Concerts are often a place where musicians and organizations try to raise political awareness. But are crowds tuned in? Are they listening when artists call on them to take action? Do they generally agree on hot button issues, or are they as divided as the rest of the country?

HeadCount, a non-partisan organization that does voter registration at concerts, got to the bottom of these and other questions by conducting a poll called the “Fan DNA Project”, asking over 10,000 fans their views on music, politics and the state of America.

The results can be found at: http://fandnaproject.headcount.org/

The project revealed some interesting variations:

* Indie rock fans were a bit more politically tuned in than fans of electronic music or “jam bands”, being more likely to choose a political party and follow certain issues.
* Fans of Maroon 5, O.A.R., and John Mayer were the most likely to be Republicans. Indie rock bands like The Decemberists and The National had the highest concentration of Democrats, while jam bands like The Disco Biscuits and Sound Tribe Sector 9 had the most Libertarians.
* Democrats were more likely than Republicans to attend more than 10 concerts per year (36% vs. 26%), but Libertarians trumped them both, with 43% hitting a double-digit number of live music events each year.
* Views about Wall Street differed greatly by musical taste. More than half of Ani DiFranco’s fans called Wall Street and Corporate America the nation’s “Worst Villains.” Meanwhile, less than 40% of Dave Matthews Band or Jack Johnson fans said the same thing, and less than a third of Maroon 5’s fans.
* About 80 percent of fans remember hearing about a social or political issue at a concert, more than 3 times the number that have hooked up!

The Fan DNA Project – which included both in-person and online polling – also revealed how the fan bases of different bands overlap. That information was used to create a unique set of venn diagrams showing the relationship between different bands’ followings.

Political Differences and Similarities

The results pointed to some surprising common ground between Republicans and Democrats attending concerts. Among those who self-identify as Republicans, 39 percent said “investing in education and the future” should be the government’s top priority, and another 19 percent picked “fighting for equality and the disadvantaged.” Both were more popular among Republicans than traditional GOP issues like “Cutting taxes” (9%) or “Reducing the size of government” (17%). Overall 44% said “investing in education and the future” should be America’s highest priority, the most popular choice among five possible answers.

As for the overall state of America, 71% said “It’s messed up and we better do something about it.” See chart below.

Meanwhile, 57% of all respondents – including 55% of Libertarians and half of Republicans – said they are usually inspired to take action when a musician speaks about a social issue from stage.

“What we observed is that there are some basic shared values out there, and they totally trump partisan politics and run across all musical tastes,” said HeadCount’s executive director Andy Bernstein. “But we also saw that the younger the fans are, the less hardened they are in their political views. About half haven’t aligned with a political party, and they’re a bit more likely to say things in this country aren’t so bad.”

The poll did reveal two polarizing subjects for Republicans and Democrats – Wall Street and President Obama himself. Asked “Who are the worst villains in America?” Democrats chose “Wall Street and Corporate America” 44% of the time. Only 15% of Republicans chose the same answer. Three other answers – “Tax and spend liberals,” “Biased media,” and “All politicians, regardless of party”, were chosen more often by Republicans.

When asked, “What would you like to see President Obama do more?” 49% of Democrats chose “Fight harder for what he believes in.” Only 2% of Republicans chose that answer, with 29% picking “Cut taxes and shrink government,” and 54% picking “Lose the next election and go away.” Notably, “Focus on the economy” was chosen by about 20% of Democrats, Independents and unaffiliated, but only around 10% of Republicans or Libertarians chose that answer.

“A key idea behind this project is that before anyone asks for your vote, they should ask what you think,” said Bernstein. “By understanding our own community better, we’ll hopefully get a conversation started that lasts through the 2012 election and beyond.”

Name: Charlie Blatt
Location: Towson, Maryland
HeadCount Band: Phish/moe.
Best HeadCount Experience: The most recent Virgin Mobile FreeFest. After over twelve hours of working hard we were rewarded with excellent times and great live music!
What’s Your Issue? Education
Why do You Like Volunteering for HeadCount? Besides the obvious draw of live music, I've developed a sincere appreciation for HeadCount volunteers' work, whether it's raising awareness of voting and registration or engaging with fans through the DNA surveys and/or the new photo contests. Not only is doing a simple deed incredibly self-gratifying, but it really does help make a difference in the long run. Exercising your right to vote is SO important, and I'm glad I can be a part of such a great team that helps in the process.
Hobbies: Live music, playing music, reading, video games, snowboarding.

