Tag Archives: The Pixel Project

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: Our First YouTube Music Ambassador and Two New Partnerships

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1 July 2012: The Pixel Project, the award-nominated global volunteer-led virtual non-profit social enterprise working to end Violence Against Women (VAW) worldwide, is proud to announce the first YouTube Music Ambassador and two new partnerships that will take the Music For Pixels campaign (http://music4pixels.thepixelproject.net) from strength to strength.

YouTube’s Number One most popular R&B group AHMIR, the campaign’s first ‘Artiste of the Month’ who kicked off Music For Pixels in April 2012 has been appointed as The Pixel Project’s first YouTube Music Ambassador due to their commitment to the cause. In addition to donating the proceeds raised from download sales of The Rose to The Pixel Project for life, AHMIR will be working with the Music For Pixels team on various aspects of the campaign including the YouTube Cover Carnival, speaking out about VAW as male role models and recruiting other YouTube artistes to the campaign.

AHMIR said: “We feel very blessed and honoured to be working alongside The Pixel Project team as the first YouTube Music Ambassadors in raising awareness to end violence against women. We are excited about the many opportunities to use our social platform to help this important campaign.”

The Pixel Project also welcomes two music companies on board as campaign partners. The first is Horus Music in the UK with whom The Pixel Project has signed a 3-year pro bono agreement to distribute all Music For Pixels music to major digital channels for downloading including iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Horus Music will also be handling the licensing/royalty payment processes for any cover music used by the campaign, thanks to their membership with The Harry Fox Agency, the premier mechanical licensing agent and provider of rights administration services and the largest aggregator in the U.S. 100% of the net proceeds of all campaign music distributed via Horus Music will be donated to The Pixel Project.

Nick Dunn, Founder and CEO of Horus Music said: “We are very excited to be working with The Pixel Project, a nonprofit that does so much good work around the globe for those in society who still have to struggle daily with sexism, inequality and medieval attitudes.  Music is one language that can unite the world and bring joy to all so we’re especially proud to be able to help ensure the artistes working with The Pixel Project can have their music heard around the world and make a difference to many lives, those who discover the artistes and to those who will benefit from the work of The Pixel Project.”

The second is San Francisco, California-based Lost Monkey Studio which handles up-and-coming independent U.S. West Coast artistes and brings with them more than 20 years of recording and music management experience. As part of their partnership with The Pixel Project for the Music For Pixels campaign, Lost Monkey will be donating a range of music-related prizes such as Music Production, Mixing, Mastering and TV/Film Licensing Submission for YouTube Cover Carnival winners to inspire musicians all over the world to take part in the campaign to use their musical talent to say NO to VAW. Lost Monkey artiste, Pete Ahonen, will also be collaborating in an upcoming Music For Pixels online fundraiser, details of which will be announced later this year.

Mike and Michelle Stevens, Co-founders of Lost Monkey Studio said: “We are pleased to be collaborating with The Pixel Project and deeply believe in what they are working towards. Music is something that feeds the soul. We all have our own personal soundtracks to life, and they help us, heal us and make us stronger. Lost Monkey is deeply honoured to be a part of the mission to end Violence Against Women.”

Regina Yau, Founder and President of The Pixel Project, said: “The Pixel Project and our Music For Pixels team is looking forward to working closely with AHMIR, Horus Music and Lost Monkey Studio over the next 12 months and beyond. We are pleased that all three share our strong belief that music is a powerful and positive tool that gets people aware of the importance of stopping VAW while promoting healthy non-violent relationships and personal empowerment, particularly when it is easily shareable through social media and other online channels. Together, these collaborations will strengthen the Music For Pixels campaign and its mission to encourage hope and courage in survivors while inspiring men, women and youth to work together to end violence against women in whatever capacity they can, wherever they are in the world.”

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For further information, please contact:

General Inquiries:

Media Inquiries:

About the Music For Pixels Campaign (http://music4pixels.thepixelproject.net)

Music For Pixels, a campaign by The Pixel Project, is the first music-based social media campaign to exclusively collaborate with YouTube artistes speaking up to prevent and stop VAW through music video PSAs while raising funds for the cause via digital music downloads. All funds raised from the portion of the song’s proceeds donated by artistes in 2012 will go towards the Celebrity Male Role Model Pixel Reveal campaign in benefit of the USA’s National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and other anti-Violence Against Women nonprofits.

