Donations! Music to Our Ears

It’s hard to believe that there are any ‘world firsts’ left in fundraising but the Internet has ensured a steady stream of innovative ideas. Now the music industry is claiming a fundraising ‘first’. It’s the world’s first charity single created and sold via the Internet.

Musicians, Sinead O’Connor and Thomas Dolby have discovered the fundraising potential of digital music. The pair is among a group of artists who produced a song in just one hour from studios around the globe to raise money for an organisation called War Child – a charity dedicated to alleviating the suffering of children in war zones.

Using only the Internet to connect their talents they recorded a new version of Bob Marley’s ‘Them Belly Full (but we hungry)’.

It’s the first time a digital download had been used to fundraise for charity using sophisticated software that stops anyone copying and circulating the music for free. The listener must pay one pound or about $A2.50 to hear the song. All the artists’ royalties go to War Child via the UK based digital commerce software management group Magex.

The Head of Communications for Magex, Caroline Horner says the Internet has revolutionised so many aspects of our lives, and by helping to pioneer this single we’re helping to maximise the potential of the Net as a major fundraising tool for charities in the future.

Can anyone out there sing?

For more info contact charlotte.wood@magex.com.