Pollstar (04/22/21) Rendon, Francisco

Pollstar's interviews with live industry players for the anniversary of Earth Day indicate that the dialogue around sustainability has expanded significantly in the past year, and gained new value as touring resurges. Michael Martin of Effect Partners said a coalition of 300 road managers and 3,000 roadies is participating in regular calls, arranged by new groups like the Touring Professionals alliance, to dissect their own practices and norms, reflecting a genuine desire by more people to address the issue of sustainability in touring. "With the [pandemic] downtime different players have started working together and talking about the critical intersectional issues of sustainability, wellness and justice," he said. Martin added that the capacity for collaboration between different sectors and organizations within the industry is essential, as up to now many sustainability initiatives have mostly represented isolated efforts of a few well-meaning people who have been forced to "re-invent the wheel," without a connection to a collective learning approach. Among contributing organizations is REVERB, which focuses on developing best practices for tours and educating artists, venues, promoters and agents to take incremental steps that collectively have a substantial impact on the carbon footprint of tours. REVERB co-founder Adam Gardner said artist buy-in is the single most important driver toward a more sustainable industry.

Read the full story from Pollstar.