Kelly Clarkson Wants You To Do Something For VH1’s Save The Music

You don’t need us to tell you how critically important music is to our culture, or how vital music education is to teens. Okay, you want some cold hard facts? Students who participate in music programs have a better chance of staying in school, perform better in math and score about 100 points higher on their SATs. Sadly, funding for such programs is at risk. Click to watch a PSA for Do Something and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation’s upcoming Battle For The Bands contest from upcoming Super Bowl performer Kelly Clarkson about what you can do to help — and score some major cash prizes yourself. (You don’t even need to know how to play an instrument or carry a tune!)

Click to watch a PSA for VH1’s upcoming Battle For The Bands contest:

Inspired to Do Something? You can take action by creating videos in one of three ways:

:: Original Music Video: Create a music video using music to tell us why music education is important in your school. You can create an original song to convey your message, or you can show us how great your band is and why music is vital to your school. :: Parody: Change the lyrics to your favorite song to tell us why music education is important to you. :: Voice: Want to tell us why you care about music, but you don’t play an instrument or sing? Create a video telling us why music education is crucial to you.

Judges (including Idolator’s very own Erika Brooks Adickman) will review videos based on: 1) Strength of the argument to save music education 2) Creativity 3) Number of people involved (excluding the Voice category)

Top videos receive: 1) Up to $5000 in grant funding for their school music program 2) Up to 30 tickets to a concert of their choice 3) Musical instruments to get them started 4) Up to $10,000 in scholarships for individuals or outstanding groups

Do Something, in partnership with the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, will create a mash-up PSA of the best videos, and a presentation of the top projects, to present to representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., ensuring that the youth voice has a seat at the table.

The contest officially starts March 1, so get brainstorming and head to Do Something for more info.