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Gore Update: Live Earth

Got an update on the Al Gore Live Aid/8 concert clone I blogged about earlier this week. It’s called Live Earth, and it will be a Live 8 clone because its being produced by the same guy.

You can get a listing of the artists involved after the jump. First, a couple thoughts.

  1. It is very cool that each concert they hold will be designed to be as (environmentally) sustainable as possible, and will showcase technology and best practices for living sustainablly.
  2. A giant concert series is, in and of itself, not at all a sustainable (political) model.
  3. The concert series is part of the Save Our Selves coalition, which claims that it will provide corporations, governments, and people with solutions to prevent further climate change. That could be good, but is too vague to reliably judge.
  4. All proceeds from the concerts will go to establish a fund to fight climate change. That is very cool and could actually provide the seed money for something that is politically sustainable.

I’m still on the fence, but one leg just got thrown over to Gore’s side. I really hope he can pull this off and make a lasting impact.

Concerts on all 7 continents:

  • Shanghai
  • Sydney
  • Johannesburg
  • London
  • Brazil - TBD
  • Japan - TBD
  • United States - TBD
  • Antarctica - TBD

100+ artists. Current and legendary artists across all genres performing multiple hits.

Announced today:

  • Pharrell
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers
  • Foo Fighters
  • Snoop Dogg
  • Lenny Kravitz
  • Bon Jovi
  • Paolo Nutini
  • Sheryl Crow
  • AFI
  • Melissa Etheridge
  • John Mayer
  • Damien Rice
  • Corrine Bailey Rae
  • Duran Duran
  • Snow Patrol
  • John Legend
  • Black Eyed Peas
  • Akon
  • Enrique Iglesias
  • Fall Out Boy
  • Mana
  • Keane
  • Kelly Clarkson
  • Korn
  • Faith Hill w/ Tim McGraw
  • Bloc Party
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February 15th, 2007 12:22pm
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Impressive artist array

Submitted by Josh Koenig on Thu, 2007-02-15 13:12.

It’s an impressive array of artists. Very nice to see so many contemporary musicians from so many genres on board. Given that they’re mostly associated w/major labels, etc, this may reflect more of a “music industry” commitment than a broad consensus among the performers, but I like to think that all these performers have some personal consciousness of the issue.

On your thoughts, Mike: it’s unlikely that the fundraising aspect will be significant. While touring can be lucrative, producing a big concert series generally isn’t. The Live Aid concerts raised money by soliciting donations telathon-style. Live 8 didn’t raise money, but rather was intended to put political pressure on G8 nations to donate more (which worked). My guess is that proceeds would be in the tens of millions at most. It’s not chump change, but it’s not really “save the world” kind of money.

I wonder if they’ll follow the Live 8/Bono-style of activism via threatened embarrassment. I think this is interesting. I don’t know if a concert series itself is “sustainable” — it’s certainly not an every-day event, but it could easily be an annual tradition — but the idea of creating large gatherings of people to share an experience that puts political pressure on representative bodies is a tried and true method. It’s an interesting variation on the same stuff that can allow protests to work.

Lots of Bling, no Bang

Submitted by Michael Connery on Thu, 2007-02-15 13:33.

This is really all shorthand from my last blog, but:

It’s not chump change, but it’s not really “save the world” kind of money.

Right. But tens of millions dwarfs the annual budget of just about all non-profits. It’s not going to move mountains, or be the thing that is a panacea for our problem, but it’s a whole lot more than a few flashy shows that go bang and disappear into the night. That’s my point. If the goal is to raise awareness and channel energy into something that CAN have a sustained impact, then I’m less cynical about the whole endeavor because I think it could actually stand to do something

the idea of creating large gatherings of people to share an experience that puts political pressure on representative bodies is a tried and true method. It’s an interesting variation on the same stuff that can allow protests to work.

I guess I just don’t think that will work. I look at the Iraq war protests, Live 8, Live Aid, Vote for Change Concerts … I’m totally not sold on the power of large scale events like this to do much of anything substantive in and of themselves.

They Worked!

Submitted by Josh Koenig on Fri, 2007-02-16 09:28.

Live 8 worked, in that the G8 group made a $50B commitment. Bono’s earlier stuff using the same tactic (threatened embarrassment) also worked. Live Aid was a fundraiser. Concerts for change was about getting people to vote, which is a third thing.

If you think it through, what’s the ultimate outcome that you’re looking for, whether it’s from a concert or a $10M organizational budget? You’re looking to influence elected officials and/or move public opinion, which has the same effect, but may also spur personal direct-action against the problem. The organization may leave more behind than the concert, but maybe not. Both could be effective or fail, and I think it’s wrong to dismiss mass-gathering tactics out of hand simply because they were ineffective at preventing the Iraq war.

Don't know

Submitted by Michael Connery on Fri, 2007-02-16 10:09.

Live 8 - the G8 backed down from most of its promises.

Live Aid had it’s troubles too, with money being directed to corrupt NGOs:

Other critics have argued that donations to charity organisations often end up being used by corrupt governments as well. Much of the money raised by Live Aid went to NGOs in Ethiopia, some of which were under the influence or control of the Derg military junta. Some journalists have suggested that the Derg was able to use Live Aid and Oxfam money to fund its enforced resettlement and “villagification” programmes, under which at least 3 million people are said to have been displaced and between 50,000 and 100,000 killed.

Last I checked, famine in Africa is still a pretty big deal.

Vote for Change - I’ve written about this before, and it’s not to be confused with Concerts for Change, which I think did some good. I have doubts that Vote for Change made a single bit of difference. The money raised MAY have helped ACT GOTV in other states, but its not clear that it had any impact in the long run.

You are probably right that I shouldn’t dismiss mass gatherings as a whole as a tactic. But I think about the limited organizing resources that are out there, and the huge committments that Gore is - and all of these events - receive from artists, and I can’t help but think it could probably be put to better use with a different model.

It’s not that I’m against what Gore is doing - in fact I’m very much in favor of it - I just want to make sure that he does it as smartly as possible, and I don’t think a concert series in and of itself is the best model to produce the biggest outcome from what he is putting in.