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Members of The Lumineers, Dropkick Murphys, American Authors, Rise Against and Plain White T’s are among the artists taking part in a new Public Service Announcement encouraging people to get ready to vote.
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The #KnowBeforeYouGo campaign is a partnership between talent agency Wasserman and non-partisan, non-profit voter information and registration organization HeadCount.
Other Wasserman music clients taking part in the PSA, which debuts below, include Lisa Loeb, Vincint, A-Trak, Bartees Strange and Ambar Lucid. Additionally, Wasserman sports clients featured in video are Julie Foudy, Jason Collins, Sierra Quitiquit, Weston McKennie, Hilary Knight, Alexander Mattison, Chris Mosier and Lela Rochon.
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The 75-second PSA will air on HeadCount’s YouTube channel, as well as Wasserman and HeadCount’s social media channels and was produced by Wasserman’s creative agency, Laundry Service. In it, the artists and athletes remind voters to check their registration, as well as their options for early voting and vote-by-mail, as well as in person on Nov. 5.
“The #KnowBeforeYouGo campaign brings together iconic figures in music and sports to encourage people to exercise their most precious democratic right: voting,” said Lucille Wenegieme, executive director of HeadCount, in a statement to Billboard. “Through the PSA, we aim to equip voters with the information they need to show up confidently at the polls, helping to create a culture where civic participation is celebrated and valued. Together, Wasserman and HeadCount are inspiring a new generation to make their voices heard every election cycle.”
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Denise Melanson, Wasserman’s vp of social impact, added, “Wasserman and our clients have been working with HeadCount for years through various campaigns and initiatives. When it came time us to establish our own campaign, HeadCount was the obvious choice as a partner. Their passion for civic engagement while harnessing the power of popular culture is synonymous with Wasserman’s mission”
HeadCount has registered more 350,000 people so far during the 2024 election cycle at over 3,000 events and through partnerships with over 100 music artists. For more information, voters can visit headcount.org/wasserman.
Taylor Swift is giving a significant boost to U.S. voter registration. During National Voting Day on Tuesday (Sept. 19), the pop superstar shared a message on Instagram urging her 272 million followers to register to vote through nonpartisan nonprofit Vote.org. The push resulted in more than 35,000 registrations, according to the organization. “I’ve been so […]
Taylor Swift can fill stadiums, is about to flood the zone in movie theaters and, we found out this week, she can also seriously get out the vote. Just days after Swift urged Swifties to register to vote on National Voter Registration Day in an Instagram Story, shocker, they listened and signed up to do […]
John Legend was on hand Friday morning (April 28) to advocate for voter turnout at the second day of Global Citizen Now’s two-day summit for activists and change-makers in New York City.
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In conversation with Tamron Hall in an onstage panel before industry leaders and members of the press, Legend stressed the importance of making voter registration more accessible — or automatic, when possible — and fighting against politicians interfering in the voting process. Having recently become a father of three in January, when he and Chrissy Teigen welcomed their daughter Esti, the “All Of Me” singer said that voting in favor of reproductive healthcare, LGBTQ rights and student debt relief has become increasingly important to him as he hopes to create better circumstances for his kids’ generation.
“I’ve always cared deeply about the future, I’ve always cared deeply about the world we are building for our children,” he said. “But every time I think about all the love we pour into our own kids, and all we want for their future, I think about the parents who don’t have the resources we have.”
“We want a democracy that’s open to everybody and that encourages our leaders to do what’s right because they know they answer to the people,” he continued.
After praising President Biden’s student debt relief efforts and climate action legislation, Legend left off on a challenge: make the 2024 election go down in history for having the highest youth voter turnout ever. “We as young people,” the 44-year-old musician began, before laughing: “I still count myself as young. That’s a stretch…we have to make sure that we are reaching out to our friends and encouraging them to get out and vote.”
Also on the docket for Friday’s event were discussions on climate change, abortion access, protecting protesters in Iraq and Kenya and workplace equality for women. Katie Holmes helped introduce the summit by encouraging viewers to spread awareness of Global Citizen Now’s message via social media, Dawson’s Creek actress Busy Philipps called for more inclusion of reproductive health storylines in entertainment and the reinstatement of Roe v. Wade, and French President Emmanuel Macron joined in via video chat for a conversation on including poor and emerging countries in implementing global sustainability policies, for which he thinks collaboration between China and the U.S. — the No. 1 and No. 2 biggest greenhouse gas emitters, respectively — is essential.
