Millions of fans listen to Nature and raise royalties for her survival

24 October 2024 - Press release

SOUNDS RIGHT LAUNCHED NATURE AS AN OFFICIAL ARTIST ON EARTH DAY 2024

MILLIONS OF FANS HAVE SINCE STREAMED NATURE’S TRACKS, ALLOWING HER TO EARN ROYALTIES FROM THE SOUNDS OF THE NATURAL WORLD 

AT COP16 (CALI, COLOMBIA), SOUNDS RIGHT ANNOUNCES $225,000 WILL GO TO CONSERVING THE COLOMBIAN TROPICAL ANDES

NEW SOUNDS RIGHT TRACKS ‘FEAT. NATURE’ ARE BEING RELEASED FROM: LYKKE LI | ELA MINUS | AYSAY | SAM LEE | ALEXIS TAYLOR | LOUIS VI X ALLEN ANJEH | JENNY STURGEON 

 

This year, ‘NATURE’ officially launched as a musical artist on major streaming platforms through Sounds Right, an initiative from the Museum for the United Nations - UN Live and partners, which allows nature to generate royalties and funding from her own sounds. In just six months, NATURE has reached over 65M+ streams from 7.5M+ listeners in over 180 countries. Now, she is gifting away her royalties and institutional donations for the first time, with $225,000 donated to support conservation efforts in Colombia. 

Launched today at the 2024 U.N. Biodiversity Conference Cop16 in Cali, the Sounds Right Fund (hosted by EarthPercent, a UK and US registered charity) will direct income from the musical artist NATURE to critical ecosystems amidst the biodiversity crisis. In under 6 months since the initiative launched, the first projects have been identified in the Tropical Andes, a key biodiversity area with some of the highest rates of biodiversity and endemism on the planet.   

Reserva Natural La Planada, which represents an impressive 3,200 ha of lands protected and governed by indigenous communities, will receive $100,000 over two years towards promoting scientific tourism and protecting its rich biocultural heritage. Fundación Projecto Titi, which protects Colombia’s iconic cotton-top tamarin monkeys and 900 hectares of reclaimed forest reserve, will receive $80,000 over two years. FundaExpresion will receive $35,000 over two years towards their community-led initiatives securing 450 hectares of self-declared nature reserves with local farmer communities in the Andean forest, community biomonitoring programs, and economic agro-biodiversity initiatives to diversify farmers’ incomes. Jacana Jacana, an inspiring initiative blending music, community knowledge and scientific insights to nurture ecological awareness among children and youth, will receive $10,000 over one year. 

In an ongoing effort to continue to raise funds for conservation and engage the public about the value of nature, the Sounds Right partnership is delighted to announce seven new pieces of music featuring NATURE. Lykke Li’s track “TЯAƎH ЯUOY OT YAWHӘIH (feat. NATURE)” includes the sound of crickets, summer winds and birdsong, recorded in her garden and downtown LA. Sam Lee’s track “Bushes & Briars & Birds (Feat. NATURE)” includes the song of Sam’s beloved Nightingale along with many other bird species. Ela Minus’s track “Noah (Feat. NATURE)” includes rain and thunder recorded during a thunderstorm near Anapoim in Colombia. AySay’s track, featuring Biophonica, “Tu Bi Xer Hatî (feat. NATURE)”, co-produced with Grammy-nominated producer Sacha Skarbek, weaves together sounds of glaciers, birds, forests, and wind, sourced from both the Nordics and the Middle East. Jenny Sturgeon’s track, “Shelter Me (Feat. NATURE)” incorporates the dusk chorus of a song thrush and blackbird, recorded in the woods near Loch of the Lowes, Scotland. Alexis Taylor x Rachel Kitchlew x Alice Boyd’s cover of “A Day In The Life of a Tree” includes the sound of toads and other pond life recorded by Alice Boyd using a hydrophone at Broadwater Warren Nature Reserve in Kent, UK. Allen Anjeh and Louis VI collaborated on “Wale Nze Mbong (feat. NATURE)”, incorporating sounds recorded by VozTerra in the cloud forest of the Chicaque Natural Park in the Tropical Andes region of Colombia. 

Announcing this important next phase of the initiative is a full-circle moment. Sounds Right’s origins date back to 2019, when the Museum for the United Nations - UN Live partnered with Colombian artist collective, VozTerra, to create music that married Colombians’ love for music and rhythm with their deep connection and commitment to protecting the world´s most diverse ecosystems.  

VozTerra’s new album of soundscapes, Trópico, ranges from the Tropical Andes to the Amazon, with special emphasis on the landscapes of the Pacific and Caribbean coasts,spotlighting the ecosystem that the Fund will be first supporting while providing listeners a way to relax and connect with nature. The Listening Planet’s new album, Scandinavia, features wild and wonderful soundscapes from geysers and glaciers to winter winds, waterfowl in flight and a melodic frog chorus. These releases join the three most recent ‘Feat. NATURE’ collaborations with Madame Gandhi, Peter Hall and ONR, launched during New York Climate Week.  

