MUSIC CLIMATE PACT

WORKING GROUPS

VINYL

DIGITAL

CLIMATE TRAINING

SELECT EACH GROUP BELOW TO SEE THE LATEST UPDATES FROM THE NOVEMBER MPC NEWSLETTER

  • Group Chairs: Jon Service (Key Production) & Ian Stanton (Beggars Group)

    “The main focus for the Vinyl working group over the summer has been the delivery of the Music Climate Pact / Vinyl Alliance Sustainable Supplier Program. Thanks to the leadership shown by the following suppliers, this program has managed to close significant data gaps in the record manufacturing supply chain and identify significant opportunities for carbon reduction:  

    • Optimal Media  

    • GZ Media  

    • MPO  

    • Sonopress  

    • The Vinyl Factory  

    • Good Neighbor Music  

    • Furnace Record Pressing  

    • Independent Record Pressing  

    • Precision Record Pressing  

    •  

    Phase one of this program has seen leading carbon consultants,  Climate Partner, independently calculate and validate 13 Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs). These were provided to participating suppliers at the start of the summer. From this data, an insights report has been drafted, which identifies average PCF profiles calculated in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol for traditionally pressed records as well as injection moulded records for the first time. These identify opportunities to reduce carbon by up to 60% from both the manufacturing processes as well as the raw material choices.  

    From this data, Pact Supporter, Julie’s Bicycle, is helping to develop updated average emissions factors at the global level as well as for manufacturers based in Europe and North America. These will be circulated alongside the final report and methodology in November to enable more accurate reporting this year, where supplier-specific data isn't available. 

      

     Phase two of this program will bring together participating suppliers and labels (Vinyl working group members) in a number of workshops to discuss and agree opportunities presented by these findings.  The first of these workshops is scheduled for the end of November.  

    Using the data from this program as a baseline, these workshops will give the industry a framework to decarbonise record manufacturing in 2026 and beyond.”

  • Group Chairs: Caroline Hansen (Warp Records), Lewis Jamieson (Music Declares), Karla Rogozar (IMPALA) & Helen Smith (IMPALA)

    “In recent months, the Digital WG has focused on finalising a set of public-facing recommendations for fans that will provide guidance on how to reduce the carbon footprint of their digital music listening habits. This will be paired with a parallel set of recommendations for record labels, initially to be shared with signatories and supporters, guiding ways to reduce the carbon footprint of the digital music that they release. These record label recommendations are currently being drafted by the Working Group, with a goal of finishing this by the end of the year.“

  • Group Chair: Elizabeth Griffin (BMG)

    “We’re pleased to share that the second committee successfully launched the Tender as seen in Music Week, inviting providers to develop and deliver department-specific climatetraining for Music Labels. The Tender sparked strong interest with 17 companies enquiring for more information and ultimately attracting a wide range of compelling applications from 10 final applicants. We are now nearing the end of the second stage, having reviewed all applicants, shortlisted and interviewed four of them.  Once this stage concludes, we’ll be happy to share a few insights into our selection methodology and how the shortlisted candidates and the eventual chosen partner align with our criteria. Looking ahead, our next step will be to form a dedicated third committee to lead the fundraising efforts and support the development and full rollout of the programme. This will be key to maintaining momentum as we move toward the planned beta testing and the programme launch in early 2026.  

    As a reminder, if you’d like to contribute as a member or as a co-chair and aren’t part of the working group, please reach out to Roxy so that we can include you in our upcoming meeting.”

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The Music Climate Pact’s working groups bring together industry experts to focus on key areas of climate action across music. Each group exists to identify shared challenges, develop practical solutions and support the sector in reducing its environmental impact.

Chaired by industry professionals, the working groups are collaborative spaces for learning, discussion and action. Their work helps drive best practice, shared understanding and meaningful progress towards a more sustainable music industry.

Vinyl Group Priorities:

This working group seeks to address knowledge and data gaps within the vinyl supply chain with the key outputs being - an improvement in the accuracy of average emission factors used for reporting purposes, defined best practice standards for carbon calculation, a greater understanding of the opportunities to decarbonise our physical products, and will agree the framework for suppliers to demonstrate sustainability credentials which will allow Pact Signatories to factor environmental impact more accurately into strategic procurement decisions.    

Digital Group Priorities: 

This group will focus on creating the following a working partnership between the MCP and DSPs for emission reduction and nature restoration as well as joint environmental initiatives, such as the possible digital-first business models that can sustain lower-carbon artist careers and reduce reliance on high emission forms of industry sales.  The group also contributes to communication from the Music Climate Pact to the public on the simple steps they can take to reduce their home impact of streaming music and is working on creating a MCP consensus around a set standard for carbon emissions calculations and industry apportionment to various stakeholders.

Climate Training Group Priorities:

Ensuring all staff within labels are climate literate and can access department-specific training so they can understand the climate impacts of their particular work stream. Ensure this knowledge is generally transferable across all labels regardless of where the staff member is employed and that it is free at the point of use to all staff.