About The Pixel Project (www.thepixelproject.net)

The Pixel Project is a completely virtual, volunteer-led global 501(c)3 nonprofit organisation whose mission is to raise awareness, funds and volunteer power for the cause to end violence against women through innovative, powerful viral campaigns across various online and virtual channels including social media. Their first project is to turbo-charge global awareness about VAW using social media while raising US$1 million for the U.S.A.’s National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and other anti-Violence Against Women nonprofits by getting a global audience to collectively unveil a million-pixel mystery collage of Celebrity Male Role Models at US$1 per pixel.

About AHMIR (www.ahmirmusic.com)

AHMIR is the #1 MOST POPULAR R&B GROUP on YouTube with over 60 million video views and comments by celebrities such as Ryan Seacrest, Ashton Kutcher, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Perez Hilton, Pink, and more. The group has used their success to bring awareness to several charity organizations including Lucy’s Love Bus, Haiti Relief Fund, American Red Cross, American Cancer Society, Words Matter, YMCA, Kevin Youkilis Hits for Kids, and The Pixel Project. Their cover video of Pink’s “Perfect” was named one of the top Anti-Bullying PSA’s by The Huffington Post. AHMIR is now signed to Robbins Entertainment (distributed by RED / Sony Music).

About Horus Music (www.horusmusic.co.uk)

Horus Music is a 360 degree music company based in Leicester, UK, specialising in music distribution, publishing and management.  They are a one stop shop for getting your music on sale in online stores and subscription services worldwide, including: iTunes, Amazon MP3, Spotify, Deezer, Nokia, Napster, eMusic, Google Music, YouTube, Vevo, Myspace Music, HMV Digital, Zvooq, Simfy, 7Digital, Rhapsody and many more. They can also provide physical distribution throughout the UK.

About Lost Monkey Studio (www.lostmoneystudio.com)

Lost Monkey is a 16-track Pro Tools studio in Hayward serving artists and bands seeking a comfortable environment in which to produce broadcast-quality sounds. The studio is owned and operated by Bay Area drummer Mike Stevens, who drew upon his experiences working in the area’s most venerable studios to open Lost Monkey in 2010. Lost Monkey is currently also building a solid roster of immensely talented West Coast artists who are working hard towards becoming some of the most seminal musicians in the world.

“Music For Pixels” YouTube Cover Carnival #1: ‘The Rose’

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The first ever Music For Pixels song is YouTube’s #1 R&B band AHMIR’s cover of ‘The Rose’ – the song about hope, love and surviving tough times that was first made famous by Bette Midler.

When asked why they selected ‘The Rose’ as their contribution to the campaign, AHMIR explained: “‘The Rose’ is such a classic song that has transcended generations because of its beautiful lyrics and emotional sentiment that tugs at your heart strings. We felt that if we could use such a powerful song to carry this message that it would resonate well with audiences today, both young and old, and most importantly for future generations.

In honour of the launch of ‘The Rose’ music video and to help raise awareness about Violence Against Women,The Pixel Project invited musicians to submit a YouTube music video of their cover of ‘The Rose’ for our first YouTube Cover Carnival.

We had 5 brave souls step up to sing their very personal versions of ‘The Rose’ as a way of saying NO to violence against women straight from their hearts and they are listed below in alphabetical order and will shortly be added to our soon-to-come YouTube Cover Carnival Gallery.

(Want to join our next YouTube Cover Carnival to use your musical skills to say NO to violence against women? More details will be announced soon!)

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Music For Pixels YouTube Cover Carnival Artiste 1: Anjeza

Albania-born and Los Angeles-based Singer/Songwriter/Actress/Dancer/Model/Writer/Humanitarian Anjeza who actively uses her music to speak up against human trafficking immediately said ‘yes’ when our Music For Pixels Campaign Co-Coordinator, Gia Ibarra, invited her to record her version of ‘The Rose’ for the campaign. Here is Anjeza’s modern version of the song*:

*Trigger warning: There is literal imagery in this music video that may be disturbing to recovering survivors.

