Wednesday 25 March 2009

How green is the music industry?

Thanks to the research and campaigning being undertaken by Julie's Bicycle, the UK music industry is tackling climate change head on.

Julie’s Bicycle is a not-for-profit coalition of industry, science and energy experts who are working to create a low carbon future for the music, and creative industries.

Research underpins all of Julie’s Bicycle’s strategic and practical programmes – ensuring they can identify achievable and measurable carbon emission reduction targets.

In August 2007 Julie’s Bicycle commissioned the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University, to

- estimate annual greenhouse gas emissions of the UK music industry.
- identify the key constraints and opportunities for reducing emissions.
- make initial recommendations for specific actions and priorities for the medium term.

Researchers worked with over 100 companies across the music business supply chain - limited to UK decision control. The report is the most extensive and rigorous research yet to examine a creative industry supply chain in the UK.

The indicative total shows that the UK music market is responsible for approximately 540,000 tonnes CO2e per annum. While this is not as intensive as many industries, it is a significant challenge to reduce CO2e emissions by 80% by 2050.

Current research projects include:

- An analysis of the climate impacts associated with touring designed to inform artists, tour/production managers, and audiences. This research spans the super band through to the chamber orchestra.

- An analysis of the climate impacts of the digital revolution. Is the assumption that digital is really less carbon-intensive than physical borne out by fact?

Read more at: http://www.juliesbicycle.com

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