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The first-ever North American music industry climate summit is growing.
The inaugural Music Sustainability Summit has announced that due to high demand, it’s moving the event from the USC campus to the 2,300-capacity The Novo in downtown Los Angeles.
Set to take place on Feb. 4, the summit will feature a day’s worth of discussions on how the music industry is addressing, adapting to and finding solutions for the climate crisis.
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In addition to the summit’s previously announced programming, the event has added a conversation with promoters and venues including Lindsay Arell, the chief sustainability officer of ASM Global; Lucy August-Perna, the head of global sustainability at Live Nation Entertainment; Erik Distler, the vp of sustainability at AEG; and Kristen Fulmer, the head of sustainability at Oak View Group and GOAL. The discussion will focus on challenges, bright spots and visions for the future.
Additionally, the summit has added a conversation between representatives from several major labels, including Olga LaBelle, the vp/head of ESG at Warner Music Group. Representatives from two other labels will be announced in the coming weeks.
Newly added speakers include Jonathan Foley, the executive director of Project Drawdown; Cassie Lee, the CEO of Sound Future; Adam Met of the band AJR, who also serves as the executive director of Planet Reimagined and a professor at Columbia University; artist Beattie Wolfe; artist AY Young; Jett Glozier, the global head of infrastructure at Sound Diplomacy; Jon Ozaksut, the digital director at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication; and Rita Kampalath, the chief sustainability offer of L.A. County.
Tickets for the summit are on sale now and available on a sliding scale. The doors open at 8:30 a.m., with programming beginning promptly at 9 a.m. and running until 5:30 p.m.
The event is being organized by the Music Sustainability Alliance, which provides science-based solutions, business case analyses, best practices and tools for operational change across the music industry. The Alliance reports that a diverse group of attendees has already registered for the event, including big names in climate science and sustainability, along with music industry professionals from venues, promoters, agencies, production companies, artist management companies and more.
“Every job is a climate job,” the Music Sustainability Alliance’s Amy Morrison tells Billboard.
Billboard is the official media partner of the Music Sustainability Summit.
With climate change having an increasing effect on the music industry, Billboard is partnering with the Music Sustainability Alliance to help foster impactful solutions to this urgent issue.
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Billboard will be the official media partner of the inaugural Music Sustainability Summit, happening Feb. 5 at the USC Campus in Los Angeles. Produced by the Music Sustainability Alliance, the event marks the first music industry climate summit in North America.
“Billboard is delighted to be partnering with the Music Sustainability Alliance to amplify their essential work in educating the music industry about climate action,” says Billboard‘s Chief Brand Officer Dana Droppo. “Dedicating our attention to environmentalism is an investment in future generations of fans and artists alike, and we can’t wait witness the exchange of ideas at this inaugural Summit.”
The Music Sustainability Alliance provides science-based solutions, business case analyses, best practices, and tools for operational change across the music industry. Tickets for the Summit — running 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. — are available on a sliding scale between $25 and $200 and are available now.
“The MSA is thrilled to partner with Billboard to advance meaningful climate action in the music industry,” adds Music Sustainability Alliance President and Co-founder Amy Morrison. “With the support of Billboard, The Summit will become an annual gathering of the tribes, bringing together the MSA team, our diverse group of stakeholders and new advocates.”
The Summit will feature speakers including Lindsay Arell, head of sustainability at ASM, Maggie Baird the founder of Support + Feed, John Fernandez, the director of the Environmental Solutions Initiative at MIT, Adam Gardner, the co-founder and Co-Director of REVERB (and also the guitarist and vocalist for Guster), Garrett Keraga, the senior manager of sustainability, policy & advisory at ClimeCo, Cassie Lee, the CEO of Sound Future, Michael Martin, the CEO and founder of r.World & Effect Partners, Amy Morrison, the president & co-founder of the the Music Sustainability Alliance, Lesley Olenik the vice president of touring at Live Nation and Jake Perry, the director of operations at C3 Presents. See the complete program here.