Music For Pixels YouTube Cover Carnival Artiste 2: Dante Deo

Dante Deo is a huge AHMIR fan and budding singer-songwriter who responded to AHMIR’s call for submissions for the YouTube Cover Carnival. Here is his take on ‘The Rose’:

Music For Pixels YouTube Cover Carnival Artiste 3: Donna

Donna is a survivor of Domestic Violence who says: “My guitar playing is a little rusty even though I have been playing almost all my life, the singing I think is OK but the recording quality not the best, the thing is I just want to add my VOICE to this important cause and worthy project that needs people to speak out, sing out, and do everything possible to end domestic violence.”

Music For Pixels YouTube Cover Carnival Artiste 4: Gail Whitmore

Here is what Gail Whitmore had to say about why she submitted her a cappella version of ‘The Rose’:

“As the Human Jukebox I perform from a list of 2,000 songs whatever the audience hollers out at me. The songs range from opera to rock to gospel to rap to musicals to TV commercials. We have a lot of fun.

As Gail Whitmore I am a dedicated human rights activist. I have been working with V-Day and HollaBack! for years and am honored to be doing this for The Pixel Project now when so many voices are needed in so many different ways.”

Music For Pixels YouTube Cover Carnival Artiste 5: William Kiley Smith

William Kiley Smith says: “Violence is humiliation  Violence is hate. Humiliation and hate are control. And we all know control of another human mentally or physical is slavery, let my people go, get up stand up however you want to say it take a stand and get passionate about something so serious and unneeded as fear and hate at the hands of someone who calms love for you but declares war.”

Here is his upbeat version of ‘The Rose’:

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Why not download ‘The Rose’ to help spread awareness about Violence Against Women? Proceeds go to The Pixel Project’s Celebrity Male Role Model campaign in aid of the USA’s National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Malaysia’s Women’s Aid Organisation.

You can download the song at http://bit.ly/TheRosePixel

Before buying, have a listen via the music video PSA below to learn some key global statistics about violence against women:

The Survivor Behind The Picture: Kim Poppleton

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Thousands of viewers of the music video PSA of The Rose will have seen the portraits of 6 survivors of violence against women who courageously and generously allowed us to include their picture in the video, knowing that a global audience will see their faces and note their signs that they are survivors and wonder about the stories behind their hard-won smiles. Our fifth story features Kathleen Milliken, a survivor and co-founder of Spa Fundraiser which helps causes and nonprofits focused on women and children to raise funds.

Music is a medium that crosses cultures, and has a large audience that spans the world. In allowing The Pixel Project to show my picture I hope to show that domestic violence can affect many no matter our age, race, religion or economic status.

My image is also to show support for those women fighting for their freedom where-ever in the world they may be, so as they may be able thrive and live a life without fear. That each and every women is worthy of peace. I survived and have made changes to live a life free of violence, and hope that others can find their way, as I have, to smile again and shine a light for those caught in the dark.

 

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Inspired by Kim’s story? Why not share our first Music For Pixels music video PSA with your friends and family to help us reach 1 million views and to raise funds towards our US$1 million fundraising goal towards our Celebrity Male Role Model Pixel Reveal campaign in aid of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence andWomen’s Aid Organisation Malaysia?

The Survivor Behind The Picture: Catherine Tanner Pierce

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Thousands of viewers of the music video PSA of The Rose will have seen the portraits of 6 survivors of violence against women who courageously and generously allowed us to include their picture in the video, knowing that a global audience will see their faces and note their signs that they are survivors and wonder about the stories behind their hard-won smiles. Our fourth story features Catherine Tanner Pierce, a survivor and co-founder of Spa Fundraiser which helps causes and nonprofits focused on women and children to raise funds.

It is important to me to help bring awareness to domestic violence.  As a child living through domestic violence was very scary.  No one talked about it.  Sometimes we have a picture in our head of what someone who is a victim of domestic violence looks like and it can be very different that what you imagine.

I wanted to share my picture for the Music For Pixels campaign to help people see what a face of a domestic violence victim looks like.  It could be a neighbour, friend or co-worker.  You just never know that’s why we all have to be advocates to end domestic violence.

 

 

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Inspired by Catherine’s story? Why not share our first Music For Pixels music video PSA (http://bit.ly/PixelRoseVid) with your friends and family to help us reach 1 million views and to raise funds towards our US$1 million fundraising goal towards our Celebrity Male Role Model Pixel Reveal campaign in aid of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence andWomen’s Aid Organisation Malaysia?

