Jim James, Arcade Fire’s Marika Shaw Announced For Pollstar Live! ‘Voting In Concert’ Panel

(John Davisson) –
Jim James performs during Lockn’ Festival at Infinity Downs Farm in Arrington, Va., Aug. 25.

Musician Jim James, PLUS1 ceo/founder Marika Shaw (and former member of Arcade Fire), HeadCount co-founder Andy Bernstein, C3 Presents’ Margaret Galton and #iVoted & Collective Entertainment’s Emily White have just been announced for a panel at 2019’s Pollstar Live! Conference  entitled “Voting In Concert: How Promoters, Artists, and You Can Make Political & Social Change.”  The panel, set for Feb. 12, will explore the different ways the live industry intersects with the broad political landscape, including voter registration, voter participation, fundraising for social causes, and more.

This year’s Pollstar Live!, the live industry’s premiere conference and awards, takes place Feb. 11-13 at the Beverley Hilton in Los Angeles. The first day of the three-day conference is dedicated to Production Live!, which this year features programming led by production legend Jake Berry (who worked on tours by U2, Rolling Stones and Beyoncé to AC/DC, Madonna and Motley Crue among others).

Pollstar Live!, which takes place Feb. 11-12, focuses on the greater live industry with this year’s conference featuring some of the most prominent figures in the industry. This includes The Messina Touring Group’s Louis Messina and Live Nation Entertainment’s Arthur Fogel in conversation as well as Endeavor’s Bozoma Saint John, William Morris Endeavor’s Greg Oswald, Vector Management’s Ken Levitan, Kilimanjaro Live!’s Stuart Galbraith, Ticketmaster’s Kathryn Frederick, Artist Growth’s Matt Urmy, UTA’s Natalia Nastaskin, Paradigm’s Marty Diamond, Nederlander’s Alex Hodges, Live Nation’s Bob Roux, Wacken Open Air’s Jan Quiel, Kevin Lyman Group’s Kevin Lyman, ILMC’s Greg Parmley, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ Stephen Ferrone, X Ambassadors Manager Seth Kallen, Global Music Marketing/iHeartMedia’s Alissa Pollack, CID Entertainment’s Dan Berkowitz, Synergy Global Entertainment’s Heather Vantress, WME’s Tony Goldring, Live Nation’s John Reid and C3 Presents’ Leca Guimarães among many others.

Look for more panel announcements in the coming weeks and registration for this year’s Pollstar Live! here while you can.

Today’s announcement of the “Voting In Concert” panel couldn’t come at more opportune time with U.S. politics in a state that could perhaps best be characterized as “turbulent.”  White, who’s been on the front line of voter registration, will lead the panelists through a discussion of the different ways the music industry has made an impact. 

Pollstar wrote last year that HeadCount, which was co-founded by panelist Andy Bernstein, had registered 500,000 voters since 2004 and had 25,000 volunteers over the same period, and partnered with Drake, Jay-Z annd Beyoncé, Panic! At The Disco, G-Eazy, Odesza, and Dead & Company, as well as at festivals like Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Outside Lands, Newport Folk, and Grandoozy in the period leading up to last election.

“You are just seeing concerts and the whole music industry become a place of deeper engagement,” Benstein said. “We’ve been doing this for 15 years, so you really can tell when [registration] numbers are a lot higher compared to the year before or the previous midterm elections, and everything we are doing is off the charts right now.”

#iVoted celebrated voting by organizing shows where voters could get in for free after polls closed, and a number of those gigs in Austin were reportedly thanks to Amy Corbin and panelist Margaret Galton of C3 Presents. 

Marika Shaw, who spent eight years with Arcade Fire, is the CEO and Founder PLUS1, which has raised more than $7 million over 3,500 shows from 125 artists, festivals and events. Those funds have been granted directly to 250 “high impact local organizations.” 

Jim James, who is also the frontman of My Morning Jacket, was featured as a cover artist in Pollstar last year, after he coordinated with HeadCount to organize his “The Future Is Voting” tour, which saw him perform shows in college towns with close electoral races. Many of those shows included free admission for students and appearances from candidates for office, but James made a special effort to keep the tour non-partisan.

Click here for more information on this year’s Pollstar Live! conference.