Consumerism through Streaming Music

Since the 2000s with significant improvements in technology, streaming and downloading became the dominant mode for music listening (Brennan & Devine, 2020). The shrinking of the world brought by globalization has granted us instant access to a huge library of music. Streaming platforms make it convenient to consume in large amounts without all the hassle. In fact, the 2019 IFPI Music Listening report revealed that 89% of people stream through on-demand listening, with the most popular reason being the “instant access to millions of songs” at 62%. 

Users of the free Spotify will be familiar with the annoying, un-skippable ads every couple of songs. Remember in the previous post we mentioned the role of advertising? Yes, this also constitutes the company’s concerted effort in pushing us to discover more music and consume more. In a single year, audio streaming increased by 7% to 64% in 2018 (IFPI, 2019). 

Pollution via Accessory Technologies

Accessory technologies refer to the material devices such as smartphones and laptops used to stream music (Brennan & Devine, 2020). With planned obsolescence (mentioned in our second post) to shorten a product’s lifespan, we rapidly replace our devices, adding on to the burgeoning problem of e-waste. We produce 40 million tons of e-waste each year, which is hazardous if not burned or recycled properly (Liu et al., 2015; Widmer et al., 2005). And it’s increasing 4% every year (Liu et al., 2015).

Here’s a piece of good news: 

The amount of plastic generated by streaming in the US dropped to 8 million kilograms in 2016 compared to 56 million kilograms in 1997 when LPs were dominant (Brennan & Devine, 2020). 

But before we celebrate, the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted– the main perpetrator of climate change – increased tremendously in the same period, by about twice. In the US alone, a whopping 200-350 million kilograms of GHG were needed in 2016 to deliver music to us (Brennan & Devine, 2020)! This is because information infrastructures like global telecommunication networks are now required to transmit digital files to a router, then to our devices (George & McKay, n.d.).

However, according to an interview with Devine by Rolling Stone (2019), there is still a huge variety of complex variables not taken into consideration here (which are not well researched yet):

• The energy used to charge streaming devices
• Immense energy and resources needed to store and process at data centers
• Level of environmental regulation across countries outside the US to produce and distribute music 
• Even the file resolution: streaming music in video format on YouTube generates more pollution than an audio file on Spotify 
• And the list goes on… 

OMG, so I can’t listen to music anymore?? 

Well, we obviously cannot stop listening to music once and for all. Nevertheless, there are some ways you can do your little bit for a greener music industry (George & McKay, n.d.):

• If listening to a track repeatedly (more than 27 times, to be exact), a physical CD is better in terms of the energy needed to do the same via streaming 
• Download rather than stream online. Less energy is required to transfer the music from the cloud to your device 

With that, we hope that this post has provided some insight into one of life’s simplest pleasures and armed you to make more informed decisions behind music listening. 

Now, we’d like to challenge you: What are some  (seemingly) immaterial products or services we consume that can pollute the Earth in real, material ways? 

We’d love to hear your thoughts, let us know below! Till next time 🙂 

 

References:

Blistein, J. (2019) Is streaming music dangerous to the environment? One researcher is sounding the alarm. Available from: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/environmental-impact-streaming-music-835220/ [Accessed 19 August 2020].

Brennan, M. & Devine, K. (2020) The cost of music. Popular Music. 29 (30), 43-65. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261143019000552. 

George, K & McKay, D. (n.d.) The environmental impact of music: digital, records, CDs analysed. Available from: https://theconversation.com/the-environmental-impact-of-music-digital-records-cds-analysed-108942 [Accessed 19 August 2020].

IFPI. (2019) Music Listening 2019. Available from: https://www.ifpi.org/ifpi-releases-music-listening-2019/ [Accessed 21 August 2020]. 

Liu, J., He, X., Lin, X., Chen, W., Zhou, Q., Shu, W. & Huang, L. (2015) Ecological effects of combined pollution associated with e‑waste recycling on the composition and diversity of soil microbial communities. Environmental Science & Technology. 49 (11), 6438-6447. Available from https://doi-org.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/10.1021/es5049804. 

Widmer, R., Oswald-Krapf, H., Sinha-Khetriwal, D., Schnellmann, M. & Böni, H. (2005) Global perspectives on e-waste. Environmental Impact Assessment Review. (25) 5, 436-458. Available from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2005.04.001.