The Survivor Behind The Picture: Kathleen Milliken

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Thousands of viewers of the music video PSA of The Rose will have seen the portraits of 6 survivors of violence against women who courageously and generously allowed us to include their picture in the video, knowing that a global audience will see their faces and note their signs that they are survivors and wonder about the stories behind their hard-won smiles. Our third story features Kathleen Milliken, a survivor and founder of Project Empowerment and Climb For Empowerment:

Let not the pain of the past define who you are, but what you’ve made yourself because of it.  Like many, I had a choice and fled abuse many years ago.  I chose to rebuild my life and start again from scratch.  I’m a firm believer that all healing and empowerment begins from within.

Music is a powerful tool to help heal the wounds from the past, to help bring peace into our hearts. My hope is that something as simple as sharing my picture with The Pixel Project’s Music for Pixels campaign will inspire others to choose their own path and find their way to heal from abuse.

 

 

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Inspired by Kathleen’s story? Why not share our first Music For Pixels music video PSA (http://bit.ly/PixelRoseVid) with your friends and family to help us reach 1 million views and to raise funds towards our US$1 million fundraising goal towards our Celebrity Male Role Model Pixel Reveal campaign in aid of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence andWomen’s Aid Organisation Malaysia?

The Survivor Behind The Picture: Eliska Hahn

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Thousands of viewers of the music video PSA of The Rose will have seen the portraits of 6 survivors of violence against women who courageously and generously allowed us to include their picture in the video, knowing that a global audience will see their faces and note their signs that they are survivors and wonder about the stories behind their hard-won smiles. Our second story featuring Eliska Hahn, a survivor and The Pixel Project’s volunteer Music Campaigns Coordinator:

I am a multiple survivor of both rape and domestic violence.  For the first 30+ years of my life I firmly believed I had “bad luck” or there was something uniquely wrong with me and that was why these terrible things kept happening over and over in my life.

It was through organisations like The Pixel Project that I learned that I was in no way alone and, more importantly, that it wasn’t my fault.  I am so very proud honoured to now be a Pixel Project Team Member and to be pictured in AHMIR’s amazing video for “The Rose”.  I hope every person that views it will see that there is life after abuse and it is not a life of just surviving but thriving.  I feel the Music For Pixels campaign will reach and educate a whole new group of people and that, together, we can put an end to violence against women in our lifetime.

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Inspired by Eliska’s story? Why not share our first Music For Pixels music video PSA (http://bit.ly/PixelRoseVid) with your friends and family to help us reach 1 million views and to raise funds towards our US$1 million fundraising goal towards our Celebrity Male Role Model Pixel Reveal campaign in aid of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence andWomen’s Aid Organisation Malaysia?

A Very Pixel Project “Thank You”: 25 Fabulous Facebook Pages You Should Check Out and Like

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With the Music For Pixels campaign in full swing as The Pixel Project’s Music Campaigns team and Street Team works on getting us snowballing towards 1 million views of The Rose by our first featured artiste – AHMIR, YouTube’s number one R&B group – we would like to say A HUGE THANK YOU to the following Pixel Project partners, anti-Violence Against Women nonprofits and Facebook pages for their support for the campaign and for helping us get the word out on their Facebook pages (and in some cases, on their blogs and on Twitter).

Be sure to click on their names to check out their Facebook pages – they are listed according to category and in alphabetical order below!

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An Invitation To Musicians: 10 Covers of ‘The Rose’ and Joining the “Music For Pixels” YouTube Cover Carnival

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When AHMIR, the Number 1 R&B group on YouTube, offered to cover ‘The Rose’ for our Music For Pixels campaign, we were delighted because it is a classic song that beautifully articulates the themes of love, hope, courage and the strength to survive. These are themes that are central to many a survivor’s journey to rebuilding and thriving after the violence.

The closing verse in particular says what speaks to many a survivor’s heart and experience:

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long
And you think that love is only
for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snow
Lies the seed
That with the sun’s love, in the spring
Becomes the rose

Amanda McBroom wrote ‘The Rose’ in 1977 as her answer to the question: “What do you think love is?”. She said:

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