Help to Save Music Education in Schools

Written by Devin Miller

source of both pictures: www.dosomething.org/bands

DoSomething.org and The VH1 Save the Music Foundation are asking teens like you to help keep music alive in schools! By entering a video contest you could win $5,000 for your school music program!

With budget cuts occurring everyday, in many cases the first thing to go is a school’s musical education program. You can join in the fight against this by submitting a video to the Battle of the Bands contest.

DoSomething.org and The VH1 Save the Music Foundation want you to upload a video showing your musical talent, and explaining why music education is important to you. The top entries will be shown to members of Congress, asking them to increase funding for musical education.

Grab a video camera and tape your choir, garage band, glee club, orchestra, or any other musical performance. The top five winners will receive $1,000 for their school music program, concert tickets, Fender guitars, and Rock Band video games. The lucky grand prize winner will be awarded $5,000 for their school music program and a trip to New York City to perform at Apollo Theater in front of a huge audience with music industry executives in attendance!

Nick Jonas did a “Battle of the Bands” PSA.  click below to hear it

source: youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqh5Q4KgjmQ

Here are the basic guidelines for the contest:

-You must be 25 years old or younger

-You must be a resident of the U.S.

-The video can be no more than five minutes

-Must include a musical performance and a testimonial about why music education matters to you

-Deadline to register your video is April 16, 2010

A panel made up of expert and celebrity judges will assess the videos.

On the Battle of the Bands website it gives the criteria for judging:

-Creativity

-Strength of argument

-Use of social media to present your video and message to people around the world

-Average rating

-Number of people involved in the project

Battle of the Bands gives competitors some tips:

-Ask other people to star in the video with you, or help with the production.

-Include photos, shoot in unexpected locations, basically get creative!

-Use sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace to share your video with others.

-Play your video at different venues in and around your community to spread the word.

For more information visit the contest site (http://www.dosomething.org/bands). Start brainstorming ideas to get those creative and musical juices flowing!

Tags: battle of the bands, dosomething.org, music, Music Education, Nick Jonas, Save music in schools, VH1