Brian Eno gives "The Earth" a songwriting credit on new track

A new initiative has seen “The Earth” named as a songwriter for the first time on Brian Eno’s forthcoming track ‘A THOUGHT’.

It comes as part of the new EarthPercent charity scheme, founded by Eno, which has seen a number of songwriters including Mount Kimbie, Jacob Collier, AURORA, Fraser T Smith and Anna Calvi agree to name the earth as a ‘co-writer’.

With the royalties the musicians make from their music, they have agreed to donate at least 1% to the charity, which will raise money for climate justice and environmental organisations.

Speaking about the new initiative, Brian Eno said: “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.

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“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,” he continued.

“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.

Songwriter Fraser T Smith also praised the idea. He said: “I’ve been involved with EarthPercent from the beginning – it’s a brilliant 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.”

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The money raised for EarthPercent will go towards tackling five key action points on environmental protection and climate action: Energy Transition; Climate Justice; Legal & Policy Change; Protecting & Restoring Nature and Greening Music.

Norwegian singer AURORA said: “I am currently writing my next album – it’s an album about interconnectedness and the art of coexistence.

“There is no greater teacher than Mother Earth,” she continued. “There is no greater home or provider. There is no better place than Earth.

“And that is why I want to co-write this whole album with Mother Earth as a co-writer because without her there would be no such thing as music.”

Isaac Muk is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter