Music offices unite to amplify local music economies
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The city-owned Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville is part of a broader strategy to promote the local music industry. Photo: Courtesy of Josh Weichman
Music offices are banding together in a new trade organization to champion resources and best practices for local music scenes.
Why it matters: The association is formalizing its network to export the success music offices have seen in places like Huntsville, where investment in the local music ecosystem has made big quality-of-life and economic impacts.
Zoom in: The Association of Music Offices is formally launching Monday alongside the start of the Music Biz 2026 conference in Atlanta, where founding members will host a special roundtable on the group's goals.
- Those goals include establishing governance and membership structures, developing data framework to quantify impact, building community engagement models and creating a resource library for music offices.
Catch up quick: There are enough civic music offices across the country that it made sense to assemble an association instead of just running into each other at events, Huntsville Music Officer Matt Mandrella told Axios.
- Music offices support local music industries by working with artists, venues, businesses and government to help shape policy, programs and investment to grow that industry.
- Among the 14 founding members are organizations in Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, as well as Huntsville, New Orleans, Dallas, Tulsa and Memphis, and industry organizations like the Recording Academy.
Driving the news: "A lot of times it becomes our job to make decision-makers understand that so much of our industry is invisible," Reid Wick, the Recording Academy's director of regional advocacy and member engagement, told Axios.
- The average person attends a show and sees a handful of people on stage, he said, but there may be 800 people working behind the scenes.
- "It's time that we treat the music industry like any other industry," Wick said, noting that the film industry has had similar organizations for decades.
Case in point: Wick, who's based in New Orleans, said when he tells lawmakers Louisiana's music industry is worth $1.4 billion and employs more than 35,000 people, "it becomes a real industry to them."
- "If it's done right, an intentional music initiative can significantly increase the quality of life for residents and visitors," Mandrella said, adding that it can help attract companies and non-music development around venues.
- "Some people are foodies, some are into sports, some are into music," he said, on attracting companies like Eli Lilly that look for places where employees will have something to do after 5pm. "Having music in a community really, really helps."
Zoom out: Nationwide, 50 States of Music reports that the music industry adds $212 billion to America's GDP, supporting 2.5 million jobs.
The bottom line: "If you never bring them concerns about growing the industry, they don't know those exist," Wick said, of music officers reaching out to government representatives. "Your voice is so much more important than you think."