Community

New Orleans' community radio station and the heartbeat of the city's music scene. Jazz, blues, R&B, brass band, gospel, and Cajun — all day, every day — plus the indispensable LiveWire concert calendar. Stream live from anywhere in the world.

Tulane University's student-run radio station, broadcasting since 1971. WTUL programs eclectic, freeform music — punk, experimental, hip-hop, jazz, local artists — and has launched more than a few careers. A genuine alternative voice in the city.

The definitive publication for Louisiana music since 1988. OffBeat covers artists, venues, recordings, and the culture surrounding New Orleans music with depth and authority. Their annual Best of the Beat Awards are the industry standard for the local scene.

New Orleans' alternative weekly, with strong arts and music coverage and the annual Big Easy Awards — the reader-voted honors that recognize the best local musicians across dozens of categories. An essential pulse-check on who's making noise in the city right now.

The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities' online encyclopedia of Louisiana culture, history, and people. Their music coverage is deep and well-sourced — an excellent starting point for research on any New Orleans musician or tradition, from jazz origins to Mardi Gras Indians.

New Orleans' newspaper of record, with ongoing music coverage, artist profiles, and obituaries that serve as an essential archive of the city's musical life. The Times-Picayune has covered New Orleans music continuously since 1837.

The most important music festival in New Orleans, held every spring since 1970 at the Fair Grounds Race Course. Jazz Fest is both a celebration and a homecoming — artists from across the world share stages with the city's own musicians across ten days of music, food, and culture.

The world's largest free music festival, held every April across the stages of the French Quarter. French Quarter Fest focuses exclusively on Louisiana music — no out-of-town headliners — making it perhaps the purest expression of the city's musical breadth in a single weekend.

Held every Fourth of July weekend since 1995, the Essence Festival is one of the largest music events in the United States, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Superdome and surrounding venues. A vital showcase for R&B, hip-hop, gospel, and soul with deep New Orleans roots.

A museum, research center, and publisher dedicated to the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South. Their archives include photographs, recordings, manuscripts, and artifacts documenting the full sweep of the city's musical history, from Congo Square to the present.

One of the premier archives for the study of jazz and American popular music. The Hogan Archive holds thousands of oral history interviews, photographs, recordings, and documents — including the largest collection of New Orleans jazz materials anywhere in the world.

Located in the Old U.S. Mint on Esplanade Avenue, the Jazz Museum presents the history of jazz through instruments, recordings, photographs, and live performance. Their permanent collection includes Louis Armstrong's first trumpet and the oldest known jazz recording.

The essential record store for Louisiana music, located in the French Quarter since 1992. Louisiana Music Factory stocks an unmatched selection of local recordings across every genre and hosts frequent in-store performances. If it was recorded in Louisiana, they probably have it.

A nonprofit providing healthcare to New Orleans musicians who lack insurance or access to traditional medical services. Founded in 1998, the NOMC has become a lifeline for the community — particularly after Hurricane Katrina — and a symbol of the city's commitment to protecting its cultural workers.

The nonprofit arm of the legendary Uptown music club, dedicated to nurturing New Orleans music through instrument donations, music education, and community programs. Their Instrument Drive has placed thousands of instruments into the hands of students across the region.

The specialized arts high school that has produced an extraordinary proportion of New Orleans' working musicians — from Wynton and Branford Marsalis to Harry Connick Jr. to Terence Blanchard. NOCCA offers conservatory-level training in music, dance, theater, and visual arts to students from across the region.

An advocacy organization working to protect and sustain New Orleans' music and cultural economy. MaCCNO lobbies for musicians' rights, equitable pay, venue protections, and policies that keep the city's cultural workers from being displaced by development. Essential reading for understanding the politics of music in New Orleans.

A New Orleans nonprofit founded in 2009 by a community of music fans, granting up to $3,000 at a time to musicians, artists, and culture bearers preserving the city's traditions. Since its founding, Threadhead has distributed nearly $1.2 million in funding — including the grants behind Paul Sanchez's Nine Lives and Captain Buckles' debut album, Hurry Up.