Let’s talk about the carbon cycle, shall we?
The earth is a big carefully balanced, symbiotic relationship.
Plants breathe (well, absorb) Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They store the carbon in the form of yummy carbohydrates. They then expel oxygen gas as a waste product. Eventually the plant dies, and is reincorporated into the earth by smaller organisms known as decomposer. I like to call the little critters composters.
Human beings (along with all other known life-forms on the planet) are made up of five major elements: Carbon, oxygen, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen. There are a few others required for us to metabolize and otherwise be alive, but we’re mostly built out of hydrocarbon chains (polymers). When we eat, (plants and other animals), we consume carbon, and when we breathe in, we consume oxygen. When we breathe out, we release water and carbon dioxide. In between, energy is transferred through a complicated process, from chemical bonds, into ATP, a sort of body-energy-currency.
Factories that produce compact discs (and other products) also release carbon dioxide. Lots of it. So much in fact, that there are national and international regulations to stem overproduction of the gas.
Which brings us back to symbiosis: We need plants for oxygen, they need us for CO2.
We haven’t created a factory-symbiot thing that takes CO2 out of the atmosphere and converts it into something useful yet (although progress with algae has been made), so factories don’t have a symbiotic counterpart like we do. This results in a net release of CO2, a known greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. It contributes to global warming, and because CD’s are made of plastic, it also contributes to the need for petroleum. Yes, music is a petroleum based product, don’t fool yourself.
certain artists know about this (the first album cover I read this on was Dido:Life for rent). They are planting trees to make up for the CO2 produced by the production and transport of their albums into the hands of consumers. These are known as “carbon-neutral” albums. It would be nice to see a big-5 record company make a policy like this instead of requiring the artists to finance it themselves. However, they’re too busy making record profits year after year and suing dead people, and single mothers with no internet connection to care about their role in the carbon cycle. (I wonder if I burned a bridge by saying that, but I doubt they read this silly little blog).
There is a music format that creates very little CO2: Digital Downloads
Digital copies don’t create waste like their counterparts irl* .
Who buys Digital Music?
Digital services can actually save money for a frequent music purchaser. The biggest downside to the all-you-can-eat music services is the selection. Local bands will not be found, and you don’t get to own the music if the service goes out of business, as is wont to happen in this business.
iTunes is far and away the big success in the digital music download industry. That being said, a new report reveals that most iPod users don’t use the music store…
Personally, I like CD’s. A lot. In fact, I haven’t bought a single digital song or movie download. Ever.
You can still have your CD’s, and be carbon-neutral if you buy used copies. Although not as effective as buying digital music, it effectively halves the resource use by allowing at least 2 people to enjoy, or discard the physical manifestation of the record instead of the usual one. It also helps fuel a cottage industry for retired sound guys and radio dj’s.
CD’s don’t often end up in landfills because their content is generally valuable enough to keep them in the second hand market (unless scratched beyond repair). That is, except for aol cd’s! No, they don’t really make good coasters. Really.
A new website, launched in June, lala.com, allows you to swap cd’s with others online. You make a list of CD’s you own, and CD’s you want, and then make offers for trade with other users. Each CD transaction costs you $1.75 (incl. shipping) and includes prepaid shipping envelopes a. la. netflix. Wired reports that artists will receive a percentage of the transactions, although I haven’t found confirmation of this on the lala website, they do have the Z-foundation, which may be what they were talking about; a sort of co-op for musicians.
Steal CD’s?
There was once a program on the internet with the purpose to allow internet thieves (normal people with Napster accounts) to pay music artists directly for their music downloads. This relied on the honor system, and as there is no honor among thieves, and not enough advertising for this system, it didn’t work. Lucky for you, there is iTunes. Unluckily for you, you can’t pay artist prices. (Artists make very little from CD sales, much like they make very little from digital music downloads, but that’s the industry…)
*irl=in real life. as in:
Tommenator4759: I totally went out with a level 4 WoW sorceress, irl. Her name was shr3klvr492.
Roflcopter69: lolz. That’s no moon, it’s a space station!
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