ExtreamTech feature Beatie Wolfe x Global Music Vault project

Microsoft to Store World’s Music Collection on Quartz Wafers

• By Josh Norem on June 16, 2022 at 9:30 am

(Photo: Daniel Kivle)Everyone knows that if the apocalypse ever arrives, we will need to keep certain items safe for future generations. We’ve already taken care of our collections of plant species with the Global Seed Vault, aka the Doomsday Vault. That currently holds 1,145,693 backup copies of the world’s seed varieties. They will soon be joined by a new vault, which will attempt to backup the world’s music collection. It’ll be called the Global Music Vault, and it will join the seed collection in Svalbard, Norway.

In order to accomplish this behemoth storage-related task, the organization running the effort has tapped Microsoft as a partner. Together they are embarking on a trial to achieve resilient long-term archival storage. They will be using Microsoft’s Project Silica, and working on a proof of concept to see if it will work for music storage. It uses wafers of quartz as the storage medium. The group’s press release notes that while tape is still the preferred way to archive data, it’s not as resilient as silica. Not only is silica inert, but it can withstand almost any type of environmental punishment. Referring to the concept of a glass platter, the PR notes, “It can be baked, boiled, scoured, flooded, subjected to EMP and in other ways attempted to be tampered with, without degradation of the data written in the glass.” The mountain in Norway where it’s located is also considered the safest location on earth due to a mixture of geological and geopolitical stability.

This rendering shows what the global music vault will look like when it begins accepting its first mixtapes, sometime in 2023. (Image: Global Music Vault)

Each quartz wafer (top) will be the size of a drink coaster, at 75 x 75mm and 2mm thick. Each plate will be able to store 100GB of data. Data is added to the wafers via a laser that creates “three-dimensional nanoscale gratings and deformations.” To retrieve the data, a polarized light is used to shine through the glass. From there a machine learning algorithm can decode it. The group says the proof of concept should allow data to be preserved for “many thousands of years.” Project Silica has been in the works for several years now. Back in 2019 Microsoft successfully encoded and decoded the original Superman movie on behalf of Warner Brothers. Glass as a storage medium has also been touted recently by a project involving a 5D disk that could hold data for over 13 billion years.

The first music to be added to the vault will be a “variety of musical expressions from all around the world.” It will include UK artist Beatie Wolfe, songs from Polar Music Prize from Sweden, Alexander Turnbull Library from New Zealand, and the International Library of African Music. Though this isn’t a huge data dump, the group envisions it will eventually add tens of petabytes a year. The first contribution to the vault is expected in 2023. More information can be found on the organization’s website.

Paste Magazine review... Beatie Wolfe w/ EarthPercent x Earthday

If this massive release week wasn’t enough music for you, EarthPercent has you covered. In honor of Earth Day, the organization is raising money for various climate charities by offering over a hundred songs donated by artists.

In addition to music by EarthPercent founder Brian Eno, there are contributions from Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, Hot Chip, Rodrigo Y Gabriela and more. The songs range from new releases to archival recordings, unreleased songs to covers. All songs are available to purchase for the next two weeks via the EarthPercent Bandcamp

“This is what unleashing the power of music in service of the planet looks like,” said EarthPercent founder Brian Eno. “Historically music has often been at the front of social change – think of ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ and Rock Against Racism. Now we’re facing climate change, the biggest challenge in human history. It’s time for us to get out there again.”

Below, check out the massive selection offered for EarthPercent’s Earth Day project. You can purchase the individual tracks here.

