19 April
It was 18 months ago when I first met Emil from UN Live. Via a screen. As is the modern way.
He had a fascinating idea. Could we use music royalties to create a pipeline income for the natural world, could music fans, simply by listening to certain songs, ‘donate’ money to conservation efforts? Given the collapse in biodiversity, anything that can help push back the tide is a good thing and the basis of this idea chimed with our belief at Music Declares Emergency that music can change the planet.
It also tallied with Earth Percent’s longstanding and impressive work to establish a place for the natural world within the music industry royalty systems, to embed a mechanism there that could fund those working towards a sustainable future. Our next conversation was a three way exchange of ideas.
That idea has become reality today with the launch of Sounds Right. In the journey Nature has become an artist in its own right, proudly sitting among the Top Ten streamed artists on Spotify, the incredibly supportive launch partner for this unique project.
There are few, if any, artists who can collaborate with such a global cast as that found on the Feat Nature playlist (link below). Working with David Bowie, Eno, Ellie Goulding, MDE Indonesia founders Navicula and Endah N Rhesa (my favourite track), Aurora, Bomba Estereo, Nature is immediately across all genres and territories, a world tour at the click of a mouse.
Sounds Right’s progression has necessitated the expertise and brilliance of a host of further founding partners to understand the finances, develop the outstanding visual assets, curate and manage the vast libraries of the sounds of the natural world that sit at the heart of the project, develop the visual assets that now adorn billboards in key capital cities and develop ways to reach audiences and start conversations about the natural world and the help it needs at this crucial moment in history.
This is only the beginning of Nature’s music career. Already more than a One To Watch, it feels like the opening release of a brilliant and long career. It also feels like a moment to remind ourselves that music, which we were given by the natural world through its sounds and its animal songs, can really change the world.
Listen to Feat Nature here
Find out more here
