Los Lobos Joins Music For Democracys Be the Change Get Out the Vote Initiative
Los Lobos announces its participation in Music for Democracys get out the vote (GOTV) initiative, Be the Change. Music for Democracy, an organization dedicated to bridging the gap between musicians and politicians, is proud to have Los Lobos amongst the ranks of other great Artists participating in this innovative project.
Be the Change is a groundbreaking multi-tiered youth vote campaign providing a direct role for artists who support Obama to increase voter turnout. Through pre-recorded messages, musicians will alert their fans to vote on Election Day. Artists may also choose to send follow-up messages to their fans detailing their personal reasons for supporting Sen. Obama in the days leading up to the election. These unique messages give musicians an opportunity to personally reach out to their fans and start a bi-directional conversation with their fans about issues and politics.
This election is THE pivotal moment of our time. says saxophonist Steve Berlin. We can move forward and try to correct the heinous imbalance of the past eight years, or continue the policies that have brought near ruin to the planet, destroyed our financial well being, conflated the rule of law and damaged our standing in the world community. We urge our fans and all of those who care to get out and vote (early if at all possible!) for Barack Obama and drag someone with you when you go.
By leveraging the power of online music communities, Music for Democracy is engaging segments of the youth vote that are overlooked by traditional campaign operations. This extends beyond the college campuses where the majority of the young voter outreach is taking place. Only about 20% of the youth vote (18-29) lives on a college campus. Although 2008 has been called the “Year of the Young Voter,” funding for youth vote groups is only a quarter of what it was in 2004. Be the Change reaches out to the non-college youth voter where they are most likely to be found, online and on their cell phones.
Central to this GOTV outreach is the Be the Change widget, a simple, portable application that can be embedded on nearly any website. The widget allows a user to sign up for calls, emails and other outreach from participating artists on Social Networking Sites (SNS) like Myspace and Facebook. An estimated 18.6 million social networking accounts are held by 18 to 24 year olds; and forty-two percent of people ages 18 to 29 use the internet to learn about politics, making the social networking websites (SNS) an ideal vehicle for targeting the youth vote.
Los Lobos is a fantastic addition to the Be the Change Project, said Bear Kittay, National Director of Music for Democracy. This project is using new technologies to break down the barriers between politically engaged musicians and their fans, and with such an extensive online community, Los Lobos can help us target those untapped voters, and make a quantifiable impact on Election Day.
Be the Change provides a direct role for Obama-supporting musicians in GOTV efforts. Through the site, artists send telephone messages to their fans detailing their personal reasons for supporting Barack Obama. Fans can reply and discuss the election — all over the phone. These unique messages give musicians an opportunity to personally reach out to their fans, create a meaningful endorsement, and normalize the discussion of politics.
The final component of the GOTV project is the Be the Change Rockstar Contest. In this contest, fans are given the power to recruit friends and family to earn points. “Rockstar” fans who are the most motivated win a live phone call from their favorite artist on Election Day. The contest will expand MFDs ability to target and engage young voters by capturing the contact and demographic information of everyone that participates through this peer-to-peer outreach.