- Hey, I'm Adam Met
and I play in a band called AJR
with my brothers, Jack and Ryan.
A few years ago, we released a song
that, to our surprise, became a political anthem.
♪ You're only serving lies ♪
♪ You've got something to hide ♪
♪ We gon' burn the whole house down ♪
While we didn't intend it to be political per se,
"Burn the House Down" was our way
of recognizing the power that our generation wields
to organize for important causes and make real change,
even as our elected officials
ignore our most pressing concerns.
Like many of you,
I am extremely frustrated
by corporate and political inaction
around the climate crisis.
That led me to start a nonprofit
focused on the issue,
but I also realized that I had the power
to make changes in my music career, as well.
When you think about climate change,
you probably think of coal plants and oil rigs,
gas stations,
but what if I told you that the music industry
also has a massive carbon footprint?
And the biggest offender is, honestly,
the most fun for us and the most engaging for fans:
live concerts.
As touring musicians,
we fly around the planet
to play venues with tons of lights,
massive amplifiers,
and parking lots full of cars
belonging to some of our biggest fans.
I know this all sounds bad
but just stick with me.
♪ Can we skip to the good part? ♪
♪ Ah, ah-ah-ah ♪
The good news is that after two years off,
concerts are back.
And thanks to the resourcefulness of artists
like Billie Eilish, Harry Styles,
Shawn Mendes, and Lorde,
as well as their fans,
the music industry is shifting
to a more sustainable touring model.
- Billie Eilish is super concerned about the climate crisis.
You can see that in her awards acceptance speeches,
in her music,
and it's not just lip service.
- Lara Seaver is the director of tours and projects
at Reverb,
an organization that's dedicated to making tours
more eco-friendly.
- So we've worked with the Billie Team
to reduce the impact of their tour,
asking their venues that they play
to make real changes,
like not selling bottled water
and making sure there's vegan concession items.
All of these things that venues might not be doing
if someone with the power of Billie Eilish
isn't strongly recommending that they do these things.
- But the truth is
artists don't need to be on Billie Eilish's level
to make meaningful change.
Every artist has the power to lower their emissions
and I'm gonna share a few ways how.
First off, it's super important for musicians
to consider sustainability
early in the pre-production phase.
That's before we head out on the road.
Unnecessary in-person meetings
can be replaced with video conferences,
and gas-guzzling tour buses
can be replaced with more energy-efficient fuels
or vehicles.
We can also schedule and route our tours
in the most efficient ways possible,
not crisscrossing back and forth across the country.
And while many artists rely on private jets
for convenience and security,
their emissions are exponentially higher
than commercial flights.
So if we're really serious about getting sustainable,
the private jets need to go.
Next, let's talk about energy use.
Venues can reduce emissions
by switching to renewable energy.
They can also replace gas appliances with electric ones
and use on-site solar panels
to generate some of their own power.
This is undoubtedly a lot to think about,
which is why some artists choose to task
an organization like Reverb or other partners
to handle the day-to-day details.
- So we work with artists
to figure out what they're doing
and what they're willing to change,
what's exciting to them to change.
We look at water refill stations,
waste management systems,
compost, food donations for any leftover food backstage.
We look at hotel toiletries that aren't used
that could be donated to local shelters,
and we just create this custom program backstage
for all of the band and crew.
- [Adam] Fans also have an enormous impact
on a tour's carbon footprint.
- [Lara] For fans,
some of the things we ask them to do
include bringing a reusable water bottle to shows,
asking venues to change their policy to let them in
if they don't already,
and look at how you're getting to the show.
Look at public transportation options,
look at carpooling with friends.
Somewhere from 70 percent up through 98 percent
of the concert's carbon footprint
comes from fan travel.
There's 20,000 people at each show each night
so across the course of a tour,
sometimes that's a million fans,
and a million people making a little change
is huge.
- These individual actions
have the power to start the conversation,
but that's just the beginning.
We've seen the political power fandoms have online,
but we also need to bring that energy
to the voting booth.
Another way that artists and corporations
can achieve neutrality
is through something called carbon offsets.
My band, AJR, pays for our carbon offsets
by charging promoters a fee,
which we use to support projects
that actively pull greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere
or reduce future emissions.
These should only be used as a last resort.
The best way forward
is by avoiding these planet-destroying activities
in the first place.
Climate despair is real,
but today we've seen that live music
can be a source of both hope and action.
And who knows? Maybe this innovative new model
can serve as inspiration
for other industries to follow suit.
What we do know is that accountability is key.
Artists can hold venues and managers accountable,
while fans absolutely
have to hold their favorite artists accountable.
Live concerts just became a reality again.
Let's keep them going past 2030.