Music for America

Music for America was a political organization which used concert events and the social networks which surround bands and musical "scenes" as a way to promote progressive political values and participation among Millennial Generation Americans.

Foundation

Music for America was founded as a Political Action Committee (PAC) in February 2003 to support the nomination of Howard Dean as Democratic Candidate for President against George W. Bush in the 2004 election. The organization was started in February 2003 by Michael Connery, Dan Droller, and Franz Hartl. They were quickly joined by Kevin Collinsworth, Josh Koenig, Rachel Postman, Nica Lorber, Taya Mueller and Molly Neitzel, who comprised the organizations founding staff during the 2004 election cycle.

In October 2003, the organization re-formed as a 527 after securing major funding from the Rappaports. After the 2004 elections, the organization re-grouped as a 501c(4). In December 2007 the organization merged with the League of Young Voters and closed its doors due to a lack of funding.

Partisan background

In contrast to many other culturally-centered youth politics organizations (e.g. Rock the Vote), Music for America was founded and continues to run on the principle that partisanship is an essential element to true political participation, and that an organization which failed to assume the responsibility of having a point of view would fail to make headway in galvanizing a new generation of citizens.

The organization was formed in the aftermath of the February 15, 2003 anti-war protests, which proved ineffective in deterring George W. Bush from launching an invasion of Iraq, a decision the founders of Music for America opposed from the outset.^[1] With traditional activism falling on deaf ears, the founders decided to try utilizing electoral politics as a means for achieving their ends.

Theory of change

Music for America was the first in a series of organizations to offer a departure from the traditional, celebrity-oriented model of youth engagement. The organization made on the ground, peer-to-peer outreach, rather than PSAs, the centerpiece of its organizing strategy. To accomplish this, the organization partnered with musicians and focused its efforts on small concerts attended by 100 - 1000 fans.

At these events, volunteers from the local community (and the musician's fan base) would set up a table within a venue. From that table they would register voters and hand out information on current political issues. Volunteers were coordinated online using the Drupal open source content management system made popular that year through the campaign of Howard Dean. Music for America partnered with over 300 artists at over 2,400 such events during the 2004 election cycle, reaching over 2 million young voters traditionally ignored by political campaigns.

Quotes

"We love what Rock the Vote does, but they're not allowed to take a stand. It's difficult to tell people to go out and vote if you can't get them excited about a particular issue." ^[2]

"We came to the realization that physical protest is dead, and that we really wanted to communicate to young people in a way or a manner that worked for us and music was the medium, you know, the idea that there really is no difference between politics and culture. We wanted artists speaking about what's going on and how things can be changed and how people can participate, and that it's really not that hard for people to participate. It's basic steps like going to a show [and knowing the issues] and voting being the least that one can do." ^[3]

2004 Election cycle

Music for America organized several thousand individual concert events in the 2004 Presidential election cycle, leading both to increased turnout among Millennials, and also to increased partisan identification.^{[citation needed]} According to exit polling, in swing states where Music for America (and other organizations) were most active, voters under the age of 30 preferred Democratic candidate John Kerry to Republican incumbent George W. Bush by a 3-to-2 margin.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ M for A web site
2. ^ Franz Hartl, Music For America co-founder and an ex-Metallica roadie
3. ^ Kevin Collinsworth, National Event Coordinator