In less than two months, the-ever first North American music industry climate summit will happen at the USC Campus in Los Angeles. Today (Dec. 14), the event is announcing a robust list of speakers and programming for the day-long event.
Happening Feb. 5, the Summit will feature speakers including Lindsay Arell, head of sustainability at ASM, Maggie Baird the founder of Support + Feed, John Fernandez, the director of the Environmental Solutions Initiative at MIT, Adam Gardner, the co-founder and Co-Director of REVERB (and also the guitarist and vocalist for Guster), Garrett Keraga, the senior manager of sustainability, policy & advisory at ClimeCo, Cassie Lee, the CEO of Sound Future, Michael Martin, the CEO and founder of r.World & Effect Partners, Amy Morrison, the president & co-founder of the the Music Sustainability Alliance, Lesley Olenik the vice president of touring at Live Nation and Jake Perry, the director of operations at C3 Presents.
Other speakers will represent companies including TAIT, CES, Coca Cola, Overdrive Energy Solutions and Rock-it Global. Additional speakers will be added before the event. Panels will be moderated by GreenBiz Chairman & Co-founder Joel Makower and address climate-related problems specific to the music economy including carbon emissions from fan travel, waste management, clean energy options and much more. See the complete Summit program below.
The Music Sustainability Summit is being produced by The Music Sustainability Alliance, an organization that provide science-based solutions, business case analyses, best practices, and tools for operational change across the industry. Tickets for the event — running 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. — are available on a sliding scale between $25 and $200 and are available now.
“We welcome all, the climate curious and the climate experts,” Music Sustainability Alliance co-founder and president Morrison said upon the Summit’s announcement. “There will be something for everybody.”
Music Sustainability Summit 2024 Program
Our Place in the World, Welcome from the MSA: Get grounded in space in time with Amy Morrison and Michael Martin, co-founders of the MSA, and Joel Makower, founder of GreenBiz – the most vital resource for greening the economy on the planet.
What’s the Problem?, The New Music Sustainability Basics: Emissions and waste are hard to measure, so we’ve gotten the experts to do it for us. MIT presents an overview of the music industry decision makers from a sustainability lens, showing us where to place our emphasis – ClimeCo brings a holistic picture of the problems we face, based on interviews from players across the music landscape. Finally, Cassie Lee from Sound Future shows us how to leverage the power of live events as a catalyst for climate innovation.
The Artist-Activist Spectrum, Artist Discussion: You’re small, you’re huge. You’re an activist first, you’re an artist first. Most likely, you’re somewhere in between. Join artists from all over the spectrum as they speak openly about the challenges, anxieties, and joys of climate action. And learn how to most effectively support them in their quest for impact.
What We Eat Matters, Food, Carbon, and Equity: “Plant-based eating is the single biggest way to reduce your impact on the earth.” – Univ. of Oxford. This conversation will explore how the music business can set precedent for other industries. From catering, to concessions, to community outreach, we will shine a light on how to eat more sustainably for the planet and each other. This conversation will show the opportunities artists and the music industry have, to shift to a more equitable food system and how they can impact local communities.
That’s Trashy!, Waste Management: It’s the most visible problem in the live music industry: millions of plastic cups, food containers, and pounds of food waste. No one likes it, it’s expensive, and there’s a solution. Join the people engineering the future of zero waste venues, and hear directly from waste haulers and concessionaires about the pain points of the transition.
Dark Days for Diesel, New Horizons for Power: Diesel generators are like the gas-powered leaf blower of the music industry: dirty, loud, and carbon-polluting… but familiar and reliable. As clean energy technologies become more widely available, festivals are leading the way in innovative power solutions to shift the industry away from fossil fuels. Meet the experts battery-powering the revolution and learn how you can hop on the train before it leaves the (solar-powered) station.
Haul it All, Freight, Trucking, Logistics, and Shipping: Whether you’re touring with a convoy of 18-wheelers, a fleet of cargo planes, ocean freight or just an acoustic guitar, getting all your gear from place to place is top-of-mind from an emissions perspective. Learn how to design cleaner, less-wasteful touring from the ground up and what artists and tours are doing today to reduce their environmental and social impact.
