Music

Organized by the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, HeadCount and the NRDC Action Fund, the Best of Bonnaroo collaboration marks the first time free music has been used to prompt Americans to contact their elected officials.

The Best of Bonnaroo compilation of 17 different live performances from the festival is available for free at www.Musicforaction.org. Before downloading the music, visitors are asked to email their Senators, the President, or their local newspapers about climate change.

"This generation has an opportunity to be remembered as one that confronted environmental challenges and took responsibility for the future,” said Jack Johnson, whose song “Inaudible Melodies” can be heard on the compilation. “With that opportunity comes the responsibility to speak out."

America is closer than ever to passing its first federal climate change-related legislation, but many hurdles remain. The House of Representatives approved an energy bill last June that would reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases and encourage the development of green jobs. President Barack Obama then told world leaders that the U.S. will reduce carbon emissions by 17 percent over the next 10 years (compared to 2005 levels). However, there has been little movement in the Senate, leaving one crucial step incomplete. Literally the whole planet is waiting to see what the U.S. will decide, as India and China are not likely to act without the U.S. doing the same.

With climate change legislation now at a critical juncture, several organizations teamed up to use the gift of music to inspire citizens into action. HeadCount – a nonpartisan civic engagement organization best known for registering voters at concerts – conceived the idea as a way to point new voters toward being informed and active citizens. The NRDC Action Fund – an advocacy group committed to passing legislation that jump-starts the clean energy economy and reduces pollution – stepped in with resources, research, strategic guidance and a base of 250,000 supporters.

“The musicians we work with are very passionate about this topic and have great power to drive change,” said HeadCount’s Executive Director Andy Bernstein. “Their music will serve as a soundtrack for action.”

“Forging a clean energy future means healthier kids, a safer world, and more jobs,” said Heather Taylor-Miesle, director of the NRDC Action Fund. “This is our moment to demand that Congress put us on the path to a clean energy future by beginning to address climate change. We are excited about the opportunity to work with musicians and new activists throughout the country to make it happen.”

Here is the full track list for the Best of Bonnaroo download compilation:

Wilco - Bull Black Nova
Pearl Jam - Animal
Jack Johnson - Inaudible Melodies
Dave Mathews Band - Rapunzel
Death Cab for Cutie - Cath...
Ani DiFranco - Fuel
Phish - Kill Devil Falls
Gov't Mule - Banks of the Deep End
O.A.R. - Delicate Few
moe. - Not Coming Down
Raphael Saadiq -100 Yard Dash
Bob Weir & RatDog - Throwing Stones
The Disco Biscuits - And The Ladies Were the Rest of the Night
The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid
My Morning Jacket - Oh! Sweet Nuthin’
Guster - Happier
Phil Lesh and Friends - Box of Rain

Visit Musicforaction.org to take action for climate change and download the free compilation!

HeadCount hosted a poll on health insurance last fall, asking users whether they had insurance, and if so, who provided it. Now, they are planning to launch a new poll every few weeks. Their first is "Solutions on Climate Change".

What's the best way to fight climate change?

• Strict limits and regulations
• Personal responsibility
• Taxing carbon and greenhouse gas emissions
• Climate change is a bunch of hooey!
• Other

Go vote, and afterwards, add a comment about why you voted the way you did.

HeadCount is also partnering (one of nine non-profits participating) with Reverb's new Green Music Group. HeadCount, along with various venues, labels, artists, and groups, will be working together to make the music industry greener.

Reverb, a non-profit organization involved in the industry and in climate change movements, founded the project and the launch event was held late last month. GMG is meant to be large-scale and widespread - which explains the great number of artists signed on, and their diversity. Their website lists four essential goals:

1. Creating an engaging online community of musicians, music industry leaders, and music fans all committed to addressing our greatest environmental concerns.

2. Facilitating large-scale greening of the music community through touring, venue, and label standards, resource development, green grants mentoring, and viral video and public service campaigns.

3. Providing environmental nonprofits with a megaphone for their cause, allowing them to expand their reach and support base.

4. Creating a sustainable green music guild to support and inform the efforts of the music community and position leaders in the music industry as voices for change, working to shine a light on the most pressing environmental issues of our time.

Seems like good stuff to me. Other groups, venues, artists, and labels involved include:

Warner Music Group
Brushfire Records
American Airlines Arena
Verizon Wireless Center
Comcast Center
Barenaked Ladies
Linkin Park
The Roots
Guster
and more!

