British music label heads for greener pastures

If you stopped a person on the street and asked them what industries were the biggest polluters of the environment, the music industry probably wouldn't make it on their Top 10 list.  It probably wouldn't spring to mind at all.  One international label believes the environment should not only be an agenda item for the music industry - it believes the issue could be the answer to the industry's need to address the illegal sharing and downloading of music.

Credit for the idea goes to MA Professional Writing and BA(Hons) Digital Media students at University College Falmouth (UCF). Students' comments during a Digital Branding unit taught by Aardvark Records Managing Director, Alex di Savoia, prompted him to implement a Green policy.  It's a policy the label hopes will be adopted by other labels worldwide.

UCF media students' felt MP3s were green and CDs were not.  While there wasn't a definitive correlation between the students' perceptions and their preferences of mp3s over CDs, it was evident that green and environmental issues were important to them.  By no means a call to arms to abandon CDs, the students thought the music industry could do more to address environmental issues in CD manufacturing.

Online audio and video players (or widgets to those in the know) and its digital DJ pool are important audio and video promotional tools for the label.  However, Aardvark distributes countless promotional CDs to DJs, radio stations and music video channels around the globe.  Effective today, as part of its Green Policy, Aardvark will drastically reduce its use of promotional CDs. Instead, it will promote the use of its audio and video widgets to music editors and feature writers and music websites.  By copying a small amount of freely available hml code, online publications and websites will have the latest full-length Aardvark releases playing on their websites.

di Savoia said.  "The petrochemicals used in manufacturing CDs are environmentally toxic.  CDs also don't biodegrade.  What I'd like to see is record labels investing in research to make CDs environmentally friendly. Recycling unwanted CDs and DVDs could be one answer. The industry could win back deteriorating public perceptions by adopting green manufacturing processes.  It could also give the beleaguered CD format a new lease of life."

So how could this provide an answer to illegal downloading?  di Savoia said: "The problem current illegal music downloading and sharing measures have is they are punitive with an air of hysteria. People either tune out to the issue or take the excessively punitive measures as a challenge. Success lays in making the behaviour social unacceptable at a grassroots level.  The message would have to be clear: that mp3 sales fund the research needed to make CDs green."

di Savoia and University College Falmouth students believe lessons can be learned from drink driving campaigns. "It's definitely not cool to drink and drive. It's becoming uncool to take drugs and drive. These campaigns are successful because the key message targets behaviour. If labels are prepared to fund research into ‘greening' CDs from digital music sales, that's something people would understand.

For example, if every label paid five cents from each mp3 sale into a research pot, then the
estimated 40 billion illegal downloads for 2008 (IFPI) would have resulted in a loss of billions for this research and development.  That's a very powerful and easy message for people to get and support." 

One of the UK's most dynamic writing courses, the MA in Professional Writing at University College Falmouth has many alumni working across a whole range of media, from magazines to television and online content creation. In January 2009, a new, online version of the course was launched and allows talented writers to combine studying for the MA with work or family commitments.

UCF's BA(Hons) Digital Media course is considered to be one of the top broadcasting courses in the UK with students and graduates winning awards from the Royal Television Society and the Charles Parker Prize for Student Radio. These awards are an affirmation of the course's strategy to combine critical, research-based content development with modern technological opportunities for delivery to carefully targeted audiences.

UCF is part of the Cornwall Skillset Media Academy, which celebrates innovation and creativity through the close collaboration between education and business, building on strong existing partnerships of broadcasters, training organisations and media production companies.

For further information about MA Professional Writing at University College Falmouth, visit www.falmouth.ac.uk/professionalwriting, email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 214374.

For further information about BA(Hons) Digital Media at University College Falmouth, visit www.falmouth.ac.uk/digitalmedia, email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 214355.

ENDS

For more information regarding this press release, please contact Alex di Savoia:
Tel +44 (0) 1326 376 013 or email alex@aardvarkrecords.co.uk or visit http://www.aardvarkrecords.co.uk/

For further information about University College Falmouth, please contact Jilly Easterby MCIPR, Head of Public Affairs, Telephone: 01326 213792, or email:  jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

Note to Editors:

Aardvark Records Ltd is one of the rising stars of the UK music industry. They are a staunchly independent record label with a growing roster of original, new talent covering a variety of music genres: Indie rock, Americana, Alt Country, Commercial Dance,Electronica, Adult Contemporary and Pop music.

Aardvark's directors bring over 30 years' combined music industry experience to the group. This experience covers music & studio production, artiste management, music sales and A&R. Their roster of acts currently enjoy sales and radio play around the globe. They also enjoy the respect and praise of hardened music lovers, journalists and industry insiders.

Aardvark Records Ltd were one of the first record labels to use podcasting and one of the first labels to support internet radio. Other firsts include: providing music videos to YouTube, Google Video, Singingfool, ROO TV and a host of other online music video entertainment websites; providing full tracks on MySpace, Reverb Nation, Bebo and Last.fm; setting up a blog to share their thoughts about music industry developments and news; and using widgets for people to share their music and videos with their friends.

University College Falmouth is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the powers to award degrees in its own name.  It has two campuses in Cornwall - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns, and jointly manages with the University of Exeter) - and a third campus at Totnes in Devon, following its merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008.

This merger created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Choreography, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing.  The Devon-based courses will relocate to a new, high-specification Performance Centre at Tremough in 2010, paving the way for a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2012/2013 that will be unique to the South West.

The College is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.

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