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BPI Supports European Launch of Digital Download Day : 9:4:2003

> Biggest ever give-away of legal digital music gets underway with support from artists.

> OD2 announces participation in the UK’s first official download chart.

Digital Download Day – the world’s biggest give-away of legal digital music - gets underway in the UK tomorrow boosted by the support of internet-savvy artists including Daniel Bedingfield and Peter Gabriel.

From tomorrow (April 9 2003), music fans will each be able to download £3 of free tracks in a bid to draw their attention to where and how to download legal digital music.

The latest releases from Daniel Bedingfield, David Gray, Room 5 featuring Oliver Cheatham, Atomic Kitten and Queens of the Stone Age will be vying for the top spot in a special chart that will be compiled from most popular tracks from the Digital Download Day catalogue.

Daniel Bedingfield, whose latest single has been made available for free through Digital Download Day, said: “A superior choice of tracks is fundamental to a defence against online piracy. As an artist, I'm supporting Download Day - by offering tracks from my latest album - and my new single - as part of this awareness campaign."

In addition to new releases, consumers will have access to a comprehensive repertoire of over 170,000 tracks from over 7,500 artists including Christina Aguilera, Linkin’ Park, Norah Jones, Eminem, Coldplay, Miss Dynamite, Robbie Williams, Jennifer Lopez, The Streets, The Coral, Michael Jackson, The Raveonettes and Gareth Gates.

Digital Download Day kicks off as OD2, the company spearheading the initiative, announced it is working with the Official Charts Company on the development of an official UK download chart, endorsed by the British music industry.

The first official download chart is expected to be in place in time for the Christmas No 1 battle.

The offer

With the £3 free offer, music lovers can download 30 tracks, stream 300 tracks, burn copies of 3 tracks, or any combination of the three.

A choice of 170,000 tracks from over 7,500 artists is on offer. Of those, over 150,000 tracks will be available to burn to CD – making the catalogue the most comprehensive ever collection of free legitimate digital music. Users can now play this music on their computer and create their own CD compilations or download to portable players.

How to take part

Consumers are able to register until April 15 2003 by visiting www.digitaldownloadday.com

The simple registration process means consumers will only need to leave their email address and select the retailer from which they wish to download their choice of music.

After registering, music fans have three days to claim their tracks from these websites:

At their chosen site, consumers will be able to access tracks in one of three ways:

> Stream a track (hear the track once)

> Downloading (download the track and store it onto your PC for a month)

> Burning (download a track and store permanently on your PC, and then ‘burn’ CD or portable copies from this)

The results of Digital Download Day will also be used to compile the first ever comprehensive UK digital download chart - encompassing downloads from a number of retailers - which will be published on Friday April 18.

The chart will rank the 40 most popular downloaded tracks and artists requested over Digital Download Day.

OD2, the digital music distribution company set up by artist Peter Gabriel, devised Digital Download Day 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. But the tracks are often of dubious quality and contain viruses. Digital Download Day is a proactive step to show consumers the availability and superior quality of officially released digital music.

OD2 has received industry-wide backing for Digital Download. The major record labels Sony, Universal, EMI, Warner and BMG, joined by a range of independent labels including V2 and Mushroom - have all licensed significant amounts of new repertoire for the initiative.

The BPI – the organisation that represents the UK record industry – is supportive of the move.

BPI Chairman Peter Jamieson said: "Being able to enjoy the music you want when you want it conveniently, legally and safely is one of the great promises of the internet. The record industry is working hard with companies like OD2 to turn that dream into a reality. Initiatives like Digital Download Day show how the music industry is embracing the opportunities of the internet."

Commenting on the initiative, Minister for the music industry Kim Howells said: "The internet is changing the way we access and listen to music, but internet piracy can do great damage to the music industry. We have to think smart and harness new technology if we are to tackle piracy effectively and use initiatives like Digital Download Day. I wish it every success."

Charles Grimsdale, CEO of OD2, said: “The industry has really rallied to the call to nurture and support the legitimate music market - the support of Daniel Bedingfield and others will prove indispensable in drawing the attention of music fans to this event.”

About OD2

OD2 (On Demand Distribution) provides a secure distribution service for music over the Internet. The company was co-founded in November 1999 by Peter Gabriel and Charles Grimsdale.

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.

www.digitaldownloadday.com | www.od2.com

For more information, contact: Elaine Marshall / Liz Williams T: 020 7471 6880 / 020 7371 3333 M: 0776 0178150 E: elaine.marshall@maclaurin.com | liz.williams@maclaurin.com