With his 2009 release “Evolver” and his green summer tour, John Legend climbed to the top of the Billboard Green 10 list for 2009.  By working with Reverb and the Show Me Campaign to make his tour green as possible, John has done his part this summer in both taking action and raising awareness among his music fans.  Visit the Projects page on Reverb for more green artists.

You can preview and buy songs from John Legend’s album “Evolver” using the player below.

Promotion.  Reviews.  Promotion.  Artist and Record Labels spend much of their time promoting to radio, magazines and blogs.   Many blogs receive piles of plastic CDs packaged in bubble-wrap padded envelopes each week.   In late July, the music blog Idolator decided to figure out how much that pile of CDs and packaging adds up to in terms of CO2.   In their post, “Are Music Writers Slowly Destroying The Planet,” they enlisted the pros over at Reverb to assist in the CO2 calculations and posted the results along with a lengthy chat between Reverb (Green Music Alliance Member) and Idolator about the topic.  The calculations certainly added up:

He calculated the weekly carbon footprint of all the music-biz mail filling my office, and what follows are his estimates as how to how much carbon dioxide (CO2) was released in order for these materials to make it my door:

Paper: 20 lbs (approx.) of CO2
Plastic: 30 lbs (approx.) of CO2
Shipping: 27.7 lbs of CO2

In total, 77.7 lbs of CO2 were released just so I could get my CDs every week. “On an annual basis,” Allenby wrote, “you’re receiving about 4,004 lbs of CO2, or just over two tons. This is equal to about 4,000 miles of driving, or electrifying your home for three months.”

Also, check out the comments on the post….  one of the biggest perceived challenges with digital submissions over CD submissions is getting noticed.   Will reviewers give just as much attention to an emailed link as a shiny CD with beautiful cover art sitting on their desks?

It is great to see a top music blog like Idolator taking a look at this issue.  One thing for certain is that music blogs are already a “greener” alternative to printed magazines…  so that is a start.  And for all the bloggers out there… please at least recycle the jewel cases!  Visit our resources page for recycling options.

Many thanks to Idolator for exposing this green topic.

Deeply rooted within the music and environmental communities, Reverb educates and engages musicians and their fans to take action toward a more sustainable future.

Reverb is a 501(c)(3) non-profit environmental organization founded by Guster guitarist/vocalist Adam Gardner and his environmentalist wife, Lauren Sullivan.

Reverb has coordinated greening programs for the likes of Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Bonnie Raitt, Phish, Sheryl Crow, Guster and many more. In addition, Reverb has been very pleased to work with Warner Music Group, Live Nation and other industry organizations.

Reverb has worked on over 70 major tours and 1,100 events, helped artists and fans reduce or eliminate over 60,000 tons of CO2, fueled trucks and busses with over 370,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel, hosted over 1,700 environmental groups in their interactive Eco-Village, and reached over 8 million fans.

• Member Since: 08/14/2009
• Member Type: Non-Profit Environmentalist Organization
• Member Website: www.reverbrock.org

Article courtesy of Planetwize.

What do steel, rubber factories, mechanics, gas pumps, freeways, and Detroit have in common? They all play a part in the ‘technological lock-in’ – as the academics say – of a less-than-green American car culture.

The music business, it seems, is locked in to huge stages, bright lights, semi-trucks, tour busses, jewel cases, power-hungry analog equipment and, perhaps most challenging, millions and millions of miles driven by fans to catch the show.

The notoriously resistant-to-change industry, however, is greening up, as more bands and fans take action to reduce their impact. [Read more →]