Bubuti.com Sells Good Tunes For Good Causes
Bubuti is on a mission to connect musicians, charities and music fans to raise awareness and support for good causes. Named after a Pacific Island's philosophy of mutual aid, Bubuti offers paid downloads of music related to specific charities. While current campaigns have a focus on Bubuti's base in Virginia, the potential of this project for connecting people and causes in different locations seems especially powerful.
Bubuti is named for a "big-hearted system of mutual support" practiced among the people of the island of Kiribati. The concept is that:
"under the Bubuti system, citizens are obliged to share whatever is requested by those in need, knowing the same right will always be extended in return. By mutually benefitting from each other, citizens ensure that those in need do not go without."
Bubuti, the company, connects musicians and charities such as Charlottesville, Virginia-based musician Mike Poncy's campaign for WorkSource Enterprises, a nonprofit in Charlottesville that provides job training and employment to people with disabilities.
The campaign features the song Working on the Breadline which connects to both job-related issues and Mike's experience of the cookies at BreadWorks Bakery & Deli which is owned and operated by WorkSource. You can stream a sample of the song on the Bubuti site and download it for $1.69.
Their other current campaign features a live set by Portland's Blitzen Trapper recorded at an event for a small group of WNRN community radio supporters in Charlottesville. It's a nice extension of their relationship and helps support commercial-free radio.
Bubuti's a great concept and it's interesting that they're an LLC rather than a nonprofit. I think social entrepreneurship can take on many organizational forms, especially given the fact that certain sectors of nonprofits are themselves big business. However, as with any organization raising funds for good causes, clarifying who gets what in the distribution of proceeds is a needed form of transparency.
That said, Bubuti appears to be an innovative approach well worth exploring. If you're a charity or an artist interested in initiating a campaign on Bubuti, they have a simple introduction form.
More: Bubuti on Tumblr
Hypebot Features Writer Clyde Smith blogs about business at Flux Research: Business & Revenue Models and about dance at All World Dance: News. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
