$Million idea #4

idea: Free concerts to promote voter turnout

Again, not really going to make $1,000,000 but it will get more people out to vote which is priceless, right? Well, maybe... I'll tell you on November 5th. So I'm perusing the Detroit News today like I always do (Detroit Free Press -- you are horrible) and come across this article:

Jay-Z to hold free Detroit Concert To boost Voter Turnout
Barak Obama is getting a little celebrity help in encouraging new voters to register: a free concert this Saturday night by platinum-selling rap artist Jay-Z at Cobo Arena. The 8:30pm show is free, but tickets are required, and will be distributed beginning Wednesday afternoon at Obama campaign offices in Metro Detroit. (source)

That is a fantastic idea and really one that has been done before with the Vote For Change tour 4 years ago (Pearl Jam in Grand Rapids was AWESOME!) and countless others I'm sure. These tours help to get people registered but does it actually do anything on election day? Really, why not just go the extra step and do this on election day.

Instead of doing your concert a full month before the elections, why not pick out 10 major cities in the swing states and do concerts the night of the election with free admission going to people that have voted that day. You could even have a show for each genre if you like to appeal to a wider crowd. Point being that getting 60,000 people at a show is not hard to do and if 1/2 of them voted just to be able to get in free then you are talking 300,000 extra voters and every one wins.