6 Music - Music News

A new campaign is aiming to persuade fans of the value of music and steer them away from file-sharing services.

Music Matters has designed a "trust mark" that will appear on licensed music download and streaming sites.

It has also made short films about the likes of Kate Bush, The Jam, Nick Cave and Louis Armstrong to remind people what it takes to make great music.

Former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, chart-topper Tinchy Stryder and songwriter Guy Chambers were at the launch in London.

Blur's manager Chris Morrison, who is also backing the campaign, said music must have a monetary value if artists are to follow in the footsteps of Kate Bush or Bob Dylan and "come out of the blue and do something incredibly radical".

It was "not a God-given right" that people could take music for free, he told 6 Music news.

"My job is to make sure my artist gets properly compensated. An artist makes pennies per record. If the music is popular, you sell huge quantities. But in order to make money, you have to sell huge quantities."

Services including iTunes, MySpace Music, Tesco, Spotify, HMV and Rough Trade have all signed up to put the Music Matters logo on their websites to let people know they are visiting an authorised site.

Bernard Butler, who produced Duffy's debut album, saw the campaign more as a conduit to get the next generation excited by music through the series of films.

"The great thing about this is that they're seeing it as a very long-term educational thing about music, not whether you pay for it or not," he said.

"I don't think this campaign or these films are trying to plead poverty. They don't mention downloading, they're actually talking about whether music means something.

"Not whether it's worth £10.99 or £4.99 or 79p. They're actually saying, does music do something to your life?

"Personally, I see plenty of money in the music business being made and I don't think it's at death's door. What's important for me as an artist is that I see kids being interested enough in music to make it."

The campaign comes as the Digital Economy Bill - which would give regulator Ofcom powers to disconnect or slow down the connections of persistent net pirates - is going through Parliament.