Brian Eno Credits the Earth as a Co-Writer on New Release

The planet earth is credited as one of Brian Eno‘s co-writers on a new release, which is part of a greater music project he’s produced to help raise awareness and funds for environmental causes.

Co-founder of the EarthPercent campaign, Eno’s project will also feature contributions from a number of artists, including Jacob Collier, Anna Calvi, Mount Kimbie, and Erland Cooper, among others, who will each credit Earth as a contributor to their new songs released.

The campaign mission is to raise $100 million by 2030 from the music industry that will benefit the environment while crediting earth as its beneficiary. Monies raised through the project will be spent to help reduce the environmental impact of the music industry, in addition to restoring nature and changing policy to “climate justice and fair environmental stewardship,” according to the campaign.

“The Earth as Your Co-writer is a beautiful idea in which we harness the poetic construct of The Earth as a co-writer of music and direct some of the income from our compositions towards tackling the climate emergency,” said Eno. “EarthPercent provides an easy way for the music industry to make a difference by asking artists to commit a small percentage of their songwriting revenue. All musicians are inspired by the precious planet we live on, so it’s fitting that we are now able to name The Earth as our co-writer.”

The EarthPercent mission statement reads:

“We want to encourage artists and music-related organizations to pledge a small percentage of their income to EarthPercent. This percentage can be collected at source and diverted to EarthPercent where it will be directed to the most impactful organizations dealing with climate change. Currently, only three percent of all philanthropic giving globally is directed towards protecting the future of our planet. This is not nearly enough to match the scale and urgency of the problem. One of the most impactful things music can do is get more money as fast as possible to those at the forefront of fighting the climate emergency. We can and we will make the change.”

In support of the campaign, and Earth Day 2023, which falls on April 23, Eno is releasing a limited edition Evo vinyl version of “Line In the Sand,” a collaborative track featuring Hot chip and goddess that were originally part of their Earth Percent x Earth Day campaign in 2022. In collaboration with Evolution Music, Evo vinyl is a more sustainable approach to manufacturing records using a plant-based polymer mix.

Norwegian artist Aurora, who is also one of the contributors to the 2023 campaign, said that her forthcoming album is inspired by earth.

“It’s an album about interconnectedness and the art of coexistence,” said Aurora. “There is no greater teacher than Mother Earth. There is no greater home or provider. There is no better place than Earth. And that is why I want to make this whole album with Mother Earth as a co-writer because without her there wouldn’t be any such thing as music.”

In 2022, Michael Stipe also participated in the EarthPercent Earth Day campaign with two songs with Beatie Wolfe—“Future If Future” by Stipe and “Oh My Heart”—which were released on Evo vinyl. The 2022 EarthPercent project featured more than 100 tracks from artists, including Nile Rodgers, Big Thief, and Peter Gabriel, among many others.

Showing a larger level of support from the music industry, in December 2021, Sony, Universal, and Warner, along with a number of independent labels signed the Music Climate Pact, a promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 with a 50 percent reduction by 2030.

Photo: Rob Ball/Redferns via Getty Images