Youth Music Charity Gets Christmas Boost With WeGotTickets

• WeGotTickets Partners With Youth Music For Christmas 2010 Campaign And Beyond

• Launch With Online Calendar Sharing Success Stories Of Their Work, Photos, Videos, Messages From The Charity’s Ambassadors And A Competition To Win A Collaborative Piece Of Artwork By World Renowned Photographer Rankin And A Musician

• Optional Donation To Youth Music Available For Every Event On Sale On WeGotTickets Throughout December

29th November, London:- This Christmas marks the beginning of a new partnership between WeGotTickets and leading UK charity Youth Music.From 1st December, WeGotTickets will be hosting a Youth Music advent calendar on their homepage, with each day linking though to new content from the charity, which aims to transform the lives of disadvantaged children through music.From advice, downloadable desktops, videos and photos, as well as messages from Youth Music’s ambassadors who include indie legends Ian Brown and Jarvis Cocker, flautist Sir James Galway OBE, drum n bass star Goldie, electropop starlet Little Boots, lead vocalist Tom Chaplin of Keane, as well as Grammy Award winning Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine and Dame Evelyn Glennie.There will also be a competition to win a very special Rankin artist print taken as part of their Destroy project which celebrated the charity’s 10th Birthday by having 70 of the world’s greatest musicians and visual artists create collaborative artwork based on Rankin’s iconic musician portraits. Others from the collection have previously been auctioned to raise money for the charity.Throughout December, WeGotTickets’ customers will be asked to make an additional donation to the charity whenever they purchase a ticket for any event. On Christmas Day itself WeGotTickets has pledged to donate 100% of all booking fees to Youth Music. Christmas 2009 saw £3,000 raised for War Child and WeGotTickets run a similar initiative with Oxfam every October for their Oxjam events and this year raised almost £7,000.Graeme Murray, who is leading this Christmas’ activity at WeGotTickets, said “Youth Music is such a worthy and relevant charity for us to work with this Christmas and beyond. The work they do with disadvantaged children and young adults is so wide ranging and we want to help them continue to reach out and help so many more to reach their full musical potential. This support over the Christmas period is the start of a new relationship to encourage the UK’s musical talent to develop even further.”Youth Music supporter Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine said about the importance of getting and playing gigs at a young age: "Frankly, being able to perform live has been essential for me since the days I'd been hustling to get gigs in the clubs. The music industry has changed dramatically several times over since then. A good rule of thumb though is to play as often as you can, everywhere you can. If you love what you're doing than you are already a ‘success’ just because you're out there doing it - expressing yourself through your music to whatever size audience. And there is NO better way to improve than playing live."The Youth Music Pioneers project is due to commence early 2011, an ongoing scheme which will encourage and support young people to open themselves up to performance spaces and opportunities. This project will also be supported by WeGotTickets who will assist by selling tickets for all the fundraising events the project puts on through a Youth Music Pioneers branded ticketing portal, which will also carry the additional donation option. In addition to this they will be donating 20% of the booking fee on all Youth Music Pioneers tickets sold back to the charity. WeGotTickets will also assist the scheme by giving advice on the wider issues of digital marketing and event promotion to those involved.Grania Hyde-Smith, Youth Music’s PR and Media Strategy Officer, commented “the support from WeGotTickets this Christmas is fantastic. It is a great opportunity for people going to events to see work that goes on in nurturing young musical talent and offering support to keep the UK’s music scene rich and prosperous. The money raised will go towards supporting our various projects for disadvantaged children, from singing pprogrammes for primary children, sessions with under-5s where they can learn and develop so many skills through music, right through to showcasing young talent on our own stage at the Underage Festival. Moving forward we’re keen to get the WeGotTickets team involved in our new projects launching next Spring, Youth Music Pioneers, where young people can learn about the business side of the music industry and how to forge successful careers within it.”NOTES FOR EDITORSAbout WeGotTicketsWeGotTickets is the leading ticketing agency in the UK for small to medium sized venues and promoters and currently works with over 4,000 such organisations.WeGotTickets has made it possible for promoters of all manner of events to benefit from advance ticket sales and now sells more than 750,000 tickets a year for a wide range of events; from art events and underground restaurants, to traditional live music shows. Indeed to cater for the growing demand for comedy tickets the company recently launched WeGotComedy.com, the UK’s only dedicated online ticket portal for comedy events.Since its launch WeGotTickets has consistently pushed for innovation, transparency and best practice across the ticketing industry, with many of the company’s ideas becoming standard industry practice.The company’s 10% maximum ticket commission rate has helped to lower fees across the business, whilst its pioneering paperless ticketing system has been a major factor in reducing the live music industry’s carbon footprint. The company has also been involved in numerous initiatives to help develop the grassroots live music industry and in 2009 launched an online forum where the company’s clients can network and share resources and knowledge in private.Over the years WeGotTickets has been proud to work on a number of special campaigns with charities such as Oxjam, Childline and Warchild, and regularly donates a percentage of their booking fees back to these groups. In 2009 the company launched a unique feature allowing ticket buyers to quickly and easily make a donation to a featured charity whilst purchasing tickets.Started in Oxford in the early noughties, the company was set up as a result of the founders being unable to sell advance tickets for one of their concerts at a venue that lacked a box office. Originally selling through their music merchandise website www.OxfordMusic.net, the WeGotTickets online box office was fully launched in 2002, selling tickets for The Zodiac (now O2 Academy) in Oxford and other venues.www.wegottickets.comAbout Youth MusicYouth Music is the leading UK charity using music to transform the lives of disadvantaged children and young people. We support and develop exemplary music provision at every stage of a young person’s development, whether it’s the first time a mother and baby make music together, or a talented teen’s debut at the Royal Albert Hall.Youth Music has transformed the landscape of musical opportunity in the UK. Since 1999, we’ve reached over two million children and young people through all types of music; both in and out of school. Music has the power to build confidence, broaden horizons and raise aspirations. Our music programmes allow vulnerable young people to find their way, take charge of their lives and unlock their hidden potential.Youth Music Ambassadors:Ian BrownJarvis CockerGoldieLittle BootsTom Chaplin of KeaneTom Morello of Rage Against The MachineSir James Galway OBEDame Evelyn GlennieAbout Youth Music PioneersYouth Music Pioneers is a celebration of live music, opening up performance spaces for young musicians and raising funds for the charity Youth Music.Supporting young talent is at the core of Youth Music’s work and with the generous support of WeGotTickets, Youth Music Pioneers will debut in 2011.For updates either ‘like’ the Youth Music Facebook page (www.facebook.com/youthmusicuk) or sign up to the e-newsletter (www.youthmusic.org.uk/subscribe )Youth Music is the leading UK charity using music to transform the lives of disadvantaged children and young people.If you run a venue, a particular live music night, or are a musical act yourself, and want to sign up as an official Youth Music Pioneers partner, email info@youthmusic.org.ukPress ContactKayleigh Watson, Name PRkayleigh@namemusic.net020 8357 7305