When Morning Joe anchor and guest mediator Joe Scarborough joked during a brief break in the event’s live telecast that “if anyone at MSNBC is listening, we have the president of France so you can stop talking about Tucker Carlson,” Macron, waiting on standby, couldn’t help but let out a genuine laugh. Carlson was recently fired by Fox News, the longtime home of the highly controversial, right-wing program Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Sinan Aral, director of MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy, weighed in during a conversation on the need for ethical regulations in the world of tech, particularly where artificial intelligence is involved. If people were freaking out about the bizarre success of the viral fake Drake and The Weeknd duet earlier this month, Aral says the world isn’t prepared for how “very dangerous” booming AI technology could become if weaponized during upcoming elections.
“The misinformation of the 2020 election is child’s play compared with what is possible for deepfake video and audio,” he said.
See more details about Global Citizen Now here.
As Billboard prepares to unveil its annual Power List in less than a month, ranking the music executives making the biggest impact across an ever-changing industry, we thought we should put some power in the fans’ hands too. Looking back on the past year in music, who is your 2022 Power Artist?
Today, Billboard is launching the brand-new Power Artist 2022 – Fan Choice bracket, in which music listeners pick the music star who made the biggest impact last year. In the bracket below, you can choose between the 32 artists who dominated Billboard‘s 2022 year-end charts, making huge moves in streaming, touring, radio, album sales and beyond.
The winner of this inaugural bracket will be revealed in Billboard‘s 2023 Power Issue alongside the executive Power List. Can your favorite artist go all the way?
First-round voting is open now, in the bracket below, and will close Monday, Jan. 9, when we reveal your Sweet 16 artists. We’ll get down to the Elite Eight on Wednesday, Jan. 11; the Final Four on Friday, Jan. 13; and championship-round voting between your top two artists begins Monday, Jan. 16.
Alongside the Power Artist 2022 bracket, Billboard is also adding a peer-voted award to its annual Power 100 ranking of the music industry’s most influential executives. This new Power Players’ Choice Award will honor the executive whose peers believe he or she had the most impact across the music business over the past year. Voting is open Friday (Jan. 6) to all Billboard Pro members. For more information, go here. Both the 2022 Power Artist and the Power Player’s Choice Award will be unveiled in the Billboard Power Issue.
So who will be crowned the first fan-voted Power Artist? Only you can decide. Vote in the bracket below. (Reminder: First-round voting closes on Monday.)
Billie Eilish is making a passionate plea to her fans about voting.
The 20-year-old superstar singer took to Instagram on Saturday (Nov. 5) to encourage her 106 million followers to vote before Election Day on Tuesday (Nov. 8).
“I want to explain why I am voting this year and how important I think it is you for vote to,” Eilish says in the video. “Our rights, our freedoms, and our futures are on the line, and if we don’t show up, there is a good chance we will see a national ban on abortion, with no exceptions.”
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The artist added, “They also wanna take away the freedom to marry who we love, restrict voting rights, and enact laws that threaten the progress that must be made on climate change… It scares me.”
Eilish’s caption included a link to BallotReady, which assists with polling locations and other voting information.
On Nov. 8, she will take part in the 2022 #iVoted Festival, with the Election Day webcast also featuring performances by Run the Jewels, CNCO, Rise Against, The Revivalists, OK Go, Lake Street Dive and more than 400 other artists.
Earlier this year, Eilish partnered with HeadCount, a non-partisan voter engagement organization, to get her fans voting in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections. During her career, she has also aligned with organizations including Global Citizen’s Just Vote, Planned Parenthood, and iHeartMedia’s Why I’m Voting.
“The only way to be certain of the future is to make it ourselves, which is why we must vote on or before Nov. 8,” she said in her video on Saturday. “Please promise me you’ll make a plan to vote. Let’s show them what our power looks like.”
Watch Eilish’s message to fans about voting on Instagram below.
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