T-Mobile opens the t-music fund to support Czech music acts

• One million Czech crowns to be distributed this year
• Marketing support to musicians in the amount of at least CZK 1.5 million
• New albums will be downloadable from t-music.cz, fans will decide the amount they pay
• All money will go directly to the artists, T-Mobile will match the amount collected
• The first bands to receive support from the fund are Sunshine and Vypsaná fiXa

Prague, 3 May 2011 – The situation on the Czech music market does not give many reasons for optimism. T-Mobile is therefore lending a helping hand in the form of the t-music fund, which is intended to help Czech artists to obtain the money they are losing due to the decreasing sales of standard CDs and non-existent digital distribution in the Czech Republic. It will also offer fans new albums by Czech bands for a price determined by them. The t-music fund will distribute one million Czech crowns this year; in addition, each selected band will receive marketing support for a new album in the minimum amount of CZK 1.5 million. 

“T-Mobile has long been supporting the Czech music scene. We have always tried to search for new ways that would be interesting both for the bands and for the fans,” says Jiří Hašek, Vice President Category & Product Management at T-Mobile, adding: “Now when bands have to face the drop in sales of discs and the non-existence of digital distribution, we are introducing the t-music fund, which will make the fans themselves ‘part of the game’.” 

The t-music fund will enable artists to sell their latest albums in digital format at www.t-music.cz. The amount paid for downloading albums will be determined by the fans, which means that the price will depend on the fans themselves. T-Mobile will match the amount collected from the fans and send all money directly to the artists. 

The band itself will determine in advance the purpose for which the money will be used – for a concert, new video, new website, etc. Fans thus have a unique opportunity to financially help their favourite artists and to influence how their money will be spent. 

Each band that uses the t-music fund will receive marketing support to promote the release of its new album in the minimum amount of CZK 1.5 million. The first band to use the t-music fund was Sunshine. Beginning today, its new album Karmageddon can be downloaded from t-music.cz. 

Released two years after the band’s last disc, MGKK TELEPATHY, Sunshine's seventh album has a somewhat retro feel, but with an innovative spirit. Karmageddon marks the band's return to guitars, dark and organic sound and less of a dance groove and sampling. Recorded at the Sono Records studio and the Freebornsound studio in Berlin, the ten-song album was produced by Dušan Neuwerth and features one guest artist (Justin Pearson from The Locust and All Leather). The album was mixed and mastered by engineer and producer Bernd Burgdorf, who had worked with the band on two previous releases, at Empire 7 in Los Angeles. 

“This international cooperation has an added twist, which is the fact that our fans can download the album also thanks to our cooperation with T-Mobile and the new model of purchasing the album, which basically gives fans an opportunity to support primarily their favourite band. This is very good news in these difficult times that do not much favour music and independent culture in general,” adds Kay Burianek, the band's frontman. 

After the summer, fans can look forward to the new album by Vypsaná fiXa. 

More information is available at www.t-music.cz/ and www.t-music.cz/tmusicfond.

Information about the bands is available at www.sunshinetrash.com/ and http://www.vypsanafixa.cz/.

T-Mobile Czech Republic, a member of the international telecommunications group Deutsche Telekom, has almost 6.2 million customers, the number-one operator in the Czech market. T-Mobile is an integrated operator: in addition to telecommunications services, it offers comprehensive ICT solutions not only for companies, but also for other organizations and individuals. It provides outstanding services in the high-speed network, which was proved repeatedly by benchmark testing performed by umlaut (former P3) with Best-in-Test seal.

T-Mobile Czech Republic places emphasis on taking a responsible approach to the environment and society. It adheres to fair business practices, helps beneficial applications and services to see the light of day, supports non-profit organizations, small businesses and individuals, and lends a helping hand whenever crisis situations arise. The company’s employees serve as volunteers in many places across the entire Czech Republic.

More information about the company is available at www.t-mobile.cz, www.t-press.cz (the portal for journalists) and www.t-mobile.cz/pomahame (information on the company’s CSR activities).

Contact details of the press unit: press@t-press.cz.