Music and Sustainability

At first glance, the music industry and environmentalism may look like subjects with very little overlap other than the occasional article that exposes a certain celebrity’s carbon footprint. But the transition into a net zero society is a massive undertaking that is going to require systemic, technological, and behavioral changes across all sectors and industries including the music industry. The connection between environmentalism and music goes deeper than just banning straws at venues. Music is something that forms us, much as we form it and it can be a powerful medium for sustainable ideas to percolate through society. 

There are three major battlegrounds the music industry is part of in our fight towards sustainability. First one is more immediate with the industry’s efforts to cut as much CO2 emissions as soon as possible. The second one is a shift in mindset and behavior with consumption in the industry. The third battle, which may be the largest and have the most far reaching implications, is an entire redefinition of our relationships with each other and the planet through music.

Music Industry Emissions

With the U.K’s music industry emitting a total of  540,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, that may seem like an insignificant slice of the pie with the UK emitting a total of 505 million tonnes  per year. Much of the CO2 emissions in the music industry comes from other sectors like transportation and energy and one would think by having these sectors reduce their emissions, the emissions in the music industry would solve itself. But before heading off to Coachella in a 2002 Hummer H1, reducing emissions and waste in the music industry should still remain a top priority. Rather than waiting for the energy and transportation sector to transition to sustainable renewable energy, there are already many solutions we could implement right now to reduce emissions. 

Out of the 540,000 tonnes the UK’s music industry emits annually, 400,000 comes from live venues and festivals. 175,000 tonnes out of the 400,000 comes from audience transportation to the venues. Incentives for greener methods of transportation can also be implemented such as discounts for concert goers who use bicycles and rewards for carpoolers. Better logistical planning on touring routes, avoiding air transportation, and digital concert options are more steps musicians can take to reduce these pesky emissions. To reduce operational carbon footprint, concert venues can take the necessary steps to emit less with green building upgrades and the utilization of biodiesel fuel or better yet, carbon neutral renewable energy generators. 

Instead of physical mediums like vinyl records, CDs, and cassette tapes, using streaming services that have data centers with renewable sources of energy would significantly reduce emissions. Consuming music digitally can reduce emissions by 80% but for fans who must have a physical copy, just by getting the CDs delivered directly to their homes can produce ⅓ less of greenhouse gasses by cutting out the retailer.

Unsustainable consumerism

The massive rise in consumerism after WWII in much of the world in and of itself is not a purely negative thing. Consumerism can be seen as a celebration of the end of a difficult period of our history as old powers toppled, innovative technologies created wealth, and a large and robust middle class arose from the debris. The thrill of making money and the purchasing of goods like entertainment systems, fashion, luxury items and cars came with consumer goods that became status symbols for prosperity, and these symbols followed into our pop culture with Elvis’s Blue Suede shoes to Sean Combs Benjamins. 

But now consumerism is tied to environmental disaster and we’re trying to find a middle ground or move past looking solely at the physical for meeting all of our emotional needs. And the cutthroat, desperate atmosphere of the music industry, and stan culture has led to extremes when supporting artists that are both unhealthy to the mind and the planet. Ranking high in various music charts is based upon cold hard sales and is important for artists as it can make or break their career. Buying physical, digital album sales alongside digital streaming on various platforms are ways for fans to support their favorite artists and launch them into stardom but this system has been costly to our environment. 

Though reducing or even abolishing the ranking of sales as part of an artist’s measure of success would be a difficult, controversial move, these music charts can give music quality or fan voting more weight in the ranking criteria and put limits on the number of physical copies each fan can buy. To further prevent bulk buying and massive streaming parties, an artist’s popularity could have more weight to the number of unique listeners and buyers. Music companies can change their sales tactics without encouraging fans into unsustainable consumption with their 5 different album art versions and lottery tickets inside albums or at least provide more sustainable options like physical albums that use more sustainable materials. 