GMG also has partnerships with DoSomething.org, The Sierra Club, and other groups. Overall, it looks like they've drawn in some big enough names to actually make some waves and get something done in the industry. We'll keep an eye on them to see what develops.

Iranian-British recording artist Mams Taylor collaborated with some of Iran's most well-known entertainers in producing and writing "United for Neda," a song advocating for political freedom in the country.

One of the most notable aspects of the video (below) is the filming method (or lack thereof). The video was shot only on cell phones, an important development given the tribute to Iranian protestors and the fact that nothing like it has ever been done before, especially with the notoriety of the artists participating.

Taylor sang on the track with artists named Dariush, Sattar and Morteza, who are the most famous/iconic singers in Iran’s history. Others appearing in the video included Iranian super stars Shila Vosough (Actress), Shoreh Aghdashloo (Oscar nominated actress from House of Sand and Fog), Kamy R (Singer from Black Cats – most popular singing group in Iran), Sussan Deyhim (Singer), Parviz Sayyad (Actor/Poet), Kamyar and Payam Jaffari (Rappers).

The video itself has gotten lots of play, specifically on CNN and Rock the Vote.com.

Proceeds from both the song and the video will benefit those Iranians fighting for freedom, so go check it out.

In a culture that has made hope a buzzword for potential and progress, the unfortunate reality is that the "hope" department is always the first to be cut from our public schools. Today education is being reduced to filling in bubbles, where every child is left behind, and there is too little time that can be allocated to the troubled teens even when they're the most gifted. Even President Obama has remarked that its disappointing that arts programs are being cut in the face of No Child Left Behind.

Despite the downward spiral, there remain some very few old-school teachers who push through the crowded halls, overcome the kids with drug problems, and go the extra mile for their students.

I was privileged to attend an event with one of those unique individuals, in one of those one-in-a-million departments where everyone, students, parents, a teacher, indeed the entire community has rallied around one of the few arts programs in the state of Oklahoma garnering real results with students.

The Yukon High School Drama Department under the direction of instructor Rhonda Hartwig, wasn't always where it is today. Students met in a large metal building that even the school instructed them to leave in the event of inclement weather. But even that large room was a step up from previous digs. Today, the department has developed into a true anomaly. With classes in one room and a satellite Blackbox Theatre attached, students can perform for small crowds as often as they would like. It comes in handy with the now rarely available thousand person auditorium stage that the students may use only once a year.

While many proclaim the arts to be a waste of time and energy demanding more testing, math, and science this group doesn't consider Drama to be just about training actors. On the back of a program for a recent performance of The Outsiders appears an autographs section, but the bottom reads

"Never forget, Drama is the bridge that connects every art from. Creative writing, visual art, music, use of voice, dance as stage movement - every art form is reflected on the stage and in the theatre. Participate in life. If you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem."

Out of 25 years the department has graduated students that work in entertainment in New York and Los Angeles but also youth that have gone on to be some of the greatest public speakers of their class seeing jobs in politics, law, ministry, broadcasting and journalism, media development, marketing, and more with the common thread that the students gained confidence, leadership, and public speaking skills from hours clocked on stage and in class.

"...The surprising talent withint he walls of Yukon High School is crafted and polished to a high standard of Thespian excellence," says Justin Benefiel now studying at the New York Film School.

"I credit her long-term support as part of why I am successful on Broadway as the Operations Manager of Disney Theatrical Merchandise," says Shawn Baker of Disney.

"Ms. Hartwig was the person that taught me about the show and the business. Today I'm working as a professional entertainer, and I still work with the same resume model she tought how to do. Most of the tools I use today, I have learned with Ms. Hartwig when I was 17," says Marlene Schaff.

While the success in the arts is a great element of the program its the people like actress Wendi Maher who graduated in 2002 that have harnessed the practical skills

"When I was introduced to Ms. Hartwig and the drama program in the fall of 1998, I was a timid, self-conscious 14 year old who, like many teenagers, lacked any idea of the direction they hoped to go with their life. During the four years I had the privilege of being part of Yukon Drama, I began my development into the strong, confident, young woman I am today."

Scott Murry Founder of Infinite Savvy a company that bridges the gap between real estate and technology agrees

"Beyond public speaking skills and self esteem, one of the most important things I learned is that everyone has something beneficial to offer to the situation at hand. Ms. Hartwig had an uncanny ability to make every student feel welcome, needed, and proud to be part of a team who worked together for a common goal.

