New Orleans Hits A High Note
Data collected by Journo Research found that New Orleans ranks as the 11th most mentioned place in song titles around the world.
Using a QR Code Generator, researchers analyzed 1 million songs on Spotify from around the globe and employed entity recognition to identify the names of countries, cities, municipalities, and states. A culmination of 36,580 locations were found from song titles, which were then ranked based on frequency.
From renowned artists such as Stevie Nicks to new-age stars like BROCKHAMPTON, New Orleans has been featured in 276 song titles, according to the study.
Musical History
Known as the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans maintains a rich musical history with a diverse array of famous musicians such as Buddy Bolden, Louis Armstrong, and Fats Domino.
Beginning in the 1700s, enslaved Africans held gatherings on Sundays in Congo Square to perform dances, play music, and visit with one another. Popular African, Indigenous American, Cuban, and European musical forms laid the groundwork for the music of New Orleans, which is still widely enjoyed today.
Musicians began combining ragtime and blues into their compositions in the early 1900s, forming the basis of the jazz genre. Many historians claim that Charles "Buddy" Bolden was the first musician to play the blues on a brass instrument.
As many Black musicians from New Orleans moved to the north to escape racial inequality, jazz music grew in popularity across the United States.
After Joe "King" Oliver asked Louis Armstrong to leave New Orleans for Chicago, Armstrong began planting the seeds of his talent that would later be recognized internationally, forever shifting jazz music away from ensemble work and towards unique solo performances.
From its early roots in jazz to its continuous inspiration for artists across a range of genres, the cultural legacy of New Orleans reflects its frequent mention in song titles, securing its spot as the 11th most mentioned location in song titles worldwide.
