- How much emissions are produced from a concert tour
- How artists can help cut carbon emissions from a concert tour
Artists and bands must swap private jets for trains, festivals and venues need to generate more of their own renewable energy and gig tickets should include free public transport. These are just some of the recommendations being made by scientists at the University of Manchester to help the music industry reduce its carbon emissions to stop climate change.
Their recommendations for “super low carbon practices” deal with how musicians, promoters, tour managers and agents should work in order to keep the rise in global warming restricted to 1.5C. The suggestions cover how artists move around, the venues they play at, and how fans get to events:
- Plan tour routes in a way that minimises travel and transport
- Include travel by public transport in the ticket price
- Generate renewable energy on site, e.g. solar panels
- Gig and concert venues should use renewable energy
- Use energy efficient lighting and sound equipment
- Use electric vehicles and trains to travel between venues
- Better bike storage at music venues
- Avoiding flying and eliminating private jets
- Perform at venues that are taking action to reduce their building energy use
- Offer incentives to fans who choose to travel by public transport
if the whole industry takes on these recommendations, it can help avoid a “code red for humanity”. Investing in new ways of working and new technologies sound expensive. Whether or not this is reflected in ticket prices, though, is a different story.
