Phish has announced that as of January 1, 2004, the band will donate their net proceeds from the service to The Mockingbird Foundation, a non-profit organization founded and run by Phish fans that supports music education for children.

Trey Anastasio said of the announcement: “Playing live music has always been a source of indescribable joy for me, and everyday I count my blessings that I’m able to make my living doing something that I so deeply love. It’s exciting then to think that a person can come to a Phish concert, and know that all the profits from the subsequent downloads of our music will go directly into children’s music programs. The fact that The Mockingbird Foundation was created by Phish fans makes it all the more inspirational to us.”

Many of you are likely familiar with The Mockingbird Foundation. For those who aren’t, the Foundation is run entirely by a volunteer staff and with almost no overhead, has made nearly $200,000 in grants since its inception in 1997. Grants to date have come from proceeds from various projects, including “The Phish Companion”, a comprehensive and authoritative reference guide to the band and their music, and “Sharin’ In The Groove,” a two-disc album of Phish covers by notable artists such as Dave Matthews and Jimmy Buffett, among others. A second edition of the book will be released in the spring.

Recipients of these grants have included schools, community centers, workshops, camps, and scholarship programs from Maine to California, from Appalachia to the Southwest, and from Kentucky to Kosovo. Their funding guidelines define music education for children broadly and somewhat unconventionally, and have enabled the Foundation’s efforts to go beyond schools to hospitals, shelters and foster homes. Proceeds from LivePhish.com’s revenues are expected to dramatically increase the number of organizations that the Mockingbird Foundation is able to fund.

For information on The Mockingbird Foundation, including donation guidelines and lists of past grant recipients, please visit http://mbird.org