Justin Bieber is 1st artist on Universal Music to have some of his album sales benefit charity

NEW YORK Justin Bieber is in the holiday spirit: The singer is the first artist on the Universal Music roster to have part of his album sales benefit a charity.

Sales from Under the Mistletoe, his Christmas album that is out on Nov. 1, will go to various charities, including Pencils of Promise and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Universal never actually allowed money from the album to go to charity, so its kind of a unique thing and Im very happy and proud of what weve done, the 17-year-old said in an interview from Lima, Peru on Monday.

Bieber said he isnt sure how much of the sales will go to charity, but thanks his team for helping him achieve his goal of wanting help others during the holiday season.

I tell them basically what I want and they kind of go and help me get it done, said Bieber, who will also donate money to various food banks.

Under the Mistletoe features collaborations with Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, among others. He said he wanted to work with people who had great experiences with Christmas albums.

They were all great people and fun to be around, said the Canadian-born entertainer, who appears on a super festive version of Careys classic song All I Want for Christmas.

Chris Brown co-wrote and co-produced the song Christmas Eve, which Bieber says all the ladies will like. And there are also tunes featuring Usher and country trio the Band Perry.

Theyve been really successful and great in the country world, so I wanted to get them on my Christmas album and cross some barriers and try to get some different audience members to listen to my music, he said.

Bieber, who also raps on the Busta Rhymes-assisted Drummer Boy, said he enjoys performing different styles of music.

I guess I can be pretty versatile being able to do country music and put out a record of me rapping on the Internet, he said. I just think that with the Internet, not a lot of artists can be taken seriously if they try to change lanes and so I ma! de it ki nd of apparent at first that I love to do everything and people kind of take me seriously when I switch over, so Im really lucky to be able to have that.

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Online:

http://www.justinbiebermusic.com/