Athens, Georgia Rockers Team Up to Protect Their City
Prompted by a proposed Wal-Mart in the heart of Athens, Georgia, Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood teamed up with John Bell and Todd Nance of Widespread Panic, Mike Mills of R.E.M., and many more Athens-based musicians to protect the small businesses of their town. Their shared interest in keeping Wal-Mart out and supporting small businesses led the musicians to unite and create a powerful protest song: After It’s Gone.
The college town outside of Atlanta is home to the University of Georgia, as well as a small business district that thrives on the patronage of students, alumni and locals. The music video ...
New App Brings Iconic Music Photography to Your iPad
Legendary photographer Danny Clinch has worked with some of the biggest names in music over the last few decades. Phish, Tupac, Bob Dylan, Radiohead and Johnny Cash have all been on the other side of Clinch’s lens, and his work has been featured on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine numerous times. Now you can view some of his best work on your iPad with the new “Discovery Inn” app in the iTunes store.
While anyone can look at Clinch’s work for free with a simple Google Image search, the “Discovery Inn” app allows you to hear narration for every ...
Education Issue Update: The GOP and Education
It's been proven over and over: education gets the attention of voters. As the Republican primaries proceed, it's worth taking a good, hard look at the candidates' stances. This is one area where they have some real differences.
First up, longtime watchers of education policy will remember Rick Santorum as the senator who proposed the Santorum Amendment back in 2001, an attempt to require the teaching of creationism in schools while questioning the validity of the theory of evolution. He still strongly supports this movement.
Mitt Romney has laid out an education policy position that stresses standardized testing and school choice, although he has not taken a position on vouchers (a system where families would ...
Interview: Amanda Palmer Rages Against Wall Street
Music and musicians have been at the heart of the Occupy movement. And while there may not be a single anthem that defines the cause; a notable, and badass artist who has used her voice to stand with the 99% is Amanda Palmer. The founding member of the Dresden Dolls has been performing impromptu ‘ninja gigs' all over the country including Oakland, Vancouver, New York, and in her hometown of Boston. Amanda uses social media outlets like Twitter (@amandapalmer) and her blog to share her travels and ultimately bring new faces to the movement. We got a chance to catch ...
“Liberal Massachusetts” Reacts to Goalie Snubbing Obama
The HeadCount blog is a forum for our community where we welcome all opinions and perspectives. The following does not necessarily represent the views of the HeadCount organization. We welcome anyone with an opposing viewpoint to become a contributor to our blog. Please email editor@headcount.org for more information.
In hockey, a “Goalie Controversy” usually refers to differing opinions of who should be a starter. This week it took on new meaning when the Stanley Cup-winning Bruins visited President Obama at the White House, and starting goaltender Tim Thomas - the only American player on the Bruins with his name on the trophy - ...
Live From TRI: A First-Hand Account
HeadCount Board of Directors member Bob Weir performed at his TRIStudios last night, which was Webcast live. Bob was kind enough to invite some HeadCount volunteers to attend. Here is one volunteer's account.
It was great to see Bobby in his newly finished TRI Studios in Marin last night. TRI Studios is a perfect setting for a band to rehearse, record and broadcast. Given it is Bobby's place, it was only fitting that Ratdog do a broadcast there.
There was lots of love in the room between the band members and the small group of friends and invitees in attendance. It's an ...
Can you Gamble on Elections? You Betchya
What if I told you there was a way you could get rich off this upcoming election season. No, I'm not talking about selling "Anybody But Romney" T-Shirts at the Republican National Convention. I'm talking about gambling. You can put your money where your mouth is by betting on candidates through a little known gambling system called a "political prediction market."
So what is a political prediction market exactly? Well, its sort of a cross between a stock market and sports betting. People buy “shares” of a particular candidate and they either make or lose money depending on whether or not ...
In the midst of the GOP Primaries, lots of hot issues come up. But, you know I’m always listening to what they’re saying about the beloved Gulf region. After all, what could possibly be more politically polarizing than that dirty ‘ol black gold? Talk of digging, drilling and piping oil has been a constant in the Republican primary debates. Let's dig a little deeper.
Mitt Romney is not afraid of aggressive domestic energy exploration. He plans to expand domestic exploration and drilling in areas where it has been previously approved. Former GOP candidate, Rick Perry went as far as saying that drilling for more oil is the key to America's economic future. Both Romney and Perry ...
