What to know why Digital Music sales decreased in 2013. Check your kids phones.

According to Nielsen SoundScan.digital track sales fell 5.7% from 1.34 billion units to 1.26 billion units while digital album sales fell 0.1% to 117.6 million units from the previous year’s total of 117.7 million, as reported by Ed Christman in Billboard recent bulletin .

Digital Music Sales Decrease For First Time in 2013

I'll let that sink in for all of your digital only philosophers.  Ed further reported that the vinyl is now
2% of album sales in the U.S; digital albums comprise 40.6% and the CD is 57.2% and cassettes and DVDs 0.2%.

So the Music Biz ain't at 50/50 yet and for anyone that understand MATH physical is 60 percent of the Market.  Yet just about every new label formed since the advent of what ever that company was called thinks way too much about digital only strategy as the future while forgetting about today.  Let's be clear about the strength of CD still.  Next time you're inline at Starbucks or Whole foods, 7-11 or any service station driving down the road. Just look around.  All of them have CD within eye shot of the Cash registers.

Thus solving the riddle of why CD players are still in most Automobiles

I'll also directly respond to Ed's question is streaming taking from Digital Sales. when we look at our statements from #AltaArtists from the various services the streaming payouts are in the 10s of dollars sometimes only cents. Yet the companies are now worth billions?  Yes there is something very wrong here in Digital Denmark.  BTW why wouldn't anyone expect that to be the case.

Think of it this way. If you're not married to the idea that quality is better than rapidly you'll already jumped the sound shark and now it's about getting it NOW.  So you can log in to iTunes, what the pwd? do I have money, is my credit card working? Really I have to use my Mom's account?  Or you can steam it. Often for free, with ads, unless it's bittorrent/etc and no ones the wisers.

Now lets' be clear there was a winner in 2013 and that was the streaming services that yanked the wallet out from under iTunes. So what is the industry going to do about it.   I know at my company we're going to be making a very strong statement in 2014 about the Future of Entertainment Today and I hope that others are going to start to take a Clicks to Bricks Distribution Strategy in 2014.

BTW these same kids streaming are the ones buying Vinyl, Cassettes and yes CD's.  They're a fickle bunch and since they don't understand themselves it's gonna be harder to for us to understand them. However the one thing that remains supreme is Entertainment needs to cater to the AltaFans and they want it Digital and Physical.

Ave wage of US worker 27k. The average working musicians is way better.

According to berklee.edu nice chart over here we can see that we are not only talking about more than comparable wages ~working with the Music in the equation.

The VALUE doesn't stop here, since presumably these endeavors are producing some kind of output in the biz sometimes music is Magic or not so much;   However! each time it's Intellectual Property and the mere act of is (if you've been reading by blog) just raised the whole GPD of the USA by upwards of 3 percent.


So, as the demand for American music is growing (Ad Hoc - since music is something that everyone on the planet and perhaps others experience. Ergo Hoc  in case you didn't know it there are more customers every day.  Proctor Hoc more people to make more music. DUH [homersimpson voice])

I'm not sure why I would have to pitch USMADEMUSIC to US leadership however I do and under the current Administration we are on track to become a NET Importer of Music into the USA.   Again, let me let this sink in we will have more CD's shipped into the USA then we ship out.

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE THE BIGGEST RECORDING STARS and we're becoming a net IMPORTER come back for that blog too.  

So while I'm sure all the tech incubator are full on powerpoint and fluff blogs the WORLD revolves around music and thanks to our lack of leadership USMADEMUSIC is only 10 percent of it.   Again let this SINK in.

IMHO more music is needed here and around the world we do nothing to support meeting this demand. And, all of the jobs and educational investment to day has gotten us this.

The "raw" average wage, computed as net compensation divided by the number of wage earners, is $6,529,097,960,690.75 divided by 153,632,290, or $42,498.21. Based on data in the table below, about 67.1 percent of wage earners had net compensation less than or equal to the $42,498.21 raw average wage. By definition, 50 percent of wage earners had net compensation less than or equal to the median wage, which is estimated to be $27,519.10 for 2012.  http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/netcomp.cgi?year=2012

Again, Leaders are pouring money hand over fist into Job training however it doesn't include  STEAM. Proof is in the budget that Washington and your home towns put out and there's very little is for the Arts.  I've blogged about this...see here;  However, I'ma gonna do another one on it because there is more so... come back for that blog too.  

I'd love to hear from someone in the US as to why we're not beating drums and talking about building upon USMADEMUSIC. Since  the average wage is better and it comes with groupies (that go out and spend money.  I know we can do better, we deserve better and frankly the world needs USMADEMUSIC.

THINK about this Amerika it will keep to the politicians out of defining who we are as a nation overseas and that mostly tasseless and valueless Major Record Label music (aka part of a Multinational Corporation ) ya know they've haliburtonized the US Record Biz!

Let's face I'd rater have Doyle Wolf Gang Von FrankenStein then Joe WolfGang Biden reppin me in China. come back for that blog too 

Altavoz his throwing it's A into STEAM and so should you.

 So STEM is great STEAM is better and since it integrates Science & Technology plus Engineering & Arts with Math.

Hence the name.


Just taking a look at this blog you'll notice that I'm pretty PRO USMADEMUSIC and we're just not going to have music or any Arts with out education being a foundation where our future (KIDS) are introduced to it.

Here's a fact.

Students who study art are 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and 3 times more likely to be awarded for school attendance. 

Here's another.

• The US used to supply 80 percent of the Worlds Music today we supply 10 percent 

One last fact. 

• There are more people born every day and every single one of them needs art. 

Having first been introduced to STEAM via the Recording Academy Grammy on the Hill events I realized that for my company to survive let alone the US's place in the world of culture and economics to remain relevant we have to do something about it. 

And @AltavozDistroCo we're not waiting until 2014 we talking it this year.   I'll be making an announcement at the Washington DC Random Hacks of Kindness Dec 7th about a new program that we'll be helping to convey to school, community leaders and economist so stay TUNNED.........

1. http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-arts-education