HeadCount is proud to announce that we'll be hitting Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Watch the Throne" tour throughout the Fall. We'll be at most U.S. shows, registering voters and putting the 2012 election on people's minds.

Want to join us? This is a great opportunity to volunteer. We encourage anyone to sign up at www.HeadCount.org/volunteer. Priority goes to volunteers with experience, so try to sign up for other shows in your market too.

We'll also be joined by volunteers from  The League of Young Voters Education Fund.

This is not the first time that Jay-Z has been involved with a HeadCount initiative. Last year he starred in our public service announcement, which aired on CBS, Fuse and several other television networks (see clip below). However, this will be the first time we registered voters on his tour. Kanye is also new to us. We can't wait.

We want to thank everyone on the Watch the Throne team for welcoming us and our volunteers.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, than what do you get when mixing pictures, words and musicians?

How 'bout a virtual imprint of the American psyche,  straight from the minds of James Murphy, Questlove, Wayne Coyne, Bob Weir and more than 50 other artists?

Take a look.

HeadCount’s “Signs of the Times” project features a series of photos where musicians and their fans hold up simple and personal signs.  More than 3,000 fans have participated, getting their photos taken at HeadCount booths at festivals, and then competing for prizes based on who gets the most “likes” on Facebook. Their photos appear alongside those taken by artists, many of which have a poignant – while sometimes comical – message.

Coyne of the Flaming Lips commented on his generation’s waist size. Weir, a HeadCount board member, got philosophical about voting. So did Jim James of My Morning Jacket, as did James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and Tegan and Sara. Questlove of the Roots honors the legacy of a friend and influential producer.  Aussie John Butler railed against corporate power. All these photos and more can be viewed in the Signs of the Times artist album.

Meanwhile, the fan photos have generated over 10,000 likes and comments on Facebook. For each festival, a different prize was awarded for the photo with the most likes. The leading vote-getter to date read: "We are a military family" (775 likes). The most popular themes have been same-sex marriage, ending corporate influence in politics, and how much people love festivals!

The Signs of the Times photo series has been a catalyst for positive dialogue within the music community.  With barely a year to go before the presidential election, that’s exactly what we hoped to achieve.

Special thanks to everyone who has participated or contributed to the Signs of the Times series, especially our volunteers, photographers Allison Murphy, Dino Perucci, Michael Martin and Dave Vann, and everyone who has “liked” or taken a photo.

Look for the next installment of the Signs of the Times at the Dave Matthews Band Caravans, Hip-Hop Caucus MLK Memorial Dedication Party, North Coast Festival, moe.down and Virgin Mobile Freefest.

Stand anywhere at Bonnaroo, and hundreds, maybe thousands, of faces will whiz by. Ever wonder who they are, or what they’re thinking? It’s hard not to.

So this year HeadCount went to Manchester, TN with a mission: to find out who goes to Bonnaroo and what’s on their minds. Having a deeper conversation with the music community is kind of our theme right now. It started with the Fan DNA Project, a poll about music and politics that debuted at the Hangout Festival.

Then, we took it to another level with the “Signs of the Times” photo contest, where fans and artists pose for photos holding a personal sign.

So what did we find out? Well, first the photos. We found out that Bonnaroo is full of creative, conscious and funny people. Over 500 created a sign and stepped into our photo booth. The albums can be seen on our Facebook page, and whoever’s photo gets the most 'likes' will win a pair of VIP tix to next year’s B’roo.

If you have a few minutes to spend on Facebook (oh, no, not you!), I recommend just scrolling through one of the albums. It’s a wild ride through humanity. A Rorschach Test of the young American psyche.

Over a dozen musicians also posed with signs – Warren Haynes, G. Love, members of Mumford and Sons, My Morning Jacket, Freelance Whales and SCI, Eric Krasno, Ben Sollee, Chiddy, Bruce Hornsby, Nicole Atkins to name just a few. None was as poignant as STS9’s Dave Murphy. Just months after surviving highly invasive cancer surgery, Murph wrote “Life Inspires Me.”

So what about the Fan DNA poll? 850 B’rooers answered a series of questions about music, politics and the comingling of the two.

It seems that compared to Hangout attendees, Bonnarooers see a lot less live music and are more likely to be Democrats, but are pretty similar in almost every other regard.

