Recomposed
Music, Climate, Crisis, Change
Will be published approx. on 14. July 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-80429-817-6 (ISBN)
Description
We are witnessing a climate-oriented transformation of what music is and how it comes to be. Recomposed shows how musicians around the world are using the cultural power of music to link climate awareness to climate action.
Award-winning author and academic Kyle Devine profiles EarthPercent, founded by Brian Eno and others to help funnel money from the music business to climate causes. Devine enrolls in a course led by ClimateEQ, which teaches carbon literacy for the music industry. He investigates a platform to help musicians finance solar energy. Devine embeds himself among a dynamic cast of manufacturers and inventors seeking ways to make records more sustainable, from recycling old vinyl to making discs from bioplastic. At the center of this multifaceted story is the climate impact of music festivals and touring musicians.
Everywhere you look, music and our habitat are changing together.
Award-winning author and academic Kyle Devine profiles EarthPercent, founded by Brian Eno and others to help funnel money from the music business to climate causes. Devine enrolls in a course led by ClimateEQ, which teaches carbon literacy for the music industry. He investigates a platform to help musicians finance solar energy. Devine embeds himself among a dynamic cast of manufacturers and inventors seeking ways to make records more sustainable, from recycling old vinyl to making discs from bioplastic. At the center of this multifaceted story is the climate impact of music festivals and touring musicians.
Everywhere you look, music and our habitat are changing together.
Reviews / Votes
Recomposed ultimately succeeds because it refuses to treat music as politically innocent or materially immaterial. Even its most idealistic forms remain entangled in systems of labour, consumption, infrastructure, and profit. Whether or not one shares Devine's political conclusions, the book persuasively argues that music's environmental impact cannot be separated from the economic structures that make modern music culture possible. * PopMatters * Kyle Devine understands that the connection between the climate and the material aspects of music goes beyond making LPs from potatoes (rumored) or the environmental impact of streaming (true, varied). Especially within circles of musicians, the social architecture or music-making is deeply under-discussed. Recomposed puts class at the center of the climate discussion, when it is sorely needed. -- Sasha Frere-JonesMore details
Edition
Paperback original
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
7 photos
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
367 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-80429-817-6 (9781804298176)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Kyle Devine is a professor in environmental studies and dean of graduate studies at the University of Winnipeg. He is the author of Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music, an award-winning environmental history of the record industry.
Content
Preface
Introduction
The Great Recomposition
Part I: Technical Solutions
1. The Ecological Record
2. Vicious Cycles
3. Green Vinyl
4. Evolution Music
5. Will It Scale?
6. Building Better Fetishes
Part II: Institutional Solutions
7. The Carbon Question
8. ClimateEQ
9. Atmospheric Accounting
10. Future Energy Artists
11. EarthPercent
12. Beyond Carbon Convenience
Part III: Cultural Solutions
13. The Missing Link
14. We Make Tomorrow
15. A Behavioral Change Is Gonna Come
16. Set in Motion
17. The Future, Wouldn't That Be Nice?
18. One Thing to Another
Postscript
Acknowledgements
Notes
Index
Introduction
The Great Recomposition
Part I: Technical Solutions
1. The Ecological Record
2. Vicious Cycles
3. Green Vinyl
4. Evolution Music
5. Will It Scale?
6. Building Better Fetishes
Part II: Institutional Solutions
7. The Carbon Question
8. ClimateEQ
9. Atmospheric Accounting
10. Future Energy Artists
11. EarthPercent
12. Beyond Carbon Convenience
Part III: Cultural Solutions
13. The Missing Link
14. We Make Tomorrow
15. A Behavioral Change Is Gonna Come
16. Set in Motion
17. The Future, Wouldn't That Be Nice?
18. One Thing to Another
Postscript
Acknowledgements
Notes
Index