The Elephant in the Car, Fan Travel: It sucks, and no one wants to talk about it: anywhere from 50 – 90% of the music industry’s emission problems come from fan transportation. Like it or not, we generate the demand, and that means we’re responsible for the planes, trains, and automobiles that get people to the show. How do we even get started? From shuttle programs, to incentivizing mass transit, to lobbying for clean energy, it’s time to bite the bullet and build a livable future for our fans and ourselves.
Our Voice, Our power, Climate Communications and Fan Engagement: We’re musicians and music business professionals, not scientists. So let’s learn how to use our best weapons – our voices – to fight climate change. Learn from climate communication experts about the most effective ways for musicians and their teams to talk about climate – without fear of getting canceled.
Processing: What Just Happened?, Moderated Group Discussion: Joel Makower of GreenBiz leads us in conversation. Now that you’ve got the lay of the land, it’s time to put it all together. Meet with your new (and old) partners on the journey. Ask questions about your place on the road to zero emissions. If you’ve got questions, chances are, you’re not the only one. In this session, the audience has a chance to join the discussion and inform what’s next.
Where do we go from here?, Onwards and upwards with the MSA: Learn what’s next for the MSA and others in the industry, including plans for getting together to help each other along, and shared resources for maintaining a high level of impact.
As the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference begins in Dubai, a crew of music artists are putting their support behind a campaign that links climate action and human rights.
As part of the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance, artists including Demi Lovato, Cyndi Lauper, Carole King and Annie Lennox have released statements urging leaders at the climate summit to support climate justice goals. The campaign will benefit from the artists’ combined social media followings of more than 300 million, with the goal to build support for United Nations Human Rights climate justice goals. Rob Thomas will add his voice to the campaign in the coming days.
The Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance addresses climate change through the lens of human rights, coalescing input from human rights experts, scientists, corporate leaders, NGOs, academics, advocates and people around the globe in the fight for rights-based climate action to preserve the future of humanity and the planet. The organization is partnered with the United Nations Human Rights, one of the U.N.’s major divisions.
All four artists released statements supporting the campaign via Instagram.
“By working together and supporting rights-based climate action for people and the planet,” Lovato wrote, “we can realize a better, more sustainable future for all.”
“Climate change is the SINGLE BIGGEST HEALTH THREAT FACING HUMANITY,” Lennox wrote. “The impacts are already harming health through air pollution, disease, extreme weather events, forced displacement, food insecurity, and pressures on mental health. Every year environmental factors take the lives of 13 million people… Climate change is a huge challenge, yet there ARE MANY SOLUTIONS. These solutions can deliver economic benefits while improving our lives and protecting the environment.”
“The impacts of climate change are now being felt in all countries, yet not all people are being impacted the same way,” wrote Lauper. “Climate change is hitting the poorest and most vulnerable women, children and marginalized people of the world most.”
“By working together and supporting inclusive, rights-based climate action for people and the planet,” wrote King, “we can realize a better, more sustainable future for all.”
The social media campaign precedes a press conference from the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance and United Nations Human Rights in Dubai at COP28 on Dec. 8. The press conference will include Recording Academy president Panos A. Panay and Chantel Sausedo, the Recording Academy’s vp of artist relations, who together will discuss the organization’s goals of using music to promote climate justice and rights-based climate action.
The Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit will be held at the University of Oxford from Sept. 11-14, 2024 and end with the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Concert. The lineup for the event will be announced at a later date.
Ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference starting tomorrow (Nov. 3) in Dubai, Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group have announced the creation of the Music Industry Climate Collective (MICC). This alliance will work to address the challenges and changes in the global climate and how they relate to the music industry.
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The MICC’s first initiative will be offering comprehensive sectoral guidance for measuring scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, defined as “emissions that are not produced by the company itself and are not the result of activities from assets owned or controlled by them, but by those that it’s indirectly responsible for up and down its value chain.”
For the music sector, the vast majority of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are in scope 3.
