Evolving your business shouldn’t cost the earth.
May 7, 2025/
Every couple of months, we delve into a topic using the power of social listening and analytics tool Brandwatch. This month we look at the world of live touring, some of the efforts being made to make it more environmentally sustainable and if audiences are embracing and engaging with a move to more sustainable touring?
There’s nothing quite like seeing your favourite artists live. Whether in big stadiums or small venues, being part of that experience and feeling the sense of connection – both with artist and other gig goers – can create memories that last a lifetime. But how can large touring productions better engage their fans’ love for live with their environmental values and initiatives? at what cost to the environment?
Through a combination of desk research and social media listening, we have been exploring questions around sustainable touring, looking specifically at the idea of industry influence and fan engagement.
Who is influencing the wider music industry to reduce carbon emissions when touring, and how?
How are fans reacting to sustainability initiatives during music tours and how can bands better engage them with these issues?
The data led us to look at three key areas:
Music Declares Emergency is a charity which brings together artists, industry professionals and fans “to call for an immediate governmental response to the climate change emergency to protect all life on earth”.
Via their #NoMusicOnADeadPlanet campaign, artists are called on to join the movement by signing up to a Declaration, which seeks government action (recognition of the climate emergency, reversal of biodiversity loss, work to reach net zero), as well as a commitment from signatories to work towards “systemic change to protect life on Earth” and take action on the “environmental impact of music industry practices”.
Social media conversation about Music Declares Emergency was higher than that generated about the sustainability actions of global stars Billie Eilish and Paramore. This could suggest that sustainability initiatives can generate more social media engagement when they are unified around a central, overarching campaign, rather than when discussed by individual music artists.
However, diving into the detail of this conversation, this is largely driven by people or organisations who are already engaged in sustainability issues, from bands who have signed up to the declaration or from activists already involved with the campaign. This is, of course, an important conversation to be had, and is highly influential for the music industry as a whole (particularly given the number of artists who have signed the declaration and the actions demanded by it), but the conversation provided little evidence of engaging those who may be less well-informed about carbon emissions reduction.
Key Takeout:
If this effectively represents an echo chamber of engaged voices, then the opportunity to further influence, it would seem, lies in the hands of the collective of artist signatories. Doing more to engage fans by communicating why the declaration is important to them, what it means practically in terms of embracing the challenges of live touring and how and where audiences can play their part, appears key to breaking this rich thread of conversation and activism into more ‘mainstream’, fan-led areas.
Reverb has been “[l]eading the green music movement since 2004”, describing itself as “dedicated to empowering millions of individuals to take action toward a better future for people and the planet”. They work with musicians, festivals and venues to make their events greener, as well as engaging with fans face-to-face at shows. This shows a practical focus on reducing the environmental impact of touring, working with musicians and venues alike.
Reverb has been Billie Eilish’s tour sustainability partner since 2019, and has also partnered with Paramore on their 2023 world tour. Billie Eilish is also the inaugural recipient of the Universal Music Group x Reverb Amplifier Award, which recognises the artist “best exemplifying the commitment to, and achievement of, measurable steps to reduce their environmental footprint and support nonprofit causes through direct fan engagement at shows, online and beyond”.
Key Takeout:
Celebrating the actions of an artist by way of an award can be a powerful means of engaging fans in the subject matter in a softer, more accessible way. If Reverb, and other industry bodies, could make more of celebrating positive action amongst a whole variety and diversity of artists, it could serve to regularly deliver a sustainability-first message to a broad audience.
Coldplay announced their Music of the Spheres World Tour in 2021, pledging at the time to reduce direct carbon emissions by at least 50%. Their tour emissions update (published in June of this year) announced a reduction of 59% in the first two years.
We conducted social media listening on the sustainability initiatives of Coldplay, Billie Eilish and Paramore and, of those, Coldplay was the only one whose carbon reduction initiatives generated significant conversation among fans online, with a spike of conversation around their headline set at Glastonbury in late June. These include:
Some fans valued being actively involved in Coldplay’s sustainability initiatives: “Knowing that we’ve helped fund so many different Eco projects is a real buzz and made each and every person proud to be there, feeling connected and one with each other”.
Music artists can be hugely influential when it comes to raising awareness of environmental issues and engaging fans on sustainability issues, involving them in their actions to reach net-zero carbon emissions and, hopefully, encouraging wider behavioural change.
The development of specific initiatives like a kinetic dance floor, making emissions reduction part of the live experience and something that fans can actively contribute to, is a powerful example of meaningfully engaging fans. Even if the actual tangible impact in emissions reductions is low, it is driving important engagement in a relatable way.
This is not always straightforward, as the online debate over the wristbands shows; rather it requires nuance, creativity and a sound knowledge of emissions reduction, as well as a thorough knowledge of a band’s ‘culture’ and of how fans want to experience their music live.
So, what are our three overarching takeaways from what we’ve seen?
While artist-led activity feels limited to a relatively small pool of big players, there appears a growing acknowledgement that much more must be done to reduce the impact of live touring, with artists, venues, promoters, fans and even government, all required to play their part.
But with more boundaries being pushed year on year and an openness to innovation we’re hopeful and excited for what the future of live touring might look like.
The data behind this blog was powered using Brandwatch, the exceptional social listening and analytics platform.
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