Here's what we found out (with comparisons to Hangout listed in parenthesis) ...

FAN DNA POLL OF 850 BONNAROO ATTENDEES (compared to Hangout festival)

How many concerts do you see a year?
• 1-4 – 46% (27%)
• 5-10 – 31% (25%)
• 11-25 – 12% (24%)
• more than 25 - 11% (24%)
When acquiring new music, which do you do MOST often?
• Buy mp3s online – 29% (27%)
• Get live shows from friends – 6% (23%)
• Buy physical copies (CDs/Vinyl) – 21% (17%)
• Let's just say I don't pay for it – 44% (33%)
Do you consider yourself a:
• Republican – 14% (25%)
• Democrat – 44% (18%)
• Libertarian – 11% (15%)
• Independent – 16% (25%)
• None of those – 17% (17%)
What do you think about the state of America today?
• It’s not so bad – 9% (15%)
• We've got problems, but what can we do? 15%(19%)
• It's messed up and we better do something – 69% (65%)
• I don’t really think about it – 7% (1%)
How do you feel when a musician supports a cause or speaks out?
• It inspires me to take action – 45% (53%)
• I think it’s cool, but I don’t take action – 44% (34%)
• No impact. I ignore it. – 7% (9%)
• It annoys me 4% (4%)
Which issue(s) do you care about most?
• Sustainability and climate change – 31% (22%)
• Personal liberty – 23% (39%)
• Human rights – 39% (45%)
• Food and farm policy – 14% (15%)
• Gulf coast recovery – 7% (8%)
• Education reform – 24% (21%)
How often do you “Like” or “Re-tweet” something related to politics?
• Almost every day – 14% (10%)
• Once a week – 21% (20%)
• Once a month – 15% (11%)
• A few times a year – 10% (8%)
• Rarely or never – 40% (50%)
What should be the government’s HIGHEST Priority? (New Question)
• Fighting for equality – 14%
• Investing in the future and education – 48%
• Meeting in the middle and compromising – 18%
• Cutting taxes - 8%
• Reducing the size of government – 12%
What headliner are you most excited to see?
• Arcade Fire – 30%
• Eminem – 19%
• The Strokes – 7%
• Widespread Panic - 9%
• Other – 32%

The "Signs of the Times" photo contest will be at another dozen festivals this summer, and the Fan DNA Project will be at every concert or festival we're at. So please stop by our tables, and let us know what you're all about.

The evolution of the concert festival experience has taken another step, in the sand. The Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama last weekend clearly raised the bar in ways that other festivals will be scrambling to match.

A festival on a beach is exactly what you might imagine - relaxed, spirited, and an ultimate combination of the most popular recreational activities. There were also many nice touches to Hangout that transcended its location. Although it was sold out weeks in advance, it was not oversold. Food lines were manageable and the walks between stages - while long - were never particularly harrowing.

The lineup was arguably as good as any festival this summer, with a nice mix of electronica, indie rock and jam bands. VIPs were treated to head-spinning amenities like an actual swimming pool with a full view of the stage. The headliners - Widespread Panic, The Foo Fighters and Paul Simon - did exactly what Headliners should do. They each created a daily highpoint that appealed to diverse tastes.

HeadCount actually surveyed the crowd as to which band they were most excited to see. As a testament to how well the lineup was chosen, it was fairly evenly spread among the headliners and the rest of the lineup. Here are the results from a poll of 570 Hangout festival attendees:

What performer are you most excited to see?
• Foo Fighters - 16%
• Widespread Panic - 22%
• All of them! 17%
• Other! I'm into ___ - 18% (My Morning Jacket and the Black Keys were popular choices!)

That's not all we asked. The Hangout marked the official kickoff of our "Fan DNA Project," a poll about music and politics that we'll be conducting at festivals and shows all year.

We believe that before anyone asks for your vote, they should ask what you think. So with the Presidential election a year away, we put together the first poll specifically asking music fans what they think about the world around them.

The results will reveal our political and musical DNA, especially when we compare them from different festivals and tours.
At Hangout, we learned some interesting things, including:

• There were more Republicans than Democrats
• Nearly two thirds of attendees said this country is "messed up, and we better do something about it."
• More than half the crowd said they are inspired to take action when a musician speaks out on a cause or issue
• Exactly half the people we polled said they never "Like" or "Re-tweet" something related to politics, while half said they did

Here are the results to all the questions we asked.

