UMG GETS BEHIND VOTING INITIATIVES

Universal Music Group has unveiled a voter-engagement drive for the 11/8 midterm elections. The All Together Now Foundation and its Task Force for Meaningful Change are running the show.

The initiative features new and updated installments of the “Use Your Voice” voter-registration and education program and “Pull Up to the Polls” voter-transportation components.

Moreover, UMG’s U.S. offices will henceforth be closed on election days to facilitate employee voter participation and Election Day volunteer activities.

Said UMG EVP of Corporate Social Responsibility, Events and Special Projects Susan Mazo, “Universal Music Group, through its Task Force for Meaningful Change and the Universal Music All Together Now Foundation, works towards meaningful positive change by partnering with organizations and tapping our passionate network of artists and music lovers to join together for a common cause. We are proud to work with our partners both internally and externally to ensure all eligible voters have the resources they need to cast an informed vote.”

The “Use Your Voice” campaign has developed partnerships and activations with organizations working to prepare voters to cast their ballots, including the following.

Content Series and Voter Information Hub: UMG produced the “Use Your Voice and Vote About It” series with nonpartisan voter organization HeadCount to discuss the issues voters may see on their local ballots and highlight the importance of voting in the midterm elections. The series features UMG artists such as Kiana Ledé and producer Benny Blanco.

Student Voter Mobilization Efforts: UMG's creative solutions team °1824 is supporting student-mobilization efforts, among them campus voter-registration training for college representatives led by HeadCount. °1824 also engaged its influencer-marketing team to create social-media content encouraging people to register to vote on National Voter Registration Day (9/20). This week, it joined HeadCount and partner Liquid Death canned water on the University of Georgia campus to hand out cans, urge students to make a voting plan and teach them about voting rights in Georgia.

LGBTQ+ Voter Education: UMG worked with GLAAD on Spirit Day (11/20) to support awareness about anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

Mental Health and Elections: The Universal Music All Together Now Foundation is working with the Mental Health Coalition and Anxiety and Depression Association of America to launch a content series focused on managing mental health amid election stress. They also provided direct mental-health support to community organizers and mobilizers working with HeadCount.

Election Protection: All Together Now is supporting Election Protection, a nonpartisan organization working to protect the right to vote. It runs a free voter hotline to help eligible voters cast their ballots. The foundation’s support helped Election Protection get 1,000 volunteers ready to monitor the polls.

Pull Up to the Polls: Pull Up to the Polls has partnered with Voto Latino to register 9,000 eligible voters by Election Day and the NAACP and YMCA to organize over 3,500 rides to polling places.