The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center has reached a licensing agreement with Basin Street Records, an award-winning, New Orleans-focused record label. Under this agreement, Basin Street Records provides the Center with 16 hours of music that reflects New Orleans culture. This music, which ranges from jazz to blues and funk will be continuously playing throughout the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center lobbies to connect the facility’s national and international guests with a part of the New Orleans culture, played by internationally acclaimed local artists, including Kermit Ruffins, Jason Marsalis, and Dr. Michael White.
“It is rare that we see an opportunity to set ourselves apart from the rest of the industry in a manner this meaningful. Providing licensed music that is reflective of our unique local culture is a challenge for most every city except New Orleans,” said Michael J. Sawaya, president of the convention center. “This agreement provides locally-based Basin Street Records with advertising opportunities at our various outlets and affords event organizers access to a library of New Orleans music they can customize to fit their needs. This is a very unique opportunity and one that we are proud to offer.”
Basin Street Records was founded in 1997 as the means to produce a new album for New Orleans jazz musician Kermit Ruffins. Since then, artists signed to the independent label, such as Los Hombres Calientes and the Rebirth Brass Band, have gone on to win national awards from associations like the Grammys and the Billboard Music Awards. Basin Street Records have also won numerous honors, including being 11-time recipients of Offbeat Magazine’s Best Record Label award.
“We at Basin Street Records are extremely proud to partner with the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center,” said Mark Samuels, president of Basin Street Records. “This partnership will be instrumental in helping us achieve our goal of bringing New Orleans music to the biggest audience possible.”
With 1.1 million square feet of prime exhibit space, in an entirely contiguous hall, the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center provides the largest single exhibit space in the U.S. and the sixth-largest convention center in the nation. A leading contributor to the city’s robust tourism economy, the Convention Center’s event activity has produced $90.1 billion in economic impact since its 1985 opening, including $5.7 billion in new tax revenue for state and local governments.
