If you’re in the music industry, your ears may have been ringing since Sunday, June 2 when the 2024 National Independent Music Association (NIVA) Conference kicked off in New Orleans. George Porter Jr. & The Runnin’ Pardners took the stage at Tipitina’s to welcome independent music venue employees from all over the world for the conference that prides itself on preserving and nurturing the ecosystem of live entertainment. (Other performers for the duration of the NIVA Conference, booked at various venues including d.b.a., Santos, Siberia, and others included Kermit Ruffins, Irvin Mayfield, Tank and the Bangas, and Water Seed, as well as several other local acts.)
If the name NIVA rings a bell, it should.
NIVA was established in March 2020 when the global pandemic threatened the survival of independent venues, promoters, festivals, and performing arts centers. Initially, NIVA’s primary goal was to advocate for Congressional relief for the independent live entertainment industry. Their efforts led to the introduction of the Save Our Stages Act, which OffBeat covered extensively during the Covid pandemic. Thanks to the relentless advocacy of thousands of NIVA members, the Act evolved into the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) and was passed by Congress in December 2020, nine months after NIVA’s inception. SVOG provided $16.25 billion in relief for the independent live entertainment sector, marking the largest arts investment in U.S. history.
OffBeat Publisher Jan Ramsey joined Rolling Stone staff writer Ethan Millman, as well as Emilio Herce (publicist from Q Prime Artist Management), Lisa White (director of communications for Nederlander Concerts), and Kelsey Kaufmann (Milwaukee-based drummer and owner of the artist-run venue, Cactus Club) on stage to discuss the symbiotic relationship between musicians, live events and media. Millman, the moderator, of the panel was quick to point out the high visibility layoffs in music journalism, both on the national and local level, that is plaguing the industry at the moment. Ramsey was quick to echo Millman’s sentiments, lamenting the current state of media in general, noting the rise of disinformation and the lack of ad revenue.
“Everybody in media needs help right now, “ said Ramsey to the packed audience at Generations Hall. “Print is becoming less and less viable but [at OffBeat], we are always trying to have a happy medium.” Ramsey described the way in which social media has replaced the generic PR-to-press pipeline, and that many artists decline to reach out directly via phone call or email to have their work assessed and reviewed by local music authorities from the publishing scene. She piggybacked off of White’s assertion that many times an actual phone conversation is what makes a story or artist particularly stand out to the press who is constantly inundated with pitches from PR people about why the artists they love are deserving of media coverage.
“Usually we have an entire section of our Jazz Fest Bible [™] allocated for reviews of artists who are playing and this year…well, we didn’t get any submissions. That’s just the way it is,” explained Ramsey. She lamented how artists believe social media is the only method artists see of how to convey their work to audiences.
“The business community [of New Orleans] doesn’t recognize the contributions of music on the tourism market. We still talk about things that will have impact on the local scene to try and get a handle on what’s going on, “ she added, citing the lack of participation in the New Orleans Music Census. Spearheaded by the Mayor’s Office of Nighttime Economy to collect comprehensive data about the local music ecosystem, the census has yet to see many contributions by not only musicians, but booking agents, sound people, music journalists and others who are interconnected with the local arts economy.
Together, the panelists surmised that music journalists provide a public service by notifying people of upcoming talent they may not have engaged with before. “Music journalism needs to examine the mechanics of how the industry functions and humanizing them,” said Kaufmann. Millman offered the artist Cindy Lee as an example of the power of what a music journalist can do — earlier this year, Pitchfork rated Lee’s album higher than any album of the past four years and her shows began to sell out, most likely as a result of the popular publication’s stamp of approval.
As the Rolling Stone reporter and OffBeat publisher traded war stories and lamented the state of media literacy in the United States, they seemed to suggest that nonprofit journalism may be the way of the future. Ramsey, ever trying to fight the good fight, stated, “Journalism is set up by an idealistic mentality. You’re just trying to help the community and make things right for everybody.”
For more information about NIVA, visit https://www.nivassoc.org/.
