LIVE GREEN
A UNITED APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY
LIVE , which represents 16 live music industry organisations , has appointed Ross Patel as its first LIVE Green impact consultant . Patel outlines his climate action plans , including introducing an industrywide green rider and green clauses
Working closely with LIVE CEO Jon Collins , Patel is tasked with leading the initiatives of LIVE Green , the organisation ’ s sustainability group , through facilitating cooperation across the organisation ’ s membership .
An experienced industry professional who founded Whole Entertainment , an artist and label management company , and remains a talent manager while being on the board of the Music Managers Forum ( MMF ), Patel has a track record of being an advocate for climate action and launching sustainability initiatives .
What made you want to take on the role at LIVE Green and how important do you feel it is ? I have been a representative of MMF within LIVE Green . Some of my participation in that group has been core to what I ' m going to be working on now in the official role . Whereas before I was just a contributor , now I get to lead on some of those projects along with LIVE Green chair Carol [ Scott ].
What are your priorities ? The green clause work we ’ ve been doing feels like a real silver bullet in changing culture around having sustainability in the live music industry . I ' ve been able to take that into the MMF board meetings and get approval . We now also have both the major agencies agreeing it is a priority . The next phase is to put a date in the diary , issue a press release , and establish who wants to take control of it and make sure it ' s being adopted .
“ THE GREEN CLAUSE WORK WE ’ VE BEEN DOING FEELS LIKE A REAL SILVER BULLET .”
Who is supporting the green clause and what does that involve ? It involves a very wide stakeholder group that ' s been participating in developing it . We ' ve got the managers , agents , promoters , booking agencies , the Music Venue Trust ; lots of people operating in the space who can bring their own perspective and ensure that it ' s being seen . Attitude Is Everything has oversight of it , and we are really trying to make it as inclusive as possible .
Parallel to the green clauses , we are focused on the creation of an industrywide green rider . The green clauses go into the booking contracts , with a robust ask . So , when someone sends out their booking contract with green clauses , it will be accompanied by a standardised green rider that will provide roadmaps on how to achieve certain sustainable goals and links to resources and toolkits developed within the industry .
Ross Patel
Why is a standardised green rider important ? There are lots of green riders that exist , but there isn ' t one template that people can adopt , and that ' s very easy to access . We will ask everyone who has a green rider to submit it , and we ' ll then work with stakeholders to create a universal one .
I understand you are also developing a resource hub ? LIVE is developing the resource hub on the new website that ' s currently being built . It will be a home for toolkits across all the LIVE membership . There will be a LIVE Green section including the green clause template , the universal rider and any other relevant toolkits to help people achieve those goals . We understand it is an ongoing process and this is just the beginning , but if we can continue to develop it over time we ' ll be in a really good place . accessaa . co . uk 27