As a business owner I strive to apply that concept every day. its my job to identify the skill set of each employee and properly assign tasks accordingly to their strengths while challenging their weaknesses to promote growth. That is the type of necessary life skill you can't learn from a book . . ."

A recent piece in Education Magazine advocates for Drama Programs by citing a UCLA study that proves children in the arts tend to test better:

"While many parents fear participation in drama will damage their child’s academic progress, a UCLA study concluded that students involved in the arts tend to have higher academic performance and better standardized test scores -- nearly 100 points better on the SAT, according to a separate study by The College Board.

Academic gains aren’t the only benefits. There are the obvious ones: improved self-confidence, better public speaking skills, but [instructive Gari] Jones says students show other gains as well, such as the “ability to work with an ensemble in cooperative ventures" and the "ability to work through consensus and differences or obstacles to achieve a goal.” She points out that a play requires students to follow a time line, to use self-discipline, and to accept feedback. Studying theater can be a great starting point for careers such as teaching, law, and politics, not to mention broadcasting and performing. And the ability to speak confidently in front of a group is a boon for any career."

On a warm spring day not too far from Graduation, students were greeted by several great treats. First, former students who had just graduated from the American Music and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles returned to perform and speak to students about successes and attainable goals. Second, internationally known artist Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips was to also speaking to students about their potential and achieving their dreams. The Flaming Lips were recently awarded as the State Rock Song for the state of Oklahoma for their tune Do You Realize. Oklahoman's voted online to choose

Part 1

Part 2

Wayne Coyne Part 3

Wayne Coyne Part 4

Wayne Coyne Part 5

Wayne Coyne Part 6

Please Recommend on Kos

Air Traffic Control, a group that monitors music and politics, and helps artists find ways to become politically engaged, recently released a survey of how music and politics collided in the 2008 election. Here's a quick snapshot of their findings (pdf), taken over a 12 month period leading up to the election:

• Total Activities Documented: 1,895
• Participating Artists: 1091+
• Participating Organizations: 72
• Swing State Activities: 532 (CO, FL, MI, MN, MO, NV, NH, OH, VA, PA)
• Songs Written For Candidates: 62

As in 2004, one organization did the vast majority of the organizing within the music industry. ATC notes that in 2004 that organization was Music for America. In 2008, that organization was HeadCount, which accounted for 82% of all music related activities during the 2008 election cycle. Rock the Vote came in a distant second with 7% of all activities, and no other organization accounted for more than 2% of all other music and politics events.

Other observations:

• As in 2004, approximately 1/3 of all events were held in swing states, and the majority of events occurred in September and October, the final two months of the election cycle.
• Many of the organizations (Punk Voter, Music for America, Bands Against Bush, Concerts for Kerry/Change) that worked in this field in 2004 had disappeared by 2008.
• Unlike 2004, there were far fewer events held in 2008 (well over 1,000 fewer).
• Despite the fewer number of events, there was a far greater number of unique artists participating in events, but in many instances they participated in new ways (meaning other than by allowing an organization to table at one of their concerts).
• One very cool difference between 2004 and 2008: most concerts organized in swing states were put together by local organizations utilizing local bands. As a huge proponent of local, peer to peer organizing, I see this as welcome news indicative of the further potential for young people organizing themselves in politically powerful states.

The report offers a few potential explanations for these differences:

These changes may be the result of a number of different factors including: artists and organizations focusing their efforts online instead of at concerts, fewer effective nonpartisan or partisan organizations working directly with the music community, fewer organizations going on a full length tour with artists but focusing their resources on local shows or festivals, lack of reporting back by the organizations, engaged artists turning to the campaigns directly to offer their support and/or more self-produced events and locally organized activities using local artists.

Based on my observations, I would agree that most of these played at least some part in the different role that musicians played in 2008. Far fewer of the organizations listed above had any capacity for field operations - HeadCount being the notable exception - than did organizations like MFA, Concerts for Change and Punk Voter in 2004. And while those now defunct organizations certainly used the web to organize in 2004 (via online volunteer/event coordination), alternative forms of engagement via social networks, YouTube, Eventful, and other platforms just weren't an option four years ago.

What I would also add to the mix is that a number of organizations likely made a conscious choice to focus on large-scale events or paid/earned media that cashed in on celebrity culture rather than make a determined effort to organize in the field via a concert-based model. What I would love to see is a dollar for dollar analysis on which model is more effective. For instance, Rock the Vote raise and spent $X million dollars this year and registered X number of voters. HeadCount raised $X hundred thousand dollars and registered X number of voters.

