Pink Floyd Give Live 8 Profits To Charity

hecklerspray’s about to do something it never thought it would ever do… agree with Pink Floyd.

Many of the Live 8 performers have seen their album sales increase by an incredible amount, and now Dave Gilmour from Pink Floyd wants the artists to give their Live 8 profits to charity.

Since making everyone’s Dad happy by reforming for Saturday’s Live
8, sales of Pink Floyd albums have shot up by 1300%, and Dave Gilmour
has claimed in a statement that making money was not the point of the
band performing.

"Though the main objective has been to raise consciousness and put
pressure on the G8 leaders, I will not profit from the concert. If on Thursday the G8 leaders tick the right three boxes at Gleneagles then the main objective will have been fulfilled.

"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."

The other artists Dave mentions include The Who, who have seen a
sales increase of 863%, Annie Lennox with 500% and Dido with 412%.

Coldplay have only seen a sales increase of 3%, but they are the
band that were selling most albums before Live 8. Only trampy old Pete
Doherty, who shambled through a T Rex song with a frightened-looking
Elton John, has seen his album sales drop.

By putting his money where his mouth is, Dave Gilmour is responding
to those who suggested that many of the artists were using Live 8 as a
massive marketing tool to make some extra cash - after all, it was
estimated that five billion people were watching the event around the
world. Gilmour’s no stranger to charity, though. He sold his house for
£3 million in 2003 and gave the proceeds to a homeless charity.

Hopefully, this move will push the other Live 8 artists into making a similar gesture.

[story by Stuart Heritage]