| Jennifer Otter Bickerdike |
Jennifer Otter Bickerdike is an American media and music academic and author, specializing in fandom, vinyl records, the cult of dead celebrity, pop culture and music. She has written and presented extensively on fandom and media across various platforms, including the BBC, Discovery Channel, Channel 4, TruTV, The Guardian and Playboy.
Otter Bickerdike was raised in Santa Cruz, California, where she established an interest for the ocean, conservation, swimming, surfing and music. While working to complete her BA in American Studies at the University of California, Davis, Otter Bickerdike landed her first position in the music industry, with a College Music Representative job at Sony Music Entertainment. Before graduating, she interned at a variety of record companies, including PolyGram, MCA Records and Universal Music Distribution before becoming the West Coast Marketing Director for Interscope Geffen A&M Records at 25.[1] She toured with and devised marketing and branding campaigns for acts including Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Dr. Dre, No Doubt, Gwen Stefani, U2 and Eminem, before leaving to start her own consulting company, working with a wide array of creative and technology industry, such as Facebook, Key Production, Moving the Needle, Music for America, Fuzz, Adeline Records and Tom Dumont. She concurrently taught at and gained her MA in Humanities from San Francisco State University.
After friend Hunter McPherson was murdered in San Francisco, Otter Bickerdike decided to leave her job, sell everything she owned and move to England.After moving to London, Otter Bickerdike enrolled in Goldsmiths, University of London, where she completed her PhD in Cultural Studies. Otter Bickerdike's doctorate focused on the evolving fandom and mythology of post-punk band Joy Division and Seattle icons Nirvana.
Otter Bickerdike has appeared as a expert commentator in over 50 pop culture documentaries, including 2024's international hit Taylor Swift Versus Scooter Braun: Bad Blood. She has also worked building archives, curating museum exhibitions and writing liner notes, most recently with legendary WHAM! on their 40th anniversary box set and the Coventry Herbert Gallery for their 2 Tone: Lives & Legacies Exhibition. She is also a co-founder of the non-profit Moving The Needle, a collective of leaders in the music industry striving to inspire, encourage and motivate the next generation of women to pursue active, fulfilling and lifelong careers.
In 2024, Jen began collaborating with Mike Joyce of the iconic post-punk legends The Smiths and editing Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's forthcoming memoir.
Otter Bickerdike has spoken at institutions including Google, Liverpool Sound City, Manchester Off The Record, Bestival, Goldsmiths University of London, Cambridge University,[2] Experience Music Project Seattle, San Francisco's Noise Pop Festival,[3] XOYO, The Battery and others, on areas including the rise of celebrity culture, music, the tragic gothic heroine, and dark tourism. She has appeared as an expert on pop music and media across media such as BBC 1, BBC Radio 6, Channel 4, BBC 3 and TruTV, and has written for discogs, The Guardian (newspaper), Louder Than War, Long Live Vinyl, Bass Guitar and Playboy.[4]
In 2019, Otter Bickerdike was featured on the cover of the Good Times.[5] In September of the same year, Santa Cruz mayor Martine Watkins proclaimed September 28 officially 'Jennifer Otter Bickerdike Day' in honor of Otter Bickerdike's contributions to music culture and community in her hometown.
In 2013, she won the Student Led Teaching award for Most Innovative Lecturer[6] and was short listed for the same accolade on a national level by the Times Higher Education.[7]
In 2022, Otter Bickerdike signed with Hachette Book Group to write the band-approved biography of the Bangles.
Otter Bickerdike is the editor of Will Sergeant of Echo and the Bunnymen's book Bunnyman (Hachette / Third Man, 2021) and a book about Iggy Pop, Iggy & the Stooges: One Night at the Whisky 1970, featuring the photography of Ed Caraeff.