An open letter to Mick Jagger
Lend your voice to rewrite the future of new music
Dear Mick,
They say old music is killing new music. Unless, of course, a legend like you helps us take a defibrillator to the heart of it: the grassroots. While some may see emerging artists as the darling buds of May, we believe they pump the veins of the industry full of new talent and fresh songs. As things stand, though, its heartbeat is at risk of stopping. We have a creative solution to this complex problem that helps everyone in the music ecosystem: audiences, talent and venues. Will you help us make some noise and draw attention to it?
You see, in this crazy time that we’re navigating, so many people and organisations talk about regenerative this, sustainable or circular that. But they leave out the human from the equation. It’s always about materials, emissions, and waste.
Where in the circular economy model do we address society’s attitude towards humans being expendable? And if you don’t sustain people, how else will the rest of the world’s architecture be propped up? This is where we operate and thrive.
Grassroots music is a great example of these attitudes to sustainability. The NOISE initiative was invited to join the Mayor of London’s London Creates campaign to support the grassroots. Roland has lent its support. Even Ministry of Sound Group has given us a big thumbs up. But the press don’t care about the NOT famous, the Not Paul McCartneys and the Not Rod Stewards, or the Not Mick Jaggers. So here we are, requesting your endorsement. Because each of you began as a young musician with a dream who hustled until they made it — and your voice can rise above the static of the modern world.
A year ago, stories of your logo’s origins started making the rounds. We believe there’s a deeper reason why would the goddess of time, change and empowerment would speak to you as a source of inspiration — only for the story to resurface now in this era of death, destruction, and violence.
Many of the old institutions are crumbling — and the music industry paradigm is one of those. Like Kali protecting her young, we rage against the state of the world, and want to tear it all down to start over again. To nurture the next generation of music lovers, cut out the middlemen, and liberate talent so it can just create.
First things first: the challenge
There is no malicious intent involved in this dysfunction of the heart. It is pure nostalgia for cultural memory that means 70% of listeners stream back-catalog music — a statistic that spans generations and genres. We want to stoke appetites for exploration and discovery.
But can you blame everyone for seeking out the comfort of the familiar in a world so alien and bizarre? We certainly don’t. Meanwhile indie venues are closing left, right and centre. And because the cultural consumption landscape is so diffuse, and algorithmic recommendations so skewed towards the similar and familiar, grassroots musicians are burning out.
You’re a businessman. You know that performing rights and film licensing are a great way to make money in your sleep. But what if you haven’t made that earworm yet, that culturally iconic sound?
If a small rock band today put out an album made up of mainly blues covers, like you did with Rolling Stones №2, they would never move out of the Edith Grove flat. In fact, it is a joke to think any musician today could afford to live in the now gentrified area of Chelsea.
Grassroots music culture has been pushed out of central London altogether. There is no scene. There is nothing that could be called ‘a youth movement.’ Like the rest of society, music has fragmented into siloed subcultures, with pockets of events happening well outside of zone 2. And everyone involved is working full time jobs while trying to make music in what spare time they have.
If audiences weren’t open to new sounds, where would you be? If you didn’t have the Marquee Clubs and the Eel Pie Islands that birthed so many legendary artists and bands like The Rolling Stones, what names would grace the Halls of Fame?
If artists don’t have the energy or creative headspace to market themselves as well as innovate and push the boundaries of sound, where will the next music movement come from? And so, it is not just new music that is endangered — it is music as a whole.
In short, culture is stagnating — a reflection of society’s stagnation as a whole. We could even argue, it is devolving. You could easily write a ‘Sympathy for the Devil 2.0’. Today, your song that chronicles the atrocities in mankind’s history from Satan’s point of view, would feature crimes against humanity in the Middle East, the wrapping of countless babies in shrouds, and the elites syphoning money from government contracts while simultaneously criminalising homelessness.
But there is hope. And that can be found in the very music we want to bring back from the brink — if we view music as a metaphor for the need to reimagine social and cultural norms. It is also why we are writing to you for a public endorsement of our NOISE initiative to support the grassroots.
The opportunity
Every ending is also a beginning. Which brings us to the story behind the iconic Rolling Stones logo design – and the intriguing fact you commissioned a student from the Royal College of Art to design it. The brief to a young John Pasche was to do a version of the ‘Disembodied tongue of the goddess Kali’. Sure, you were disappointed by the options presented by the record company. But why a student and not an established designer?
In this decision to commission a student, we saw a door to your way of thinking. An indication that you believe good ideas won’t come from established ways of thinking. Is that door still there? We like to think we’re like you, in that we want to empower the young to change established ideas. We work exclusively with the emerging and the grassroots for just this reason.
Did you know the word ‘Kali’ comes from the Sanskrit ‘kala’ — meaning ‘time-doomsday-death’? In these days that feel like the end of days, her terrifying and maligned (in the west) figure reminds us it is ok to protect those we love by doing what others cannot. The grassroots cannot speak for itself the way we can speak for it.
