Artykuły

Artykuł pochodzi z pisma "Guardian"


Owen Gibson
Monday May 24, 2004

It may be better known as the purveyor of grunge style and ethnic throws to Britain's student population. But Oxfam is about to reach the cutting edge of digital technology by becoming the first charity to launch its own music download site with backing from Coldplay and George Michael.
The charity, which is already strongly linked to music through the patronage of musicians such as Coldplay's Chris Martin, has teamed up with download company OD2 to launch BigNoiseMusic.com.
OD2, the white-label download service co-founded by former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel, will provide the technology and licensing for the service.
Tracks will cost from 75p each, with 10p from every pound spent on the site going to Oxfam. If the service is a success it is likely to lead to other charities launching their own download services.
OD2, which provides the technology that lies behind sites such as MyCokeMusic.com and those from Tiscali and MSN, has licensed a library of 300,000 tracks.
It recently announced that over 1 million legal downloads were sold in Europe in the first quarter of this year. That number is expected to rise sharply throughout 2004 with the launch of more new services.
BigNoiseMusic.com will also feature exclusive tracks from the likes of Coldplay and George Michael, who said recently that in future he would release all of his music over the internet, in an effort to stand out from dozens of other download site.
"Paying to download from BigNoiseMusic.com seems like a good idea when you know your money is going to help some of the world's poorest people," said Martin, who has publicly supported the charity's Make Trade Fair campaign throughout his band's rise to fame.
Damon Gough, also known as Badly Drawn Boy, also gave the new site his backing.
"I know that even small amounts of money can make big changes where Oxfam works - so buying your music on BigNoiseMusic.com means that you are making a difference to people all around the world. This is great ideal," he said.
The launch of the Oxfam site will add further momentum to the trend towards digital sales, following hard on the heels of Napster's official relaunch in the UK last week.
The record industry hopes the launch of legal sites will help reverse falling sales and discourage customers from using illegal file sharing sites.
Paul Curran, the managing director of BMG Publishing, the licensing arm of the Bertelsmann-owned record giant, said the cause was "irresistible".
"It has been a privilege to have been involved in helping to broaden the reach of the campaign harnessing the power of music to spread this simple message," he said.
"In doing so Oxfam are in the unique position of also assisting the music industry in these challenging times to show the music fan that legitimate downloads with the added value of exclusive content can be found online and in so doing also raise money in support of the charity," added Mr Curran.

to announce – ogłosić, obwieścić
backing – wsparcie
charity – organizacja charytatywna
the cutting edge – najnowocześniejszy etap rozwoju
discourage – zniechęcać
exclusive – wyłączny
feature – to include something as an important part
to follow hard on the heels of sb – deptać komuś po piętach
harnessing – zaprzęganie
to launch – wystartować
legitimate – legalny
licensing – licencjonowanie
likes – to, co ktoś lubi
momentum – rozpęd
privilege – przywilej
Purveyor – dostarczyciel
stand out – wyróżniać się




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