“We are right now in the beginning of a climate and ecological crisis, and we need to call it what it is: an emergency”

Towards a Sustainable (But Still Fashionable) Music Industry

lot of reach, but [he] really wanted to see her exist formally in pop culture”.

It should come as no surprise that, given the state of things, the last few years have seen an increasing necessity for sustainability, a trend that has radically changed the way we approach most aspects of our reality and, overall, the way we live.

Short Course in Music Management Student

SARA SEGAT

Miley Cyrus, who is also vegan, actively promotes thrift shopping as the “most sustainable fashion source” both on her Instagram, with pictures captioned “Tom Ford but make it thrifty" and such, and on TV, wearing a fancy vintage Bob Mackie – one of

Solemnly recites 18-year-old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg in The 1975’s latest self-titled track, opening their 2020 album Notes On a Conditional Form. As front-man Matty Healy later explained, this unexpected collaboration marked a significant and quite straightforward step in spreading environmental awareness across popular media and specifically music, since “Greta has a

The “new normal” now consists of reusable water bottles, steel or bamboo straws, rechargeable batteries, and many other sustainable alternatives everybody can (and should) implement in their day-to-day life; moreover, this necessity is also reshaping our forms of self-expression and our passions.

When looking for accessible environment-friendly solutions, we usually come across vintage and/or preloved clothing, as it is a product that, in order for us to benefit from it, doesn’t require new resources or energy, thus minimizing our carbon footprint. Recently, however, preloved has become a real phenomenon taking the world by storm, with new independent thrift shops arising in every city, and equivalent platforms such as Depop, Vestiaire Collective, and Vinted gaining more notoriety every day, to the point that even notorious high-end and luxury e-commerce Farfetch implemented a “pre-owned” section. Celebrities are no stranger to this either: as a matter of fact, vintage luxury pieces are one of the latest red-carpet trends. Much like actors and models are sporting preloved, some of our favorite music artists – especially the ones very vocal about climate

change – are doing it too, for events, performances, concerts, and so on. New Zealand singer Lorde thrift shops on the regular: in an interview, she admitted the $50 vintage St John suit (original price: over $ 700) shown in the picture is an all-time favorite for her onstage outfits.

Cher’s famous designers – for her appearance as a judge on The Voice (picture on the right).

Lately, even the designer world is mixing with the most conscious musicians through special collaborations aiming at environmental sustainability. Popstar Taylor Swift partnered with green fashion icon

On the more streetwear side, Grammy-nominated artist SZA as well collaborated in 2018 with Champion for a limited-edition line of sustainably crafted – and “Sustainability Gang”- embroidered – sweaters, anticipating the launch of her own sustainable-themed merch brand, Ctrl Fishing Company. Both the Champion partnership’s and her brand’s entire profits are benefiting sustainable organizations dedicated to protecting the oceans.

However, it must be said that sustainability is sometimes only used as a façade: global fast-fashion pioneer H&M produced a merch line for world-famous Billie Eilish, praising it as sustainable when it is really just a case of so-called greenwashing. The 19-year-old singer has always been very upfront about her activism for sustainability, but only a small percentage of this collaboration is actually sustainably produced – and that only concerning the usage of recycled materials; we are unaware of potential employments of other sustainable and/or ethical processes.

Yet, fashion is not the only way music artists are promoting sustainability in their activities; indeed, a scene of completely sustainable live music is closer than we think, but still not entirely here. On this account, British band Coldplay announced in 2019 that they would suspend all of their concerts until they find a carbon-neutral (and maybe even beneficial) way to tour. But green touring is slowly becoming a tangible reality now: a lot of musicians are partnering with Reverb, a non-profit organization working with them to reduce the environmental impact of their tours by encouraging crews to travel by train, banning plastic bottles from the venues, installing water refill stations for those attending the concerts, and so on. Some of their partnerships include the latest tours of Billie Eilish, The 1975 (both previously mentioned), Harry Styles, and P!nk, as well as those of Fleetwood Mac,

Florence + The Machine, Shawn Mendes, Tame Impala, The Lumineers. Maroon 5 were among the first musicians to ever partner with Reverb, and unsurprisingly, considering that they have been promoting green touring practices and fan activities since 2007.

Along with this, some of the overall greenest artists are also embracing sustainable merchandising. American indie folk band Bon Iver is a frontrunner in this: every piece of their merch is locally and ethically manufactured, using renewable energy and recycled materials, since 2019. Not only that, but they are also partners with Looptworks, a Portland-based re-purposing and upcycling company, which upcycles their excess merch, left from previous tours, into new, exclusive merch. Similarly, The 1975, who appear to be largely devoted to sustainability by now, are fighting waste by re-purposing old merch with new designs, created for Notes On a Conditional Form, printed on it; they even had a booth put up at Reading + Leeds 2019 with a free reprinting service for fans bringing their old band merch.

Speaking of music festivals, many steps have already been taken in their favor, as making them sustainable is even easier compared to tours: with one-time events taking place in a single location, developing sustainable initiatives is definitely doable, and has already been done all over the world. For instance, historic UK festival Glastonbury banned the sale of single-use plastic bottles completely, Tennessee’s Bonnaroo has been partially powered by solar panels built on site, and Lollapalooza located dozens of water refill stations across its grounds in central Chicago (apart from many other efforts taken since 2017).

Environmental activism in music does not stop there. “No Music On a Dead Planet” is the bold slogan of 2019 campaign Music Declares Emergency – “a group of artists, music industry professionals and organizations that stand together to declare a climate and ecological emergency and call for an immediate governmental response to protect all life on Earth”, that counts among its supporters names like Billie Eilish, Foals, Radiohead, The 1975, and even Universal and Warner Music. Hence, the demonstrated need for sustainability and the established power of music are coming together in a beautiful, yet powerful, way.

Works Cited

Healy, Matthew. Apple Music Editor’s Notes, https://music.apple.com/us/album/notes-on-a-conditional-form/1473599936

Cyrus, Destiny Hope. Instagram post, https://www.instagram.com/p/B35qS7sJqLR/

Music Declares Emergency. Website, https://www.musicdeclares.net/gb/home/#about

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