With Earth Day (4/22) here, the question as to how the music industry can and has gone green is important. We’ve experienced concerts with environmental initiatives, album artwork printed with vegan dyes, soft packs instead of jeweled CD cases, artist contributions made to organizations, press releases with philanthropic undertones, but has the music industry as a whole gone green? I can’t confidently say yes.

In order for the music industry to go green, a demand for a green market within the music industry must be created. Why is this important to you? Because as the consumer, you must recognize the power you have to create that demand. And as a business looking to partner with other businesses/entities you must create that demand as well. Not excepting anything less. While there has been great momentum among a number of individual artists going green over the course of the past decade, and most notably over the past five years, the next step is to bring these like-minded artists together with others in the music community (the label, management, and the consumer) to turn the tide with how the music industry does business in order to create effective long-standing change.

What could be two possibilities deterring the music industry as a collective from going green:  the lack of recognition of the need to and calling into question the finances associated with it. The music industry like every other industry has been effected by the state of the economy in addition to changes brought on by technology, digital sales. and a new generation of consumers.  However, memo to all the record labels out there that haven’t caught on yet: the time to incorporate environmental initiative into fiscal budgets was yesterday.

A change of perspective is in order. It is necessary for the music industry to operate around the understanding of a sustainable future.  And in no way am I knocking those that do have this perspective and have had it for some time. Perhaps the patient founders of the major record labels we know of today would have been more apt to incorporating greener business models. With major executives constantly looking towards a fix it now solution it is important to note that in terms of incorporating environmental policy into corporate social responsibility programs, immediate change/economic gains are rarely a byproduct.  It is time to take music back to it’s roots: where the industry rested upon creative visions before perilous gains. However, more than just a creative idea, greening the music business is a global imperative.

Not only does this environmental imperative require us to act now, but that greening-up businesses, can and does produce a positive economic pay-back to industry. Reduced future costs, greater efficiencies, brand leadership and technological advancement are just some of the benefits directly attributable to sustainable business activity.

Artists and music industry heads that understand this are those that recently formed the Green Music Group (GMG) – a large-scale, high profile environmental coalition of musicians, industry leaders and music fans coming together to bring about widespread environmental change within the music industry and around the globe, such as The Dave Matthews Band, Jack Johnson, Guster, Ben Harper, Maroon 5, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, and Linkin Park. And while the largest void of environmentalism has been within the urban sector of music, revolutionizers and G.O.O.D Music artists: Kid Cudi, John Legend, & Fonzworth Bentley have shown support towards the environment with PSA’s, messages in their music, and touring. Alongside these artists have included most notably Talib Kweli, Alchemist, Ludacris, Lupe Fiasco, Kenna, Jeremih, and The Roots.

“While music is a key medium to engage people emotionally about environmental issues, the way people have come to experience music – in clubs, at festivals, and by purchasing CDs and reams of related swag – is itself environmentally taxing. From energy costs related in both artist and fan travel,  to the way food and trash is disposed of at venues, to the mountains of concert flyers printed, T-shirts sold, and CDs – most shrouded in toxic plastic – the music industry is indeed a fertile ground for greening.”

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