Contractual Harmony: LIVE Green Clauses Hit the Right Note for a Sustainable Live Music Sector

17 October 2024 - Press release

New Green Clauses Empower Artists and Companies to Prioritise Sustainable Impact

- Live music industry introduces green clauses to promote sustainability
- New contractual clauses empower artists to prioritise environmental impact
- LIVE Green initiative aims to transform live events into sustainable practices
- Industry-wide collaboration to drive adoption of greener working practices
- Landmark initiative sets the stage for a more eco-conscious live music industry

LIVE (Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment), the leading voice for 15 live music organisations, today announced a groundbreaking sustainability initiative led by its expert working group, LIVE Green. 

This landmark work will introduce a contractual clause template for artists booking contracts, designed to galvanise industry-wide action and transform the environmental impact of live events.

LIVE Green is led by Carol Scott, the Principal Sustainability Advocate at TAIT, a world class live experience company and Ross Patel, LIVE Green's Impact Consultant. It is a cross-sector group that coordinates sustainability activity drawing on representatives from venues, festivals, touring, artists, agents, managers, promoters, production and more. It aims to facilitate cooperation across the organisation’s membership, accessing best in class sustainability guidance, while ensuring knowledge sharing and support can be provided to help sector-wide efforts in this area. 

"Today marks a significant step forward for the live music industry," says Carol Scott. "LIVE Green's template for Green Sustainability Clauses, represents a true collaborative effort across the entire ecosystem of live events" says Ross Patel.

The introduction of these clauses follows in the footsteps of the successful implementation of contractual health and safety policies and practices. The aim is to foster widespread, lasting cultural change within the industry by accelerating the conversation around sustainability between every party involved in artist performance booking. By integrating sustainability into contracts between artist agents, promoters, and venues, LIVE Green is poised to drive the adoption of greener working practices across the board.

The newly launched clauses focus on key action areas of; waste, energy, water, food, merchandise and audience travel to make live music more sustainable. They include contributions from a cross industry stakeholder group which included promoters, agents, artists, managers, venues, festivals, sustainability consultants, production company representatives and more.

The world's largest talent agencies have indicated they will propose to their clients the adoption of green clauses (using the template to draft their own), as an opt-in alongside independent agencies such as ATC Live and Pure Represents Ltd, signalling a huge commitment and a demonstration of the desire for a more eco-conscious industry.

Olivia-Jane Ransley, Director of Operations at ATC Live says ‘ATC Live are proud and excited to be a part of this long-needed initiative and to have worked with LIVE to create this clause. We hope that its inclusion in contracts will not only raise awareness but also create some impactful change within the industry’.

Reflecting the tremendous support of the talent agents community, Paul Winteridge, President of The Entertainment Agents’ Association said, “as one of the original member associations to initiate discussions on the introduction of a Green Clause, The Entertainment Agents’ Association members will be early adopters of the suggested wording. Each member agent will adapt the clause to suit the wide range of live entertainment performances wherever possible, from live music to theatre shows. We are grateful to the work of LIVE for its collaborative approach to green issues, and we are proud that the music and entertainment industry is playing its part in actively working towards reducing carbon footprint and emissions.” 

Ensuring a fully joined up approach to the initiative, major promoters including SJM and Kilimanjaro among others have also confirmed that they will encourage the inclusion of these clauses and welcome the industry's efforts to support climate action. Zac Fox, Kilimanjaro Group COO says “At Kilimanjaro Live we are delighted to be part of such a positive leap forward in tackling the environmental impact that live music can have. It’s thanks to the collaborative set up of LIVE that this has been achieved as it will take all elements of this industry working together to make a change.”

Ross Patel reinforced the industry's collective responsibility, stating, "There is a moral obligation to do the right thing for our communities and to use our cultural platforms to help ensure a fair and just future. By sharing this piece of work and emphasising the cross-industry collaboration that has been crucial to get us to this point, we hope the wider industry, artists and audiences feel inspired and empowered to accelerate positive change within their spheres of influence."

Carol Scott echoed this sentiment, adding, "This is an industry initiative written by the industry for the industry. As with everything LIVE produces, this work is intended to be for the benefit of all and will be free to access via www.livemusic.biz. We hope the clause template will be adapted as necessary and subsequently adopted far and wide, stimulating awareness and conversation."

Alongside the clause template, LIVE Green has also created a LIVE Green Resource Hub, designed to respond to the content of the clauses, which highlights considerations for addressing each aspect of the clauses, as well as further resource and guidance from sustainability experts in the industry to help all stakeholders in the live sector progress their sustainability efforts. This has received wider industry support with Suzanne Bull MBE, Founder, Attitude is Everything saying “Attitude is Everything is proud to be part of the LIVE Green industry initiative. What’s important about the initiative is that there are a range of resources provided alongside the Artist Commitment clauses. These resources show that both the artists and the sector can adopt and implement any clause or measure in a flexible way. The toolkit that we created with Julie’s Bicycle and A Greener Future, ‘No climate action without us – how to include disabled people in live event sustainability’ takes a similar approach to having flexibility in its solutions. We’re pleased that our toolkit has been referenced as part of the initiative”.

The work has garnered further industry support from Music Managers Forum, whose CEO, Annabella Coldrick says ‘For music managers, ensuring live touring is as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible represents a major challenge. This initiative from LIVE Green offers a pragmatic step to help tackle those challenges, and ensure there is a joined-up approach across the industry to set new standards. It has the full support of the MMF’. Demonstrating industry alignment, David Martin, CEO, Featured Artists Coalition has also supported by saying “the FAC fully supports the LIVE Green Clause. The environmental challenges we face are among the most critical issues confronting society, and it's vital that the music industry leverages its collective voice to raise awareness and drive meaningful change. These clauses offer a practical roadmap for reducing the environmental impact of touring and improving sustainability within our sector”.