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Oxfam Launches Music Download Service

Posted by timothy on from the good-cause-and-human-interest dept.

rahaydenuk writes "The BBC reports that Oxfam is backing the Big Noise Music website, which launches on Wednesday and will offer 300,000 songs for download. 10p of the 75p or 99p charge to download the songs will go to Oxfam and the service will be available across Europe."

6 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. Formats? by eofpi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The real question is what formats do they support, and what kind(s) of DRM are used.

    --
    Y'know, you blow up one sun and suddenly everyone expects you to walk on water.
  2. Helping the poor and the not-so-poor too by Roland+Piquepaille · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Tracks will cost between 75p and 99p, with 10p going to Oxfam. Acts featured include Coldplay and George Michael.

    "Artists will see their music help some of the poorest people in the world," Oxfam's Adrian Lovett said.

    10p for the poor, a large portion of 75p to 99p to the record companies, a itty bit of the rest to Big Noise and the artists.

    In short, helping the poor helps the record companies. Just give 10p to the poors in your area, or to the local charity, you'll feel better...

  3. Re:can they compete with itunes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Yes. iTunes Music Store music is only portable if you have an iPod

    Funny. I don't have an ipod. I don't even have a mac. I buy music with iTunes, and burn to cd's to play in my old fashioned "cd player".

  4. I know where my money is going. by AC-x · · Score: 5, Insightful

    10p each track to charity is all well and good if the songs were say 20-30p each, but 75p to 1 quid? I don't think so. I may as well just go into Oxfam and buy a couple of quids worth of old cloths or whatnot, then all the money goes to Oxfam.

    Until a digital music service offers me MP3s at a reasonable price all my money is going to the Russians

  5. Re:I feel like a mineral resource. by MuMart · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's the same for us geeks who write software. Information is a commodity like sugar. It's the 21st century, I guess you'll just have to deal with it.

  6. And your point is....? by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Mostly what people do is live and die. If your "work" makes it to a give-away disc o-music consider yourself lucky.

    Most people who labor in a "service" market leave no mark. Most of the software I have written in my life doesn't or will not have any hardware to run it on any more.

    If you get paid for your work and not copies of your work you will be better off in the long run, since, (to paraphrase), in the long run, we are all dead anyhow.

    Enjoy what you do. Make a living at it if you are lucky, get wealthy at it if you are absurdly lucky.

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.