Sheryl Crow Pitches Music Downloads for New Voters

Activist singer Sheryl Crow is giving away digital copies of her new album to draw music fans to register to vote in the presidential election.

The first 50,000 people who convince three other people to register to vote can receive a free digital download of Crow’s “Detours” album. The tactic is the first major campaign move for “Rock the Vote,” which counted Crow among its original supporting musical artists when the initiative was conceived by MTV nearly 20 years ago.

The initiative has since taken on a life of its own as an independent non-profit organization. Crow is also offering free downloads of her political satire tune “Gasoline” to anyone who logs onto the Rock the Vote Web site or registers for its mailing list on www.rockthevote.com.

“This is our moment to wake up and seize our power regarding the future of this nation and what it stands for,” Crow said in a statement

The unofficial recruiters who draw three other people into the voting population must go through a verification process on Rock the Vote’s site to obtain the album download.

Rock the Vote is making plans to mount voter registration campaigns with other musical artists before the election.

“We’re looking forward to doing other promotions with other Rock the Vote artists,” said Rock the Vote spokesperson Chrissy Faissen.

Madonna, Lenny Kravitz and the Black Eyed Peas are among the artists who’ve supported Rock the Vote in the past.

The non-profit organization has already register 1 million new voters this year, according to Faissen. Rock the Vote has a stated goal of registering two million new voters for the November election.

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