Digital

Björk launches Kickstarter campaign to extend app availability

By Andy Malt | Published on Wednesday 30 January 2013

Björk has launched a campaign on fan-funding site Kickstarter in a bid to make the apps that featured in the iPad version of her 2011 album ‘Biophilia’ available on more platforms.

When the multimedia version of her last album was originally launched in 2011, the singer came in for some criticism for only making the apps available via Apple’s iOS operating system. However, she said at the time that because the software was open source she expected hackers to find a way to make them available on other systems (presumably because, while that’s not legal, the budget wasn’t there for her to do it herself).

However, that never happened and since then Björk has been promoting the apps as educational tools to teach children about music and science, and says that she now wants to extend that not-for-profit project by making the applications available on more devices. Via the Kickstarter campaign, Bjork hopes to launch Android and Windows 8 compatible versions, and also apps for use on Mac computers.

Says the lady herself: “The Biophilia Educational Programme is a new way to teach children about science and music. It has met with success in many cities, sparking interest from kids and educators from all over the world, from South America to East Asia to Africa. The most interest has come from students from low-income households and schools with underfunded art budgets, and the only way to bring the project to those people is to have Biophilia reprogrammed for Android and Windows 8. The Biophilia educational project is strictly non-profit and volunteer-based, and that’s why we need your help”.

Aside from the warm glow of supporting a not-for-profit educational initiative, Björk is offering those who support her scheme via Kickstarter early access to the Android apps, t-shirts and DVDs and, for those who donate more than £800, VIP tickets to forthcoming ‘Biophilia’ live shows.