Adonis – Al Khafif (The Light Version)
Alfie Templeman – Living In A Universe
Amirali – Nemesis
Anna B Savage – Corncrakes (demo)
Anna Calvi – Peaky Blinders: Season 5 (Original Soundtrack)
Anrimeal – Source and Time
AVAWAVES – Nocturnal
Balmorhea – June (Demo)
Beatie Wolfe – “Oh My Heart” (live at the Nobel Prize Summit)
Biako – What’s It Like To Be Him
Big Thief – ??Dragon New Warm Mountain, I Believe In You (Demo)
Billie Flynn – Red Right Hand
Billy Lockett – Together At Home (Live)
Brand New Moon – The Garden Knows
Brian Eno (featuring Leo Abrahams) – Did The World Begin Today
Broadside Hacks – Barbry Allen (Matthew Shaw remix)
Brooke Annibale – What If You (demo)
Charlie Hickey – Things I Believe (demo)
Coldplay – Humankind (Live in Mexico City)
Cosmo Sheldrake – Dance Off (Cosmo Sheldrake Remix)
Courtney Marie Andrews – It Must Be Someone Else’s Fault (Demo)
Damefrisør – Beautiful Soul (Katy J Pearson cover)
Damien Dempsey – What A Day
Daniel Brandt – Soon To Be
Deantoni Parks – The Plague of Plastic
deathcrash – Wrestle With Jimmy – Live From The Hush House
Death Cab For Cutie – Your Bruise – Live at The Showbox
Debit – The Age of Equitable Nature
Declan McKenna – Elephant [demo]
Dry Cleaning – Her Hippo – Live
Elder Island – Purely Educational (Live)
Emel – Does Anybody Sleep
English Teacher – A55 (demo)
False Window – Sea++ [Ver 1.01]
Fito Paez – Cisne
Flower Face – The Garden
Fovea Hex – All Those Signs (EarthPercent Mix)
Franc Moody – Water (Instrumental)
Frank Wiedemann – A New Start
Future Utopia – Crystalline
Fred again.. & Mr Eazi – Light Up
Galya Bisengalieva – Kantubek Live
Gesloten Cirkel – Landing
Gigi Masin – MADAME DU VENT
Hania Rani – Leaving (Niklas Paschburg rework)
Hannah Peel featuring Ulster Orchestra – Act Now (Greenpeace UK)
Hinako Omori – ??? ? haru no umi
Holy Fuck – Luxe ft. Alexis Taylor (Live at Fox Theater)
Honeyglaze – Burglar (live)
Hot Chip x Brian Eno x Fay Milton – Line In The Sand
ISYLA – Where We Dare (Live at Cube)
Isobel Waller-Bridge – Elizabeth
James – Beautiful Beaches – Conservatory Version
JARV IS… – DEPRESSIVE DISCO
Joep Beving – We will want to remember (EarthPercent demo)
Joy Anonymous X Toya Delazy – JOY
JoyCut – The Plastic Whale
Kaerhardt – Heart of Stone
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – Tides IV – Music for Meditation and Yoga
Kate Davis – Alright
Laura Misch – Lagoon (Variation for Saxophone and Voice)
Laurence Guy – What Exactly Are You Asking Me?
Lily Moore – Last Goodbye
Lola Kirke – What It Was (Demo)
Love Ssega – Ssanyu
Lutalo – Georgia (Instrumental/Demo)
Mandy, Indiana – The Call Is Coming From Inside the House
Manu Delago – Zeitgeber (Live)
Mara Simpson – Nowhere (LAYERS)
Martyn – When We Are Innocent
ME REX – Swingset (live)
Metronomy – Walking in the Dark (Folly Group Remix)
Michael Begg – Arctic Moonlight: A Zooplankton Nocturne (EarthPercent Mix)
Michael Stipe – Future, If Future
Miho Hatori – Mobula Phantasmagoria
Modern Woman – Offerings (Stripped Back Version)
Müller & Makaroff – Todo Puede Suceder ft. Kevin Johansen
Múm – Goodbye In The Future
Murkage Dave – Hackney Dalston Canonbury Highbury [DEMO]
Nick Mulvey – A Prayer Of My Own (LaJoya Remix) Ft. Liz Wathuti
Nicki Wells – Ocean – Strings
Nile Rodgers & Philippe Saisse – Sugar Rush Monk
Nuno & Maria Bettencourt – Sideways (Citizen Cope cover)
Olivia Reid – Water Damage (Stripped)
Oracle Sisters – Good All The Time (Demo)
Orlando Weeks – Distance Mover
Patch and the Giant – Fire & The Flood
Paul McDonald – Forgiveness (Sanctuary Demo)
Peter Gabriel – Shock the Monkey: Earth Day version – for EarthPercent
Pictish Trail – EARTH DAY: Nuclear Sunflower Swamp (Acoustic)
Pixx – Alien
Prima Queen – Chew My Cheeks (demo)
Poppy Ackroyd – Pause – Live Session
Rasha Nahas – Al Madini (Live at Thalia Theater)
Reka and /Beyond/ – We Owe You All
Richard Coleman – Changes (Live)
Rodrigo Y Gabriela – Peter Punk
Rutger Hoedemaekers – Sing The Songs Of The Glory Of None
S Carey – Paralyzed (At Home Version)
Sam Lee – The Tan Yard Side – Singing With Nightingales
Sebastian Mullaert – Asked Quietly Of The Night
Seb Wildblood – Bad Space Habits (dub)
Sonia Stein – Sweet Spot
SØS Gunver Ryberg – Doing our best is no longer good enough
Soundwalk Collective – Butterfly Kiss (feat. Charlotte Gainsbourg)
Squirrel Flower – your love is a disaster (NNAMDÏ remix)
Talk Show x D.U.D.S. – Leather Rework
The Album Leaf – Rotations
The Big Moon – BIG
The Black Chapel Collective – The Secret ft Daniel Rhodes
The Weather Station – This Way
Tom VR – Don’t Stop Us Floating Away
Treeboy & Arc – Austere
tummyache – growing pains
United Freedom Collective – Manifest Bliss
Violet Skies – Settle (Live Session)
.VRIL – Andromeda Nightmare
Wará – Yahannaman
Warmduscher – Hey Guys
Waves Rush In – Travellers Dream (Live)
Wayne Snow – Pale Blue Dot
Weval – Keep It Up

Medical News Today Climate Special with 'From Green to Red'

In Conversation: Why climate change matters for human health

In this installment of our podcast, we discuss climate change and how it affects health, directly and indirectly, from deepening food insecurity to facilitating the spread of infectious diseases. Our guests are Prof. David Pencheon, honorary professor of health and sustainable development at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom and founder of the Sustainable Development Unit for NHS England, and Dr. Marina Romanello, a research fellow at the University College London Institute for Global Health and research director of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change.

Fragments of the song “From Green to Red,” featured in our podcast, were used with the permission of the artist, Beatie Wolfe.

SXSW Tweet Eno x Wolfe Session highlights

.@brianeno and @beatiewolfe discuss how art can play a vital role in response to the climate emergency at #SXSW 2022. pic.twitter.com/scIQJ3BGvt

— SXSW (@sxsw) March 18, 2022