Jobs & Internships
Promote participation in democracy
General
Director of Artist Relations
Background
HeadCount is a non-partisan organization that uses the power of music to register voters and promote participation in democracy. They reach young people and music fans where they already are – at concerts and online – to inform and empower. HeadCount stages nonpartisan voter registration drives at more than 1,000 live events each year and collaborates with cultural leaders to promote civic engagement on a national scale. Since 2004, HeadCount has signed up over 1,000,000 voters through work with touring musicians like Ariana Grande, Dead & Company, and Beyoncé and events like Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Pride Festivals and RuPaul’s DragCon. Their digital campaigns have won Clio and SHORTY awards, and have starred the likes of Jay-Z, Dave Matthews, members of the Grateful Dead and Brockhampton. Over 100 festivals and touring artists work with HeadCount to bring voter registration to their fans, and some organize larger Participation Row activism villages to highlight all their favorite charities. HeadCount manages social impact programs for brands like Ben & Jerry’s, American Eagle Outfitters and MTV, centered around civic engagement. HeadCount is also a national partner of National Voter Registration Day, for which they orchestrate an annual social media push featuring the likes of Ellen DeGeneres, John Legend, Stephen Colbert, and 50 Cent with a collective reach of more than 1 billion followers.About the Position
The Director of Artist Relations is responsible for managing HeadCount’s Artist Relations department, talent relationships, and touring schedule. This person will work in partnership with managers, agents, record labels and talent themselves to amplify HeadCount’s message promoting voting, voter registration and civic participation. They'll supervise a team of at least two full-time employees and several part-time contractors, oversee key initiatives such as our National Voter Registration Day social media campaign, and engage talent in various activity that drives voter participation. Responsibilities will range from high-level meetings and partnership planning to being on-site at festivals to engage with artists directly, while also overseeing a busy touring schedule that includes local activations and embeds on major concert tours. Past engagements of this sort include the #thankunextgen co-branded activation with Ariana Grande, the “Good to Vote” digital promotion with the reunited casts of Mean Girls, Laguna Beach and Jurassic Park, and embedded tours with Billie Eilish, Beyoncé and JAY-Z, Panic! At The Disco, and Dead & Company.Duties and Responsibilities:
- Outreach to artists, content creators, record labels and agencies to establish partnerships with key talent
- Ideating and executing joint initiatives with key partners
- Engaging talent around HeadCount’s Get Out the Vote and civic engagement campaigns
- Managing Artist Relations department through weekly meetings and status reports, day- to-day communication, goal-setting, and annual reviews
- Prioritize diversity and inclusion in all aspects of work
- Maintain up-to-date files and tracking of tours, artist contacts, and digital engagement
- Develop communication materials shared with talent, managers, and potential partners
- Work closely with other team members and departments to exchange key and timely information
- Attend concerts, festivals and conferences for networking and talent engagement purposes
- Leverage a previously existing network across a number of musical genres
- Initiate and assist with fundraising activity tied to talent, such as online raffles, ticket surcharges, benefit concerts, livestream donations, and artist foundation grants
- Intimate knowledge of various forms of music as well as the workings of the music industry
- Work fast and meet tight deadlines while doing all necessary follow-up, execution and reporting with a “get the job done” mentality
Qualifications, Skills and Education Requirements:
- 8+ years’ Artist Relations experience
- Passion for HeadCount’s mission and social justice
- Demonstration of confidence, tenacity, and willingness to proactively pursue key goals
- Deep personal relationships across the music industry, including management companies, record labels, agencies, and talent
- Experience managing internal systems with high volumes of information
- Strong communication abilities with the ability to write and convey concise requests while creating deeper interest in HeadCount’s mission
- Strong interpersonal and teamwork skills, including adaptability, personal effectiveness, and the ability to establish quick rapport
- Attention to detail and strong organizational skills, with the ability to juggle many tasks at one time and change gears quickly
- A strong sense of news and trends within music, social media and content, and the ability to utilize that knowledge for storytelling and engagement
- Experience managing multiple short- and long-term plans simultaneously
- Exceptional judgment when working with team members, client contacts and vendors
- Comfort using data to derive insights and analysis
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, a people person who loves establishing connection, is comfortable with a fast-paced work environment with a variety of tasks
- Ease in pivoting from internal, organizational work to external, recruitment work
- Enthusiasm for participating in creative sessions and is always willing to think outside the box
- Willingness to travel
- Commitment to and understanding of HeadCount’s nonpartisan approach
Internships
Music and Politics Internship
Students with an interest in politics, music or grassroots organizing can channel their passions by interning with HeadCount. This is an opportunity to get invaluable hand-on experience and make an important contribution to a dynamic and growing organization. Our interns work side-by-side with seasoned staffers and play an important role from day one. Many of our interns have been offered and accepted full-time position with HeadCount and others have landed jobs within the music industry and at other non-profits.
Responsibilities
- Attending concerts and registering voters
- Content creation (blogging, drafting and proofreading documents, social media, creating excel data sheets, research, compiling music playlists)
- Grassroots and community outreach (volunteer program planning, conference calls)
- Artist relations (identifying potential artist partners, tracking concert schedules, coordinating events)
- Voter registration administration (researching election dates and deadlines, routing voter registration forms to election boards, communicating directly with voters)
- General non-profit management and administration.
Qualifications
- Student working towards a degree in related field
- Nonprofit or social activist experience a plus
- Proficiency required in MS Office programs
- Excellent attention to detail and proofreading skills required
Volunteer Positions
Regional Coordinator
Regional coordinators oversee 5 to 8 "Team Leaders." They organize, motivate, recruit, train, and manage individuals spread across a region of the U.S., and serve as the key liaison between HeadCount and our representatives in the field. This is primarily a phone and e-mail-oriented position, but we encourage Regional Coordinators to join us at festivals and occasionally travel to other cities to train new Team Leaders. This position requires people who are proactive, thorough and enjoy leading others.
This is considered a volunteer position, but Regional Coordinators are eligible for a yearly performance-based stipend of up to $1,000.
Requirements
- Excellent leadership and management skills
- Strong work ethic, maturity and sense of accountability
- About 4 to 8 hours per week of availability for phone and email communication
- Being self-motivated and thorough
- Passion for voter engagement and
- Relevant leadership experience
Team Leader
HeadCount is adding Team Leaders all across the country. Team Leaders are the heart and soul of HeadCount and are the people most responsible for registering thousands of voters at concerts, festivals, and community events. They represent the organization any time a HeadCount-affiliated artist appears in the team’s metropolitan area. Within their metro, Team Leaders also work with venues, promoters, and community event organizers to identify the best local opportunities to register voters.
This means organizing and scheduling teams of volunteers (using HeadCount’s volunteer portal), training new volunteers and managing the process of setting up a voter registration table at an event. It also involves directly interfacing with staff at local concert venues and tour production crews from our affiliated bands.
Team Leaders also reach into their community to identify gaps in voter registration access and provide registration services. This could be at high schools, street fairs, or other relevant community events. The goal is for at least 25% of annual activations to come from community events.
Team Leaders must be reliable, professional, and good communicators. Most of all, they need to inspire volunteers to work together toward a common goal. If you love music and consider yourself a natural leader, this may be the position for you.
This is considered a volunteer position, but Team Leaders are eligible for a yearly performance-based stipend of up to $1,500.
Requirements
- Strong work ethic, maturity and sense of accountability
- Flexible schedule allowing you to be on site at concerts before doors open
- Natural leadership ability
- Commitment to following protocol
- Relevant leadership experience