, biographies and tour programmes. 

Caius Pawson, founder of Murmur, comments: “Culture is upstream of politics. Cultural values, beliefs, and norms precede and influence the formation of political structures and policies. When artists successfully talk with their audience about subjects they care deeply about, things can change extremely quickly. To create the environment for real change we need people talking about this subject in a positive, heartfelt way – and this is a vital part of the work that Murmur is doing and that our partners are enabling.”

Our funders’ contributions are going to make a huge impact in the cultural and environmental sectors as expressed here by some of our funding recipients:

Helen Smith, Executive Chair of IMPALA: “It is an honour to be one of the first recipients of Murmur funding, which will provide crucial investment for the tool, which helps the sector get results by pulling together and working in a standardised way.”  

Heath Lowndes, Co-founder and Managing Director of GCC and CASI: “We are incredibly grateful for Murmur’s support, which will accelerate the development of CASI, a new initiative aimed at helping arts organisations effectively address their environmental impacts through tailored consultation services. Launching in 2025, CASI will be a distinct social enterprise that offers accessibly priced training and auditing, empowering organisations to measure their environmental footprints, set actionable targets, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste.” 

Marcel Gomes, executive secretary of Repórter Brasil: “This funding is very important for Repórter Brasil’s work. With the economic and political power that agribusiness has in Brazil today, civil society really needs this kind of support to be able to counter this power and defend the environment and vulnerable populations from violations of their rights.”

Paul de Clerck, Head of the Economic Justice team: “This grant will allow campaigning organisations at the national level to advocate for the strongest possible rules that ensure companies adhere to climate reduction targets in line with the Paris Agreement.”

About Murmur

Murmur is a registered charity, dedicated to fostering systemic climate action both within and through the visual arts and music industries. Murmur’s vision is to operate in a society where artists are informed climate advocates, actively collaborating with world-class environmental organizations, supported by climate literate and environmentally positive arts and music organizations. Murmur’s mission is to provide a strategic blueprint for organizations within these sectors, enabling them to partake in transformative climate action and empowering artist voices within climate debates. Murmur advocates for a new paradigm in voluntary climate action, where corporations in the arts and music industries can back transformational climate initiatives by contributing to a fund of which the deployment is overseen by a panel of experts. This strategic climate fund will direct financing towards: impactful climate mitigation work, assisting organisations with decarbonization and offering a mechanism to compensate for emissions in a credible manner and connecting them with leading climate organizations and a network of arts leaders.

https://www.murmur.earth/

About IMPALA

IMPALA was established in 2000 and now represents over 6000 independent music companies in Europe. 99% of Europe’s music companies are small, micro and medium businesses and self-releasing artists. Known as the independents, they are world leaders in terms of innovation and discovering new music and artists – they produce more than 80% of all new releases and account for 80% of the sector’s jobs. IMPALA’s mission is to grow the independent music sector sustainably, return more value to artists, promote diversity and entrepreneurship, improve political access, inspire change, and increase access to finance. IMPALA works on a range of key issues for its members, runs various award schemes and has a programme aimed at businesses who want to develop a strategic relationship with the European independent sector – Friends of IMPALA.

IMPALA – Independent Music Companies Association

Rue des Deux Eglises 37-39, 1000, Brussels, BELGIUM

+32 2 503 31 38

info@impalamusic.org