MICC’s members have already worked with scientific experts on their first draft of the sectoral guidance, which will be made available to industry participants. MICC’s members have also initiated calls for wider industry input through an advisory council composed of independent record labels, value chain partners, and climate experts. The guidance will be further developed through an inclusive, multi-stakeholder process.
The American Association of Independent Music, a non-profit trade organization representing more than 600 independently owned U.S. record labels, will serve as an advisor to the MICC. A2IM will assist in myriad ways, initially with recommendations on how best to include small-to-medium-sized businesses in this initiative.
“This initiative demonstrates what can be achieved when music leaders come together with a shared vision and commitment to sustainability,” the MICC’s founding members say in a group statement. “We are proud to collaborate to amplify environmental stewardship and offer practical recommendations and strategies tailored to the unique needs of music companies, regardless of their size or scale of operations.
“Together, we must continue to make progress on this vital priority,” the statement continues. “We welcome all to join us in reducing our industry’s carbon footprint by working together to ensure an environmentally responsible future for music and our planet.”
2023 is on track to be the hottest year on record, with many concerts and festivals affected by climate change since the start of the year.
7/6, Island of Tiree, Scotland — The Tiree Music Festival, a three-day folk music event scheduled for July 7-9, canceled entirely due to what organizers called “extreme weather conditions.”
7/9, Pittsburgh, Penn. — At an Ed Sheeran concert at Acrisure Stadium, the Pittsburgh Bureau of EMS personnel working the concert received 37 calls for service, with 17 transports to the hospital. A press release from the City of Pittsburgh reported that the transports were for “heat-related issues,” along with a few falls, one seizure and two cardiac arrests.
7/9, Amsterdam, Netherlands – The electronic music festival Awakenings canceled its third day, including sets by dozens of producers including TSHA, Amelie Lens and Tale of Us, due to severe weather.
7/15, Hartford, Conn. — Jason Aldean ended a concert at Xfinity Theatre early after experiencing heat stroke while onstage. Temperatures reached nearly 90 degrees that day.
7/19-25, Europe – Pearl Jam canceled shows in Vienna, Prague and Amsterdam after Eddie Vedder suffered throat damage during an outdoor show at Lollapalooza Paris due to heat, along with dust and smoke from wildfires throughout Europe.
7/22, Chicago, Ill. — Pitchfork Music Festival asked attendees to evacuate the festival site in the city’s Union Park, with the event resuming after a severe thunderstorm had passed.
7/25, Phoenix, Ariz. — Disturbed canceled its show at Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre because the band’s equipment would not turn on in the heat, which reached 117 degrees that day.
With climate change having widespread effects across the music industry, a new conference will provide education and create action regarding what the music world can do to address the crisis.
The Music Sustainability Summit launches Feb. 5 in Los Angeles and is being produced by The Music Sustainability Alliance, an organization that provide science-based solutions, business case analyses, best practices, and tools for operational change across the industry.
The Summit is the first of its kind in North America.
Happening the day after the Grammy Awards, the event will be moderated by GreenBiz Group chairman and co-founder Joel Makower and feature members of MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative, climate change and food justice focused organization Support+Feed, industry environmental nonprofit REVERB, climate organization Planet Reimagined and global sustainability company ClimeCo. The Summit’s partner is Circular Unity, an organization focused on climate change as it relates to the entertainment industry.
The conference is intended to create alignment within the industry by bringing stakeholders on board to commit to climate action. The Summit will include the establishment of working groups meant to ensure that climate organizations are in the rooms with the key decision makers across the industry. Organizers hope that by the end of the day, those in attendance will have committed to the first steps in the industry’s collective action.
“There’s so much good work people are doing, but nobody knows about it,” says Music Sustainability Alliance co-founder and president Amy Morrison. “A goal of the conference, and what inspired it, is to help people to stop reinventing the wheel, to provide resources and get people talking and collaborating. This is a community. The power of all of this together is so much greater than individual actions.”
Hosted on the USC campus, the day-long conference will be structured into two parts, with morning programming focused on education and getting stakeholders on the same page and afternoon programming geared towards action about what the industry can do to mitigate its carbon footprint.
