June 09, 2008

By By Lars Brandle, London

The Independents Day auction, mooted as the largest-ever sale of music memorabilia and experiences, has gone live on eBay.

Items up for sale include a test pressing of the Arctic Monkeys sophomore album "Favourite Worst Nightmare," signed merchandise from Radiohead and Franz Ferdinand, tickets to the South by Southwest and Midem industry conferences, and the chance to play guitar on stage with the Cult. New items will be every 10 days until July 6.

The auction is one of the central cogs to the inaugural weekend-long Independents Day 08 campaign, unveiled at Midem in January. Other key components of the project include TV projects and a one-off compilation album featuring independent-label signed artists.

Money raised from the project will be trickled-down into the independent community, explains WIN president and AIM chair Alison Wenham, one of the driving forces behind the project.

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