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Apple supporting refugee crisis aid efforts with exclusive Imagine Dragons single, all proceeds go to charity

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To help with the international refugee crisis happening right now, Apple and the band Imagine Dragons have collaborated on an exclusive charity single, called “I Was Me” ($1.29). All proceeds of the song sales go to the UN Refugee Agency to support relief efforts. In addition, SAP will be donating an additional 10 cents per download for the first 5 million iTunes downloads. The Imagine Dragons track is exclusive to iTunes and available worldwide.

“The refugee crisis is incredibly urgent in terms of the number of vulnerable people being affected every single day. As a band we wanted to get involved and decided to partner with SAP and Apple to try and make a difference,” said Dan Reynolds, lead singer of Imagine Dragons. “‘I Was Me’ is a song about trying to regain your life, which is exactly what millions of people are going through right now. Whether it is by downloading this track or by other means, we hope people everywhere recognize the severity of the situation and find a way to assist these families in desperate need.”

[tweet https://twitter.com/lisapjackson/status/653600616984485888 align=’center’]

Apple VP Lisa Jackson has shown her support publicly on Twitter. The charity appeal is part of a wider ‘One4 Project’ which benefits UN Refugee Agency, directly contributing to aid efforts for Syrian refugees fleeing their homes and partaking in very risky journeys across the Mediterranean. You can learn more about the project here.

The charity single is not Apple’s only public charity effort for the refugee crisis cause. Apple is continuing to invite direct Red Cross donations through iTunes and the App Store. In an internal company email, Tim Cook announced an employee donation matching program for the relief efforts. The company has also made an outright substantial donation to relief agencies which provide humanitarian aid to refugees in Europe and around the Mediterranean. Cook said that Apple is dedicated to improving human rights worldwide.

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Comments

  1. PhilBoogie - 8 years ago

    Only 10 cents for every 5M downloads¿ That must take a lot of (billions of) downloads to get to any substantial amount¡

    • mikhailt - 8 years ago

      Are you not capable of reading?

      It’s a $1.25 song purchase, the band will donate 10 cent per download for the first 5 million download as in purchases. That’s 5 million times 10 cent equals 50m cent or 500,000 dollars.

      Apple is not taking its 30%, as all proceeds of the sales go to charity, it would be at least 38 cent per purchase. That means 5M == at least $1,900,000 plus 500,000 from the band, $2.4m in total.

  2. Rob (@RMH2345) - 8 years ago

    The refugee crisis the White House she worked for helped create.

  3. stickyicky97 - 8 years ago

    Yes, let’s help fund the Radical Muslim invasion. If you haven’t watched any of the YouTube videos of the devastation and destruction these refugees are inflicting in Germany, Hungary, and other countries, please do. This aren’t helpless people looking to start a new life assimilate to their new countries. They are looking to take over and push their radical ideology of Islam. It’s sad that the United States helped create this humanitarian crisis with the rouse of us needing to take them in. It’s sad to see our governments trying to help usher in radical Islam and Islamic Caliphates across the world. No thanks. We have our own homeless and needy citizens that deserve to be taken care of first.

    • Great post Sticky!

    • Iven Tenz (@ivenalot) - 8 years ago

      Very true. Were 10 out of 100 are real people from war zones, 90 of them are just followers to have a better life. Ever took a look at those refugees camps in Germany? They care less! The water from the showers are running, the light is kept on, they don’t know how to use a toilet, it’s a complete mess. And Merkel says most of them are educated workers.. from where and from what? Such a joke. Glad to live in the US and not Germany anymore.

    • imimike - 8 years ago

      True!

  4. distressedcactus - 8 years ago

    So no Apple Music, huh? Dang.

  5. Watch the TV coverage & count the number of men/boys vs. women pouring into Europe. Supporting military age men streaming into areas they’re not wanted is stupid & very dangerous!

  6. rogifan - 8 years ago

    Giving money to the UN, yep that will help the situation. /s

  7. Inaba-kun (@Inaba_kun) - 8 years ago

    Not sure it’s wise for Apple to take sides in something as politically charged as this. Most of these migrants are not refugees, they’re just chancers looking for a new home where wages are higher at best, or at worst, terrorists. There are already countless stories of the chaos these people have caused when they arrive in town and demand their hand outs.

Author

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.