Finally, Sounds Right is delighted to announce the Tune Into Nature Music Prize, a new competition for musicians aged 18-30 to celebrate their connection to nature by submitting tracks featuring sounds from the natural world. The winner will receive a £500 grant, a professional remix by a renowned producer, and the option to release their track on NATURE’s profile as part of the Sounds Right initiative. Shortlisted entries also have the potential to be played on BBC music networks. Judges include Cosmo Sheldrake, Madame Gandhi, Andrew Fearn (Sleaford Mods), Jason Singh, Melissa Harrison, Sam Lee, and BBC presenters Sian Eleri and Elizabeth Alker. ⁠Applicants should apply by 6th January via the Tune Into Nature Music Prize website. 

 

Kavita Prakash-Mani, Chair of the Sounds Right Fund Expert Advisory Panel, said:"Sounds of nature are inspiring, uplifting, relaxing, meditative and much more. We benefit without realising and we thread them into our songs, culture, our language. Now we need to give back at a time when our forests and grasslands are falling silent as species are lost. Sounds Right is an amazing initiative to protect and restore nature. To use the talent of our musicians and harness the power of individual action to make a lasting change to the world we live in. I am delighted and inspired to be part of this journey." 

Mindahi Bastida, Otomi-Toltec Leader and Sounds Right Fund Expert Advisory Panel Member, said: “Biocultural heritage will greatly benefit from music royalties and donations. In a way, it is about paying back to life systems that have inspired the human spirit through the magic of sound. The time has come to live in permanent reciprocity.” 

Lykke Li said about the track “TЯAƎH ЯUOY OT YAWHӘIH (feat. NATURE)”: “From my garden I recorded the songs of live crickets late at night, the warm summer wind at sunset, the early morning birds at dawn, and the sound of birds before sunrise at downtown LA, when the city is still asleep but the world awakens around us.”  

Gabriel Smales, Global Programme Director for Sounds Right at UN Live, said: “So far, we’ve failed to address the root cause of the biodiversity crisis. Our economic model doesn’t value nature adequately, instead treating it as a resource to be exploited or a place to dump waste. Today we take a small but significant step in rectifying this - by simply listening to NATURE’s music, millions of fans have directed royalties to conservation projects in one of the world’s most precious ecosystems. Other industries should take note that a more reciprocal relationship with nature is not only realistic but can be delightful for the millions who are looking for greater agency in our collective efforts to protect the planet.” 

Rafael Puyana, Co-founder of VozTerra, said: “From the start of our collective work at VozTerra, we have embraced the idea of planting a seed in the human heart through deep listening, music, and the sounds of nature. We are incredibly proud that this seed, first nurtured in Colombia, has now blossomed into a global initiative. This expansion not only raises awareness but also channels funds back to Colombia, supporting the regeneration of nature in the Global South. We are especially proud to contribute sounds from Colombian ecosystems, which artists worldwide are using to amplify their message of conservation and inspire a deeper connection with nature.” 

Louis VI, said: “It's crazy how the rhythms in nature sounds can make a track unfold so much more organically; somehow it feels right to draw from NATURE's inspiration pool – where she's had millions of years to come up with every rhythm and melody possible, rather than some human-made sample”, and Allen Anjeh added: “Collaborating with NATURE is a reminder that we are part of something bigger—something that sustains us all. This track reflects that truth through music, we want to inspire others to respect and protect the Earth.”   

Anders Holm, Executive Director at Hempel Foundation, said: “Protecting and restoring nature and biodiversity can be approached in many ways, and the Sounds Right initiative is one of the most inventive examples. It’s incredibly inspiring to see how early ideas, combined with core funding and great work from many, have now evolved into a significant biodiversity effort in one of the world’s most vital hotspots. The connection between people’s desire to act and artists willing to contribute has been truly motivating, and we are deeply inspired by the acceleration of impact we’re now witnessing.” 

Cathy Runciman, Co-Executive Director at EarthPercent, said: “It's been fantastic to see so many brilliant artists excited to engage creatively with the sounds of nature and supportive of Sounds Right's core objective to see that nature is fairly compensated for her musical contributions. We know that many artists care deeply about protecting and restoring nature and it's a privilege to launch these collaborations via the Feat. NATURE playlist and together generate positive impact for biodiversity.” 

Hanna Grahn, Sustainability Lead at Spotify, said: “We strive to leverage our platform for good and inspire, engage and educate listeners and the wider community to take climate action. Sounds Right is a fantastic initiative, leveraging the power of creativity and music to support nature. We are proud to be part of such impactful organizations and creators, and that nature finally is getting the praise she deserves.” 

Hector Buitrago, artist (Aterciopelados) and Co-Founder of VozTerra, said: “Considering the sounds of nature as part of musical creation, allowing nature to be recognized as an artist and earn royalties for its conservation, represents a new paradigm in the music industry. This leads us into a new era, where we shift from extractivism in the music industry to granting rights to nature.”