Comment: The tone is too promotional. Needs to be more neutral, clearer, and more factual. Some content should be cut, and content that is left should focus only on what reliable sources such as newspapers and books say about this organization. –Novem Linguae (talk) 08:01, 12 July 2021 (UTC)
Launched in July 2019, Music Declares Emergency[1]was founded by a group of music industry executives and artists with the express purpose of creating a vehicle for music and musicians to bring their influence to bear on the growing climate crisis.
The purpose of MDE is twofold:
To encourage the music industry to collaborate cross sector to innovate new practices to reduce, and ultimately, remove the carbon footprint of our businesses and create a green music industry for the 21st century.
To work with artists to use the power of their voice to mainstream the debate on the UK response to the climate emergency and engage all communities within the debate.
Their declaration,[2] calling on governments to tell the truth about the climate emergency, target a 2030 date for net zero emissions and committing music businesses to work towards addressing their own emissions has attracted over 5,000 signatures, including all the key players in the UK music industry and globally recognized artists. The declaration has received media coverage in the UK with MDE’s launch promoting an ongoing conversation about the role, purpose, and benefit of UK music’s engagement with the climate debate on national radio, television and in national print and online. Following the launch of the declaration in 2019, MDE was awarded IMPALA’s Outstanding Contribution award[3]and have been nominated as the charity partner of the SAY Awards.
MDE has curated announcements on zero carbon commitments with Ninja Tune and Beggars Group, as well as collaborating in the launch of Earth Percent.[4] In 2020, they meet with Frans Timmermans[5], Vice President of the European Commission, to discuss the positive role that music can play in supporting the EU Green Deal.
Their slogan, ‘No Music on a Dead Planet’, has entered general usage as a signifier of support for action on climate, seen across the world as a backdrop to Billie Eilish’s global livestream[6] event in 2020. Their sustainable t-shirt campaign promotes a more environmentally conscious approach to merchandising.
Around Earth Day on 22nd April, 2021, MDE brought all their actions together to create a week of activity that looked to place music at the heart of the climate conversation. With the support of a range of industry partners and artists, ‘Turn Up The Volume’ saw the UK music industry centre stage on climate, with widespread media coverage for their message of the need for urgent action from those in authority alongside positive action from the industry. With high profile artists and music industry personalities including Mel C, Declan McKenna, Peter Hook and Annie Mac sharing messaging, the week had a positive impact with messages of support from music fans and a verifiable increase in engagement in the conversation.
The success of MDE in the UK has led to the formation of sister groups across the world with active MDE formations in Germany, France, Switzerland, Chile and Canada. MDE USA and further international groups will launch throughout 2021.