How many concerts do you see a year?
• 1-4 - 27%
• 5-10 - 25%
• 11-25 - 24%
• more than 25 - 24%

When acquiring new music, which do you do MOST often?
• Buy mp3s online - 27%
• Get live shows from friends - 23%
• Buy physical copies (CDs/Vinyl) - 17%
• Let's just say I don't pay for it -33%

Do you consider yourself a:
• Republican - 25%
• Democrat - 18%
• Libertarian - 15%
• Independent - 25%
• None of those - 17%

What do you think about the state of America today?
• It’s not so bad - 15%
• We've got problems, but what can we do? 19%
• It's messed up and we better do something - 65%
• I don’t really think about it - 1%

How do you feel when a musician supports a cause or speaks out?
• It inspires me to take action - 53%
• I think it’s cool, but I don’t take action - 34%
• No impact. I ignore it. - 9%
• It annoys me 4%

Which issue(s) do you care about most?
• Sustainability and climate change - 22%
• Personal liberty - 39%
• Human rights - 45%
• Food and farm policy - 15%
• Gulf coast recovery - 8%
• Education reform - 21%

How often do you “Like” or “Re-tweet” something related to politics?
• Almost every day - 10%
• Once a week -20%
• Once a month -11%
• A few times a year - 8%
• Rarely or never - 50%

What is MOST on your mind these days?
• Work, school or paying the bills - 52%
• Music and upcoming shows - 22%
• Friends, romance or family - 25%
• The crazy $&%# on the news - 1%

We want to thank everyone who took the poll at Hangout, or registered to vote or wrote a letter to Congress at our booth. We also want to extend a HUGE thank you to our hosts at Huka Entertainment and Music Allies, as well as Grace Potter, Dave Schools, and our favorite new supporter Meredith Ezzell. (We were given the opportunity to auction some tickets and meet and greets, which covered the costs of our entire trip to Hangout!).

There were many highlights for us at Hangout, but I think one of our volunteers summed it up best. She said, "I had a great first experience with HeadCount. I just loved talking to people and finding out what they thought about things." That's what the Fan DNA Project is all about. Look for it soon at Sasquatch, Summer Camp, Bisco Inferno or a show near you.

Over the years, we've had the privilege of hosting many special events with our favorite artists. Last year, at Gathering of the Vibes, was perhaps the most special. A small group of just 20 guests got to meet Bob Weir, have dinner in artist catering, and then watch the entire Furthur show from "The Pit" right in front of the stage.

Check out the photo album.

What made this event stand out from the others? Well, it was a lot of things, but there's really nothing like watching Bob, Phil Lesh and the rest of Furthur from the front row. It was truly unforgettable.

This year, we're doing it again. Furthur is returning to Gathering of the Vibes, and Bobby and the Vibes team have graciously offered to host us again. Tickets for this special VIP event went on sale today and can be ordered here. The package includes VIP tickets, the chance to meet Bob, a limited edition poster, dinner and the pit passes.

They aint cheap - $750 for the day, or $1,000 for the weekend - but these events provide key funding that enables HeadCount to do all the things we do to raise political consciousness. Because of the generosity of others we can register voters at concerts, produce public service announcements, maintain our blog, and develop the most awesome team of volunteers our community has ever known.

So please consider joining us at the Vibes. We guarantee you'll never forget it.

New Orleans legends The Radiators - rapping up their farewell tour - will play a special benefit concert for HeadCount on Wednesday, June 1st at Brooklyn Bowl. Tickets include open bar, buffet dinner, and complimentary bowling, and are priced at $250 ($150 is tax deductible).

This benefit will provide essential funds at a time when we're beginning to gear up for the 2012 Presidential Election. If you want to support HeadCount and have a great time doing it, please ORDER TICKETS HERE.

A grade-school teacher. A recruiter. A Sustainable Manufacturing Specialist with the E.P.A. An interactive advertising designer. A human resources project manager at Goldman Sachs. An AmeriCorps member. And a small handful of soon to be graduated college students.

What do all of these people have in common? More than just two bathrooms and a disco ball. HeadCount recently held its first ever leadership retreat for members of its “Field and Festival Committee.” A dozen volunteers who had spent the last few months planning HeadCount’s future via conference call got together - for the first time - in person.