Along with panel discussions, a team from MIT will present a climate-focused map of the entire music industry, and the conference will provide educational materials so that even people just starting to learn about climate science will be able to follow along.
“We welcome all, the climate curious and the climate experts,” says Morrison. “There will be something for everybody.”
Tickets for the Summit are available on a sliding scale, between $25 and $200.
The Music Sustainability Alliance has already been busy bringing together stakeholders. A July organizing call had more than 30 representatives from businesses including UTA, CAA and WME, along with Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music, along with AEG and Live Nation and a number of managers and nonprofit organizations that work in the climate action space.
“It was really the first time ever all of these people had gotten on the phone together and been in a meeting to actually talk about sustainability,” says Morrison, who was the svp of marketing at Concerts West for more than two decades. “One of things that we find is really important to remember is that everybody’s job is a climate job, and there’s something that we can all do in our daily jobs.”
“It really is about working together and not working in these silos,” adds Music Sustainability Alliance director Eleanore Anderson. “It really is amazing working in these neutral parties and seeing everyone come together.”
Founded during the pandemic, the Music Sustainability Alliance is composed of music industry veterans, companies and scientists who are addressing innovation and sustainability converging in the music industry. The Alliance and the Summit both put a strong emphasis on data, research and science.
As the global climate crisis continues to cause the planet’s oceans to warm and rise, imperiling citizens of island (and low-lying) nations, Rihanna issues an urgent plea to world leaders to step it up. In a tweet Tuesday morning (June 20) that called out U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and World Band President Ajay Banga, […]
A group of corporate Amazon workers upset about the company’s environmental impact, recent layoffs and a return-to-office mandate is planning a walkout at the company’s Seattle headquarters Wednesday.
The lunchtime protest comes a week after Amazon’s annual shareholder meeting and a month after a policy took effect requiring workers to return to the office three days per week.
“We respect our employees’ rights to express their opinions,” the company said in a statement.
As of Wednesday morning, more than 1,900 employees had pledged to walk out around the world, with about 900 in Seattle, according to Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, a climate change advocacy group founded by Amazon workers. While some plan to gather at the Amazon Spheres — a four-story structure in downtown Seattle that from the outside looks like three connected glass orbs — others will participate remotely.
Some employees have complained that Amazon has been slow to address its impact on climate change. Amazon, which relies on fossil fuels to power the planes, trucks and vans that ship packages all over the world, has an enormous carbon footprint. Amazon workers have been vocal in criticizing some of the company’s practices.
In an annual statement to investors, Amazon said it aims to deploy 100,000 electric delivery vehicles by 2030 and reach net-zero carbon by 2040. But walkout organizers contend the company must do more and commit to zero emissions by 2030.
“While we all would like to get there tomorrow, for companies like ours who consume a lot of power, and have very substantial transportation, packaging, and physical building assets, it’ll take time to accomplish,” Brad Glasser, an Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement.
Glasser said there has also been a good energy on the company’s South Lake Union campus and at its other urban centers since more employees returned to the office. More than 20,000 workers, however, signed a petition urging Amazon to reconsider the return-to-office mandate.
“As it pertains to the specific topics this group of employees is raising,” Glasser said, “we’ve explained our thinking in different forums over the past few months and will continue to do so.”
In a February memo, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the company made its decision to return corporate employees to the office at least three days a week after observing what worked during the pandemic. Among other things, he said senior leadership watched how staff performed and talked to leaders at other companies. He said they concluded employees tended to be more engaged in person and collaborate more easily.
In a note asking Amazon employees to pledge their participation in the walkout, organizers said Amazon “must return autonomy to its teams, who know their employees and customers best, to make the best decision on remote, in-person, or hybrid work, and to its employees to choose a team which enables them to work the way they work best.”
The walkout follows widespread cost-cutting at Amazon, where layoffs have affected workers in advertising, human resources, gaming, stores, devices and Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud computing division. The company has cut 27,000 jobs since November.
