Large Carbon Emissions During Music Streaming
K-pop Fans Stream Music Over 5 Hours Daily During Comebacks
"Carbon Emissions from Streaming as Serious as Physical Albums"
K-pop fans are demanding eco-friendly music streaming. The photo is unrelated to the specific content of the article. [Image source=Pixabay]
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Climate action by K-pop fans is intensifying. They are demanding domestic music streaming platforms such as Melon to switch to renewable energy. This is because streaming digital music involves carbon emissions, a major cause of the climate crisis.
The climate action platform led by K-pop fans, 'Kpop4planet,' delivered a statement along with a petition signed by over 10,000 people on the 29th, demanding 'eco-friendly streaming' from domestic music streaming platforms including Melon, Vibe, Flo, Genie Music, and Bugs. Their demands include ▲launching music file products powered by 100% renewable energy ▲transparent disclosure of the current renewable energy usage rate at data centers ▲publishing an energy transition plan aiming for 100% renewable energy by 2030.
K-pop fan culture and music streaming are inseparable. Music charts serve as indicators of a singer's recognition, popularity, and appeal, and popular idols sweep the top ranks on the day of their comeback. Within fandoms, there are 'streaming total attacks' (스밍 총공), where fans repeatedly stream their favorite artist's songs to boost their ranking. Even without such intentions, repeatedly listening to a favorite artist's songs is natural for fans. As a result, K-pop fans' streaming usage time is about twice that of general music consumers. According to a survey conducted by Kpop4planet from May to June among 1,097 domestic and international K-pop fans, more than half of respondents streamed music for over 5 hours a day during their favorite artist's comeback period.
The problem is that a large amount of carbon dioxide is emitted during the streaming process through music platforms. K-pop fans urge domestic music streaming platforms to use renewable energy.
Lee Da-yeon, an activist from Kpop4planet, explained, "The issue that K-pop fans are most aware of regarding the environment is the physical album problem, but the digital music streaming issue is also very serious," adding, "Streaming music for over 5 hours emits much more carbon than a single CD album." She continued, "Because carbon emissions are invisible, their severity has not been widely recognized, so we started this campaign to inform K-pop fans and encourage collective action."
According to Kpop4planet, major overseas music streaming platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify already cover 100% of their power usage with renewable energy. In contrast, domestic music streaming platforms either lack clear climate action plans or have insufficient measures to respond to the accelerating climate crisis, according to the activists. The activist emphasized, "K-pop fans are mainly teenagers and people in their twenties, who are sensitive to environmental issues," and added, "K-pop entertainment agencies and music streaming platforms must listen to the demands and voices of their main consumer base."
K-Pop for Planet representatives held a performance on April 21 in front of HYBE headquarters, the agency of BTS, in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, urging the introduction of eco-friendly album options. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Since last year, Kpop4planet has criticized domestic entertainment agencies' marketing strategies aimed at increasing physical album sales and has called for 'sustainable K-pop.' In April, they held a press conference in front of HYBE's headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, the agency of BTS, urging domestic entertainment companies to improve the physical album culture.
In the future, they plan to carry out a 'forest adoption campaign' (fandom 4 forest). This goes beyond the existing fandom culture of creating forests named after favorite artists, aiming instead to adopt and continuously protect existing forests. The first forest adoption campaign will be conducted together with BTS's fandom, ARMY. The activist stated, "It is not that the K-pop industry must change all at once immediately," but emphasized, "However, since the K-pop industry has gained international status, it should move toward a more sustainable direction accordingly."
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