The Hidden Climate of Music
With the new modern era of digital music, we have certainly come a long way since the early days of vinyl and CDs. Digital music is fast, convenient, has a tremendous selection, and is the cleanest form for listening to music. Well… that’s mostly correct — everything except for that last point. In fact, the music industry is at an all-time high for the amount of pollution that it produces each year. But how does that make sense? Digital music avoids all of the pollutant-intensive production from physical copies. However, it cannot escape the extensive carbon emissions from of cloud storage facilities that Spotify, Apple and others use to store all of our music-listening data. Combine that with the ever-expanding festival and concert scene, and we can see that the music industry currently has a clearly problematic impact on the environment. Even with all the progress we seem to be making, the environment is still in a constantly worsening state, to a point where it has been deemed a climate emergency. Besides the fact that we are destroying the natural beauty of the Earth, we are harming our own living conditions across the globe, especially in poor and developing countries. It is important that individuals understand that this is an actual issue requiring action. We all have to share this planet, so each one of us has a duty to help keep it clean and healthy. To get to an acceptable point, much needs to be done, and fortunately, much can be done. The music industry is a great place to begin the change to an environmentally conscious society, because it is a place where the individual can make an impact. By making decisions that reduce our own carbon footprint, and banding together to inspire real change, things could finally start taking a turn for the better.
Now, in order to continue this discussion, we need to be completely honest. It’s easy to feel as though our individual actions don’t make an impact. However, we can also all agree that music is a great way for individuals to make an impact by coming together, especially when a real cause is on the line. Many of us have a deep connection to our music, which makes us much further engaged in ideas that it supports, such as social movements that the music or artists promote. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology describes such social movements as performances rather than events, because they are better thought of as acting out ideas and emotions in a public fashion. Music by nature is much more involved in the “performance” than other positions of protest, making it an excellent ground to unite people and produce change with results. Take for example the hippie and psychedelic movements of the 1960s, which used music as its basis to promote social change with the youth of the rising generation. Aside from the tie dye, jeans, and hallucinogens, the movement brought people together in support of real causes, such as the civil rights movement, open sexuality, and protecting the environment. It was a time where many people were able to band together to make an impact, and it is certainly possible for us to promote a modern movement focused entirely on saving the environment. A fairly recent instance of when music was used to take a stance on climate change was Al Gore’s worldwide series of concerts called Live Earth. In the early 2000s, Al Gore set out to bring climate change into the forefront of people’s minds. He released his film An Inconvenient Truth in 2006, and followed up with Live Earth in 2007, where he had all participants sign a pledge “to plant trees, protect forests, buy from eco-friendly businesses, [and] vote for green-minded politicians…” (Black). While these music events were not without controversy, it is proof of concept. His efforts to bring the concerns of the environment to light were successful, but unfortunately it seems that even still, not enough action is being taken to make the change. What it likely comes down to, is that many people simply don’t understand why it is so important.
With certain important figures downplaying the significance of the issue, along with unproductive conspiracy theories, it’s understandable why climate change might still be a topic of confusion. Despite the term “climate emergency” that frequently comes into conversation, many people do not seem to treat the climate change as a true emergency. However, when we look at the real data, the issue becomes very clear. If we take a look at NASA’s official site for climate change, our impact on the environment becomes undeniable. The following diagram shows carbon dioxide levels across many millennia compared to today, where we see a massive spike in carbon levels following the industrial revolution until now.
Increase of carbon levels is an issue because it is a greenhouse gas, which means that it absorbs sunlight that hits the Earth and releases it as heat into the atmosphere. With increasing levels of CO2, global temperature begins to rise. This causes a whole host of problems, including more droughts and heat waves, more devastating hurricanes, rising sea levels, and decreasing polar ice caps and coral reefs (Earth Science Communications Team). In order to mitigate the damage, the Paris Agreement established the goal to limit global warming to 1.5-degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels (Golan). While this may not seem like much of a difference, it is enough to cause the damages mentioned and even more if left to get out of hand. According to the scientists behind The Climate Clock, we have approximately 7 years remaining before we hit the 1.5-degree mark, which means that by then, we must reduce world carbon emissions to net zero. This is certainly a daunting task, and not one that can be procrastinated right up to the “deadline.” We need to work together and continuously put forth effort in order to accomplish such a feat. To many it might seem impossible for us to do anything about it — it’s certainly hard to come up with any one thing that we can do to really make an impact. But truthfully, there are many places where we can start, and the music industry is a great place to begin.
In order for us to start turning the music industry into a strong advocate for the environment, we need to help solve the issues within the industry first. As I mentioned at the beginning, the music industry is at an all-time high for the amount of environmental damage that it causes. Even though the waste produced from physical copies of music is much lower, the massive amount of energy required to keep everyone’s data in cloud storage facilities is what makes the impact. Studies have shown that when both plastic production and energy of digital music storage are boiled down to carbon emissions, “[Greenhouse gasses] from recorded music were 140m kg in 1977 in the US, 136m kg in 1988, and 157m kg in 2000. By 2016 it is estimated to have been between 200m kg and over 350m kg — and remember that this is only in the US” (Brennan). It is very clear that the environmental impacts of our new listening habits are not improving as they seemed initially. On top of this, and possibly even more troublesome for the environment, is the ever-growing quantity and scale of live events around the globe. Within the music industry, concerts and festivals may be at fault for the highest proportion of carbon emissions. People flock to these events from far and wide in their gas-guzzling cars and musicians have to ship their equipment around the world, and the waste produced by the end of each night adds a whole load of extra pollutants to the mix (Hewitson). The music industry is just one of many industries that are continuously polluting and pumping carbon into the atmosphere at an alarming rate. If we take a look back at the graphs of sky-rocketing carbon levels, everything adds up. But now that we have identified the problem in the music industry, we can finally take a look at what we can do to solve it.
