Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle perform during the 2022 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival at Fair Grounds Race Course on May 07, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana.Keep your eye on us!” declares New Orleans music entrepreneur Nate Cameron Jr. “We’re in a very unique renaissance now.”
“There is now a significantly increased level of management,” Davis continues, “that can lead artists into making wise career choices; getting good publishing deals, which was lacking here for years; getting good record deals; and all the other career benefits that come with having national-level, nationally respected, well-connected, competent professional management people, such as Dino Gankendoff and Rueben Williams. There are good, new recording studios here as well.
Greater New Orleans Inc. vp of communications Matt Wolfe agrees. “The next step for the city is to execute on the business side of the industry — managing intellectual property, legal work, marketing, record labels, tour coordination and the other services that artists utilize in their growth trajectory,” he says. “The opportunity is here for the majors to capitalize on a market where artists already come to write and record.
“In addition to this program,” adds Martin, “we have two sets of tax incentives, the qualified music company tax credit and the qualified entertainment company tax credit, that give tax breaks to companies that hire three employees at $35,000 per year [the QMC credit] or five employees at $45,000 per year [the QEC credit].”