Thanks to the Global Citizen Tickets Initiative, popular artists are allowing their fans to fight world hunger and enjoy their music—all at the same time. Now that’s called killing two birds with one stone.
Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Neil Young, Kings of Leon, Black Sabbath, Brandi Carlile, Depeche Mode, Heart, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Soundgarden, Tim McGraw, My Morning Jacket and others will donate two tickets to every show they’re set to play for the next three years.
Through the initiative, fans can earn points by spreading the word about global poverty and participating in charitable works and apply them to a ticket lottery. Fans can earn one point for sharing a video about poverty on Facebook, and they can earn 20 points for raising $20 or more for a participating charity.
Sound familiar? That’s because the Global Citizen Tickets Initiative is based off of last year’s star-studded Global Citizen Festival held in Central Park. Young, Foo Fighters and the Black Keys participated in the concert, which raised $1.3 billion in pledges to fight global poverty.
Pearl Jam’s manager, Kelly Curtis, and Hugh Evans, chief executive of the Global Poverty Project teamed up to get the project started.
“It just shows the natural link between music and social activism to create change,” Evans said.
“I’m hit up every day for something, whether it’s up to play or donate a song or give money,” Curtis said. “I just thought, ‘What would accomplish a lot that wouldn’t require time or anything—what if everyone gave a show?’ You’re talking about social activism in a really great way.”
There’s a lottery system in which fans can accumulate between 10 and 20 points and spend those points on drawings for tickets. The Global Ticket Initiative focuses on awareness of issues such as poverty, polio, malaria, women’s rights, education and others.
“It’s such a non-political, easy thing,” Curtis said. “You can’t really say no, or you’ll be shamed into saying yes.”
For more information, you can check out the Global Citizen website.
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