Turning Sh*t Into Gold
Have you ever wondered what happens when you flush your toilet? In Kenya? If you live in one of Kenya’s urban slums then your toilet does not flush. Your toilet could be a plastic bag known as a flying toilet or a bucket whose untreated contents are later emptied directly into your environment. During rainy periods residents - particularly women and children - become susceptible to deadly waterborne illnesses like typhoid and cholera.
So now that you're completely grossed out, I hope you find this idea refreshing... What if each flush meant money for small businesses and fertilizer acceptable for use in agriculture?
A team of recent MIT ...
Personal Liberty Issue Update: Freedom, the Constitution and the Candidates
Personal liberty, freedom, and the Constitution are at the core of the Republican presidential candidates’ talking points. With the 2012 primaries in full swing, talk of protecting your liberties and constitutional freedoms are all over the airwaves. So what exactly does freedom and liberty mean to the GOP Presidential candidates? Here’s a quick look…
Avowed libertarian Ron Paul breaks with the rest of the field in opposing the Patriot Act, a bill designed to combat terrorism, that some feel goes too far, infringing on privacy and other liberties. Challenging America’s role as "World Policeman", Paul claims that 75% of Americans are calling for the ...
As we all know, President Obama addressed Congress last night. In case you missed it or want to review his speech in agonizing detail, the NY Times has an incredible feature online. You can watch the video (divided into categorized segments so you can dissect the stimulus package details but skip over the Intro) and read through a transcription of the speech while listening to the man himself. There is also a collection of reporters' notes, sort of like annotations. It kind of reminds me of reading annotated Shakespeare where an editor explains what "I bite my thumb at you" actually means, but the list of references and insight is beneficial and interesting nonetheless.
On the other side of Capitol Hill yesterday, CEOs Irving Azoff and Michael Rapino from Ticketmaster and LiveNation were interrogated by members of the US Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee. This was not the start to an official investigation, but could encourage one. In an article by Billboard, Azoff claimed that, "If we are successful... ticket prices will go down," while Rapino argued, "This deal will benefit them [music fans and rival businesses] as we spur competition and innovation."
I'm not sure what they will decide, but much of the music industry is skeptical of the deal. Unfortunately, I can't think of a Shakespeare reference for Irving Azoff or monopolized ticket prices at the moment... Regardless, I don't think this is the last we will hear of the potential investigation.
Twitter: noun. A social networking site that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (known as tweets), which are text based posts of up to 140 characters in length.
Ex: "I'm following Barack Obama on twitter."
At first glance of the top 100 most popular twitter users, it is not surprising to find the innovative social networker and President, Barack Obama, at the top spot, followed by a bunch of celebrities and witty tech entrpreneurs including Kevin Rose, Britney Spears and Shaq. Granted, you can't learn much about people in 140 characters, but it's an effective, authenitc and free form of PR. Suddenly Britney Spears seems like a friend instead of an out of reach superstar.
The bigger surprise is how popular Twitter is becoming on Capitol Hill. Upwards of 60 members of Congress, plus many other D.C community influentials, use Twitter. The formerly stereotyped impersonal and longwinded users are suddenly showing a little more personality. Number 1 on Politco's list of 10 Most Influential D.C Twitterers is Karl Rove, former Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush. Apparently this guy is funny. PR scheme or not, it seems America's policy makers are reaching out a little bit. Weird, but kind of cool.
I was at a local NYC comedy club Monday night, where one of the comedians started talking about voter fraud. He started to explain how the people controlling election day polling places should be less 'community volunteer' and more 'NYC bouncer.' He then proceeded to cross his arms, beef up his shoulders and turn his mouth into a down-turned pout, pantomiming the study of a questionable ID from someone trying to vote. We all laughed, but it brought up a serious concern. With so much recent attention pushing for more voting convenience, is anyone worried about too many ineligible voters?
Many states are trying to make it easier to vote by instating Election Day Registration. With this process, unregistered voters may turn up to the polls, register, then vote, right then and there. Many of the states have their own qualifying details on the topic (for example, in Connecticut EDR is implemented only for presidential elections), but one characterstic is consistent through all ten states: EDR states have average turnout rates that are 10-12% higher than the national average.
Check out this article from Funders' Committee for Civic Particiption for more specifics on the uprising againse EDR.
I was writing an email and one of those creepy Google ads popped up for the Phish page on TicketsNow, the Ticketmaster-owned secondary ticket site similar to StubHub. A few observations:
- The market has ballooned to nearly $650 per ticket for the opening night Hampton show - nearly double where it stood a couple weeks ago (are Phish tickets the only thing in America that have gone up in value over the last two months?).
