Musicians Hop Onto Election Cycle

Democratic Convention Has the Stars, McCain Gets Grief

Originally posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap September 08, 2008

Photo: AP

John McCain wants to be your first dancing president.

With election fever raging, the nation's musicians are showing their colors. Obama heads the race as far as star endorsements go, with the recent Democratic convention featuring a kickoff concert at Denver's Red Rocks Amphitheatre with performances from Sheryl Crow, Dave Matthews (with long-time cohort and activist Tim Reynolds) and Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles.

There were several "off-convention" performances by acts such as Rage Against the Machine and many smaller acoustic performances from Death Cab for Cutie and others. As one might expect, there was also plenty of schmoozing from the stars, which, according to the NY Times, included Kanye West and other "multiplatinum rappers, indie-rock scenesters, D.J.'s and Jennifer Lopez arriving by the van- and private planeload to perform, rally or schmooze with the political elite."

The final day of the convention saw performances by Jennifer Hudson -- who opened proceedings with the national anthem -- and Will.i.am, who recreated the viral video hit "Yes We Can" live onstage with a full gospel choir. The night was topped off by Stevie Wonder, who performed two songs, including "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours."

Chris Daughtry, the "American Idol" rock singer, played both the Democratic and the Republican conventions with his band, taking a strictly nonpartisan stance. McCain must have been glad that at least one major star wasn't giving him a hard time; the Republican presidential nominee has received a deluge of complaints from artists who have not been happy about the use of their music in his rallies and public appearances, including Chuck Berry, Jackson Browne, Van Halen and, most recently, classic rock outfit Heart. The band has issued a cease-and-desist letter to McCain's camp over the use of the 1977 hit "Barracuda," which was used as running mate Sarah Palin's theme song at the Republican convention last week.

There's probably a lesson or two to learn from Obama on how to effectively bridge the gap between politics and pop culture. The Illinois senator has been embracing music from the get-go with the Barack Obama Music Alliance, and he's brought artists along for the ride by involving them in his events.

Yes We Can' Reach a Million Views
Obama Gets Support From Star-Studded Cast of Musicians in Big Viral Hit

Posted by Mike Tunnicliffe in Ad Age Songs For Soap on 02.04.08 @ 01:36 PM



In what is fast becoming a viral smash hit, a new music video for Barack Obama called "Yes We Can" hit YouTube this Saturday, with one copy racking up 700,000 views by the time the Super Bowl was over.

The video was conceived by Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am and director Jesse Dylan and features a star-studded cast, including John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Common, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali, Nick Cannon and many many more. The song's lyrics are adapted from Obama's post-New-Hampshire "Yes We Can" speech, which was based on Cesar Chavez's motto during a United Farm Workers hunger strike in 1972.

According to Dylan and will.i.am in an interview on ABC News, the video and song were put together out of their own volition and not in concert with the Obama campaign. According to ABC "the filmmakers said that they weren't even sure if Obama [was] aware of the video," though by Sunday lunchtime the Obama Website featured the video on its official blog, where dozens of his supporters were urging people to pass the video on and make sure that "the entire world sees this video."

At lunchtime yesterday, 85,000 people had seen the video on YouTube, by 5 p.m. more than 153,000 had seen it, and by the time the Super Bowl had finished, it was at 700,000 views. Between two uploaded copies of the video, more than a million people have seen it so far.

This has all the signs of becoming a massive viral hit and a piece of communication that shows the increasing power that musicians have to influence the public, particularly through social networks where musicians and celebrities are the most popular subjects of interest.