For fans, general awareness and mindfulness as to the costs of music they are consuming can be a first crucial step into transitioning the music industry into something more sustainable.   Pressuring music labels and artists into providing more options to support them in sustainable ways, holding them accountable to their commitments and fact-checking for greenwashing, streaming on sites that have a low carbon footprint, and reusing, recycling, and reselling old albums and downloading music rather than continuous streaming are all actions they can take. 

Music’s Role Against the Climate Crisis

Music is a powerful agent for change where our attitudes towards political and social justice issues can be shaped by it. The power of music is that it can take fringe, emerging ideas and popularize them, creating mass movements that can make meaningful changes in our society. Music is an essential part of life that shapes our culture and our relationship with it will help us transition to a more sustainable society.

The effects music has on our psyche cannot be understated. Music has been found to increase the hormone oxytocin in our systems, which has been shown to improve well being, increase prosocial behavior, and build trust between people. A 2011 research paper found that music influences how we see the world with participants noticing more cheerful faces when upbeat music is played and noticing more sad music when sad music is being played. By influencing our mental state on an individual level, it can influence actions on a collective level. Songs such as “We Shall Overcome” and “Strange Fruit” have had a profound impact on the Civil Rights movement by educating, inspiring and building solidarity between people. Music has and will continue to act as an agent of change and it is important to be mindful as to how music today affects current culture and how we can build the cultures we want. 

Currently, music in our popular culture celebrates consumerism with pop stars like Ariana Grande, Cardi B, and Iggy Azalea singing about the joys of retail therapy with “7 rings”, “I like It”, and “Fancy”, and much of hip hop music bragging about how much drip they’ve got.   Mainstream music generated for the youth is catchy, widespread and is perpetuating consumption and celebrity worship as major societal values. 

But we can play a guiding hand to the sort of music we want to listen to and the sort of culture we want to live in. With climate change being in the public’s consciousness, it’s no surprise artists like Coldplay, Radiohead, and Greenday, are using their platforms to raise awareness and encourage the public to live more sustainability and artists like Billie Eillish, Lorde, and Harry Styles have partnered up with REVERB to make their concerts more environmentally friendly. Songs about climate change are coming from all kinds of artists, big and small alike, and are proliferating the call to sustainable action among the masses. Grimes has released an album with themes about climate change “Miss Anthropocene” and Lil Dicky created a music video “Earth” that features over 25 artists and actors, including big names like Ariana Gande, Justin Beiber, and Snoop dogg. Many other songs from all kinds of genres that sing about the woes of climate change and call for action include “Making Do” by Lake Street Drive, “Atlantic” by The Weather Station, and “Shut it Down” by Neil Young and Crazy Horse. 

How music is created in society can have a profound cultural shift that lays out a framework for a culture based in sustainability. The vast majority of how music is produced and consumed right now is performance based. The biggest artists, backed by their hegemonic labels, stand in front of a mass of adoring fans and perform their songs. These artists are worshiped for their talent and charisma and amass a large amount of soft power, influential enough to inspire large scale positive acts of kindness or vitriol from their fans. Performance based music celebrates competition and accomplishments of the individual, but there is another form of music that celebrates interconnectedness and community; values needed for a future that respects the natural world and its sustainability. 

Participatory music holds no distinction between the artists and the audience. The producers and the consumers. People gather around and create music together that is to be enjoyed together and the experience is based upon the satisfaction each participant feels. The music is highly democratic, pro social, and empowering to all, echoing the values found in many social justice movements including climate justice. More participatory music would mean more opportunities for people to build connections and share their voices and empathy, trust, and creativity can be built and fostered. The internet creates a platform that allows for easy participatory music around the world and more and more influencers are tapping into its power to create music alongside their fans or create communities that raise each other up. Artists who are already established who care about sustainability and the wellbeing of their fans can use their platforms to not only broadcast their messages but create participatory opportunities to foster community and solidarity within their fanbases. Creating music together would be leading us down the right path to a green future. Just jamming out with friends, a group of people huddled around a guitar, is already a scene of what a SolarPunk future would look like.