Like other tech companies, including Facebook parent Meta and Google parent Alphabet, Amazon ramped up hiring during the pandemic to meet the demand from homebound Americans who were increasingly shopping online to keep themselves safe from the virus.
Amazon’s workforce, in warehouses and offices, doubled to more than 1.6 million people in about two years. But demand slowed as the worst of the pandemic eased. The company began pausing or canceling its warehouse expansion plans last year.
Amid growing anxiety over the potential for a recession, Amazon in the past few months shut down a subsidiary that’s been selling fabrics for nearly 30 years, shuttered Amazon Care, its hybrid virtual, in-home care service, and closed Amazon Smile, a philanthropic program.
Maggie Baird has brought her Support + Feed mission to those in her community, to fans at her daughter Billie Eilish‘s concerts and, as of Friday (April 28), to Global Citizen Now.
The food and climate activist was one of four speakers on a panel about food insecurity and ethical, sustainable sourcing at the 2023 New York City summit for activists, joining Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness, restauranteur Pinky Cole and Eleven Madison Park owner Daniel Humm onstage in front of fellow industry leaders and members of the press. Baird founded Support + Feed in 2020 to combat hunger in Los Angeles during the pandemic, through which she developed a bigger mission of eliminating food insecurity via equitable plant-based food systems because, as she explains, “climate change is inextricably linked to what we eat.”
But environmentalism has been her life’s passion since long before then. Behind the scenes of the summit, Baird spoke with Billboard about spending most of her life as an “apologetic” vegan and climate warrior, until one Thanksgiving about 15 years ago, she just stopped apologizing. “I was like, no more going to people’s houses with the turkey on the table, everyone worshipping the destruction of an animal, nobody caring about the environment,” she recalls of putting her foot down.
“We’re going to do Thanksgiving at home alone, [because I’ve been] bringing all the food anyway cause I’m bringing the vegan version of everything,” she continues. “Why have I been apologizing for decades for doing something that is right?”
Both Eilish and her older brother/songwriting partner Finneas have grown up to become vocal climate activists. The “Bad Guy” singer features informative videos on Support + Feed at her concerts along with stations where fans can challenge themselves to eat daily plant-based meals, and she made her mom’s organization one of a few green organizations to benefit from her proceeds.
“Billie’s fans jumped on the bandwagon,” Baird says of Support + Feed’s beginnings. “It was amazing. One of the things I did with Billie from the beginning was push the music industry to be more sustainably minded. I think the music industry is special in a lot of ways. They have direct artist to fan connection — other forms of entertainment, not so much. A musician has a real heart-to-heart connection with their fans.”
And while Baird did raise Finneas and Billie with firm, sustainable values — every year, for example, their Christmas presents are wrapped in the same reusable cloths — she says both musicians independently found their own distinct passions for the cause. “I was not apologetic to my family, I was always very outspoken,” she says with a laugh. “We put things in their paths for them to learn it themselves. I remember very distinctly [Billie] watching a David Attenborough documentary with me and how it influenced her way more than I ever could. She’s quite adamant. Anything that might have come from me, she’s taken it on and then some.”
In addition to Baird’s food-focused discussion, the two-day Global Citizen Now summit included conversations on abortion access, supporting women in workplaces, protecting protesters in Iraq and Kenya and more climate-focused seminars. John Legend stopped by to advocate for greater voter turnout as the 2024 election approaches, actress Busy Philipps called for more representation of reproductive health issues in entertainment, and French President Emmanuel Macron joined in via video chat for a conversation on implementing global sustainability policies.
Going forward, Baird has plans to team up with more big-name musicians to spread Support + Feed’s message. Paramore endorses the organization at shows — “[Hayley Williams] basically said to me, ‘We don’t want to tour unless we’re doing something good for the world,’” Baird recalls — and Pharrell Williams has also come aboard.
“We can offer musicians the chance to reach their fans and do something really active,” Baird says. “They can give them the chance to learn about what’s happening, take our plant-based pledge and hopefully deliver meals. Musicians and music events are perfect because you’ve got so many people in the same place, and people who really care.”