The environmental Impact of Music

[DuckToller]

Given the environmental impact of our beloved hobby, listening to music, it looks like there is something to consider if you change the perspective on music listening, like Kyle Devine, the author of Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music did.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/28/vinyl-record-revival-environmental-impact-music-industry-streaming

 

I wonder, if the old princple of local storing and sharing over existing infrastructure would help in a way, maybe not in rural Minnesota. Montana or Wisconsin, but for greater communities/populations.
At the other hand. the industry distribution network and the artists in selfdistribution would need to develop ways to cherish the environment and serve their customers at the same time.
Cheers, Tom.

[semente]

Is Streaming Music Dangerous to the Environment? One Researcher Is Sounding the Alarm

New study suggests streaming music leads to at least 200 to 350 million kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/environmental-impact-streaming-music-835220/

[DuckToller]

19 minutes ago, semente said:

Is Streaming Music Dangerous to the Environment? One Researcher Is Sounding the Alarm

New study suggests streaming music leads to at least 200 to 350 million kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions

 

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/environmental-impact-streaming-music-835220/

Thank you @semente
The study cites Dr. Kyle Devine  ... 
 

I'd say, there are resonable doubts that continuing our European/American way of life (style) will lead to any positive impact on the environment in the long run.

 

[DuckToller]

source Rolling Stone, Link above

[christopher3393]

From Afterword of Kyle Devine's Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music, p.186-7:

 

"Attending to the material realities of musical production and consumption is only the first step along this path. Solutions to the problems of music’s political ecology may come partially in the form of new formats and post-catastrophic media. But if research in the wider worlds of waste and energy tells us anything, it is that techno-fixes are not the only or even the most important ways forward...Even if we developed new music formats that were more efficient than previous ones, we would inevitably end up listening to even more music using even more devices. Advancements in resource efficiency seem bound to be overwhelmed by increases in demand. A truly post-catastrophic format would thus require not only a technological development but a shift in culture..."

 

"Looking forward requires that we confront the impossibility of continuing to expect a world made by seemingly unlimited resources in the wake of the recognition that resources are definitely limited. Musically, we may need to question our expectations of instant access and infinite storage. We may need to recognize that recorded music is as finite as everything else. Indeed, music is a microcosm of some of our most general and most deeply held values and practices surrounding wealth, growth, independence, and mobility—values and practices that could only emerge in the context of the perception that resources were inexhaustible."

 

Brief excerpts from 2 reviewers:

 

"...this book paves the way for a new ethics of music consumption."

 

"... a manifesto for ecological scrutiny of our musical behaviors..."

 

Is this an issue that AS has seriously engaged? If not, should it be? Is there a willingness to engage it? Is it a concern of our host as he assembles his new system? If not, should it be?