Universal Music Group has been turning the volume way up on its plans to reduce its environmental impact, across the live music sector, the physical music industry, and within its music merchandise and consumer products space.
Integral to those plans is Bravado, UMG’s music Merch division and avenue of engagement with its scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. With a special sector focus now in print within the latest issue of the Products of Change magazine, we catch up with Bravado’s md, David Boyne to get the latest.
Hello David, great to catch up ahead of Licensing Expo! So, what’s the Bravado plan? What are the ambitions and targets and what’s the relationship between your plans and the wider plans of Universal Music Group?
Well, we are deeply committed to understanding and reducing our environmental impact – both within our own operations and as a leader in our industry.
This year, Universal Music Group became the first major standalone music company to announce science-based targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative, which means an outlined pathway to:
- Reduce our absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions 58% by 2032 from a 2019 base year.
- Reduce scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions from purchased goods and services; capital goods; fuel and energy related activities; waste generated in operations; business travel; and employee commuting by 62% within the same timeframe.
Bravado is a key driver of UMG’s decarbonisation programme, especially as it relates to scope 3 emissions. And we are working together to engage artists, fans, and supply chain partners in our efforts, and to evolve our merchandise model to meet the needs of the future.
That’s awesome to hear… so how is Bravado approaching that plan? What successes have you seen so far along the pathway to reducing emissions?
Over the last few years, we’ve engaged our global network of transportation and distribution partners to optimize our logistics operations. We’ve been able to minimize shipping distances, consolidate shipments, select lower impact transportation modes over air freight, and support the use of an electric ground transport fleet.
In fact, we’ve already reduced our logistics emissions by 10% from 2022 by shifting to more sustainable transport modes.
And how about from a product and merchandise point of view?
We’ve also partnered with our artists and suppliers to roll out a number of sustainable merchandise collections, featuring recycled materials, organic cotton certified through the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and direct-to-garment printing.
Billie Eilish’s European Tour Collection features a custom 60% recycled and 40% organic cotton blend. Our eco-packaging program reflects our ongoing commitment to sustainable material advancements, serving to eliminate four million plastic bags from the marketplace every year.
In lieu of plastic, direct-to-consumer products are packaged using compostable bags, cartons made from recyclable paper, and 100% recycled-content mailers.
Another key focus has been our manufacturing process. We’ve transitioned to photo approvals for our product sampling to reduce physical waste – as well as the emissions associated with sample transportation. Additionally, the integration of Print-On-Demand (POD) systems, through which products are printed as they are ordered has reduced physical retail samples by 65% in the UK since 2021.
I had a feeling Billie’s name would pop up here. How influential are artists like Billie becoming within this conversation?
The demand for more sustainable merchandise is coming from both sides – artists and consumers. In many cases, artists are aware that this is not only important to them but it is also important to their fans – and they use their influence to accelerate industry change and catalyze new types of products.
Without artists pushing for these changes, I’m not sure that the industry would have progressed as quickly as it has.
And finally, David – where do you think this industry is headed? What’s the music merch sector of tomorrow looking like?
When looking at the industry as a whole, there’s still a heavy reliance on fossil-fuels and plastics – from synthetic materials used for hoodies and t-shirts to plastic mailers used for direct-to-consumer shipping.
However, we are at a tipping point. Given the combination of environmental regulations, consumer awareness, and artist demand, we are seeing a shift towards a logistics system that runs on renewable resources, as well as a phase-out of petroleum-based materials.
With an increasing focus on the social and environmental sustainability of the supply chain, we foresee a move back to the basics – with the future of merchandise grounded in natural fibres and closed-loop processes that keep the materials that exist today in circulation for years to come.
Thanks David, see you in Vegas.
We’ll have a sherry, I’m sure.
Read up on Products of Change’s special music industry focus within the latest issue of the Products of Change magazine.
