Carbon Soundings – The Response of the Music Industry to Climate Change

Overall aims

The aim of the study was to investigate the response of the UK music industry to climate change by examining the perceptions of music businesses, artists and fans as to the activities, efforts and role of music to catalyst environmental change. This study contributes to further understanding of the influence and limitations music has in creating and supporting shifts in environmental consciousness and practices towards low carbon lifestyles.

Context

Music forms an important part of social life because of its ability to convey and resonate with personal and shared emotions, ideas, meanings and experiences. It embodies a range of cultural values from consumer desire for escapism and hedonism to citizen need for rights and responsibilities. Music is a combination of creativity, culture, leisure and entertainment that operates in public and private spheres of social life. In industrialised societies many music artefacts and experiences are commodities produced by the music industry and consumed by people within the bounds of the modern capitalist system. The relationship between music and the market results in a variety of outcomes and tensions in the creation and function of music in society. This relationship has significance for shaping the willingness, ability and role of the music industry and its artists to proactively engage in efforts to transform to a low carbon society so as to mitigate climate change.

Research questions and methods

The main research questions of the study were:

• how has music responded to the issue of climate change?
• what is the perceived role of music for catalysing environmental change?

To explore these questions the study was organised into three parts with each part focused on investigating a key set of actors, namely music businesses, artists and fans, which individually and collectively determine the development and place of music in society. The study was qualitative in nature, with data collected through interviewing and ethnographic techniques. Part one of the study focused on the attitudes and experiences of music business in addressing environmental concerns. The study interviewed seventeen senior music executives and key informants all involved in a ‘greening’ the music industry initiative. Part two examined the attitudes and experiences of artists in addressing environmental concerns. The study included interviews with five artists, each with professional experience of engaging with climate change issues. Part three of the study included interviews with approximately one hundred music fans at four music festivals to gather insights of the importance of music to fans and what they perceive the role of music is in climate change action.

Results

There is evidence of music engaging with climate change action through a variety of means such as creative content, corporate responsibility and political campaigning. The strongest association of the music industry’s efforts to encourage action on climate change are through its awareness rising with large-scale concerts most notably Live Earth held in 2007. However, these environmentally themed concerts are viewed by the music business executives and artists interviewed as ephemeral occasions successfully generating heightened public attention of the climate change issue, but the energy created by concerts quickly dissipates leaving no tangible legacy for stimulating long-term environmental change. The research has found music fans are typically cynical about the motivations of music artists to use their celebrity platform to campaign for environmental causes, especially if it is ‘preachy’ in tone and not backed-up with them taking meaningful actions to reduce their own environmental impacts. Furthermore, music fans are less likely to view an artist as an authoritative voice on environmental issues and therefore prefer to go to other information sources, which they trust. Music executives argued that the most effective position for the business and its artists to take in addressing climate change is to lead through example. It will be through a process of demonstration that music offers the potential to leverage and inspire greater transformational environmental change across society. There is evidence that the music industry has begun to embed environmental sustainability into the mainstream of business activities, but the extent of these efforts depend on their being a strong business case.

There was the attitude amongst music executives and artists interviewed that music although it is a profound art form and as such has the potential for great public reach on the issue of climate change its agency for influencing societal environmental change is limited. A number of reasons emerged from the data for explaining the perceived constraining circumstances of the music industry in taking a leadership role to strongly advocate for environmental change: the industry has a relatively small emissions profile ; they themselves are locked in a fossil fuel infrastructure with limited alternatives for producing and distributing music; the profound changes to the business models with the emergence of digital music delivery means climate change action is presently not viewed by the industry as a core business imperative; the business services the artist and although there is much the business can do to champion environmental action artists, especially commercially successful artists, are viewed as having a pivotal role for driving business models with environmental sustainability embedded; and finally, the business and artists cannot determine the demands of their audiences only anticipate them, therefore if audiences are not interested in music, products or experiences with environmental considerations and messages and if there is not a business case or regulatory requirement then it is very difficult for music businesses and artists to take substantive environmental actions. Music fans do perceive music as having the power to communicate ideas and inspire social-environmental change, but as of yet the music in this space is not widely known or received. It will not be possible for artists or music businesses to orchestrate the creation of music with the ability to vision and inspire environmental change, as its emergence will be the results of a set of events and people, which are hard to foresee.

Implications

The study highlights the complexity of a ‘lifestyle industry’ such as music having the ability to create and support a transformation to low carbon living. Music is a powerful art form able to connect deeply with people and as such can do much to raise environmental consciousness through the actual music and/or experiences it creates. However, the agency of artists and music businesses to respond to climate change much beyond what they have control is determined by creative processes, government regulation and innovation.

Output

Bottrill, C, D Liverman and M Boykoff (January-March 2010). Carbon Soundings: greenhouse gas emissions of the UK music industry. Environ. Res. Lett. Volume 5, No. 1.