When live music is becoming a climate villain

When the discs just after the turn of the millennium was transformed from the small klimatbovar of plastic to the downloadable information decreased musikindustrins ecological footprint drastically. According to a us study from this period was the production of a single cd for 65 per cent more carbon emissions than a digital version of the same work.

biodegradable cd made from corn is not longer the hottest snackisen what it's going to musikindustrins development on climate change. But it does not necessarily mean that the industry as such is more environmentally friendly in the day.

– Spontaneously thinking of man enough to experiences is a more sustainable consumption than what a cd is, " says Louise Lindén, founder and currently chief innovation officer at LiveGreen, who works with sustainability issues in the music industry in general and festivals in particular.

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" But I would say that livesegmentet is the part of the industry that have the greatest ecological impact. Whether artists have a private tour or if they play at festivals so will it so incredibly much with this type of arrangement. It is travel, transport, electricity, food, garbage. There is a lot you could do fairly easily to bring about great change for the better.

revenue for the concerts increased steadily. Today is live music for more than half of the musikindustrins sales. It is also very much thanks to this expansion that the industry recently been able to show good growth. You are no longer talking about the crisis for the music. But at the same time as konsertnäringen solved many problems, it also created new ones.

– At the major events that attract very many people see the trips as miljöboven, " says Martin Wallstam, a doctoral student at the turismforskningscentret Etour at mid sweden university.

U2 played in the Globe arena in 2009 during a tour that got criticised for the high carbon footprint. Photo: Jan E Carlsson

– carbon dioxide Emissions from them affect, not only locally, but has effect on the entire atmosphere is a global public good. When it comes to the big mega-events such as, for example, an OS is the factor of very extensive. Other things that come into play is how good the surrounding society is to manage the increased waste. In Sweden, we are good to burn garbage and convert them into energy. But in a country like Brazil for example, where the debris is collected in the high, become the ecological footprint of a major event, huge.

When we do gigs with major international artists such as Coldplay or Eminem are the opportunities for us to influence is very limited.

also, the infrastructure as an important factor when assessing an event's sustainability. Where much must be built to the event to take place will also become ecological costs high. Concerts are often held in existing venues, on the venues or in the halls, who normally have other activities. But only the spectacular productions that the greatest artists are traveling around with small infrastructures.

in 2009, U2 sharp criticism for the tour they planned to embark on would generate an equally large carbon footprint as if you were flown to a packed Wembley, 90,000 people, to Dublin. Very little suggests that the current arenakonserter is less klimatintensiva:

"When we do plays with great international artists like Coldplay or Eminem are the opportunities for us to influence is very limited," says Joakim Skoglund, marketing manager at concert and festival organisers Luger.

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" Where do we buy a finished product. The greater the artist the greater the concert and the larger apparatus. We have not at all the same conditions to make changes to strengthen the climate where as we have when we book our own tours with Swedish artists. But I see absolutely it as a logical next step for us, to start working more climate in relation to international artists.

have since 2017 worked with the festival the Sweden rocks extensive hållbarhetssatsning. She says that the organizers where seen unsustainable development what it comes to the really big konsertproduktionernas power consumption:

" It was believed that LED technology would mean that the use of electricity became less intense. But it seems to rather be the opposite. Since LED is more energy-efficient than the old lights makes the bands in a bigger light shows, that despite the fact that they are based on a more climate-smart technology actually costs more for the climate.

– 15 percent of the visitors stated that they ate less meat after the festival, " says turismforskaren Martin Wallstam on the Way out west. Photo: Björn Larsson Rosvall/TT

LiveGreen also arranges their own festival in Karlskrona. Where is the climate in focus, the scenes powered by renewable energy and the program is planned so that the visitors can use public transport to and from the concerts. Louise Lindén says that from the artists she meets are often a great commitment to the environment, but that the structures behind is still a lot of work to do:

– One of the most difficult things for us to get around are the requirements that bokningsbolagen. My opinion is that the artist's ”riders” (kravlistor) is often written by the agents, not of the artists themselves. They have seen the same in many years, and can often contain excessive amounts of alcohol, cold meats, snacks, fruktbrickor that is served up and then get thrown. It is very rarely that someone wants organic food and drink. It is a pity, since the riders is a concrete area where bokningsbolagen have great possibilities to influence the organizers to act more sustainable. We also see the often unnecessary travel. Once, we had to run an artist in the car to an airport in Skåne that they would play in the north the next day. From my perspective appears to be not such a turnéplanering as particularly climate-smart.

Read more: Way out west will be mjölkfritt

in the industry who uses his influence to both lead by example, and start the debate. One of Sweden's biggest festivals, Way out west, has since its inception more than ten years ago has been working to reduce its own ecological footprint. 2013 was the first Swedish festival the certification ISO 20121, an acknowledgment that the business responds to strict rules of social, ecological and economic sustainability.

"Way out west is a concrete example of how you can use a festival also as a communication platform," says Joakim Skoglund on organizing Luger.

When, in 2012, we stopped serving meat on the Way out west there was a superkontroversiellt decision that received very much attention.

" For us it has always been clear that we want to reduce our own footprint. But the biggest impact we have seen is actually the ripples on the water as the various initiatives we have made in connection with the festival has received. When, in 2012, we stopped serving meat on the Way out west there was a superkontroversiellt decision that received very much attention. We are damn proud to be such a simple decision from our side could get as many people to talk about sustainability.

Gothenburg university has seen to Way out west by becoming köttfri lowered their ecological footprint by 40 percent. Even more interesting is what happened next:

– When studying the effects of this showed that the visitors ' meat consumption is not only reduced during the actual event, tells the turismforskaren Martin Wallstam.

– 15 percent of the visitors also stated that they ate less meat after the festival. This is an effect of what is called social marketing. There is evidence that this particular type of strategy, where a tour operator taking an active position in society, has great potential to influence people's behaviour.

good reasons for musikindustrins actors to relate to the notion of sustainable development. Position makes a difference. Today also have a lot of really nine out of ten Swedish festivals as a sustainability plan, according to a survey from Sveriges Radio. In festivalbranschen have klimatfokus almost become a hygiene factor.

But much work is left to do in the rest of the music industry. When DN, contact the three major companies with a question about how their work looks returns no. And how the big, huge, energy-intensive turnékoncepten where artists are flown in and out of the cities by private jet should be able to meet increased demands on the durability remains to be seen.