As Aaron Gonzalez points out in today’s interview with Christopher Mosley, there’s an irony in the way that while the internet has made music endlessly accessible, those same online music hoarders don’t tend to support music as much with their feet by going to the shows of the bands who fill their music archives of countless hours of music, despite the fact that bands are increasingly dependent on live shows for income.
Enter filmmaking icon David Lynch, whose David Lynch Foundation has partnered with the UK’s PledgeMusic to launch the first online charity music label. From the release:
During the Pledge Campaign, supporters pledge for exclusive items from participating artists and are rewarded with Pledgers Only access to artist videos, music tracks, photos and blogs. Additional items include signed lyric sheets, books and albums from various artists (including David Lynch) and, one of the more unique items to date, the Neon Tree’s 2010 Tour Carpet! At the end of the campaign, everyone who pledges receives the group of exclusive tracks from all the participating artists and other behind the scenes exclusives.
We’ll have to wait and see if this latest effort to reimagine the music business works, but one thing is for sure, Lynch and company have lined up an impressive roster of artists, including Arrested Development, Au Revoir Simone, Ben Folds, Moby, Neon Trees, Iggy Pop, Maroon 5, Peter Gabriel, Dave Stewart, Slightly Stoopid, and Tom Waits. Also, Frontburnervian extraordinaire, David Burrows, says he will be helping the organization find Texas artists to contribute towards the project.
Here’s the full release:
#############
David Lynch Foundation Partners with PledgeMusic to Raise Funds through Digital Sales of Exclusive Music for First Online Charity Music Label
Arrested Development, Au Revoir Simone, Ben Folds, Moby, Neon Trees, Iggy Pop, Maroon 5, Peter Gabriel, Dave Stewart, Slightly Stoopid, and Tom Waits are among first featured artists
New York, NY – February 15, 2011 –PledgeMusic (www.pledgemusic.com), a leading international direct-to-fan platform for raising funds for musicians to record and tour, today announced a partnership with the David Lynch Foundation (DLF), to raise funds with the sale of exclusive unique tracks by the world’s top artists through an online charity music label. All funds will go to support the work of DLF in their global outreach, including teaching stress-reducing meditation to one million at-risk youth and 10,000 veterans with PTSD.
During the Pledge Campaign, supporters pledge for exclusive items from participating artists and are rewarded with Pledgers Only access to artist videos, music tracks, photos and blogs. Additional items include signed lyric sheets, books and albums from various artists (including David Lynch) and, one of the more unique items to date, the Neon Tree’s 2010 Tour Carpet! At the end of the campaign, everyone who pledges receives the group of exclusive tracks from all the participating artists and other behind the scenes exclusives.
“One of PledgeMusic’s core objectives has always been to raise money for charity,” said PledgeMusic founder, Benji Rogers. “Working with the David Lynch Foundation and the caliber of artists that have come together to support their mission is more than we could have hoped for. ‘Music for a change’ was our unofficial slogan throughout the founding of the company and today we have come together with a brilliant partner and a great cause.
” The six-week Pledge Campaign culminates in the April 8 launch of the David Lynch Foundation Music label. For more information, please visit www.pledgemusic.com or www.davidlynchfoundation.org. PledgeMusic media inquiries: Victoria Rierdan Hurley, Helicon Public Relations, [email protected], 310 993 1840.
About The David Lynch Foundation
The David Lynch Foundation was launched six years ago to bring the stress-reducing, health-promoting benefits of Transcendental Meditation to underserved populations, including at-risk inner city youth and veterans returning home from combat with post traumatic stress disorder, as well as American Indians, the homeless and prisoners. To date, DLF has provided scholarships for nearly 150,000 adults and students to learn to meditate, eliminating the traumatic stress that undermines academic achievement and fuels substance abuse and violent behavior. Independent published scientific research shows that meditating students have dramatically better test scores, grades and graduation rates, while dropout rates, suspensions, and expulsions greatly decrease.
About PledgeMusic
PledgeMusic was founded by musician Benji Rogers to give artists a DIY option for pursuing and augmenting their careers. The company was designed to be transparent and open, while benefiting artists and fans. Artists will get the funding and promotional support that they need, the fan will get the music and artist interaction that they want at the price that they want to pay, and charities who have scant fund raising resources will receive a percentage of the money raised.
