IMPALA Carbon Calculator Report 2024

Read the 2024 Annual Report from The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), which details findings from the IMPALA Carbon Calculator, their free-to-use carbon footprinting tool powered by Julie’s Bicycle’s Creative Climate Tools platform.

Launched in 2022, the IMPALA Carbon Calculator is the first bespoke environmental impact measurement tool for the independent recorded music sector.

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This year’s report focuses on new results as well as case studies of labels using the Carbon Calculator to improve their operations and reduce their environmental impacts. Readers will find testimonials from labels already using the tool, an overview of the updates made to the calculator in 2024, as well as the findings from this year’s carbon data return. This includes details of an average carbon footprint for independent labels using the tool, highlighting the emissions hotspots that labels should focus on for emissions reductions.

Updates to the IMPALA Carbon Calculator this year enable labels to see their emissions by Scope, reflecting best practice in carbon footprint reporting. IMPALA’s report displays the average label footprint across all activities in different metrics: per physical unit manufactured, per 10,000 euro of revenue and per full-time employee per year. (Note this is not how much carbon manufacturing a CD or LP accounts for, or an employee, it is simply a set of different metrics for displaying carbon across all label activities.)

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Key points from the report

Since its launch in April 2022, the IMPALA Carbon Calculator has been shared widely among the IMPALA membership:

• The countries with the greatest number of registered users are the UK, Germany, Italy, and France.
• Over 150 labels have started their carbon footprint journey by signing up to the Calculator.
• Three quarters of IMPALA’s National Associations are represented among registered users.
• Labels from 26 countries have signed up to the Calculator so far.
• 60 complete footprints have been submitted so far.

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View last year’s (2023) report.