European music industry showcases legal alternative to on-line piracy with Digital Download Day Europe
20th January 2003, Cannes
- 21 March to mark biggest ever give-away of legal digital music
- OD2 offer of legitimate quality downloads welcomed by industry bodies, labels and retailers
The development of a legitimate on-line music business and the battle against music piracy steps up a gear today with the launch of a major pan-European consumer initiative at the MIDEM music industry event in Cannes.
The initiative, called Digital Download Day Europe (DDD Europe), has been welcomed by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), representing the recording industry worldwide, as playing a key role in highlighting the range of legitimate online services now on offer to consumers.
Starting on March 21, DDD Europe will offer consumers in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and The Netherlands €5 of free tracks in a bid to draw their attention to where and how to download legal digital music.
DDD Europe, spearheaded by OD2, the digital music distribution company set up by artist Peter Gabriel, aims to raise consumer awareness of the existence of legitimate digital music services.
Currently an estimated 4.5 million people are accessing a total of almost 1 billion pirated tracks at any one time. DDD Europe is a proactive step by the music industry to offer consumers a quality, legal alternative.
Today's announcement follows on from a successful pilot of the initiative in the UK in October 2002, where hundreds of thousands of consumers were attracted by the offer of downloading legitimate digital music for free.
DDD Europe represents a major collaboration, bringing together major record labels including Warners, EMI, Universal and BMG, a host of independent record labels and a number of high-profile retailers.
Along with IFPI, the UK trade body, the British Photographic Industry (BPI) and the Association of Independent Music Labels (AIM) have welcomed the move.
From today, consumers across Europe will be able to pre-register for the initiative at www.digitaldownloadday.com, which will offer them a choice of over 150,000 tracks from a number of online retailers, including HMV, Tiscali, AlaPage, Ministry of Sound, MSN, Freeserve, Dotmusic, Los40, Alapage, Ministry of Sound and Wanadoo.
Charles Grimsdale, CEO of OD2, said: "The task for us all is to make a compelling case for consumers. They're asking the question 'Why should I ultimately pay for something I can get for free?' Yet there's a widening gulf between the quality of peer-to-peer files, which are increasingly virus-ridden and unreliable, and the premium grade service provided through legitimate channels. Which is where DDDE comes in - letting consumers experience the difference for themselves."
Jay Berman, CEO and Chairman of IFPI, said: "IFPI welcomes all new legitimate music services, and European Digital Download Day is an excellent showcase for the growing legitimate online music business in Europe. It is also a useful step in the fight against global online music piracy. Record companies in European are now providing many tens of thousands of tracks for consumers to buy - and that undoubtedly puts our industry in a better position to fight back against music theft on the internet."
About OD2
OD2 (On Demand Distribution) provide a secure distribution service for music over the Internet. The company was co-founded in November 1999 by Peter Gabriel (musician, writer and video maker) and Charles Grimsdale (IT executive).
OD2 has the largest catalogue of legal digital music in Europe, providing the only subscription service in Europe that offers consumers the opportunity to burn as well as stream and download tracks.
OD2 has been at the forefront of providing a legal alternative to digital music piracy.
www.od2.com
www.digitaldownloadday.com
For more information, contact
Elaine Marshall on + 44 (0)776 0178150; elaine@connors.com
or
Simon Hill on +44 (0)777 6251192 / +44 (0) 20 7471 6826 (mobile) simon@connors.com