If you read OffBeat or the Weekly Beat or OffBeat.com or check our social media sites, you know what we’re about. We focus a lot on music: live music and recorded music. Music is our “beat” (LOL).

But there’s a lot more to music that you hear and experience. It takes more than one musician to make the music you experience. It takes music instrument makers and sellers, it takes festivals and music clubs; electronics makers and retailers; sound and light technicians; recording engineers; recording studios. It takes managers and booking agents and attorneys who know what they are doing, and many more. It takes a musical village to give you the pleasure you derive from music.

These folk are behind the scenes; they don’t get the applause and recognition that they deserve, which is why we created the Best of The Beat Music Business Awards. This is an event that’s only for the music community to give some props to the people to are the support group to the musicians/artists.

At this event, we honor those who have contributed their talents and services to the music community over the previous year to help create our music scene.

This year’s event will be held next week on Thursday January 15, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s newly-completed home base: the New Orleans Jazz Market (located on Oretha C Haley and Martin Luther King Boulevards). Our guests of honor and Lifetime Award recipients will be Ellis Marsalis, Roger Dickerson, Gary Edwards and Pat Jolly. We’ll also honor some of our behind-the-scenes folk with an award to show them that they are appreciated for everything that they do.

This is an invitation-only event. If you are a member of the music community (musician or a music business or music education professional) and you haven’t yet registered to attend please email me so you can attend.

Don’t miss this chance to show appreciation to those who make our music scene so vibrant.

We’ll also honor our Lifetime Achievement recipients at the Best of the Beat Music Awards on Thursday, January 22 at Generations Hall. If you haven’t voted for this year’s recipients for a Best of The Beat Award, we have extended the voting until Friday, January 9 at 6 p.m. Vote now!