Behind the lights: the carbon footprint of concerts

Source: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-day-the-music-became-carbon-neutral

When the stadium erupts in cheers, nothing seems to matter more than the joy in that moment of the concert. We see colorful lights, thousands of audience members, and artists performing. But what we don’t see is tons of waste and carbon emissions that run behind the lights. Tourism in the music industry across music genres is responsible for nearly 40,000 tons of carbon emissions in a single year, the majority of which is transportation and venue energy use. 

One of the most significant carbon emitters is the travel sector. Artists, crews, and equipment travel across different countries on tight schedules, relying on long flights or even private jets. For instance, Taylor Swift’s two private jets emitted 8300 tons of CO2, primarily due to the Eras Tour in 2022. This number is around 1000 times the average person’s yearly emissions, indicating how carbon footprint is left even before the concert starts. This factor is especially concerning because even tours that have been marked net-zero still burn enormous amounts of fuel, as carbon emissions from flights and other forms of transportation can not be offset by trivial changes in the concert operations. Furthermore, large numbers of fans flying to see the concert are reported to be responsible for up to 40% of a festival’s total carbon footprint. Fans driving for hours and flying between cities to attend a concert are leaving an irreparable carbon footprint.

In addition, high-powered lighting, massive screens, fog machines, and constant cooling or heating are essential components of concerts. These systems run during the show and before. Thus, large music festivals can consume more than 300 megawatts of power over a weekend, which is equivalent to the power consumption of a small city during the same period. Stacks of unsold merchandise and tons of trash, including wristbands and plastic drinks, also generate waste.

Still, some artists and companies are trying to do better for a carbon-neutral concert. Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour used energy-storing dance floors, bicycles that generated kinetic energy, and rechargeable battery systems. They even reported their carbon emissions publicly and aimed to cut their footprint by 50 percent. Other organizations, such as REVERB, work with artists to cut single-use plastics and switch trucks and buses to biodiesel. In the K-pop industry, activist group K-pop 4 Planet has similarly pressured entertainment companies to address the environmental impacts of music albums and tours. Moreover, artists like Billie Eilish have used recycled fabrics in merch and reported avoiding unnecessary flights.

For world tour concerts to reduce their environmental cost, it is imperative for more artists and fans to commit to going carbon neutral. More artists can introduce environmentally friendly concert venues like Coldplay’s energy storing dance floors, cut unnecessary flights, and use eco-friendly materials for merch. Fans can make a difference as well by using mass transportation and avoiding wasting merchandise. Small changes by both artists and audiences will allow concerts to be less harmful to the environment.