A few weeks ago, I wrote about the perspective of an insider on the music industry’s attitude towards climate change. Which is basically nothing. And before that, I wrote in April about a report citing Louie Vega and Derrick Carter as amongst the most gas-guzzling DJs out there.
Now Massive Attack have decided to try and put some pressure on the music industry to actually do something. Naturally, the report’s got plenty of attention – in a press filled with virtue signalling journalists writing about virtue signalling DJs, this is hardly a surprise. So what does the report recommend? Here’s some of what was in it…
Basically, stop using private jets, find ways of making recorded music pay again, encourage your fans to take the bus and do your meetings online instead of flying halfway across the world to sign a few bits of paper. I’m going to wager, quite confidently, that you and me think this is reasonable.
But to the artists who are well used to travelling in first class, business class, premium class – whatever you want to call it? Er, they’re not going to like it. Nor is it going to be particularly credible when someone who gets driven everywhere or uses private jets tells people they should use public transport.
This new normal is looking suspiciously like the old normal…