AEG and Reverb Partner to Promote Sustainability in the Music Industry

LOS ANGELES, April 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading sports and entertainment presenters AEG today announced a strategic partnership with Reverb, an environmental nonprofit organization that provides comprehensive, custom greening programs for the music industry while conducting grass-roots outreach and education with fans around the globe. Together, the AEG 1EARTH program and Reverb will partner on research to quantify the impact of live concerts and events while also developing resources that will help educate tour managers and producers about simple actions they can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and water and energy usage.

In support of this partnership, AEG divisions such as AEG Live (world's second largest concert promotions organization), AEG Facilities (operators of more than 100 venues) and AEG 1EARTH will also join the Green Music Group coalition founded by Reverb to promote large-scale greening in the music community.

"We in the music industry have a tremendous opportunity to improve our environmental impact through common standards and guidelines as well as shared information and best practices," said Adam Gardner, Reverb co-founder. "This partnership not only underscores the commitment of the AEG 1EARTH program and their live concert division, AEG Live, but because of their expertise in facilities management, live entertainment, sports management and programming, they are well-positioned to encourage others in the industry to do the same."

AEG 1EARTH and Reverb will co-develop a research-based Live Event Impact analysis with a newly developed framework and metrics to capture the energy and waste impact of live events and set benchmarks for quantifying improvement. This analysis will be conducted over the course of the 2011 Live Music touring schedule and will include on-site consulting with venue operations managers as well as independent verification.

"We believe we have a responsibility to address the environmental impact of our live events and, partnering with Reverb, feel we have the opportunity to not only implement tools and strategies that reflect this but also encourage the entire industry to tackle in concrete ways," said Randy Phillips, president and CEO of AEG Live.

In addition, AEG 1EARTH and Reverb will conduct educational greening sessions at select AEG owned or operated venues and with AEG Live promoters to develop a toolkit of actionable sustainability opportunities to minimize the impact of Live Music operations. To further this goal, AEG will also collaborate with the Green Music Group to develop industry wide greening guidelines and standards.

"As a founding member of Green Music Group, I am excited to see industry leaders such as AEG joining the effort to change the environmental impact of the music community," said Stefan Lessard, bassist of Dave Matthews Band. "It is key to have everyone working together to achieve maximum results."

In November, 2010, AEG launched its AEG 1EARTH program, sustainability report – an industry first –and commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste and water usage at all of its owned and managed facilities worldwide, including STAPLES Center, Nokia Theatre, L.A. LIVE, The Home Depot Center and Ontario's Citizens Business Bank Arena, by at least 20 percent by 2020.

"We have set ambitious goals to reduce waste and improve energy efficiency by 2020," said Jennifer Regan, Global Sustainability Director, AEG. "In order to reach these goals, it will be critical that we collaborate with people and organizations that are on the cutting edge of bringing sustainability solutions mainstream. Working with Reverb and the Green Music Group will allow us to strengthen our environmental performance in tangible ways."

To kick off this partnership Reverb will be helping support local volunteer opportunities for AEG employees and communities for Earth Day in over 15 major markets. In addition, AEG and L.A. LIVE will be hosting an environmental fair from noon to 5p.m. PDT on Friday, April 22, at the L.A. LIVE sports and entertainment district anchored by STAPLES Center and Nokia Theatre.

About AEG:

AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or is affiliated with a collection of companies including over 120 facilities such as STAPLES Center (Los Angeles, CA), Best Buy Theater (Times Square, New York), Sprint Center, (Kansas City), Rose Garden Arena (Portland, OR), Target Center (Minneapolis, MN), Mercedes Benz Arena (Shanghai, China), Wukesong Arena (Beijing, China), O2 World Hamburg, Acer Arena (Sydney, Australia), The Globe arena (Stockholm, Sweden), O2 World arena (Berlin, Germany) and The O2 arena and entertainment district (London, England); sports franchises including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL) and two MLS franchises in addition to overseeing privately held management shares of the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA). AEG has created L.A. LIVE, a 4 million square foot / $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports, residential & entertainment district featuring Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE and Club Nokia, a 54-story, 1001-room convention "headquarters" destination (featuring The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles and JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE hotels and 224 luxury condominiums – The Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. LIVE – all in a single tower), the Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE Stadium 14, "broadcast" facilities for ESPN, along with entertainment, restaurant and office space and developed The Home Depot Center in Carson, California designated as an "Official U.S. Olympic Training Site" by the United States Olympic Committee that includes major facilities for soccer, tennis, track & field, cycling and other sports. AEG Sports owns and operates a variety of events and tours and AEG Live is the world's second largest live entertainment, concert promotion and touring companies. The organization is also developing additional arenas in China and arenas in Stockholm and Las Vegas. In 2010, AEG launched its AEG 1EARTH environmental program with the announcement of 2020 environmental goals and the release of the industry's first sustainability report. The groundbreaking reports contains metrics collected on resources consumed and wastes generated at 20 facilities from AEG's global network of venues. The report also highlights success stories such as the over 3,000 solar panels on the roof of STAPLES Center and Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE For additional information, visit www.aegworldwide.com.

About Reverb:

Deeply rooted within the music and environmental communities, Reverb educates and engages musicians and their fans to take action toward a more sustainable future. Based in Portland, Maine, Reverb is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was founded in 2004 by environmentalist Lauren Sullivan and her musician husband, Adam Gardner of Guster. Reverb provides comprehensive, custom greening programs for music tours while conducting grassroots outreach and education with fans around the globe.

In addition to our greening work with bands and artists, Reverb also works to move forward the sustainable practices of music industry leaders, including venues, record labels, and radio stations.

Green Music Group is a project of Reverb and is a large-scale, high-profile environmental coalition of musicians, industry leaders and music fans using our collective power to bring about widespread environmental change within the music industry and around the globe.

Leading by example, Green Music Group facilitates large-scale greening of the music community, and magnifies the work of national nonprofits, all while building a vibrant community committed to environmental action. The broad support of its founding members paired with their leadership as environmental stewards enables GMG to inspire millions to action by:

1. Creating an engaging online community of musicians, music industry leaders, and music fans all committed to addressing our greatest environmental concerns.
2. Facilitating large-scale greening of the music community through touring, venue, and label standards, resource development, green grants mentoring, and viral video and public service campaigns.
3. Providing environmental nonprofits with a megaphone for their cause, allowing them to expand their reach and support base.
4. Creating a sustainable green music guild to support and inform the efforts of the music community and position leaders in the music industry as voices for change, working to shine a light on the most pressing environmental issues of our time.

SOURCE AEG