21 in 2021: The year in sustainability (and music)

We know that our current way of dancing isn't sustainable, and the pandemic has given us time to think and reflect upon our industry's impact on the planet. If there is one, a silver lining is that the pandemic has awarded the music industry a clean slate and a chance to do things differently this time around. Throughout the year, we saw industry figures make for-the-planet pledges, brands announce new green practices and sustainable initiatives for the year ahead, and we saw a greater number of artists use their voices and platforms to raise awareness surrounding the sustainability of our beloved music industry. As clubs continue to open up and festivals begin rolling out line-ups around the world, collectively, we have the power to change the course of our beloved industry. Let this 2021 round-up of green initiatives that happened in the music industry inspire you for the year ahead, and ask yourself — how are you creating change?

Scottish nightclub SWG3 trialled a new system that will use the body heat from ravers to power the venue’s lights, music, and electricity. ‘BODYHEAT’, the technology used for the trial, uses pumps and fluids to capture the heat before “channelling their combined energy into twelve 150m-deep boreholes drilled beneath the venue,” according to SWG3’s official website. “This heat can then either be used immediately to cool the audience, or stored under the ground until it's needed to heat the building,” it reads. The human body supposedly emits 100 watts of excess heat - even before dancing or doing exercise. So, when ravers come together in the venue, the average heat excess should be raised enough to generate enough energy to power the entire venue. Read more

In May, Brian Eno launched EarthPercent: an initiative aimed at undertaking the music industry’s environmental footprint. The British pioneer put the action plan into place with aims to raise $100 million from the industry collectively by 2030. The money will support the ‘most impactful organisations addressing the climate emergency’, according to EarthPercent’s website. “We want to encourage artists and music-related organisations to pledge a small percentage of their income to EarthPercent. This percentage can be collected at source and diverted to EarthPercent where it will be directed to the most impactful organisations dealing with climate change,” it reads. Read more

Dutch festival brand DGTL has opened the door to sustainable air travel across the music industry after it announced in August a partnership with sustainable fuel pioneer SkyNRG that will see that all artists travelling by air to its eight international events reduce their CO2 emissions by using replacing fossil fuels with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). How it works is via a system called book and claim, which allocates the fuel produced in a SkyNRG facility to a nearby airport rather than on the actual planes artists use to fly — similar to offsetting, or the purchase of carbon credits, if you must. The carbon-neutral air option is also favoured by companies like DHL, United Airlines and some private jet travel companies. Read more

In April, Danish headphone manufacturer AIAIAI unveiled a world-first collaboration with Ninja Tune presenting a pair of headphones made from the label’s recycled vinyl. The new TMA-2 Ninja Tune Edition headphones were built upon AIAIAI’s modular design ethos as well as a joint vision shared by both brands to ‘doing things better’. "With a creative approach to sustainability and through experimentation, we continuously focus on reducing our impact on the planet,” the brands say. "We are keenly aware of the need to explore more ecological and earth positive means of manufacturing. To continue to exist as an industry we need to place these topics at the forefront of discussions and decisions. This collaboration is not the final answer, but more so an example of how working towards greener solutions can lead to innovative and exciting results. This project is an opportunity to continue to shine a light on an increasingly pressing global issue.” Read more

Fronting as an on-site studio space and record store that moonlights as a digital streaming platform, Potato Head launched HEADSTREAM this year which aims to shine a light on the voices, stories and sounds of Indonesia in front of the world…sustainably. To begin, its headquarters sit beneath The Womb, a remarkable 90-metre bamboo archway built by revered artist Nano Uhero that’s a strong contender for a future cover of an Architectural Digest issue on conscious construction. But what’s even more impressive is the studio itself, which is an (eco) temple built from 564 kilograms of recycled plastic. Designed in collaboration with rising Bali-based architect Zhi Xiong Chan of ZXC Studio, the artist repurposed motor oil bottles into panels and built both the display window and interior surfaces from mineral water caps that were collected from waterways across Bali. All 170 kilograms of flooring is formulated out of industrial rubber rejects. Read more

Indie label stalwarts Beggars Group and Ninja Tune have both announced targets to become carbon-negative companies as part of a week of activations in April called Turn Up The Volume by the Music Declares Emergency campaign. According to a statement, both labels aim to reduce their carbon footprint to less than zero and have the net effect of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere rather than adding to it. Beggars Group will be counting their carbon emissions including their supply chain and aims to become carbon negative by the end of 2022 while Ninja Tune is committed to being carbon neutral by the end of 2021, and carbon-negative beyond that. The labels will also be cutting down on business travel, encouraging their pressing plant partners to switch to renewable power, reducing the impact of freight operations and have already installed renewable energy systems in their workplaces. Read more

A Berlin-based collective called Clean Scene has published an eye-opening report has released a report on the impact of flights by touring DJs. Titled Last Night a DJ Took a Flight: Exploring the carbon footprint of touring DJs and looking towards alternative futures within the dance music industry, the report was born out of a need to understand the impact our industry has on the planet and examines artists on Resident Advisor's top 1000 DJs list by factoring in how many flights they took in 2019. Omitting 2020 for obvious reasons, in 2019 artists took more than 51,000 flights and travelled more than 117,000,000 kilometres, using 3,200,000 litres of fuels and emitting 35,000,000 tons of CO2 into the air. To give you some context, this is equivalent to the amount of electricity it takes to power 20,000 households for one year, powering 8,000 festivals for three days or pressing 25 million records. Read more

Our heroes at DJs for Climate Action (DJs4CA) announced a new vision for the electronic music industry, one that is greener, fairer and more innovative by the time that 2030 arrives. They’ve called it Future Vision and it will be delivered alongside a set of ideas on how we can get there. The vision lays out the framework of values, beliefs and actions needed to transition to a sustainable industry under four key pillars: Touring and Connection; Venues and Events; Economic and Income Model; and Self-awareness, Transparency and Influence. Suggested actions include: green travel riders; longer guest residencies in overseas cities; an industry certification scheme for sustainably operated venues and events; stronger local and regional programming; greater community ownership of physical and online spaces; and donating or investing a percentage of income into green and social causes. Read more

Called the Peggy Chair, the multi-functional chair is made from 100% plastic waste and can hold vinyl in its base. Each chair contains 20kgs of plastic waste saved from oceans and landfills, and is a true zero waste product; no glue, nails or screws were used in its production and offcuts used to weld the chair together. Made by hand, the chair is also fully recyclable and repairable. Space Available is a Bali-based creative platform founded by former Potato Head creative director Dan Mitchell and led by a community of designers, artists, scientists and environmentalist who are connecting the dots between nature, design, culture and the future. Their mission is ‘Making Space for a Sustainable Future’ and combine radical recycling with future craft and digital communication for the new world. Since the chair, they’ve also launched a record bag and turntable case. Read more

Joy Division’s iconic Unknown Pleasures artwork has been reworked as a mural aimed at raising awareness around climate change in Manchester. The album artwork was originally designed by Factory Records cofounder Peter Saville in 1979 and was based on showing radio emissions given out by a pulsar, or a “rotating neutron star”. Earlier this year it was redesigned by Saville himself with flat and lifeless lines said to symbolise “the eternal silence of a dead planet”. The logo was emblazoned on t-shirts as part of a campaign called No Music On A Dead Planet by Music Declares Emergency (MDE) and was backed by artists like Billie Eilish, Thom Yorke and Foals. Read more

Bristolian band Massive Attack have supplied data proving the phenomenal rates of carbon emissions put out by touring musicians. The study was conducted by scientists at the University of Manchester suggesting artists cut down on private travel, and the government implement systems for people travelling to concerts. The band have now called for the government to push the new scheme, which will encourage musicians to swap out private jets for more sustainable methods of transport, and venues and festivals to create more renewable energy. “Without a fundamental change in approach to human activities, emissions in 2022 will likely bounce back from their 2020 dip and continue the trend of steady growth seen in the 2010s,” reads the report. Read more