The NOISE initiative is our haka, our Kali-esque sticking out of the tongue in warrior’s defiance and intimidation of the old. Like Kali, NOISE, is the power of creation and destruction in one. The initiative is designed like a more efficient electrical grid for a new city — all you have to do is use the power of celebrity to flip the switch.
Kali is also change and transition. We want to shape the beast called culture — and with your help we can. At its heart, NOISE solves the problems created by the era of over-saturation and strangulation of the new. As children of the 80s we know what life unmediated by technology is like. What it means to listen deeply to an album and have it become etched in your soul. But we were also young enough to embrace new technologies as they were born, and we grew with them. Like Kali dancing on Shiva, we know how to turn the poison of the old into the medicine of the new.
We’re veterans of large scale, digital tech platform design and development, as well as heavyweights of the hospitality and entertainment industries. And because we’re women, we are community focused. We see music as an ecosystem whose keystone species, the essential elements that support and sustain the entire community — venues, fans, and independent artists — need us now more than ever. Or we risk ecosystem collapse.
In the spirit of Kali, goddess of death, destruction, creation and time, let us end these times of echo chambers of creativity — and, with your help, let’s grow the new.
Here is how the NOISE initiative seeks to make the grassroots music ecosystem flourish in 3 parts: the NOISE Petition, NOISE, and WIP.
The NOISE petition to democratise music access
We’re advocating for open access to music, encouraging brands (and people) to sponsor tickets and directly support grassroots venues — while broadening audiences’ musical horizons.
The impact of this petition would supplement the noble attempts by Music Venue Trust (MVT) to support grassroots venues through their Artist pledge. This pledge asks for £1 of every arena concert ticket to go towards supporting grassroots venues — a drive that would raise a little over 20 million pounds a year.
However, given the runnings costs of music venues, it will require a multifaceted approach to truly support these incubators of talent. The MVT 2023 report states that the average running cost for a grassroots music venue is 500k a year, and that there are 835 remaining venues in the UK. If the £1 levy on arena shows raises 20 million a year, that would only support 40 venues per year.
So, as things currently stand, without changes in business rates by local councils, or discounts in energy plans (an overhead that is crucifying venues), to support all 835 venues for one year, the yearly figure needed is £498.6 million.
What we’re suggesting with pay-it-forward ticketing could make up the shortfall. This is why our petition also calls on the Mayor of London and powerful figures to encourage humans and brands to embrace sponsorship of pay-it-forward ticket banks. Not only would this support local venues — it would unlock music exploration and spark a revolution in creativity.
Read what it’s all about and sign the petition here.
The NOISE showcase meets open jam
NOISE is a cross-genre showcase and jam night showcasing the best of London’s underground scenes. Acting either as a pop-up music venue, or taking over existing music venues, NOISE creates space for innovation and collaboration.
What began as an independent music night and open jam has grown into a microfestival platforming the creativity and community surrounding each scene. The night also features a games room and other ways to connect — while supporting artists, makers, small brands, food pop-ups and more. We aim to scale this format nationwide, building momentum toward a major festival in 2026.
Ultimately we are working towards our own music venue that incorporates a record label, rehearsal and performance space, recording studio and community space. This combines talent and audience development in order to evolve music production and consumption.
The NOISE series launches on November 8th, and will be monthly. See the line-up details and get tickets here.
WIP nights
These nights bring fans and musicians together in intimate spaces, fostering community and deep listening. WIPs create a meaningful exchange between artists and audiences, planting the seeds of a true music movement. The next WIP is November 14th — learn more and get free tickets here.
To conclude
It must seem like a lifetime ago that you first bumped into Keith Richards on that train platform, holding ‘The Best of Muddy Waters’ and Chuck Berry’s ‘Rockin’ at the Hops’ under your arm (a meeting that would spark the formation of the band). We can still hear Berry’s influence in Hackney Diamonds — that Chicago blues sound that sparked your passion and your band’s name.
It’s poetic that this genre’s thread continues into your latest album. The Chicago style of blues depicted city life — its dark realities, and its opportunities too. We have painted the dark realities. But we have the opportunity now to grow the next generation of greats, and bring a Kali-esque change to the music industry paradigm while we’re at it.
Postscript
In the tradition of open letters, yes, we are addressing one person — but we are calling to the general public who believe and support what we’re trying to do to also lend their voices to the cause.
If you are inspired, moved and motivated by any of this, please like, leave a comment and share on your socials to spread the word.
Yours in music,
Team What Does Not
Below, the two albums that Mick Jagger was holding when he bumped into Keith Richards at a Kent train station — an encounter which would change the direction of pop music.
On the morning of 17 October 1961, Mick Jagger, then 18, arrived on platform two of Dartford Station to travel to the London School of Economics where he was studying.
Shortly afterwards, 17-year-old Keith Richards arrived on the same platform. The music sparked conversations that resulted in the formation of The Rolling Stones.