- The spike came right before paper tickets were mailed out and received. Not sure what that means, but the availability of actual paper tix will probably push the marketplace in one direction or another. It's hard to believe single tix are going to go for MORE thann $650, so that would indicate it's not a great time to buy. If you feel you MUST buy tickets on TicketsNow or Stub Hub, or any other broker site, consider waiting another week or so.
- TicketsNow is pushing a laughable 100% Unconditional Guarantee that is dressed up to look like consumer protection, but actually is a shield for sellers (brokers) who put tickets on sale before they actually have them. The brokers "sell" the tickets they don't have, run people's credit cards, then go out and try to buy tickets for less then what they charged the buyer. If the brokers can't find tickets for less than what they sold them for, they just refund the person's money. No loss. No gain. And the buyer is left with no ticket, and staring face up at the higher price. TicketsNow is doing nothing to stop this. They've stopped brokers from putting tickets on sale before they actually go on sale to the public, referred to as "speculative tickets" in a policy listed on the TicketsNow site, but there is nothing to stop brokers from advertising tickets they don't actually have after that point.
- Here is TicketsNow's pitch for Phish (who wrote this? as if Phish fans need to be sold): "When it comes to jam bands, few can top the energy, passion, and precision of Phish! Don’t miss your chance to see Trey Anastasio and the rest of Phish perform LIVE! Phish puts on a must-see show at every stop!"
These are interesting times for the world of ticketing. Lets recall a brief timeline of the recent past.
- Aug 22, 2007. Live Nation, the world's largest concert promoter, announces that it won't renew its long term contract with Ticketmaster. It later reveals plans to launch its own ticketing service.
- Oct 18th, 2008. Phish tix go on sale on Ticketmaster. Maybe 1 in 20 people snag a pair. But everyone notices the TicketsNow link on the Ticketmaster site, selling them for 6x face value or more.
- Oct 23rd, 2008. Super manager Irving Azoff (Guns N Roses, Journey, Smashing Pumpkins) buys Ticketmaster
- Jan. 30, 2009. Live Nation launches its ticketing platform with a quiet little on-sale from a quixotic quartet from Vermont. The system can't handle the (highly predictable) influx of buyers and breaks down.
- Feb. 2, 2009. Springsteen tix go on sale. Maybe 1 in 20 people snag a pair. Everyone notices the TicketsNow link selling them for 3x facevalue of more. And suddenly the world takes notice, including NY Sen. Charles Schumer (D), the New Jersey Attorney General and the Boss himself (He calls it a "conflict of interest" on his website).
- Feb. 4, 2009. Live Nation and Ticketmaster merger talks are reported in the Wall Street Journal.
- Feb. 4, 2009. Ticketmaster issues an apology to Springsteen, and says it won't allow ticket postings for shows that haven't been put on sale yet.
- Feb, 2009. Phish fans who bought through brokers start getting emails saying the brokers didn't really have the tickets they were advertising, with a refund. The phans are stuck with no tickets or having to pay the new market price - nearly double.
- Feb. 10, 2009. Live Nation and Ticketmaster officially announce merger plans.
- Feb. 17. Phish tickets get mailed. Aftermarket prices skyrocket.
Phish fans now find themselves right in the middle of a brewing consumer protection and anti-trust issue. So what can we do about it? Lots.
HeadCount is going to put out a poll this week asking music fans what issues we should focus on in 2009. We will be staging letter writing and education campaigns around three issues, chosen by the community. We just added one new issue to the list of choices - "Consumer protection for concert ticket buyers." We will wait to see the results of the poll, but we are ready to take this on. It's obviously something the community cares about deeply, affects us all, and has the ear of the government.
Personally, I believe in the free market. I don't think the aftermarket for tickets is inherently bad. And I don't think these companies are bad either. We have great friends at Live Nation, and years ago I personally knew the CEO of Ticketmaster, who was a brilliant guy. But I think there are real issues of disclosure, fairness in advertising, credit card fraud, and stifling of competition here. If Senators and attorney generals are already taking notice, then it means our community can organize and shape the debate. That's what HeadCount is here to do. We can make our voice heard on this. Afterall, we can make our voice heard every day, not just on election day.
Here at HeadCount, we are always excited to see people, especially youth, speak up. If you're in the mood for a little inspiration, check out a few of these incredible change makers.
