It’s no secret that the music industry has undergone massive changes recently. With the advent of music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, CD sales have decreased, and there’s been an overall decline in music revenue.
While this may seem like bad news for the music industry, it’s quite beneficial for the environment.
If you’re passionate about saving the environment, you must know how music streaming helps the environment.
4 Ways Music Streaming Helps the Environment
1. No Use of Physical Materials
When you stream music, you don’t need to buy CDs or vinyl records.
Music streaming curbs the demand for these products, reducing the resources that go into manufacturing them– no cases, no packaging, and no shipping. This means there’s less waste associated with streaming music than with buying CDs or records.
If you want to cut all manufacturing or transportation emissions associated with your listening habits, music streaming is the way to go!
2. Less Energy Consumption
Music streaming uses far less energy than other forms of music playback because you don’t use electricity to power your CD or record player.
Did you know that CDs have thrice the carbon footprint of music streaming?
On the other hand, vinyl and cassettes release over 2 kg of carbon dioxide a unit.
Given that the average American spends about 26.9 hours per week listening to music, this can lead to some significant energy savings. If everyone in the US switched from CDs and MP3 players to streaming music, it would save the equivalent of taking about hundreds of thousands of cars off the road each year.
3. Convenience + Gas Savings
Do you love listening to music but hate having to leave your house to buy CDs?
Thanks to music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, you can now listen to your favorite songs without ever leaving your home!
Not only is this more convenient for you, but it’s also a great way to save gas. You’ll also save some money while helping the environment.
4. More Opportunities to Invest in Green Initiatives
With all the money you save by streaming music instead of buying CDs and vinyl players, you get additional opportunities to play your part in making the environment cleaner and greener.
Look for eco-friendly initiatives and invest your money in a cause close to your heart.
Final Words
When you stream music, you don’t use any paper or plastic for packaging the tunes. You don’t use any energy to power a device to play the music either; the streaming service takes that responsibility. And since streaming services keep track of your listening habits; you don’t need to buy CDs or vinyl records of your favorite albums; you can listen to them online.
So, if you’re looking for ways to be more environmentally friendly, streaming music is a great option. And it might help you save some money too, which you can always invest in green initiatives.

Eric Dalius is The Executive Chairman of MuzicSwipe, a music and content discovery platform designed to maximize artist discovery and optimize fan relationships. He also hosts the weekly podcast “FULLSPEED,” showcasing conversations with trailblazing entrepreneurs from various fields. Through the “Eric Dalius Foundation,” Eric has created four scholarships for US students. Connect with Eric on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Entrepreneur.com.