As further proof that social media networks have replaced MTV in the minds of the nation’s youth, MySpace and Rock the Vote have launched an online voter registration drive that will award prizes to the bands who get the most fans to register to vote using a simple online form. The contest is called, somewhat painfully, "DemROCKracy."
Bands or blogs can embed the voting widget anywhere HTML is used, including on their MySpace pages. Here’s a widget I whipped up for Listening Post that you can use to register to vote quickly and efficiently, if you’ve been slacking on that front.
Remember: If you don’t vote, you can’t complain, and complaining is half (if not more) of the fun of politics.
This voter registration drive, which will hopefully spur more voting from the nation’s traditionally underrepresented youths, started at noon on Tuesday and runs until August 14. The first 25 bands that manage to get 150 of their fans registered to vote through the system will win a Rock the Vote playlist slot on co-sponsor TouchTunes’ nationwide network of jukeboxes.
The band that registers the most voters will get the opening slot at Rock The Vote’s "Ballot Bash" event, to be held at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado on August 25 and will be promoted on the front page of RockTheVote.com. The winner also gets a Gibson SG Standard guitar in Heritage Cherry finish, with a matching SG Reissue bass guitar. The second and third runners-up will each get the guitar, a $2419 value. Starting on August 14, MySpace users will decide which of the top three bands in the contest deserves to win.
"Not onlywill the competition link MySpace’s thriving music division with an active andsuccessful field effort but it will also offer small bands, a core constituencyof MySpace, the chance to open up for top talent," said executive producer of political programming at MySpace Lee Brenner . "Thiscompetition with Rock the Vote is furthering the democratization of music andthe ability of bands to engage their fans through MySpace."
Executive director of Rock the Vote Heather Smith added, "Rock the Vote hasa long history of fusing music and politics. We are thrilled to be working withMySpace and Gibson to build on the record political engagement of the millennial generation through DemROCKracy. The country is finally noticing what Rock the Votehas known for years- there is a young voter movement building that is changingthe political landscape of our country. Now young musicians can play their rolein ensuring young people are the political force to be reckoned with in thiselection and beyond."