"You Voted, Now What?": Have you ever been stared down by a man draped in metallic, gold fabric with all exposed skin painted in gold? Were you then surprised to realize you weren't in a piazza in Venice, but outside your Congressman's office? The Bus Project focuses on getting young people involved in politics through any means necessary including, but obviously not limited to, mimetic costumes in front of Capitol buildings, Halloween canvassing and high school field trip-style travel. Its all about effective fun to these guys
"It takes a hood to save a hood": Can Chris Brown take his lessons learned and, after reforming himself, change an entire community's view on violence? United Playaz violence prevention and mentorship organization was started by a former convict and drug addict. Their goal is to "uplift communities with people power while transforming thugs into community leaders"
"Free TibetTV": Would you ever consider interviewing Chinese and Tibetan officials, then sneaking the interviews past governmental censoring restrictions? What happens if you get caught? Students for a Free Tibet used their tech savvy to explore, record and disseminate photos, videos and interviews about injustice in China and Tibet to their communities and the world.
Air Traffic Control, a non-profit that connects musicians to social action, put together a report summing up the various "music related political events" in 2008. The report found that 82% of that activity involved HeadCount. The next closest organization, Rock the Vote, was responsible for 7%. We knew we were staging the largest event-based voter registration campaign in the U.S. and that no one was doing nearly as much at concerts. We knew, but were never sure who else knew. So it sure is nice to be recognized.
The Future Majority blog did a nice writeup, with links to the report itself. It also notes that many organization that were active in 2004, Music for America being the largest, didn't make it to 2008. There are many reasons this happened and that we were practically the only game in town when it came to concert-based outreach. But I can break it down pretty simply - quality of volunteers. All the organizations in 2004 (HeadCount included) struggled with volunteer flake-factor. Last year we really emphasized protocol, accountability, and training. Our volunteers responded, and we attracted the sort of solid citizens capable of great responsibility. This report is a testament to all the HeadCount volunteers who truly made this happen.
The following was written by Gregg Nevens, who made the highest bid on a guitar signed by members of The Dead as well as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to commemorate The Dead's appearance at the Presidential Inauguration. While Gregg's views are clearly his own and do not reflect HeadCount's nonpartisan political stance, we thought we'd share his words here on the HeadCount blog.
This particular instrument symbolizes the soundtrack of a world filled with peace, love, hope, understanding, tolerance, environmental responsibility, honest intelligent leadership, renewed pride, and, of course, good ole rock and roll.
Not only am I a longtime fan of the Grateful Dead, an avid guitar collector, and music lover in general, but… we are a also multi-ethnic family with two of our three beautiful children having come from Ethiopia. I was in Addis Ababa with our then new children when the U.S.S. Cole was bombed in nearby Yemen in Fall of 2000. We brought these two children out of certain challenging circumstances from the fifth poorest nation in the world, presumably, to a life in relative paradise. Shortly thereafter, the rainbow turned very dark. In the eight years since the Clinton-Gore era came to an end, we have been horrified by the Bush-Cheney-Rove destruction of this once much loved, trusted, prosperous, and inspiring country. The election of President Obama naturally touches us on many levels – not the least of which is the electrifying genuine hope and renewed inspiration in an America that had, for a while, appeared to have lost its compass. President Obama’s apparent intention to lead America to become the champion of alternative energy seems destined to become one of the most important turning points in the history of humankind. Meanwhile, this auspicious axe is a truly special memento of this incredible point in history. Of course, it would have been that much more exciting if Barack and Michelle had been able to add their signatures.
Finally, I am adding a Les Paul to my collection. My 16-year old often taunts me with his. Between the two of us, we have a rather wonderful collection of fine guitars and many other musical instruments. This beauty will be a new highlight.
Looking forward to The Dead in Los Angeles, truly the best way to spend Mother’s Day weekend. Mickey Hart is a distant cousin of mine; but, of course, The Dead are all brothers to me. I think Jerry would be proud of this America as well.
