https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-64026345
"It is a fact that even many die-hard Abba fans do not know. Despite selling
millions of copies over more than four decades, their massive 1979 hit,
Chiquitita, doesn't earn the Swedish supergroup a penny.
"We gave the copyright to Unicef," its composer and founding member of Abba,
Bjorn Ulvaeus, told the BBC.
"A lot of money has come in over the years because
Chiquitita has been played
and streamed a lot, and lots of records have been sold. So, I'm very happy
about that."
Written for Unicef's Year of the Child,
Chiquitita - which means "Little
Girl" in Spanish - was also the first song Abba recorded in Spanish, becoming a
huge success across Latin America. From the start, Bjorn Ulvaeus says the band
was clear about what they wanted the royalties to be used for.
"I think that the most urgent thing that can be done on this globe is the
empowerment of young women and girls. That would change our world," he said.
"It's so sad that there are cultures and religions around the globe that just
don't give girls equal chances. So, early on we said to Unicef, that's where we
want our money to go."
In an echoey hall in the town of La Tinta in Alta Verapaz, the poorest region
of Guatemala, a group of indigenous girls perform their own version of
Chiquitita, translated into their native Mayan language, Q'eqchi'.
The primary-school-aged children attend health and self-esteem workshops at the
Association of Friends of Development and Peace (ADP), one of the oldest NGOs
in Guatemala, paid for using the funds from Abba's song."
Via Esther Schindler.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