While such an analysis would be the easiest basis for comparison, it would hardly be comprehensive. There are a wide range of other measures - both qualitative and quantitative - that any side by side analysis would also need to take into account. Here are other questions I would love to see answered:

• How "real" (as in, can they be moved to action) are names on lists built via celebrity media and stadium events (Rock the Vote) vs. those built via a peer to peer field model (Head Count)?
• Is there a saturation point at which it becomes less effective to pump organizational dollars into paid/earned media via celebrity events, and after which dollars would be more effectively spent on field operations?
• How scalable is HeadCount's field-based model?

The Air Traffic Control report offers one final qualitative difference between music activism in the 2004 election cycle and that in the 2008 cycle. They sum it up quite succinctly with this quote:

However, the most inspiring change we noticed was not in the volume of support but in the content of that support. We often explain the shift in artist activism around this election as the difference between dedicating a song to Kerry in 2004, and writing a song about Obama in 2008.

As I've written in the past, getting artists to become politically engaged in 2004 was like pulling teeth. It speaks volumes for how far the industry and culture has come that in 2008 the Democratic candidate literally become a pop culture and music phenomenon. While there's still a lot of work to be done (pdf) to make artists and activists work together more effectively, kudos to everyone for all their work - in 2004 and 2008 - getting us this far.

I just picked up the new John Legend album, and somehow I had not heard of this song until now. Excellent message (much better than the Gen X take on youth activism done by John Mayer). I thought I'd share.

The YouTube clip above is his performance of the song with the Agape Choir at the DNC this summer.

Here are the lyrics:

If you hear this message, wherever you stand
I'm calling every woman, calling every man
We're the generation
We can't afford to wait
The future started yesterday and we're already late

If you hear this message, wherever you stand
I'm calling every woman, calling every man
We're the generation
We can't afford to wait
The future started yesterday and we're already late

To quick things you should know about. Anyone out there who attempts to use culture - particularly music communities - to engage voters should read this new report on best practices released by Air Traffic Control, a group that helps artists become involved in politics and social justice activism:

Better Practices: Engaging Concertgoers in Social Action (doc)

As great as these experiences were, I came to question how we can engage concertgoers better and whether it is worth it at all. Gathering staff, materials and volunteers to table can be a huge drain on an organization. So, what do these activities create? How do they turn new audiences into activists? And, while we’re at it, where did the idea of organizations and causes being at concerts come from in the first place?

The advice, practices and “inspired thought” we gathered from almost a dozen of the best and brightest doing this work doesn’t answer all of these questions, but it shows us how we can begin to do it better. It also reminds us of the potential: what we might gain access to if we learn to engage concertgoers better.

The following report breaks down ATC’s learning from interviews that were conducted with experienced professionals from the field of concert engagement. Clear themes emerged that we will explore in-depth. Each focus area can still be studied in greater detail and this will give more insight into how to live up to the potential of engaged concertgoers. We leave that for academics and students looking to study topics of practical and immediate use.
Themes

• Artist & Organizations
• Volunteers & Staffing
• Nature of Engaging People
• Artists’ Shout-outs
• Engagement sequences and follow-up
• Recommendations
• Tools

Good stuff worth checking out if you are in the field of cultural organizing.

Also of interest today in the field of cultural organizing is the launch of the Ultimate College Bowl competition:

Ultimate College Bowl

This is the third or fourth such program attempting to register young people this year that turns the celebrity engagement model on its head to incentivize voter registration.

Following the successes and failures of these projects will be, I think, one of the more interesting case studies coming out of this election. If they are successful, then I think we'll have cracked the nut on a whole new way to more successfully engage celebrities in the political process.

So, I'm finally settled back in. Here's the rest of those Quick Hits I didn't get to while at the Austin airport, as well as a few more that have accumulated since.

