Nature becomes a streaming artist — 'Sounds Right' routes real royalties to conservation

Sounds Right, an initiative from the Museum for the United Nations – UN Live, launched NATURE as an official artist on major streaming platforms on Earth Day 2024. Tracks 'featuring NATURE' — by artists including David Bowie x Brian Eno, Ellie Goulding, AURORA, Hozier and Bomba Estéreo — built on field recordings of birdsong, rain, glaciers and ocean waves, and the resulting royalties go to conservation through the Sounds Right Fund, hosted by the charity EarthPercent.

The mechanism turns listening into funding: no separate donation, no pledge, just streams. Within six months NATURE had passed 65M streams from 7.5M+ listeners in over 180 countries, and in October 2024 the fund announced its first $225,000 in grants to Indigenous- and community-led projects protecting the Tropical Andes in Colombia — from the Awá Pialapí reserve to cotton-top tamarin forest corridors.

Spotify amplified the launch through in-app promotions, out-of-home media and social channels, while AKQA contributed creative strategy, the visual identity and the launch campaign. At Cannes Lions 2025 the initiative won the Grand Prix for Innovation, with the jury honoring a model that merges creativity, technology and environmental justice.

The project reframed nature from a free resource into a credited collaborator — an artist with a profile, streams and a balance sheet that pays for her own survival.