Sounds Right launches world-first platform that lets artists officially feature nature on their music and fund conservation

06 November 2025 - Press release

 

• Sounds Right expands globally, opening submissions to all musicians with 50:50 royalty share between artist and NATURE
  

• 14 new artists release music with NATURE, featuring sounds from the Amazon and Congo Basin ahead of COP30 in Brazil
• New partnership announced with Alok - internationally renowned Brazilian DJ will release new music feat. NATURE in 2026
  

• Over 26 million people have listened to NATURE so far, contributing to an additional $400,000 for Indigenous- and community-led conservation 

 

NATURE is now open for collaboration. The global initiative Sounds Right today launches a world-first platform that lets artists officially feature NATURE as a recording artist on their music, sharing their royalties to fund conservation. 

Following last year's launch of NATURE as an official artist on streaming platforms, with collaborators including Hozier, Ellie Goulding, Bomba Estereo and David Bowie x Brian Eno, the new platform FEAT. NATURE now opens submissions to musicians everywhere via soundsright.earth/feature. 

From forests and oceans to rivers and wildlife, artists who feature natural sounds in their music can upload songs and release them on major streaming platforms with royalties split 50:50 between the artist and NATURE. Proceeds from NATURE's share go to the Sounds Right Fund, which supports community-led conservation projects selected by an independent panel of Indigenous leaders, scientists, and conservationists. 

26 million fans across 181 countries have now listened to the artist NATURE, generating royalties which have helped enable the Sounds Right Fund to direct $400,000 to Indigenous and community-led conservation in the Amazon and Congo Basin region, building on $225,000 directed to projects in the Tropical Andes in 2024. The funds were announced on stage at the Global Citizen Amazonia concert (Belem, 1 November) and live on Brazilian TV. 

The initiative comes at a critical cultural moment. A recent study found that people's connection to nature has fallen by around 60% since 1800, tracking almost exactly with the loss of nature words such as river, moss and blossom from books. As nature fades from culture, our sense of belonging to it diminishes - a pattern Sounds Right hopes to reverse by inspiring artists everywhere to weave nature's sounds back into music. 

This groundbreaking venture is the first major extension to the Sounds Right model since NATURE launched as an official artist last year and is powered by a new global music distribution pathway in partnership with DistroDirect, making it easier than ever for artists to join the movement.

Ahead of COP30 in the Brazilian Amazon, Sounds Right today also announces 14 new releases celebrating the sounds of two of the world's most vital ecosystems. Six artists from Latin America, including Alexia Evellyn, Pedrina, Antonio Sanchez, Chancha Via Circuito, Systema Solar, and Monte (aka Simon Mejia), have released new music infused with the sounds from the Amazon, while seven artists from Africa, including Juls, Phila Dlozi, Olivetheboy, Bien, Blinky Bill, and Lady Donli, showcase the rich soundscapes of the Congo Basin region.

In a first for Sounds Right, Beninese-American actor Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator, Blood Diamond, Amistad) lends his powerful voice to Running Water by Alfonsina Storni, blending poetry, a river in the Congo, and cinematic instrumentation into a moving reflection on our connection with the natural world. All the new tracks can be found on the Latin & Afro Forest Beats playlist on NATURE's profile on streaming platforms.

Sounds Right is also announcing a new partnership with Brazilian DJ, producer and change-maker, Alok. Alok is not only one of the world's most popular DJs, ranked third globally in DJ Mag's 100 Top DJs 2025, with 7.3 billion Spotify streams and an audience of more than 85 million on social media, but one of TIME's 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025. Working with Indigenous musicians from the Amazon, he will be releasing new music in collaboration with NATURE, starting in early 2026.  

Alok said: "Nature has always played an essential role in music, and the time has come for it to be recognized for that. That's why I'm starting a long-term partnership with Sounds Right to officially recognize nature as a musical artist, with the artist NATURE. My first track with NATURE will be released very soon, and it was created with great care together with Indigenous peoples of the Amazon."

In parallel, Sounds Right continues to amplify NATURE through its Ecosystem Sounds, releasing 17 EPs of pure NATURE soundscapes. For COP30, these collections feature immersive recordings from the Brazilian Amazon in partnership with Labverde, the tropical forests of Colombia and Borneo with Chill Palm, oceans, rivers, and thunderstorms via founding partner The Listening Planet, and a special Costa Rica rain collection with esports creator rainbolt. More than 50% of royalties from these tracks go directly to frontline Indigenous and community-led conservation, allowing listeners to enjoy nature while actively supporting its protection. 

Since its launch, Sounds Right has engaged millions with the sounds of the natural world, combining art, music, and conservation. Led by the Museum for the United Nations – UN Live, the initiative is a unique collaboration between global artists, sound recordists, producers, creatives, and environmental groups, putting music at the heart of a global conversation about nature's conservation and restoration. Partners include EarthPercent, AKQA, Spotify, Eleutheria Group, and the Hempel Foundation. 

Gabriel Smales, Global Programme Director, Sounds Right - UN Live, said: "Today, in a world first, we're giving artists a simple and impactful way to credit NATURE in their music — helping restore nature's presence in popular culture while directing new music royalties to frontline conservation. This matters because nature has been steadily disappearing from our culture, with fewer references in children's stories, popular music, even major films. This cultural loss is deepening the growing disconnect between people and the planet at a time we can least afford to. With the launch, we're taking an important step to reverse that trend, while mobilising real resources to protect and restore the ecosystems we all depend on."

Hans Poulsen, Program Partner, Eleutheria Group, said: "With this launch, we're extending the Sounds Right model into a scalable mechanism for independent artists worldwide. It's a practical, transparent framework that embeds purpose into the core of music distribution, aligning creative freedom with measurable environmental impact. This is where cultural innovation meets industry infrastructure, and we're proud to help build that bridge." 

FEAT. NATURE launches today at soundsright.earth/feature.