• The Austin Statesman picked up our little youth caucus, but seemed to miss the point. The caucus was an informal meeting, not a strategy session to construct a master youth plan. And the focus of the discussion - to what extent our youth movement needed to be about GOTV and infrastructure for organizing our peers, or building an ideological consensus - was barely touched on in his piece.
• In this piece by The Washington Post, 29 year old Republican tech strategist David All confirms the complete disconnect between the GOP and Millennials. My favorite line:
  

  David All points to a page on McCain's Web site as more old-fogy branding:

• PEW reports that young voters in this election are at least - if not more - knowledgeable about the candidates' position on Iraq.
• Anderson Cooper's ac360 blog profiles HeadCount and their latest work at the Camp Bisco festival.
• The Virginia Pilot reports that young Viginians (under 25) are registering at twice the rate of their elders. Registration has increased 10% in the last year.
• Rumors abound that Barack Obama is going to show up as a surprise guest at this year's Lollapalooza, which takes place in his hometown of Chicago.
• Young People For just announced the new class of their Front Line Leaders Academy.
• Nine Latino organizations are teaming up to spend $5 million on a nonpartisan voter registration effort targeting 2 million Latinos.
• Finally, Rock the Vote is teaming up with Comcast in its effort to register 2 million new voters this election cycle. I'm not a fan of this partnership. Last year, Comcast was caught blocking internet traffic from peer to peer networks. They are on the wrong side of the Net Neutrality debate.

Lots of stuff about McCain and Obama, but also a few movement-oriented pieces as well. Enjoy.

• Barack Obama authored an op-ed in today's New York Times in which he lays out his Iraq strategy. Here's my favorite part:

  As president, I would pursue a new strategy, and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan. We need more troops, more helicopters, better intelligence-gathering and more nonmilitary assistance to accomplish the mission there. I would not hold our military, our resources and our foreign policy hostage to a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq.

  In this campaign, there are honest differences over Iraq, and we should discuss them with the thoroughness they deserve. Unlike Senator McCain, I would make it absolutely clear that we seek no presence in Iraq similar to our permanent bases in South Korea, and would redeploy our troops out of Iraq and focus on the broader security challenges that we face. But for far too long, those responsible for the greatest strategic blunder in the recent history of American foreign policy have ignored useful debate in favor of making false charges about flip-flops and surrender.

• This weekend, the New York Times did a hit-piece on Obama, looking to drive a wedge between him and his youthful supporters in the media narrative. Tim Fernholz has the proper response over at Tapped. Also at the Prospect, Courtney Martin has a slightly different take on Obama's "tacking to the center."
• David Frum is the latest conservative to try to make hay about young voters supposed-support of privatized accounts for Social Security.
• The LA Times profiles Joel Flatow. If you want to bring big-name musicians into politics, apparently he's the go-to guy. Only problem, he's also one of the dudes behind the RIAA's awesome strategy of suing its fans. This sucks, big time, and it's why groups like MFA losing their funding sucks even worse. I want musicians involved in politics to support smart copyright reform, not be reactionaries advocating on behalf of a dying business model. As such, getting rid of people like Flatow and delinking the two seems pretty important.
• Rock the Vote says that 3,100 bands signed up for their DemROCKracy contest. If each band registered only 25 fans, that would be 77,500 registrations. Bad ass.
• The Hip Hop Caucus Blog has a great look at the Jesse Jackson/Obama scandal framed as a generational issue within the black community and civil rights movement.
• Finally, John McCain calls college students "spoiled children. Awesome. Here's what I say to that:

Raising money for youth organizing - even straight voter registration - can be tough. So kudos to HeadCount or an innovative fundraising strategy that draws on their greatest strenghts: artist relationships. And kudos to all the artists for stepping up like this to support a kindred organization that does good work.

From a press release issued by Head Count (emphasis mine):

More than a dozen artists and promoters are backing HeadCount by agreeing to donate 50 cents from the sale of each ticket at participating concerts to support the nonpartisan, nonprofit organization’s voter registration campaign. These concerts, which include six national festivals as well as events at the world famous Red Rocks Amphitheater, have all been branded with the banner of “Cents For Sense.” This integrated fundraising and message initiative is expected to raise close to $75,000 and help HeadCount (www.HeadCount.org) achieve its goal of registering 100,000 voters before November’s election.

The festival lineup consists of Summer Camp, Mountain Jam, High Sierra, All Good Music Festival, Camp Bisco, and Gathering of the Vibes. Labor Day weekend concerts by The Allman Brothers Band and Bob Weir & RatDog (August 30th) and Gov’t Mule and Umphrey’s McGee (August 31st) are also participants in the Cents for Sense campaign.

“We set out to find a way that bands and promoters can support the cause and put a real voter participation message behind their concerts,” said Marc Brownstein, HeadCount’s co-chair and the bass player for the popular electronic rock band The Disco Biscuits. “We’re really touched by the outpouring of support.”