When it comes down to making actually significant change, our biggest strength is found when we band together. It is fairly obvious that one person can’t make much impact on the billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere each year, but by working together and sharing the message, we have much more power to do something of impact. Music is such a great starting point because it is one of the best ways we can unite. It is a tool that individuals can use to inspire change in others, which will bring it to the attention of even more, causing an exponential effect. One thing that we can do for starters is show support toward local and online movements, as well as large-scale events and protests. It only takes a few searches to find something worth supporting — support that could include donation, participation, or simply talking about it. Beyond that, there are many other ways in which we can respond to the issues posed by the music industry to retain an environmentally conscious attitude. We can choose to reduce our use of streaming services by purchasing copies of the music and not subscriptions, which not only supports our favorite artists more directly, but reduces the need for high energy cost cloud storage. We can also be more selective about which festivals and live events we support, as there are many events that advocate for the environment by banning single use plastics, using compost toilets, or powering themselves entirely from renewable energy — like in the case of Oslo, Norway’s Øya Festival (Hewitson). With these in mind, it becomes clear that the troublesome situation we find ourselves in today isn’t a lost cause. It is just a matter of reflection, initiative, and action that will be the difference. But when it comes down to it, the most important part is to speak up, take action, and come together. As a whole, we can inspire real change within the music industry, and possibly bring the biggest organizations to finally act responsibly, and make the impact that we need to help save our struggling planet.
We have overcome many incredible challenges as a society. We have overcome everyday needs through advancing technology, overcome diseases through our impressive medical advancements, and overcome social challenges through greater acceptance of one another. There will always be challenges to overcome, and it seems as though our next major one is that of climate change and the environment. Unfortunately, we’ve spent many decades building a habit of pollution since the industrial age, and we all know that it is very hard to break old habits. We will have to start small and work hard until we are able to sustain ourselves without the old vice, which in this case contains fossil fuels, single use plastics, excessive waste products, among many other things. In the end, the best way to overcome this challenge is together. There are many small things that we can do in our personal lives on a frequent basis to make a change, but the real impact comes when we unite. And that is why, once again, the best place that we could start is in the music industry. Music is one of the best spaces where we can feel united with those that share the same passion and values. By first working to solve the issues within the music industry, we can establish a strongly supported value of caring about the environment that music listeners and the industry will share. With such a large and influential force, that is how the difference will be made.
To some, the issue of the environment and climate change may still not seem like one of the most prevalent issues that we are facing. It isn’t really an issue that we can see strong visual evidence of in our day to day lives. We have to take a step back and look at all of the places around the world that suffer to a greater degree. From my research, it is very clear to me that something has to be done before the situation gets more out of hand than it already is. We are already well on track to destroy so much natural life in the world, which I personally see as unjust and a serious problem in and of itself. But even if nature isn’t your thing, ignoring these environmental issues will also cause serious damage in our own communities through pollution of common resources and physical destruction by natural disasters. It’s something that everyone should care about. It is highly problematic but also very preventable; it just takes action. Before anything else, we all should take a moment to do a self-check, analyzing what we can change in our lives that contributes to the issue. This can be things in relation to music as I mentioned before, like reducing use of streaming services and supporting “greener” festivals, but could also be anything in our lives that prioritizes ease over environment. The next step is to support the movements that advocate for change, then share with others. Sharing doesn’t have to mean posting on social media or bringing it up in conversation either — simply adjusting your attitude to show that you care is enough to make a bit of a difference in your friends, coworkers, or family. I’ve noticed myself that attitudes are infectious, so if you care, others around you may start to as well, but the same effect happens if you don’t. Consider these things in your own life, both your actions and attitudes, and you may be able to see that bit of change in yourself. If we can all do that, we’ll already be halfway there.
Sources
- Black, Brian. “An Inconvenient Truth.” St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, edited by Thomas Riggs, 2nd ed., vol. 3, St. James Press, 2013, p. 16. Gale eBooks, https://link-gale-com.ez1.maricopa.edu/apps/doc/CX2735801350/GVRL?u=mcc_chandler&sid=GVRL&xid=ea316951. Accessed 20 Sept. 2020.
- Brennan, Matt, and Kyle Devine. “Music streaming has a far worse carbon footprint than the heyday of records and CDs — new findings.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2020. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link-gale-com.ez1.maricopa.edu/apps/doc/RUVRSE175701879/OVIC?u=mcc_chandler&sid=OVIC&xid=c4bd1364. Accessed 20 Sept. 2020.
- Earth Science Communications Team. “Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet.” NASA, NASA, climate.nasa.gov/.
- Eyerman, Ron. “Music and Social Movements.” The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Rev. ed., edited by George Ritzer, vol. 6, Wiley-Blackwell, 2014, pp. 3134–3136. Gale eBooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3704901181/GVRL?u=mcc_chandler&sid=GVRL&xid=4b9190f2. Accessed 6 Dec. 2020.
- Golan, Gan, and Andrew Boyd. “The Climate Clock.” ClimateClock.World, 2015, climateclock.world/science.
- Hewitson, Rosie. “How Can the Music Industry Stop Climate Change?” Red Bull, 6 Sept. 2019, www.redbull.com/us-en/music-vs-climate-change. Accessed 20 Sept. 2020.
