Shift from records to digital music proved harmful for environment, study suggests

Though the shift from recording music to streaming music has been more affordable, study suggests that music downloads and streaming has also harmed the planet and is not good for our environment.

Researchers from the University of Glasgow have found that if you though not buying physical copies of music and streaming it instead was good for environment, you might need to think again as greenhouse gas emissions are higher now because of it.

By moving from records to digital, the combination of extra power demands and the sheer popularity of music may have counterbalanced the gains gotten from the switch. Engadget reported, where vinyl produced 346 million pounds of greenhouse gasses at its height in 1977, downloads and streaming are estimated to produce 441 million to 772 million pounds now.

Human-driven climate change causes first ever extinction of mammal

“The point of this research is not to tell consumers that they should not listen to music, but to gain an appreciation of the changing costs involved in our music consumption behavior,” said researcher Matt Brennan.

Moreover, one good news is that this shift to streaming music has decreased the amount of plastic pollution produced by the music industry as well. Back in 1977, music makers produced 58 million kilograms of plastic, which was reduced to only 8 million kilograms by 2016, as per Futurism.

“We hope the findings might encourage change toward more sustainable consumption choices and services that remunerate music creators while mitigating environmental impact,” Brennan added.