Live 8 artists urged to donate profits to charity

Musicians who have seen a massive increase in album sales since Live 8 should donate their profits to charity, the Liberal Democrat culture spokesperson has urged.

Speaking after a survey by music retailer HMV showed a dramatic rise in sales for artists appearing at Saturday’s Hyde Park concert, Don Foster said: “Live 8 may have struck a chord with viewers all over the world, but for the artists it’s now clear that it also struck gold. The artists showed huge generosity and compassion in taking part this weekend. Now they should continue to show their goodwill by donating the profits that Live 8 helped create.”

HMV compared sales at all its 200 UK stores on the day after Live 8 to the previous Sunday. The survey, which concentrates on the latest release or the definitive greatest hits album of the artists on the Hyde Park line-up, found that the majority enjoyed huge increases in sales. Pink Floyd, who were joined by founder member Roger Waters at the concert for the first time in over 20 years, enjoyed the biggest increase with sales of their ‘best of’ compilation ‘Echoes’ jumping by 1343%. The Who followed, with their greatest hits compilation ‘Then & Now’ enjoying an increase in sales of 863%, while Scottish singer Annie Lennox saw sales of her previous band, the Eurythmics’ Greatest Hits increase by 500%.

Newer artists, such as Razorlight, Scissor Sisters, the Killers and Keane also enjoyed sales increases of over 100%.

The only artist on the Hyde Park line-up whose sales decreased was ex-Libertines frontman Pete Doherty – sales of the Libertines album ‘Up the Bracket’ dropped by 35%. Doherty’s new band, Babyshambles, have yet to release an album.

Commenting on the figures, HMV’s Gennaro Castaldo said: “Like its predecessor 20 years ago, the Live 8 concert is having a marked effect on sales of featured artist recordings. It’s likely this impact will become more pronounced throughout the week, as more fans and record buyers respond to the combined effect of the weekend’s televised event, the G8 summit and all the ensuing publicity.”

Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour said that he would not be profiting from appearing at Live 8 and urged other artists and record companies to make a charitable donation. In a statement, Gilmour said: “Though the main objective has been to raise consciousness and put pressure on the G8 leaders, I will not profit from the concert. If other artists feel like donating their extra royalties to charity, perhaps then the record companies could be persuaded to make a similar gesture and that would be a bonus. This is money that should be used to save lives.”

HMV also reported that sales of the white ‘Make Poverty History’ wristbands had reached 177,000 in just over a week, making it the fastest selling item ever at HMV stores.

(KMcA/GB)