Earth Song

Hi Everyone!

In my last post I gave an example of how digital music was able to create positive change on the environment through raising money for plastic pollution and in doing so raising awareness on the worsening issue of pollution in our world. In today’s post I will be delving deeper into how the rise in digital technology, more specifically digital music has been a powerful tool in raising awareness for a number of issues and how it can and has been used to raise awareness on the detrimental impacts of environmental pollution.

Throughout history, music has played an integral part in our development as a society. As such, it is of no surprise that music has the capacity to spread information to the masses and evoke change. This can be seen through numerous examples, one being the song ‘where is the love’ by the Black Eyed Peas, which  was used to spread awareness on a number of issues that were going on in the world at that time such as Terrorism, War, Hypocrisy and Racism. This song went viral in 2003 when it was released and was even number 1 on the UK’s top charts for 6 weeks in a row! The more attention it got, the more people were hearing the message that they wanted to portray and were being inspired by it. It was so successful that many years later in 2016, they released a new version of this song which was inspired by the tragic events that were happening at the time in hopes of it being able to once again spread their message to the world at this time of struggle.

This song is only one of many examples of how music has been able to spread a message and raise awareness to the masses. And while music had this effect on people throughout its evolution, the rise in digital music has escalated this spread of information and awareness. With the numerous digital music platforms available today, such as Spotify, Apple Music and Soundcloud, people are able to have access to music from all around the world right at their fingertips. As such more and more artists have been using their platform to raise awareness on issues that they feel strongly about which includes advocating for our environment.

One such artist who fairly recently used his platform to raise awareness on the environmental issues going on today is Lil Dicky with his song: ‘Earth Song’. This song was released on April 19, 2019, three days before earth day and has been referred to by some as the ‘climate change anthem’ and even the ‘we are the world’ of the digital era. While the song was very humorous, it carried with it an important underlying message about the detrimental effects that climate change will have on our world if we do not address the issue now. Lil Dicky also featured about 30 of the biggest names in entertainment today including artists such as Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, Kanye West and many more. The many big names associated with this one song helped in making the song go viral, exceeding 2.5million views on youtube in just one day.

According to an interview with Rolling Stone, Lil Dicky said that his main goal of this song is ‘… to get people to give a shit about saving the earth’. He also made sure that all profits generated by this song through streams and views will be donated to a select group of non-profit organizations which tackle issues such as climate change, the energy crisis and animal farming. According to an interview with Ellen Degenerous, Leonardo Dicaprio’s environmental foundation will help consult him on where the proceeds should go to that would generate the most impact.

From this example, we can see how digital music can and has been used to raise awareness on environmental issues, and that this is a very effective way of spreading information to the masses in todays digital age.

References:

Support the Song. (n.d.). Retrieved October 07, 2020, from http://welovetheearth.org/support-the-song/

Johnson, S. (2019, September 12). Why Lil Dicky made this star-studded Earth Day music video. Retrieved October 07, 2020, from https://bigthink.com/culture-religion/lil-dicky-earth?rebelltitem=1

Becker, H. (2019, April 19). Lil Dicky’s “Earth” Lyrics Are Hilarious, But Actually Send A Super Important Message. Retrieved October 07, 2020, from https://www.elitedaily.com/p/lil-dickys-earth-lyrics-are-hilarious-but-actually-send-a-super-important-message-16953373

Lil Dicky’s all-star environmental music video goes viral. (2019, April 19). Retrieved October 07, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-47988341

Where Is The Love? by The Black Eyed Peas. (n.d.). Retrieved October 07, 2020, from https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-black-eyed-peas/where-is-the-love