Music Ally

It’s a good day for Democrat-leaning online music, what with Everclear’s ‘Jesus Was A Democrat’ giveaway, and now news that there are more than 800 songs about Barack Obama on YouTube. That’s right, 800. They’ve even been catalogued in their own channel.

How many of them are any good is another question, of course, but Obama’s YouTube popularity has been boosted by vids like Will.I.Am’s ‘Yes We Can’, and of course the infamous ‘I Got A Crush On Obama’ viral (watch that one above).

John McCain can’t compete, although a healthy stash of Sarah Palin songs have already been uploaded to YouTube, representing her popularity (well, or lack of it) among US voters.

(via Listening Post)

With the US presidential election coming nicely to a boil, Everclear are making it clear where their priorities lie by releasing a free download of their track ‘Jesus Was A Democrat’.

Apparently written back in 1988, the band has decided that the 2008 election requires its release. “I bet you think of him as a nice clean long-haired Republican / Nah, he would be all locked up in Guantanamo Bay if he were alive today,” gives you a sense of the lyrical focus.

Yep, they’re supporting Barack Obama, and presumably hoping to catch a bit of the same viral wave that made Will.I.Am’s ‘Yes We Can’ video a huge buzz online earlier this year. Of course, negative attention from enraged religious Republicans will only come as a bonus, in terms of publicity, for Everclear.

Want a listen to ‘Jesus Was A Democrat’? Download it from the band’s website.

The US Democrats have kicked off their convention in Denver, just after presidential candidate Barack Obama announced that his VP running mate would be Joe Biden.

CNET has been doing some digging into Biden’s voting record when it comes to technology and copyright, and points out that he’s a “staunch ally” of Hollywood and the major record labels when it comes to copyright law – in contrast to the expectation that Obama himself will liberalise US copyright laws if he gets into power.

“Few Americans will cast their votes in November based on what the vice presidential candidate thinks of copyright law. But these pro-copyright views don’t exactly jibe with what Obama has promised; he’s pledged to ‘update and reform our copyright and patent systems to promote civic discourse, innovation and investment while ensuring that intellectual property owners are fairly treated.’”

As the article points out, US voters will probably be more concerned with Biden’s knowledge and record when it comes to foreign affairs, but the music industry will be following the presidential election closely to guess how future US government policy may develop in its area too.