Curators Needed for Crescent City Sounds

The Library will pick between six and eight community members to work with Smith and a team of Library staff to curate the fifth group of local artists. Artists receive an honorarium of $300, per album, if chosen for the platform. Curators must be at least 18 years old, based in New Orleans, and have a strong connection to local music.

“We’re asking the public to self-identify as a candidate due to the wide array of voices, backgrounds, and identities that populate the local music scene,” Smith said. “You may love everything about New Orleans music, or you may be deeply embedded in a specific corner of the scene most people don’t even think about, or land somewhere in between. Whatever makes you special, makes New Orleans special, and that is what we are trying to capture through this project.”

Past curators include Tank and the Bangas manager Tavia Osbey, music journalist Alison Fensterstock, local rapper Alfred Banks, members of popular cover band LSD Clownsystem, talent booker Mark Roberts, pop music scholar and author Kyle DeCoste, and others.

“Curating for Crescent City Sounds hipped me to lots of new music, put me in touch with other curators who also care deeply about the wellbeing of the city’s music and musicians, and allowed me to contribute to a free public resource for music-lovers everywhere,” DeCoste said. “If you’re serious about good music and care about the music of New Orleans, curating for Crescent City Sounds is one way to demonstrate and deepen that care.”

In addition to strengthening his connection to local music, DeCoste said working on Crescent City Sounds aligned with his ethics on music consumption.

“Crescent City Sounds offers a listening experience we can all feel really good about. I love the accessibility of streaming, but most streaming platforms pay barely-existent royalties to artists in favor of funneling subscription fees and ad revenue to billionaire CEOs,” DeCoste said. “With Crescent City Sounds, artists are paid an honorarium that is equivalent to approximately 70,000 Spotify streams. And, the streaming service is a free-to-use public good that is very much aligned with the Library and the good work they do for communities everywhere.”

Curator applications are open now through August 17. Music submissions will be accepted from September 4 through October 2, and new music will be released in December. Visit crescentcitysounds.org to apply.