New Gig: Little Kids Rock on Pandora and GlobalGiving

Collaboration will increase support for music education in public schools

September 19, 2006 – Washington, DC - GlobalGiving, an online marketplace for philanthropy that connects donors with grassroots projects around the world, and Little Kids Rock, an innovative non-profit program that provides free instruments and instruction to inner-city children in the U.S., have joined forces. Little Kids Rock (www.littlekidsrock.org) will post charitable projects on GlobalGiving’s website, www.globalgiving.com, joining a growing and vibrant philanthropic community. Little Kids Rock’s first project, "Give 600 Students Access to Music Education," complements over 350 other projects in 60 countries currently featured on GlobalGiving.com.

In addition, the Little Kids Rock project will be featured through a special initiative of GlobalGiving and Pandora Media, whose customizable online music discovery service is making waves in the music industry. The Pandora and GlobalGiving Philanthropy Project, launched last week on www.pandora.com, allows Pandora listeners to make online donations of as little as ten dollars to several youth music-oriented projects, including the Little Kids Rock project.

Little Kids Rock operates in public schools in which 50% or more of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch programs. Typically, these schools have no music education or are in need of a rejuvenated music curriculum. Funds raised through GlobalGiving will provide teachers with instruments and curricula, and train them in innovative methods for teaching music. When implemented, the project will teach 600 students to play instruments at an accelerated pace, as well as compose and perform original songs. Students gain a strong sense of accomplishment and self-worth as they develop their musical skills.

"We are excited to join forces with these two visionary organizations in the pursuit of music education," said Dave Wish, executive director of Little Kids Rock. "The opportunity that Global Giving and Pandora have provided us will undoubtedly provide a positive impact in the lives of our Little Kids Rock students for years to come."

"We're very excited to launch our partnership with Global Giving," said Tim Westergren, Founder of Pandora. "It has long been our desire as a company to support the music community and to be actively involved in music-related causes. Being able to assist organizations that promote music education, such as Little Kids Rock, truly speaks to Pandora's belief in using the power of music to enrich and empower people's lives. We're thrilled to be a part of their ongoing efforts."

"Just as Pandora is offering individuals a new way to discover and listen to great music, GlobalGiving connects people to great projects that they might not otherwise find," said Dennis Whittle, Founder and CEO of GlobalGiving. "We’ve got a lot of music lovers on our team, so we’re especially thrilled to welcome both Little Kids Rock and Pandora to the GlobalGiving community."

About Little Kids Rock
Little Kids Rock believes that music is a critical component of first-rate education. Many elementary schools have been stripped of their music programs. These cuts have had a disproportionately large impact on children from low-income backgrounds. Little Kids Rock restores music to its rightful place in the academic lives of kids in our public schools by providing a rich music education program including instrument instruction, free instruments and trained mentors. Founded by a single elementary school teacher in 1996, Little Kids Rock is now serving thousands of students in CA, NY, NJ and TN. Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, B.B. King, Jason Newsted, Steve Vai, Brad Delson, Dave Mason, James Burton and Les Paul sit on our Honorary Board of Directors and we are supported by friends Tom Waits, Carlos Santana, Phish, Bob Weir and others. More information can be found at: www.littlekidsrock.org.

About GlobalGiving®
GlobalGiving.com is an online marketplace for global philanthropy that enables individuals, corporations, and other organizations to find and direct their funds to high impact, grassroots projects around the world. By aggregating many donors, GlobalGiving is creating a new source of funding for people with innovative solutions to challenging world issues. Since GlobalGiving launched in 2002, it has facilitated the flow of over $3.5 million to over 700 projects. GlobalGiving’s corporate partners include eBay, Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo, Gap, Inc., and The North Face, among others. Major funding partners include Omidyar Network, the Hewlett Foundation, the Skoll Foundation, USAID, and the Sall Family Foundation. Additional funding has been provided by the WK Kellogg Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and HP.

About Pandora Media™
Launched in Fall 2005, Pandora's online radio service (www.pandora.com) is based on the Music Genome Project, which began in 2000 and is the most thorough analysis of popular music ever undertaken. Each song in this massive collection, which covers Pop, Rock, Jazz, Electronica, Hip Hop, Country, Blues, R&B, and Latin, is analyzed by a trained musician along 400 distinct musical attributes (such as melody, harmony, rhythm, etc.) to capture its unique musical identity. Music lovers need only enter the name of their favorite song or artist and Pandora does the rest -- creating a tailored stream of songs that share key musical characteristics - launching a personalized listening experience, full of new discovery across the genome. Listeners can create up to 100 of these online radio stations, refine them by providing feedback and even email them to friends.

Media Contact:
Allison Neves, PR Director
Little Kids Rock
415-948-1200
allison@littlekidsrock.org

Joan Ochi, Marketing Communications Director
GlobalGiving
202-232-5784
jochi@globalgiving.com

Michele Husak, Director of Communications
Pandora Media
510-451-4100
mhusak@pandora.com