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I remember reading on the Canonical website around the launch of the Ubuntu One Music store that after revenue was divided between Canonical, 7 digital and the artists involved that all profit or a significant percentage would be donated to a charity.

This information has either disappeared from their website or my detective skills have failed me once more. Does anybody happen to understand the break down of revenue generated by the Ubuntu One Music Store or even know where to find this information.

Also it would be useful to know which charity benefits from this. (Not that that would impact upon my purchases or send me running to iTunes. ;) Promise)

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  • Interesting. I apparently was asleep when the charity statements were made. I never expected the revenue to go back to the community, as I thought the selling point (as it were) was just that there was a music store in Ubuntu (and as a plus it would sync with Ubuntu One).
    – belacqua
    Feb 4, 2011 at 23:40
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    The charity in question was a contribution to save the Iberian Lynx: blog.canonical.com/?p=431 Feb 5, 2011 at 2:39

2 Answers 2

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If you open Rythmbox and go to the Ubuntu One Store, it states the following:

The Ubuntu One Music Store is a service from Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu. The technology partner for the music store is 7digital, a UK-based company with a long history in the digital music industry.

And from Wikipedia:

Further criticism concerns the choice of the patented mp3 format for the music of the Ubuntu One Music Store and the unclear revenue share that will be granted to the community.

This was all I could find. I haven't heard anything about any revenue sharing, to be honest.

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The proper 7digital affiliate program starts at 4% comission on all sales. This slides up with more sales.

However the bond between Canonical and 7digital is somewhat stronger than the typical affiliate link in that they're using a branded store. This may alter the rates negatively but this really sn't known outside Canonical or 7d. However, given the number of sales it probably generates, I think at least 4% would still be a fair estimate.

What happens to the commission also isn't known but I think it would be more than fair to assume it rolls back into the company behind Ubuntu to try and help them break even.

At 7digital's end, where the cash goes is another unknown. They do this to make money, like Apple, Amazon and everybody else. How much the artist gets is between their label (or them directly if they don't have one) and 7d. "Not much" would be my guess.

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