INSIGHT

MUSIC MOVES
MOVEMENTS

Earthsongs

12.12.23

Music makes history.
Music makes the future.

Music is the greatest cultural force on the planet.

Music moves movements because music is the fastest way to psychologically unite people for a common cause.

1984 Band Aid celebrity artists collectively sang Do They Know It’s Christmas. The song raised USD 24 million for a devastating Ethiopian famine. This inspired two influential charity music groups, USA for Africa and Live Aid.

1985 We Are The World celebrity song raised USD 63 million. The song heightened global awareness for African famine following the success of Band Aid 1984.

What if the regeneration movement had an
epic soundtrack,
could we accelerate global transformation?

1987-1991 a Singing Revolution led Estonia to become an independent nation. One man said "to have freedom through singing was the most important thing maybe in my life".

2002 Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony portrayed the profound role of music, across a five-decade revolution, to end South African Apartheid.

Asimbonanga is a famous anti-apartheid song performed by South Africa band Savuka. Savuka's founder Johnny Clegg sings an emotional tribute to Nelson Mandela in 1999. Johnny Clegg & Savuka were prominent activists in the movement against apartheid.

Music videos amplify earth awareness.

2016 Musician Ludovico Einaudi performed Elegy for the Arctic for the Greenpeace Save The Arctic Campaign to raise awareness about climate change. This regenerative ad demonstrates the iconic power of music video to make science relatable and natural place profoundly meaningful.

2019 Recording artist Lil Dicky published Earth, the official song and music video of the We Love Earth Campaign earning 322+ million views and raising awareness for climate solutions. The music video drives viewers to the campaign website, which promotes renewable energy, One Earth's Global Deal for Nature, and lifestyle solutions.

“Revolutionary Mexico saw the rise of numerous hyper-patriotic ballads, called corridos. These stories-in-verse, narrating important events and activities of legendary characters in the classical quatrain form 8a 8b 8a 8b, became an important media for disseminating revolutionary themes to the masses in early twentieth century Mexico.”

University of New Mexico

2014 Africa Rising music video project and social campaign was produced by MultiChoice Africa. The video anchors a social campaign promoting community-based social investment. The video features five African superstars, Tiwa Savage, Davido, Sarkodie, Micasa, Diamond Platnumz and Lola Rae. The music stimulates a call to feel and an emotional sensation of rising up. The video enhances the feeling with performance and provocative story-telling.

Music videos champion truths.

Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley published this lament. His song and video tell the story of how an era of injustice transformed the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park into a ecological treasure.

Honor The Earth championed a First Nations movement to #STOPLINE3. No More Pipeline Blues remembers the important truth of On The Land Where We Belong. The Indigo Girls co-founded Honor The Earth in 1983 with Winona LaDuke. Honor The Earth successfully pioneered an arts and culture strategy working with musicians to amplify their messages.

Music praises Mother Earth.

2021, Beninese-French music legend, Angélique Kidjo, published her album, Mother Earth. This compilation features African and international musicians. The album's theme song, Mother Earth, features Sting. The song and the video tell a story of natural beauty and human celebration.

2021 Bai Terek, the name of this song, means tree of life. Danil Danzheev and Ezendey Balbin perform simply and powerfully at the edge of their Altai forest home. Recorded with live sound June 2021.

Music inspires regeneration!

AY Young is among the first musicians in the world "to power his concerts with 100% renewable energy." The Battery Tour a grassroots campaign promoting solar power and sustainable solutions.

He was recently named a UN Youth Ambassador! Project 17 is a musical initiative to create a theme song for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The album and tour will raise money for sustainable development projects.

Music Regenerates Culture.

2021 East Forest performs piano to accompany the words and voice of Báyò Akómoláfée. The video dives deep into beauty. The instruments moves the poetry straight into the heart of us. Musical words and feelings regenerate profound human inquiry.