NEW ORLEANS — The City of New Orleans is gathering data they say could shape the future of New Orleans' music policy. It's a survey campaign called The New Orleans Music Census.
WWL Louisiana's Whitney Miller spoke with organizers and musicians about the effort.
It's safe to say music is everything in New Orleans – It's why Akeem of The Band Love Your Own Noise says he chose New Orleans to further his music career.
“My music is R&B, Jazz, Soul, Funk… it comes from the heart and goes to the heart," Akeem Welch.
Recently Akeem filled out the New Orleans Music Census survey. It's a new data-grabbing tool created by the City's Office of Nighttime Economy. Its main goal is capturing the challenges that make up the New Orleans music scene.
“Some of the major challenges we face are actually having quality music venues and having enough venues that can give the financial backing for bands that need it and are growing," he explained.
Julia Heath is managing the project and says the data could potentially unlock programs and resources for musicians.
“Hearing from the venues, hearing from the artists, hearing from the sound engineers about what challenges and opportunities they see is going to be a really important part of making that roadmap," Heath said.
The city says they are nearly halfway to their goal of the number of surveys they want, but they say they need more participants if they want to get a full picture of the music ecosystem here in New Orleans.
“That data is going to turn into a series of recommendations about steps going forward. What are some programs that we can create as the city that will help alleviate some of the pressure of our musicians, our culture bearers,” she explained.
Some of those pressures include business support, affordable housing, or even the willingness to stay in the city.
“We don’t want to just assume we know what the issues are we want to make sure that we are hearing directly from every corner of the city."
Originally the deadline to fill out the survey was set for Friday. The city is now extending the deadline.
Fill out the survey here.
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