One of the many dirty secrets behind the secondary ticketing market (what some would call “legalized scalping)” is that the ticket brokers don’t always have the tickets they advertise. They “sell” the tickets, get the money in hand, and then try to buy the same tickets at a lower price. If they can’t, then they just refund the buyer’s money. No loss, no gain for the broker. Many fans who bought and paid for tickets for the Hampton Phish shows on the after-market are now getting letters like the one below. Some people might gloat that fans who buy from brokers are getting what they deserve for supporting that market. That’s debatable. But what’s not debatable is that advertising a product you can’t necessarily deliver, to create a risk-free transaction that only benefits one side, is at best deceptive and at worst, fraud. The notion of Ticketmaster re-selling their own tickets to “sold-out shows” to the highest bidder now has the attention of Congress. Perhaps this should too. Read the letter, and be warned:
Dear Client,
We are emailing you today to let you know that you have been given a full refund for your Phish purchase for 3/7. We found out today that our allotment of Phish tickets for the weekend is far less than expected. We know that is NOT the answer any of you were looking for, but we are refunding you 100% immediately. We are letting you know this 3 weeks in advance so that you may prepare and plan accordingly. There are several options that we can explore now that you have received this news, but we will not continue to hold your money for something we cannot 100% guarantee. One option is for you to look for other tickets across other websites, such as Ebay and Stub Hub. Tickets have been printed, but are not delivered to all phans as of yet, so you will probably see more tickets come on the market as the event draws near. Another thing we can do is continue to search along with you for tickets to fill your order for Saturday night. We are going to work fervently with all of our sources to see what we can do. Sadly, this process does not look promising at all. Third, we can provide you with tickets to another show across the country. We know that a lot of you are planning on traveling along with the band, and providing you with discounted access to those shows is a possibility. There are some shows that are in much higher demand than others, i.e. the Fabulous Fox Theater show. We will entertain any option that is viable for you and us, even if it means taking a financial hit on our end. If you don't want tickets to any other show, and a refund is your only option, this has already been provided to you. Expect to see it hit your bank in the next 2-3 days. We understand your frustration, and want to help you as much as we can. Unfortunately, the odds of getting you in to the Phish show in Hampton for any night are extremely slim. That is why we have given you a refund. Please contact us at the numbers below if you have any questions. We are very sorry for this inconvenience.
As of Tuesday morning, Ticketmaster and Live Nation confirmed their intended merger. The new company, named Live Nation Entertainment, would be headed by Michael Rapino, Live Nation CEO.
Ticketmaster Chairman, Barry Diller, spoke up immediately on behalf of the honest intentions of the company. Both companies claim the mixture of economic turmoil and everlasting music industry profit barriers sparked the interest in combining the powers of two competing companies. As reported by Pollstar.com, they will be able to better withstand the shocks ahead as well as, "improve service to fans by bringing together their [Live Nation and Ticketmaster's] expertise in promotions and ticketing."
Many politicians have already spoken up on behalf of the necessary investigation, including Charles Schumer (NY-D) and Bill Pascrell (NJ-D). It will be even more difficult for the merger to easily slide through investigation as President Obama emphasized his increasing care toward all matters anti-trust during his campaign. As reported by Coolfer, he commented on the elimination of competition in a speech to the American Antitrust Institute in 2007:
When it works well, capitalism is great for consumers. Firms compete to cut prices and improve the customer experience, and consumers have plenty of alternatives, so they are not vulnerable to corporate greed or incompetence. Most of the time, American business enthusiastically participates in this win-win system.
Antitrust helps to keep that system in force. It addresses the temptation that some businesses will sometimes experience, to merge with key rivals instead of outperforming them, to agree not to compete too hard, or to sabotage rivals’ efforts to serve consumers instead of redoubling their own."
Ticketmaster and Live Nation claim the merger will save $40 million a year. Forbes announce both company's stock prices fell before the deal was confirmed.
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards were on last night and, although every knowledgeable music lover I know has had more gripes than praises about the ceremony, I had more fun watching this event than any awards show I can remember (except maybe adolescently swooning over N*Sync at Nickelodeon's Kid's Choice Awards). Sure, The Jonas Brothers should never, ever be paired with Stevie Wonder (link not included for a reason) and Boyz 2 Men were disappointingly underutilized in a thrown-together ensemble performance of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." However, these glitches did not keep me from dancing in front of the TV and singing along. We can all find problems with so many things about the Grammy's: its relevancy to the digital age, performance choice, terrible teleprompted intros, music quality, nomination choices... etc. It is important to realize, though, that the Grammy's are much like record labels. They are industry standards. Furthermore, it is one marketing tool that is actually still selling records (or singles). To change the format of the show and the decision makers will take time. It will happen, just not quickly...
On a very optomistic end note, I have found one positive element that only the incredibly jaded will argue with: Radiohead's breathtaking performance of 15 Step, backed by part of the USC marching band. I'm sorry they were not given the Grammy to vindicate their innovative addition to music and the business this year. But honestly, they're Radiohead. Everyone already knows, statue or not.
