It’s a bright spot in the music industry that artists are beginning consider the climate impact that their tour schedules have and are taking steps to help. Buses and airplanes burn A LOT of fuel and it’s flat out no bueno for the planet and our receding ozone layer. Coldplay famously chose to to tour their album Everyday Life in 2019 citing environmental concerns. Like Coldplay, Ed Sheeran is also looking for ways to make touring sustainable for the environment and plans on taking an electric camper fan on his next tour. Now Big Thief, one of the biggest (and quite frankly, best) bands on the indie circuit, are doing their part.
The band announced on Twitter that they will be contributing 1% of their gross touring income from this year and last year as well to EarthPercent. The charity was founded by ambient music demigod Brian Eno and as the band explains, gives funds “to organizations fighting the climate emergency in the most impactful ways.” This is a timely decision as Big Thief is set to go out on tour later this month in support of their new album out next week, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You.
Hello. We are now contributing 1% of our gross touring income to @earthpercentorg, including income from last year’s US tour. We are grateful to be part of this group which will grant $ to organizations fighting the climate emergency in the most impactful ways. pic.twitter.com/ebiAHNmMa3
— Big Thief (@bigthiefmusic) February 3, 2022
The band went on to say that “The hope is that something like this could spread to our peers, especially those making money and maybe even become a standard for artists and those around the music industry (labels, DSPs, publishers, managers, booking agents, etc).” Which is really the best net result of their effort, as well as what Coldplay and Sheeran have been championing: Lead by example and hope that others take note. Bravo Big Thief.
For more information on EarthPercent, visit their website at earthpercent.org.
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.