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ES.New Deals
The Cars frontman
Ric Ocasek signed
with SESAC.
Lil Baby signed
with ICM Partners
for worldwide
representation.
Island Records
signed Chicago
rapper Kidd Kenn.
Maren Morris signed
with Universal
Music Publishing
Group globally.
Brazilian singer
Anitta signed with
Brandon Silverstein’s
S10 Entertainment
for worldwide
management.
Executive Turntable
AT&T named
former BET
chairman Debra Lee
to its board
of directors.
The Grammy
Museum upped
Michael Sticka
to president.
Amber Davis was
promoted to head
of A&R at Warner
Chappell Music U.K.
Dan Rogers was
hired for the new
role of vp/executive
producer at the
Grand Ole Opry.
Lori Feldman left
Warner Records
to become chief
marketing officer
at Paradigm Talent
Agency.
Media Alert
ICM Partners
formed an A&R
partnership with
Good Charlotte
co-founder
Joel Madden.
Drake became
co-owner of
LeBron James’
digital platform,
Uninterrupted
Canada.
21 Savage held his
fourth annual Issa
Back 2 School Drive
to donate school
supplies to kids in
need in Decatur, Ga.
Obits
Broadway musical
producer/director
Harold Prince died
at 91.
Bob Dylan
documentarian
D.A. Pennebaker
died at 94.
Read more about
their lives and impact
at billboard.biz.
21 Savage in
Decatur, Ga.,
o n Au g . 4.
Propeller is raising millions for charity by converting music fans into social activists
B
ACKSTAGE AT BONNAROO MUSIC
Festival in June, The National and
Bishop Briggs held a cornhole
tournament with a fan. Nearby,
electronic producer NGHTMRE took two others
to a beer-tasting. Later, Kacey Musgraves
and Childish Gambino invited a few fans
to watch their sets from the pit in front of the
stage. These meetups and dozens more like
them are the kinds of personal experiences
music lovers are earning on Propeller, a website
where users can exchange a wide range of
socially conscious actions, from registering to
vote to volunteering, for rewards like concert
tickets and artist meet-and-greets.
Propeller’s Nashville-based founder
Brandon Deroche came up with the idea
in 2015, after years of touring in an alt-rock
band: “I recognized the opportunity artists
have to engage millions of people and use that
platform for good.”
At the time, Deroche served as director of the
Incubus-founded Make Yourself Foundation.
He launched Propeller as an experiment, just
in time for Incubus’ summer tour with the
Deftones. Users racked up points by sharing
an article about sustainability or watching a
video about the foundation’s goals, which they
redeemed for various prizes.
“Artists can engage fans in more ways than
saying, ‘Donate because I’m asking you to,’ ”
BY TATIANA CI RI SANO
From left: The National’s Scott Devendorf, Propeller winner Aaron Winden, Briggs and
Propeller winners Eliana Samson McClain, Liam Russell and Daniel Hastings.
says Deroche. His prediction was right. On that
tour, Propeller gave out 100 rewards and raised
$31,000 for the Make Yourself Foundation.
Propeller officially launched in January 2016
with even bigger prizes, like Lollapalooza
tickets and a meetup with Alabama Shakes.
Deroche left the Make Yourself Foundation
last July to focus on Propeller, which so far
has generated more than 3 million actions
and spread $2 million in donations across 100
charitable organizations like the American
Civil Liberties Union and Everytown for Gun
Safety. Deroche says
that 350,000 of its half a
million members joined in
the past 18 months.
“I’ve been concerned
with many issues facing
our country,” says Guns
N’ Roses bassist Duff
McKagan, who is working
with Propeller on giveaways
before his performance at
September’s Louder Than
Life Festival. “They’ve
made it easy to drive real,
tangible impact.”
Propeller’s next
partnership is with
Afropunk Festival Brooklyn
on Aug. 24-25, giving away
1,000 tickets to the event.
“We’ve been able to reach
our core community with opportunities to
make an impact,” says Afropunk director of
community affairs Manushka Magloire.
This time, users can redeem a festival pass if
they have accrued enough points.
Deroche sees the Afropunk partnership as an
opportunity to diversify its user base and the
kinds of charities Propeller benefits, especially
with the 2020 presidential election on the
horizon, by building voter engagement and
promoting such politically oriented events as
marches and webinars. Even at this early stage,
Deroche says Propeller is responsible for helping
65,000 people become involved as volunteers
for voter registration nonprofit HeadCount,
signing petitions and more.
“We really consider Propeller a ‘gateway drug’
to activism,” says Deroche. “They come in, they
get a whiff of it and then they dive in.”
GOOD WORKS
Instant Karma
NOTED Ju ly 29 - Au g. 6
24 BILLBOARD | AUGUST 10 , 2 019