A new study from two European professors concluded that the resources required for music streaming and vinyl production are actually more harmful to the environment than previous ways of consumption.
You would think that with the rise of streaming and the overall decline of physical media, that it would have a positive effect on the environment. After all, there would be less physical product printed, and less plastic waste. But turns out that assumption would be incorrect.
A new study from Kyle Divine, Associate Professor in the Department of Musicology at the University of Oslo, and Dr. Matt Brennan, from the University of Glasgow’s School of Culture and Creative Arts, suggests that music streaming results in more carbon emissions than physical product.
“Intuitively you might think that less physical product means far lower carbon emissions. Unfortunately, this is not the case,” says Kevin Devine. While CD sales declined by 18.5 percent last year, the decline in plastic use does not offset the environmental costs of maintaining the servers for music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music.
Professor Devine converted past plastic production into ongoing greenhouse gas equivalents (GHGs) emissions.
He found 1977 the GHGs associated with physic music amounted to around 140 million kg.
By 2016, GHGs were estimated to have increased about twofold to anywhere between 200 million kg to 350 million kg.
The topic is further explored on Devine's book, Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music, out later this year.
In the book, he also discusses how the vinyl resurgence may be exciting for audiophiles, but it has a huge environmental impact as well:
“He reminds us that vinyl records are oil products, and that the so-called vinyl revival is part of petrocapitalism.
“The supposed immateriality of music as data is belied by the energy required to power the internet and the devices required to access music online.
“We tend to think of the recordings we buy as finished products. Devine offers an essential backstory.”
So what the hell is the solution then? Do we go back to cassette tapes? Because that trend has also started.
