THE world’s first digital canvas for music promotion, Million Dollar Music Box, has been launched with the hopes to raise a life-changing amount of money for a chronically ill lady from Bude.

Jimmi Sandham, 24, launched MDMB with the aim of raising money to help his mother, who lives in Bude, who has suffered from severe Myalgic Encephalopathy (ME) for many years.

Rather than asking for donations, Jimmi wanted to find a way people could help without parting with their money, whilst also raising a sum large enough to change his mother’s life forever.

Whilst completing his final undergraduate year at Cardiff University, as well as caring for his mother when he could, Jimmi came up with the idea, needing something substantial, feasible and fast.

Taking inspiration from the way Alex Tew earned one million dollars in a matter of months with his Million Dollar Homepage in 2005, Jimmi wanted to find a way to improve on the idea by making it relevant to today’s digital world and popular culture.

Musicians, music festivals, record labels and promoters are invited to feature images linking to their music on the world’s first digital canvas for music promotion, seen at www.milliondollarmusicbox.com

The canvas will feature thousands of links to music from around the world, and music lovers can find new music simply by clicking on the images.

So far several artists have signed up to MDMB. To be successful, MDMB needs thousands of artists on board. This is likely to happen if it can get a large enough online following.

Jimmi said: “I don’t actually expect to earn a million dollars, but it is an amount that will get people talking. If people talk about this enough, if they get behind the project and share it online as much as possible, it will definitely be a success.”

Every penny of the profits will be used to help Jimmi’s mother, as well as raising awareness about ME and encouraging further research into the condition, having no definitive cure yet.

A person suffering from ME will find every day to be a struggle, with debilitating physical and cognitive symptoms, which can vary from day to day, making the condition difficult to manage.

Those with severe cases, like Jimmi’s mother, are forced to spend most of their time in bed because any mental or physical exertion will make their condition worse.

Jimmi’s aim is to use the profits to employ an experienced ME carer for his mum, to ensure she can afford regular appointments with specialist doctors, to enable her to better follow the healthy diet advised by health professionals, and to also give her the chance to undergo other costly treatments she cannot currently consider.