NEW ORLEANS PUBLIC LIBRARY
The New Orleans Public Library started originally in a small French Quarter house. The original library featured a petite collection of books, and has since grown into multiple branches in Orleans Parish with 15 branches across the city. The library also has a web-presence that further extends its ability to serve patrons that are unable to visit the libraries in person. Its mission is to transform lives, enrich neighborhoods, and preserve history. The library is certainly doing this with its new program. The goal of this new initiative is to help up-and-coming local New Orleanian musicians develop and foster a following and to give them access to the local music scene.
CRESCENT CITY
On October 3, 2022, the New Orleans Public Library started a new program, Crescent City Sounds, a music streaming platform for local musicians. This program is called Crescent City Sounds. "I could not be more excited that Crescent City Sounds is launching. This has been an amazing experience from beginning to end…Our curation team was exceptional. They got the word out to the community and brought in great artists to submit, their expertise choosing the artists we are hosting was second to none," said Josh Smith. Smith, a librarian, supervised Crescent City Sounds with the curatorial team. That team consisted of New Orleans Public Library, local music professionals: WWOZ DJ Alison Fensterstock, David Kunian Jazz Museum's Curator, Holly Hobbs music consultant and ethnomusicologist, Tavia Osbey co-founder of MidCitizen Entertainment, and Alfred Banks award-winning New Orleanian rapper.
As of now, there is currently space for 30 local albums on the platform. Submissions have since closed, but there were over double the amount of submissions than the initial 30 available spaces. While submissions are closed now, they will re-open again at a to be determined date in 2023. The current albums are a diverse selection of music genres: brass bands, folk, surfer rock and soul, hip hop, singer/songwriters, and more. The featured artists will be on the platform for a minimum of five years. The chosen artists will also be paid for their rights. This compensation is an added incentive to the artists.
For more information visit, www.nolalibrary.org or www.crescentcitysounds.org
