MTV which stands for Music television has had numerous campaigns to try and get the youth or younger members of the voting community to try and get involved in politics and to get them to vote and have their voices heard. Rock the vote and Choose or lose are the two major events that MTV endorsed and uses to get their viewers educated about politics. Politicians like former president George Busch senior have tried to use MTV as a way to get people to vote in favor of themselves. Although this plan backfired for Mr. Busch going on MTV or being involved in their campaigns usually help them in their efforts to get to the white house. Although these campaigns claim to have increased voters registration in the younger crowd but the main question still remains. That question being do these campaigns really bring these young voters to the voting booths? The have factual evidence that says they have indeed increased registration but I don't believe that they really bring these voters to the voting booths. These campaigns are a good Idea And have good intent but politics are more than just popularity.
The second thing I am going to talking about from this chapter will be popular music as a political forum. Basically talking about musicians and bands using their fame or concerts as a way to spread their political ideas.
These two photos that you see are from Rage Against The machines Republican National Convention protest concert held in Minneapolis last September. As you can see RATM loves to share their political ideas through their music and concerts. You can see them dressed in prison suits with black masks over their heads representing inmates in the prison camps that the US has. The other photo I think speaks for itself with the nice little saying above the concert stage that shows their love for the RNC. I think that musicians using their stage for talking about politics is fine by me. I think it might be a good things to maybe help get people more aware about certain issues and things of that nature. You can to see a concert but you learned a little bit about government issues, all good in my book. Some people say popular musicians should just sing and not talk about politics but, if they are actually really passionate about their beliefs then they should have the same right to free speech as we do. I wouldnt adivise that popular music should be your sole source of political knowledge but, it is a alternative source and in some cases a pretty good one.
Sometimes when Musicians speak their minds about their political views and how they feel about the country can get them into trouble and cause a major backlash. I know in class and in my media presentation we talked about the dixie chicks deal. When the lead singer claimed that she was ashamed that the president was from her home state of Texas. Then this caused a huge debacle and everyone hated the dixie chicks and called them un American and things of that nature. Using popular music as a Political forum can be a good way to get ideas and information out to the public but it isnt always the best way to go about it.
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