Next time you play nature sounds to relax, you’re actually helping the Earth.
The sounds of wind, rain, and wildlife have long accompanied recordings by musical artists. But nature hasn’t really benefited from all that, until now.
Through the new “Sounds Right” project, ‘NATURE’ itself is registered as a streaming artist on major services like Spotify and Apple Music. This allows the Earth’s audio cameos to bring in money for protecting the environment worldwide.
How ‘NATURE’ Became a Streaming Artist
The idea of recognizing nature as an artist can be traced back to 2019. Here, the Museum for the United Nations – UN Live brought together over 40 musicians, environmentalists, and activists in Bogota, Colombia. The goal was to find creative ways of getting people interested in nature conservation.
During these talks, they found that listening to the sounds of biodiversity blended with Latin rhythms created a powerful experience. There’s a potential for using sound and music to drive environmental change.
So, they came up with an idea to combine the deep sense of nostalgia for the Amazon with the country’s universal love for music and rhythm.
This led to the formation of the music collective ‘VozTerra.’
VozTerra then worked with local musicians, acoustic ecologists, and indigenous leaders from the Amazon. This resulted in the ‘Sounds From Your Window’ project.
In this project, they invited the public to record nature sounds around their homes during the COVID-19 quarantine. Then, they used the recordings as samples for music.
The project reached 1.6 million people and earned VozTerra the Latin American Green Awards.
In late 2021, VozTerra’s idea to create green music led to a conversation about giving nature intellectual property rights. Over the following months, the concept of working with nature as an artist eligible for royalties developed, leading to the birth of the “Sounds Right” project.
Now, the UN Live aims to build upon these experiences and their own research on the impact of sound on activist engagement. So, they brought together a powerful group of partners to launch the global music releases that spotlight “NATURE” as an official artist.
Global Artist Collaborations
To launch Sounds Right, multiple global artists have released new tracks or remixes that add natural elements to the tracks. These songs have the tag “Feat. NATURE” to credit ‘NATURE’ as their official artist partner.
The list includes:
- David Bowie with Brian Eno
- Ellie Goulding
- AURORA
- UMI with V of BTS
- Anuv Jain
- MØ
- London Grammar
- Cosmo Sheldrake
- Louis VI
- Tom Walker
- Aterciopelados
- Blinky Bill
- Navicula x Endah N Rhesa
- Los Amigos Invisibles.
To easily see these collaborations, you can search for the “Feat. NATURE” playlist on Spotify and other major platforms.
Fans can also listen to pure ambient recordings from The Listening Planet and VozTerra.
“I am excited to be part of this campaign that seeks to recognize the creative contribution and authorship of the more-than-human world.” said Cosmo Sheldrake, one of the contributing artists.
“It is an essential first step towards acknowledging that humans are not the only species that respond creatively to the world around us.”
Where Will the Royalties Go?
Streaming royalties earned by ‘NATURE’ will be collected by the EarthPercent conservation nonprofit, which hosts the Sounds Right Conservation Fund.
At least half of the recording royalties from artist collaborations and nearly two-thirds from ambient recordings will directly support the cause.
The money will go to rights-based projects that focus on the world’s most biodiverse and threatened regions.
Target landscapes include:
- Madagascar
- the Indian Ocean islands
- Indo-Burma
- Sundaland
- the Philippines
- the Tropical Andes
- and the Atlantic Forest, among others.
But, starting in 2025, other conservation organizations can apply for funding through an open call, provided they meet the program’s strict criteria.
Decisions on how to allocate the funds will be guided by an independent Expert Advisory Panel. This includes indigenous representatives like Mindahi Bastida, and environmental funding experts like David Emmett, Dr. Shivani Bhalla, and Kavita Prakash-Mani.
“Biocultural heritage will greatly benefit from music royalties and donations.” says Mindahi Bastida, an Otomi-Toltec Leader and part of the Sounds Right advisory panel.
“In a way, it is about paying back to life systems that have inspired the human spirit through the magic of sound.”
Listeners can support the effort simply by streaming the music. But, they are also encouraged to take direct conservation actions like recording birdsongs for biomonitoring purposes or adopting eco-friendly lifestyle changes.
The initiative’s goal is to engage 600 million people worldwide and to raise over $40 million for vital conservation efforts within its first four years. It also aims to foster global discussions about properly valuing the creative contributions of nature.