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Play category (RED)WIRE is a digital music service, which promises subscribers exclusive music by major artists in exchange for $5 a month to fight AIDS.
The service is co-founded by the creators of the organization (RED), U2 frontman Bono and Bobby Shriver, and half the fee paid by the subscribers will go to the Global Fund, through which (RED) provides AIDS medicines for women and children. Most of the remainder goes to artist royalties.
“At least 4,100 AIDS-related deaths occur daily in sub-Saharan Africa. Every five (RED)WIRE subscribers generate enough money each month to buy antiretroviral medicine for someone living with HIV in Africa,” the team behind the service explained.
In addition to raising awareness and money for fighting AIDS in this region, (RED)WIRE is also growing a community of interconnected users. Via a graphic element subscribers cab follow the impact they make by supporting (RED)WIRE— each month, every million subscribers, for instance, keep 300,000 people with HIV alive.
“Through the design, subscribers can see both the impact of their own individual network, built from their existing social networks and contacts, and the power of the (RED)WIRE network as a whole.”
For artists wanting to contribute their work to battling HIV and AIDS (RED)WIRE offers a venue where they can donate their talent in an ongoing way. Among the superstar artists contributing with videos and songs to (RED)WIRE are U2, Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie, Dixie Chicks, Jay-Z, John Legend and Sheryl Crow. But the service will also be featuring a weekly spotlight track with a lesser-known artist. Even though it is all about the music, the site will not only focus on the songs. “Not only can artists contribute songs but they can also upload and curate accompanying text and images, allowing for a deeper, more meaningful experience, that subscribers can build on through their own uploads and posts”.
In order to bolster the service’s sense of collective power, impact and sharing the artist contributions are “digital rights management” (DRM) free, so (RED)WIRE subscribers can enjoy them elsewhere in new and different ways. Designed by:
IDEO, United States. Design team:
Duane Bray; Jessie Cutts; Mikkel Koser; Robert Lenne; Kate Taylor; Ross Timms; Aimee Tobin.
Additional credits:
Don MacKinnon and Kim Malek (RED). www.joinredwire.com
www.theglobalfund.org
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