Bayer celebrates its 150 Years Anniversary with global song project

150 Years of Bayer: pop song for a good cause

Employee teams from various countries record “A Better Life”

Leverkusen, 19-6-2013 — /europawire.eu/ — As part of the activities to celebrate the foundation of Bayer 150 years ago, employees from 50 countries have recorded the song entitled “A Better Life.” This has been so positively received that it is now to be marketed externally – in keeping with the company’s mission of “Bayer – Science For A Better Life” because all proceeds will go to the UN program “Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.”

The Anniversary Song Project

Internationally renowned music producer Hans Steingen composed the song especially for Bayer’s 150th anniversary. The company’s employees were asked to submit their interpretations of the song. They were able to download the music and lyrics, then record their own versions. The music videos they produced – around 200 were submitted from 50 countries – were uploaded to a dedicated website and judged by both colleagues and an expert jury. The ten winning teams come from Australia, Barbados, China, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Serbia, South Korea and the United States. In the coming weeks, they will be working with Hans Steingen at his studio in Düsseldorf, Germany, to produce a professional recording of the song.

Bayer’s amateur musicians will also have the opportunity to make an appearance that many professionals would envy. They will take to the stage in front of 30,000 people at the “We Are Bayer” party for employees in the BayArena soccer stadium in Leverkusen on June 29.

Download “A Better Life”

To raise funds for the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, Bayer is making “A Better Life” available for purchase worldwide on all well-known music download platforms. All proceeds from online sales (after deduction of broadcasting and royalty fees) will benefit the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, an initiative led by the United Nations Foundation.

The different versions of the song available from online platforms such as iTunes, musicload and Amazon, reflect the diversity of the employees’ interpretations. In addition to a radio version of “A Better Life,” there are also Downtown, Garage, Electro and Classic versions. The digital release date is June 18, 2013.

The project

The proceeds from the sale of the song will benefit the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. Initiated in 2012, this international not-for-profit program aims to provide clean and efficient cooking facilities to more than 100 million households by 2020. The goal is to improve the lives of people in need worldwide. Some 40 percent of the global population – around 2.7 billion people – use wood and animal dung as fuel for cooking and heating. Efficient household stoves reduce the consumption of firewood by 40 to 60 percent and emit much less smoke. One stove cuts annual carbon dioxide emissions by around one ton. Use of the stoves also eliminates the emission of harmful smoke that has additional negative health impacts in enclosed spaces. (http://www.cleancookstoves.org).

Important background information:
“A Better Life” is sung by the ten winners performing together as the Anniversary Song Project. The song is being released by the band and not by Bayer.

Front cover of the anniversary song A better life

Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.