Called Sounds Right, the project is the brainchild of the Museum for the United Nations – UN Live. which hopes it will raise $40m (£32m) in its first four years.
“The dream is that any artist who’s interested in collaborating with nature is able to visit our website, download nature samples and tag nature on their tracks, with a portion of the royalties donated to high impact conservation initiatives,” says programme director Gabriel Smales.
Nature’s “artist page” on Spotify will also include ambient recordings of the planet, from rainforests to ocean sounds. For those tracks, at least 70% of the profits will fund conservation programmes, says Smales.
Eno, who is world renowned as a founding member of Roxy Music and a pioneer of ambient music, is a key part of the project through his EarthPercent charity.
Founded in 2021, the organisation works with the music industry to support “credible and impactful” environmental organisations – and will also distribute the money generated by Sounds Right.
Those projects are chosen by an independent advisory panel, whose members include Prof Brian Cox, climate scientist Prof Tamsin Edwards, and Nnimmo Bassey, former chair of Friends of the Earth.
Current targets include preservation efforts in Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands, as well as efforts to prevent deep-sea mining.
Eno and Aurora share a belief that music can make a difference to the planet without “preaching” about climate change.
“If you’re listening to a beautiful piece of music, you’re hearing the possibility of a good world that we could be in,” says Eno.
“That’s how art changes people. It gives us aspirations that we wouldn’t have otherwise.”
Aurora adds: “It’s much easier to engage people when they feel a part of something. I think only art can make people understand how deep and spiritual this connection with nature should be.”
The news on climate change can often seem overwhelming and catastrophic – with temperatures reaching record highs, resulting in food shortages, rising sea levels and an increase in extreme weather events.