We traveled from all parts of the county to converge and share our experiences, aspirations and insights. We played guitar hero. We went night sledding. We started (but didn’t quite finish) a game of Trival Pursuit.

We also laid down the foundation for an integrated strategic plan leading up to 2012 and beyond.

The three-day retreat began with a jaunt around New York City to meet with some of our board members. First we had lunch with Andrew Dreskin, founder of TicketFly and the Virgin Mobile Festival. Andrew shared the fascinating story of how he launched TicketWeb in 1995 and sold the first ticket ever sold on the internet.  We then met with Jason Bau of Hard Head (Warren Haynes’) management. Jason asked us for our opinion on many things - from the layout of “Awareness Village” at Mountain Jam to designs for new merchandise. Then we went back to the HeadCount offices where we met with Matt Busch, Bob Weir’s manager. Matt had all mesmerized with the inside story of how the living members of the Grateful Dead reunited through their shared interest in the 2008 presidential election.

While each of these meetings was unique it its own way, each one offered a chance for group discussions to unfold about the synchronistic processes involved in developing relationships, as well as politics and the music industry.

That afternoon we headed on to a condo on the slopes of Mountain Creek, a ski resort about an hour away in New Jersey. It proved to be quite an awesome adventure. The mountain is closed for the season, but that didn’t stop us from sledding on what was left of the snow.  We woke up Saturday morning to a bomb breakfast and got down to business. We split off into groups to tackle some of the most important puzzles that stand before HeadCount, including our messaging, our field plans for this year and next and our digital media strategy.

As the day unfolded it became clearer and clearer that we were coming up with some really exciting designs. Through the use of SWOT analyses, organizational cognitive mapping, hands-on field training and tons of brainstorming, we not only found our voice as an organization, we became the organization.

The evening ended with a Gutiar Hero tournament played under a spinning disco ball, and a more sedate game of Trival Pursuit in which a few of us - including our executive director - fell asleep.

The new friendships and ideas created at this intimate gathering stand to create ripples for HeadCount and those involved with us across the country.

Although HeadCount has been around since 2004, it felt like we were starting something... something big.

For more photos, visit our Facebook photo album.

Binghamtronica, the charity benefit festival to raise money for organizations Oxfam Japan and HeadCount.org, was a success, to say the very least.

I was told that as a first time promoter it would be near impossible to post a profit on a benefit concert. Not only did we manage to do just that, the concert also succeeded at entertaining each and every participant. Sure, we faced a few challenges on the day of the show, but overall, the night went off with a bang.

The evening kicked off with local electronica sensation SOLARiS opening up the night with unbelievable energy. They even busted out a crowd pleasing version of “Linus and Lucy,” the Peanuts/Charlie Brown theme song. Next up was Binghamtronica veteran Horizon Wireless, who not only came prepped with heavy beats and powerful breakdowns, but was also accompanied by the well-respected drummer of the band Digi Front, Sol Montoya. Montoya’s tight drumming and relentless intensity combined with Horizon’s beats made the set unforgettable. Then, synth master Jeff Bujak tore it up on stage and from what I witnessed, surprised a few concert goers who were previously unfamiliar with his work. InK Line, a popular DJ amongst Binghamton students, played only the set break for Brothers Past, but laid down the darkest, most bass-heavy set of the night to a full room of party goers who were raging their hardest by then.

Brothers Past, the night’s headliner, was fantastic. The Philly-based Jamtronica band's first set was tight – a memorable hour plus – to say the least. Unfortunately, due to time constraints their second set was replaced with a double encore. By this point in the evening I finally decided to just let loose and enjoy the fruits of my, and many other individuals’. labor. After months of planning, patience and more planning, it became apparent to my co-coordinator Kristen and I that the last thing being demanded of us was to finally enjoy ourselves. For the second encore she decided to climb onto the stage and dance with Brothers Past, only to pull me up a few seconds later. For the last song of the night, the two people who put on the show were part of the show and we partied on stage hyping up the crowd to a fever pitch.

Through tickets sales and the generosity of our vendors, we netted several thousand dollars for Oxfam and HeadCount, while also raising awareness about the two nonprofits. Now a large portion of the Binghamton community and the university population is well-aware of what HeadCount and Oxfam do.

But the fundraising isn’t done yet. The artist collective trifectopaint performed a live painting at the event and it is currently on sale. Proceeds from its sale will be donated to Oxfam Japan and HeadCount, making Binghamtronica all the more successful.