Tatiana Moroz At Bitcoin South – “Why Artists Should Love Bitcoin”

Tatiana Moroz: Why Artist Should Love Bitcoin; A Musicians Perspective

Presented at Bitcoin South; Speakers list and videos

Bitcoin South Summary 2014

When I first heard about a Bitcoin conference in New Zealand, I was immediately hooked.  I knew virtually nothing about the fabled spot across the world, other than what I had seen in the Lord of the Rings.  However, that vision was certainly enough to lure me in, along with the promise of the unknown.  I arrived in Queenstown on November 28 and was simply unprepared for the stunning landscapes.  I easily declared it the most beautiful place I had ever seen, and the other speakers agreed.  However, what I didn’t expect was to find such a warm, welcoming, and motivated Bitcoin community.  While it wasn’t that big (yet), it was overflowing with passionate entrepreneurs and enthusiasts with a vision to make their relatively remote location the destination for Bitcoin adventurers around the world.

I came to Bitcoin South to talk about Tatiana Coin and the importance of crypto to the artist.  I have a long history of working in the industry, first attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, and then working as management at the top recording studios in NYC.  I have grown frustrated with the music business, especially in the past 15 years, because music has really gone down in quality.  A lot of times, the best artists starve, and the cheap junk food pop is exalted.  This is something that causes a sadness in my soul.  Is that overstated?  No, because music has always lifted me from despair, and cheered for me in my brightest moments, as I know it has for others.   It has the power to change the world and raise the global consciousness, comfort you in your darkest hour, and sometimes, it just makes you dance (which is important too!).  In a lot of ways, it is my best friend, and I know others feel the same way.  When I create a song and perform it, I immediately am bound in a deep way to the listener.  It’s very unique, and very powerful.  I am grateful for that, but these days it still remains difficult to make those connections.  Often times it can be hard to tap into your niche, or find the money to actually create albums, and then have the marketing knowledge to get it to the people who will respond and have a way to support you back.  It’s like, being an indie artist has its advantages, but there are new challenges that have come up as well.

So how did I end up in crypto then?  I always knew I wanted to make music with a message, and became very active in the Ron Paul campaign in 2012.  However, I found that the political process was not able to provide the change I felt needed to happen in order to bring us all more liberty and prosperity.  I learned about Bitcoin from Tony Gallipi of BitPay in August 2012, but I didn’t really “get it” till the Crypto Currency Convention in October 2013 thrown by my friend Jeffrey Tucker.  That is when I realized the true potential of this currency.  It didn’t require asking for permission (and getting nowhere) like voting.  It simply withdrew support for the war machine that the Federal Reserve facilitated.  No longer would our wealth be stolen, it would be much easier to provide opportunities to the less fortunate, and it would help bring justice to the world.  All this without having to stand in the street freezing to death holding a picket sign while the fat cats dined on filet mignon laughing in our idealistic faces.  It was pure capitalism at its finest, creating a superior product with a result of making the oppressive banking cartels obsolete through innovation.

As I became more familiar with the technology (which admittedly has a pretty tough learning curve), I considered what my contribution and benefit to the space could be.  I created the “Bitcoin Jingle” as a way to reach more people in a way that I knew how (through music).  The community responded in an overwhelmingly positive way, and I was encouraged to create the first ever artist crypto currency Tatiana Coin.  It offered a possible solution some of the challenges facing music today, namely funding combined with a way to reach fans long term.  With the advice of Adam Levine, Amos Meiri, Lisa Cheng, Ryan Keenan, and the team at Counterparty, TC was born.   It’s similar to an Indiegogo campaign, but there are long term relationships built with fans, a feedback loop of what works and what doesn’t, and no limits to the prizes.  It makes the fans feel like supporters all along, and they go on the journey with me to create the projects we all want to see realized.  It was a challenge without a real marketing budget, and of course the fact that we were trying to do something completely new made it trickier, but I was happy for the opportunity to create something completely new in the world.

Since it’s launch, we raised money to fund part of my new album, which so far has been paid for in crypto and is out in Spring 2015.  We changed it so as to make it a bit easier for folks to participate and buy coin by putting it directly on my site with a vending machine by Vennd.io.  We will be really getting the word out about it in the New Year to continue the album support.  We have been shooting a lifestyle, travel, music and culture based video series here in NZ and Australia, which will also be content funded and accessible first by Tatiana Coin holders.  It’s been a lot of work without a doubt, but it’s really exciting to be on the forefront of something like this.  I signed up the first major recording studio to take Bitcoin in NY, and we have started taped panel discussions about the future of the music industry.  I think we are only at the beginning, and can’t wait to see how things shape themselves with so many different perspectives coming together.

The most important reason for music and crypto combining is it’s a great way to connect with people of all backgrounds.  In general the arts will always move people, and stir their passion.  I think we are dealing with a larger evolution of mankind here, and it’s an opportunity that we have never had before.  The tech speak can sometimes turn folks off.  But you don’t have to be technical to listen to a song, because it’s a universal force that touches people of all backgrounds, and all cultures.  Isn’t that the goal of a world-wide currency?  So yes, we need tech people, finance people, VCs, and marketers.  But you need a way to get a message to all the people if we want to move things quickly into a more exciting, equal, and justice filled world.  Isn’t that what made so many of us fall in love with crypto in the first place?  This diversity is in our ranks, and the voice singing of a better future should ring clear with possibility.

I was honored to be a part of Bitcoin South, and I cannot wait to see what blossoms in the Bitcoin space between now and then.  Hopefully there will be even more people at the next event, but I have to save I loved the intimacy and close bonds with everyone that was there this year.  I know that we were all part of something special, and boundaries are erased when working in this field.  We find what we have in common, and look boldly toward the future.

TatianaMoroz.com

Twitter: @QueenTatiana