Brian Eno just gave ‘The Earth’ its first songwriting credit, and wants other artists to do the same

It’s a constant source of creative inspiration and we’re all proud to call it home - now Brian Eno is giving ‘The Earth’ a songwriting credit and is encouraging other artists to do the same in a bid to save our planet.

The initiative comes from EarthPercent, Eno’s environmental charity, and is designed to raise money for climate justice and environmental organisations. The idea is that musicians and bands credit ‘The Earth’ on one composition and donate 1% or more of the royalties.

"The Earth as Your Co-writer is a beautiful idea in which we harness the poetic construct of The Earth as a co-writer of music and direct some of the income from our compositions towards tackling the climate emergency,” explains Eno. “EarthPercent provides an easy way for the music industry to make a difference by asking artists to commit a small percentage of their songwriting revenue. All musicians are inspired by the precious planet we live on, so it's fitting that we are now able to name The Earth as our co-writer."

The likes of AURORA, Rostam Batmanglij, Fraser T Smith, Mount Kimbie, Anna Calvi, Simón Mejía (Bomba Estéreo) and Jacob Collier have already signed up to the initiative. “The issue of climate change sadly isn’t going away, and so as creatives, to feel as though we’re able to give back, by adding The Earth as a beneficiary on projects is not only a choice, but a necessity,” says Fraser T Smith.

Money raised from The Earth’s share of songs will go into EarthPercent’s grant giving fund and distributed to organisations identified by an advisory panel of climate scientists, legal and policy experts and activists working in five Action Areas: Energy Transition; Climate Justice; Legal & Policy Change; Protecting & Restoring Nature; and Greening Music.

Find out more on the EarthPercent website.