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Download, don’t stream!

Download, don’t stream !

As a digital contemporary music label, who expects to grow fast in the next years on the Internet, we couldn’t go through the important subject of the pollution of streaming practices and the trend called « digital sobriety »…

How to promote digital sobriety when you are an online music label present on streaming platforms?

Many new reports of different countries (France, Canada…) point out the fact that our new online consumers habits are full of consequences for the planet.

In deed, one might think that the end of physical media such as CDs and DVDs would save resources and reduce pollution by reducing consumption. But that was without counting our new frenetic and continuous way of consumption of video and music products on streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney +, OCS, HBO, Youtube or Apple music.

Music streaming produced 300 million kilograms of CO2 in USA in 2019. In comparison, CDs represented 157 million kilos of CO2 in 2000. A good solution would be the purchase of physical CDs, which would prove to be more eco-responsible ? Ok but only  if each CD are read more than 27 times. Not so easy…

Video streaming is the “big problem”  because of the heavy files which are growing up with the development of technologies. According to the French “Shift Project », the video streaming products « 300 million tonnes of CO2 emitted per year, this use would therefore represent the annual equivalent of the CO2 emissions of a country like Spain, or 1% of global emissions. »

Yes, that’s huge…

So what is the role to play for a musical label such Elektramusic? We don’t produce video, but music on streaming still need a lot of energy to work.

In order to promote more « digital sobriety », a few avenues to explore.

We know for example that downloading music or video instead of just streaming is less polluting.

Then, if you listen one downloaded track several time, there will be less consequences than if you stream this file 1000 time. Use more wifi and less 4G network.

If we want to continue to exist on the Internet, we have to spread the message « download don’t stream » !