Planet2Planet is a series of Heart2Heart conversations with DJs about sustainability and music by Mixmag Asia x Bye Bye Plastic Foundation, who are on a mission to eradicate single-use plastics from the music industry. Launched earlier this year out of Bali, we’ve so far published three episodes in which Seth Troxler, Nicole Moudaber and Lauren Lane gave candid talks on music, wellness, sustainability, mental health, the planet and their love affair with Balinese culture. “We think the pandemic is bad but climate change will be far worse,” said Seth Troxler. Read more

Robert Del Naja, AKA 3D from Bristolian famous trip-hop group Massive Attack (also who conspiracy theorists believe could be Banksy), has co-founded a (hugely needed) watchdog bot that aims to flag climate misinformation shared on social media. The AI system, called Eco-Bot.Net, will trawl Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for posts that suggest instances of greenwashing, which it describes as "a tactic used to mislead consumers about the green credentials of a product or service, or about the environmental performance of a company. Once our system finds a sponsored ad or post that contains greenwashing content and it is verified by our in-house team of journalists, the data will be visualised online and then flagged on the social media platform where it was found.” Read more

In November, DJs for Climate Action (DJs4CA) finally released their Climate Soundtrack. The 41-track compilation features music from Acid Pauli, Mark Farina, Fakear, Aroop Roy and more, including several promising producers who stepped up to the occasion when asked “What Does The Future Sound Like?” and delivered music to save the world to. Vocalists alike were inspired by the sounds and the compilation features Synapson vocalist Lass and more up and coming artists. The selections were curated by a jury made up of Nicola Cruz, BLOND:ISH, Cosmo Baker and Matt Black of Coldcut and were whittled down from 350, with every single song using nature sounds from around the world captured by Greenpeace to create the music submitted. Listen to it here

Recognising the importance of bringing sustainability to the forefront of the conversation, at the end of 2019 the Association for Electronic Music (AFEM) launched a green initiatives group with a mission "to advocate for environmentally sustainable practices to be adopted by all those involved in electronic music." From there, the members voted on what the priorities were and spun off a couple of subgroups. Up there at the top, Subgroup 2 is now dedicated to helping speed up the adoption of sustainable riders as mainstream practice in the industry. But what exactly is a sustainable rider? “Green Riders are a useful tool to help artists and live events be more sustainable,” says Tristan Hunt, Regional Manager of AFEM. “As riders often encompass both an artist's technical and hospitality requirements they can have much influence; from reducing the power consumption of stage lighting and reducing waste backstage, through to ensuring more sustainable travel and accommodation options like trains, hybrid cars and eco-friendly hotels are used.”

In honour of World Oceans Day this year, we compiled a list of sustainable riders aimed at arming you, the music industry, with the resources and tools to get you started along a more sustainable path to reopening clubs and relaunching festivals. This is not just for artists; it’s for promoters, agents, event organisers, managers, tour managers, music fans: this is for you! Read more

At the start of the year, Live Nation introduced the Green Nation Touring Program, which is developing industry-leading guidance and best practices to enhance the sustainability of concert tours. The Green Nation Touring Program will allow Live Nation to help artists adopt and scale sustainable touring practices that prioritize people and planet. There will be focus on driving impact across all areas of the tour, including: planning, production, sourcing and community. “Live Nation has the opportunity and the responsibility to provide artists and fans with live music experiences that protect our planet,” said Michael Rapino, President and CEO, Live Nation Entertainment. “We’re inspired by artists who are continually pushing for greener options, and as we develop those best practices the Green Nation Touring Program will help make them standards in the industry so collectively we can all make the biggest impact possible.”

