Beatles donate songs to Music Matters campaign

WITH A LITTLE HELP: The Beatles have thrown their support behind the Music Matters anti-file-sharing campaign, allowing their music to be used in a short animated video to help raise awareness of the value of original music, the N.Y. Times reports. The animation is simple: stick figures, some with the Beatles’ faces and playing guitars. The soundtrack includes tracks like “Octopus’s Garden,” “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Hey Jude.” It ends with the slogan “That’s why music matters.” “It’s a campaign to get people thinking about the ethical choices they face when consuming music,” said publicist Stuart Bell. The campaign was begun in Britain in March 2010 and has attracted support from several well-known pop groups past and present, like the Jam, Sigur Ros and Elbow. (8/19a)