Being green makes business sense
By Greg Parmley, Pro Sound News Europe. May 2008, p. 70.
New research by music industry greening group Julie’s Bicycle has proved that while sound might be carbon-neutral, making it certainly is not. Published earlier this month, the report (produced in conjunction with the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford) set out to measure the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the UK music industry in 2007.
The result is a document which, for the first time, gives a somewhat accurate snapshot of what part the industry plays in climate change. And before you turn the page to continue ogling at svelte speaker stacks and that shiny new mixing console/moon landing instrument, it’s worth considering what this means for the professional audio industry.
A number of people told me I’d be falling on deaf ears in writing this piece. In fact, the words “barking up a dead tree” were used, and while I’m far from a green crusader (my cape is reserved solely for fancy dress parties) there’s an important message here, which is worth bearing in mind.
Governments across Europe have pledged to reduce GHG emissions by 60-80% by 2050 and every industry is expected to fall into line. Now, the Julie’s Bicycle report has calculated that the UK music industry produces 538,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, which is equivalent to the average annual emissions of a town with 54,000 inhabitants. So it has two hoices: either it bombs Bognor Regis (which hasn’t contributed much to musical culture, in fairness) and carries on as it is, or it starts to make some serious changes.
The pro-audio industry is far from exempt from this. Manufacturing has a large part to play, as does live sound. And neither is it just the amount of energy being used in powering line arrays at festivals and large events – include the lumbering fleets of trucks transporting rigs between shows, and there are clearly reductions to be made. Furthermore, considering that the average GHG emissions per CD album is 1kg of C02 from recording to retail, even the daylight-averse studio junkies should be sparing a drop of ozone or two.
I’ve written fairly regularly for PSNE over the years, but my day job, if you will, is the live music industry; the festivals, arenas and promoters who hire in the sound in the first place, and perhaps importantly here, pay the bills.
You see, it’s all about supply chains. As far as live work goes, audio companies rely on the production managers, who rely on the promoters, who rely on the bands, who are in turn counting on good old Joe Public for a living. If any of these constituent parts catch the green bug, it’s going to infect everyone below, whether they like it or not. Let’s be clear about this – it’s not just about the moral argument; there’s a clear business case emerging as well.
If Thom Yorke only wants to tour in a windmill-powered bobsleigh, that’s up to him, but he’s hardly the only artist who is considering the environment and his affect on it, and this concern will eventually be passed onto suppliers tendering for work. Neither is it just artists, as proved by a recent survey from AGreenerFestival.com which found that 36% of fans considered the environmental policy of a festival was an important factor when buying a ticket.
Inviting 60,000 people to jump in their cars and drive half way across a country is hardly the most planet-saving of initiatives, so festivals – and increasingly tours and venues too – are looking at ways to reduce their carbon emissions. They’re looking at carbon audits, employing sustainability managers, recycling schemes, travel schemes, bio diesel, LED lighting, and there’s even talk of toothpicks made from recycled strands of Russell Brand’s hair – whatever’s possible.
The UK music industry is far from a heavy polluter when it comes to GHG emissions, but it will struggle to hit an 80% reduction, and everybody’s going to have to get involved. Julie’s Bicycle suggests that the first step is getting a carbon audit commissioned but there are a myriad of ways that companies can start to reduce their emissions, stay one step ahead of competitors and gain a host of PR opportunities in the process.
Getting involved in the new carbon economy doesn’t have to be prohibitively expensive, and done right it should actually save money. The key point here is that it’s better to be proactive and involved now, than lose out on all fronts at a later date. Now that really would be “barking up a dead tree”.
Greg Parmley is editor of ILMC journal iQ : www.iq-mag.net