Rock the Vote and MySpace Announce DemROCKracy Band Competition
Rock the Vote and MySpace, the world’s most popular social network, today announced the launch of the DemROCKracy Band Competition. The competition invites bands with a MySpace page to encourage their fans to register to vote. The band that registers the most voters through Rock the Vote’s voter registration tool on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/rockthevote) will win prizes including Gibson guitars and the chance to perform on a major concert stage.
“Not only will the competition link MySpace’s thriving music division with an active and successful field effort but it will also offer small bands, a core constituency of MySpace, the chance to open up for top talent,” said Lee Brenner, Director of IMPACT and Executive Producer of Political Programming at MySpace. “This competition with Rock the Vote is furthering the democratization of music and the ability of bands to engage their fans through MySpace.”
The competition opens today and will close on Thursday, August 14 at 12:00 am ET. At that time, the top three bands that have registered the most new voters will be placed on http://www.myspace.com/rockthevote for fans to vote and choose the winner. Fans will be given 24 hours to cast their final vote before the competition ends on Friday, August 15 12:00 am ET.
The first 25 bands to register at least 150 people will be featured in a custom Rock the Vote playlist on participating TouchTunes digital jukeboxes at thousand of locations nationwide.
The grand prize winner will open at Rock the Vote’s Ballot Bash concert at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado on Monday, August 25 and will be featured on Rock the Vote’s homepage. In addition, the winner will receive a Gibson SG Standard guitar in Heritage Cherry and the matching SG Reissue bass guitar. The first two runners-up will each receive a Gibson SG Special guitar.
“Rock the Vote has a long history of fusing music and politics. We are thrilled to be working with MySpace and Gibson to build on the record political engagement of the Millennial generation through DemROCKracy,” said Heather Smith, Executive Director, Rock the Vote. “The country is finally noticing what Rock the Vote has known for years- there is a young voter movement building that is changing the political landscape of our country. Now young musicians can play their role in ensuring young people are the political force to be reckoned with in this election and beyond.”
The MySpace IMPACT Channel http://impact.myspace.com empowers MySpace users to make a difference in the world and allows politicians, non-profits, and civic organizations to connect with MySpace’s global audience. The IMPACT Channel houses the official MySpace profiles for the 2008 Presidential candidates, as well as tools to enable voter registration, fundraising, and volunteering. On January 1 and 2, 2008 the IMPACT Channel hosted the first MySpace Presidential Primary with more than 150,000 MySpace users voicing their choice for the nation’s highest office.
For more information on the competition visit: http://www.myspace.com/rockthevote.
About Rock the Vote
Rock the Vote is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that does not endorse candidates or political parties. Our mission is to engage and build the political power of young people in order to achieve progressive change in our country. Rock the Vote uses music, popular culture and new technologies to engage and incite young people to register and vote in every election. And we give young people the tools to identify, learn about, and take action on the issues that affect their lives, and leverage their power in the political process. Rock the Vote is creative, effective, and controlled by nobody’s agenda but our own – we tell it like it is and pride ourselves on being a trusted source for information on politics. We empower the 45 million young people in America who want to step up, claim their voice in the political process, and change the way politics is done. www.rockthevote.org.
About MySpace
MySpace, a unit of Fox Interactive Media Inc., is the premier lifestyle portal for connecting with friends, discovering popular culture, and making a positive impact on the world. MySpace has created a connected global community by integrating web profiles, blogs, instant messaging, e-mail, music streaming, music videos, photo galleries, classified listings, events, groups, college communities, and member forums. MySpace’s international network includes more than 20 localized community sites in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Latin America, Mexico, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia, India, Japan, and New Zealand. Fox Interactive Media is a division of News Corp. (NYSE:NWS – News, NWS.A – News; ASX:NWS – News, NWSLV – News).
(*) Among the top 2000 domains comScore Media Metrix, May 2008. For more information on comScore Networks, please go to http://www.comscore.com.
About Gibson
Gibson is known worldwide for producing classic models in every major style of fretted instrument, including acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins, and banjos. Gibson’s HD.6X-PRO Digital Guitar and the Gibson Robot Guitar represent the biggest advances in electric guitar design in over 70 years. Founded in 1894 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and headquartered in Nashville since 1984, Gibson Guitar Corp.’s family of brands now includes Epiphone, Dobro, Maestro, Kramer, Steinberger, Tobias, Echoplex, Electar, Flatiron, Valley Arts, Oberheim, Sunshine Piano, Take Anywhere Technology, Baldwin, J&C Fischer, Chickering, Hamilton, and Wurlitzer. Visit Gibson’s website at www.gibson.com or www.gibson.com/press.
About TouchTunes Corporation
TouchTunes Corporation is the largest out-of-home interactive entertainment network, providing innovative solutions to over 30,000 bars, restaurants, retailers and other businesses in North America – three times larger than the nearest competitor. TouchTunes introduced the world’s first digital-downloading, pay-per-play commercial jukebox in 1998 and now operates the largest network of interactive entertainment systems, playing about 1.5 million songs per day. TouchTunes maintains a digital music library covering more than two million licensed tracks from every major record label, plus independent music distributors and a host of independent labels. TouchTunes offers leading games and music solutions for independent and national restaurants, bars, and retailers.
A privately held U.S. corporation, TouchTunes Corporation’s principal offices are in New York City, Montreal, and Lake Zurich, IL.