Don't take my word on why music matter ~ watch this guy in a fancy suit say it.

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

Great to see innovation leading to charting sales from new artists and companies

It's great to see tangible evidence of how the use of technology and help a young artists, a new label and distributor make an impact in one of the most competitive industries in the world the US Entertainment market.    So getting on the Billboard charts is not just a symbolic achievement it's something tied to cold sales numbers. And, Quinn Sullivan's record label SuperStarRecords was able to make this happen because Altavoz their distributor, my company, recognized that offering Soundcan data collection to them on the road playing gigs would enable those sales at shows to start filter into the Digital and Physical retail sales.  The ability of small companies to offer back end services like this are a real part of why the Major Record Label/Distributor is breaking down.

Introduction to Altavoz

Incase anyone wanted to know what I did during the day and often into the nite...

Cities are reconnecting the dots and getting back to supporting music as part of community and technology.

So any readers of this blog know full well that I don't think we're doing enough to support USMadeMusic and the over simplification of it down to only being a service is a disservice to artists, music companies and our economy.  

Now I have to say that I'm please to blog about two cities that are turning their backs on the music is dead myth (hint VC and various leaders Local/State/Fed in Washington think it is)  and embracing what I and many others have been saying: Namely, Music and Technology are birds of a feather and now there's two more conferences with them together.  (sorry couldn't resist)

So who are the cities and what's the conferences?

The 1st one that came across my radar was one happening in San Jose aka Silicon Valley and it's called C2SV here's the Facebook link

And, for the looks of it this conference is going to be a very good mix of music and Tech and certainly an indication to other want-to-be tech capitals that they need to step up their inclusion of music and what it thinks makes up the economy.

C2SV is Silicon Valley’s showcase for technology and music. We're activating #dwntwnSJ for four days in September — more than a dozen venues, 70+ performers and a gathering of some of the smartest people in technology.

The other recent addition to the whole music and tech thingy is Boston and it's Boston TechJam
which is described as:  

"the block party for Boston-area companies, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and students taking place on Thursday, October 3, today announced finalists for its live "Startup Pitch Heard 'Round the World" contest for startups, entrepreneurs, and student teams to test their company pitches and ideas. >>>"The bands picked for the first annual Boston TechJam are tight, diverse and are going to rock the Innovation District like never before. The level of musical talent working within the innovation economy here in Boston is unparalleled and I'm honored to be a part of showcasing it to the greater Boston community. All the bands performing have at least one member working at a local tech company," said Ben Maitland-Lewis, CEO, Presskit.to and Music Director for the Boston TechJam. "Narrowing the selection to just five live acts was extremely difficult based on the amount of submissions we got, but it illustrated how rockin' the Boston tech scene really is and I look forward to many more TechJams to come!"   Click for more info.

So adding San Jose, Boston to Toronto and of course Austin - some of us are old enough to have gone to SXSW when tech was the afterthought instead of music gotta love that wheel of karma, shows me that we are now after almost two decades starting to get a handle on what is the cart and what is the horse when it comes to TechTainment.   Which of course readers of this blog will rightfully concluded that I believe it's the music first and then the shinny new technology.

BTW I love how both of these events are focused on the independent artists (Buy Indie Support Locals ) that are part of the community and it shows that being on a Major Record labels is not the end all be all theres life yet in music.

PS.   An announcement will be forth coming about a mini DCTECHTAIMENT event.

Music increases US GDP and some still debating if it's a viable industry?

Gotta give a huge shout out to Glenn Peoples and  +Billboard for putting out this article about something that I've been saying for years.  Music has value. 

To me music has always been the why not the how.  Something along the lines being the medium.. well without the intent to communicate there is no need for a medium.  And! it now seems that the  U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) agrees with me on this and decided to give the US Gross Domestic Product a 3% boost and a HUGE win for those of us in the music world. 


Or in Glenn's words 

"TAKEAWAY: The music industry has always punched above it's weight in profile, but didn't always have the influence that matters. this GDP shift could help fix that disconnect. 

According to Bloomberg's Peter Coy   this rise of the Intangible economy is for real and a couple of quotes from his article got my attention: 

"The effect of the revision will be immediate. Measured GDP will get a one-time boost of about 2.7 percent when the government starts counting R&D and artistic creation as investments. (New Mexico and Maryland will get the biggest lifts.) The future growth rate will probably be fractionally higher, too. With R&D treated as an investment, measured economic growth from 1959 to 2007 would have been 3.39 percent annually instead of 3.32 percent, the BEA estimates." 

 "If all forms of intangible investment were officially recorded, they would exceed investment in bricks, mortar, and machines, according to estimates by economists Carol Corrado of the Conference Board and Charles Hulten of the University of Maryland."   Link 

The Rise of the Intangible Economy: U.S. GDP Counts R&D, Artistic Creation

It also seems that the Secretary Pritzker, from the Commerce Department is getting in on the act too by touring Music making facility and promoting USMADEMUSIC  on the Sec's blog.  which also points this fact out. 
"In fact, entertainment, literary and artistic originals contributed $74 billion to the U.S. economy last year, according to the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis."








So will these new “intellectual property products.” ( which is a now how cost of new music and other artistic endeavors are to be categorized) bring in the investors that are seeking sustainable returns like the double digits one I' recently blogged about as well as those that want to be part of something more. IMHO music has always been more than most of us can put a handle on and this new way of our economist looking at it helps others start to see the more too.

Terrance and I Capital Hill~ Grammy On the Hill 2013