In May, AEG Presents announced the formation of Climate Positive Touring, a team of music industry professionals dedicated to moving the live business towards a greener future. Climate Positive Touring (CPT) is comprised of people who work across various business divisions at AEG Presents: Concerts West, Global Touring, International Touring, Marshall Arts, Messina Touring Group, and AEG Global Partnerships. CPT is focused on reducing tour related carbon emissions to net zero or better, supporting locally led environmental and climate justice programs and creating impact on both the operations side of touring, as well as the experience itself. Artists, fans, crews, and employees are encouraged to actively participate in the dialogue about the many benefits of climate awareness, responsibility, and collective action. “AEG Presents has the ability and structure to really make a global impact in moving our entire business – which has had a traditionally significant carbon footprint – toward a zero emissions future,” said Jay Marciano, Chairman and CEO, AEG Presents and COO, Office of the Chairman, AEG. “The company’s reach enables us to execute at every level of the live experience: from clubs and theatres to arenas, global tours, and festivals. I’m looking forward to seeing how the Climate Positive Touring group begins to implement their plans as the business starts to reopen this year.”

For Earth Day, we turned the tables on streaming and instead of beaming music from one of the most beautiful places in the world, we chose one that needs our attention: Bali's waterways. In the year before, Sungai Watch stopped more than 300,000 pounds of plastic from entering the oceans via barriers they install in rivers around Bali. Together with Bye Bye Plastic Foundation, ABRACADABRA, Lauren Lane and Rainforest Pavillion, with support from Potato Head Beach Club and Slab Interiors, we banded together and used the power of music to raise awareness around the situation in Bali. The output was a stream that debuted over Earth Day on ABRACADABRA Earth Day Festival on Twitch where we fundraised for the cost of two elements to a barrier. Now you can watch the stream in full on youtube.com/mixmagasia. Read more

Note: Rainy season in Bali is well underway. Sungai Watch has been holding daily cleanups around Bali to help clean up the plastic and rubbish washing up in rivers and right on beaches in the heart of Canggu. Follow them here to help.

Charlotte de Witte and 42I54 founders, Olympic gold medalists Elodie Ouedraogo and Olivia Borlée set out to create a new activewear program — KNTXT Active, bring an eco-friendly ethos to activewear stating that "great design should be sustainable". The label's first capsule collection launched on July 23 and saw sleek rave elements like neon printed blocks of colour with bold typography on second skin lightweight materials. The bridge between KNTXT Active aims to influence more music lovers to activewear as Charlotte explains, "what I really like in the pieces is that while it is technically activewear, it can also be worn at a club or a music festival.” Read more

Stay'ge Positive is a mentorship program custom-crafted for artists who want to become creative leaders of climate action and navigate ways to efficiently relay this journey to their fans. The hybrid program is designed to help artists boost their climate confidence, activate their green'fluential power, join a supercharged community and grow in-tune climate creativity. Led by BLOND:ISH, Harald Friedl, Laura Williams and Camille Guitteau and divided into four progressive modules — Climate Change 101, In-Power Yourself, Tune Your Voice and Tune Your Creativity — the mentorship program took place over four weeks this year and saw artists like Parallells, Elif, VANDER, Joep Mencke, Ilja John Lappin, Saqib and NICOSAN all graduate. Stay tuned for the next sessions coming soon.

According to data collected by Bye Bye Plastic, a foundation lead by BLOND:ISH, the average 50,000 person festival creates about 100 tons of waste per event. Now digest this: trash can still be found on the grounds of the iconic Woodstock Festival that happened in 1969. As venues around the world start to reopen and festivals begin to roll out line-ups in this new world, we’re presented with a clean slate if you must, and a chance to do things better this time around. So we wonder: can the music industry flip its own script from garbage generator to a sustainable innovator? So we asked a couple of DJs what one piece of advice they had for the music community on steps we can all take to be a little more mindful when we return to the dance floor. We heard from Seth Troxler, Soul Clap, Nicole Moudaber, Lauren Lane and more who had some advice on how we can do better for the planet here.

Mixmag Asia is committed to providing coverage to those looking to lessen the impact of the music industry on our planet. Read more sustainability content from Mixmag Asia’s Green Room series here.