Musicians who use sounds like bird chirps and tree rustles in their songs can now give back to Mother Nature herself. The newly created Sounds Right, a project spearheaded by the Museum of the United Nations, allows musicians to credit sounds made by the natural environment as a featured artist: Nature.
Yes, "Nature" now has its own artist page on Spotify. The name is stylized as "NATURE" with a profile picture featuring an image of a green snake nestled in some lush green grass.
Using natural sounds in a song is a relatively common phenomenon. Notable examples include the Beatles' aptly titled "Blackbird," which features bird chirping sounds from EMI sound effects Volume Seven: Birds of Feather, and "Riders on the Storm" by the Doors, which employs the trickles of rain and the crashes of thunder and lightning.
Speaking to the BBC, acclaimed music producer Timbaland praised the environment's musical contributions, saying that "hearing the trees, that's music, hearing the crickets, that's music."
Nature's artist page will also have its own songs, which are sounds such as a rushing waterfall, a rainy forest or the lapping waves of the ocean. Per Gabriel Smales, the program director of Sounds Right, "at least 70% of the profits will fund conservation programs."
Brian Eno, a British musician whose work pioneered ambient music, further described the Sounds Right project as a way to say a "thank you" to the environment. Eno is also the founder of EarthPercent, "The Industry's Climate Foundation." The organization was founded in 2021 and works with industry members to contribute to "credible and impactful" environmental organizations and charities.
"'We all use sounds like seagulls and waves and wind. Why don't we pay nature a royalty?'" Eno asked. He continued, saying that it is a "thrill" to be able to work with these "non-musical sources" of sound.
Timbaland elaborated that he has "always wanted to use nature to be in my songs" as he finds the "things that we see everyday, things that we hear every day" to be just as compelling as "man-made'' music.
Eno added that, "natural sounds are sort of raw, they're wild elements," when compared to the instruments that humans have specifically built and "designed to behave themselves."
Smales explained his vision for the project. He hopes that "any artist who's interested in collaborating with nature is able to visit our website, download nature samples and tag nature on their tracks, with a portion of the royalties donated to high impact conservation initiatives."
Sounds Right is fresh and growing, but several artists have already provided songs for the project's initial releases, including London Grammar, MØ, Tom Walker and Ellie Goulding. These songs have been compiled in a playlist. Per EarthPercent's website, "over 250 artists and companies" have taken the initiative to collaborate with the environmentally-focused charity.
"If you're listening to a beautiful piece of music, you're hearing the possibility of a good world that we could be in," Eno said.
Sounds Right aims to raise $40 million in its first four years of operation.
