Best of The Beat 2013 Music Business Awards Presented

On Wednesday evening, January 15, 2014, OffBeat Magazine presented  27 awards to local music businesses, as well as its Lifetime Achievement Awards, at its annual Best of The Beat Music Business Awards event.

Networking is a big part of the Best of The Beat Music Business Awards event. (Photo: Earl Perry)

The awards were held in the third floor performance venue at the Old U.S. Mint, and was co-hosted by sponsor Louisiana State Museums.

The event began with an hour of networking by roughly 250 musicians and music business professionals, and included a performance by local singer/songwriter/pianist Sarah McCoy, who was described by a member of the audience as “fantastic” with a voice that sounded like “Janis Joplin swallowed Tom Waits.”

Publisher Jan Ramsey speaks about local music businesses. (Photo: Kyle Encar)

 

Publisher Jan Ramsey started giving awards to the music businesses in the state because she says “the people behind the scenes are very rarely acknowledged and appreciated, and they are an integral part of our music scene, and the success of our music community. They deserve some props.”

 

Business Awards included:

 

Best Club

Maison

Best Radio Station

WWOZ FM

Best Large Festival

French Quarter Festival

Best Festival Outside of New Orleans

Festival International de Louisiane

Best Neighborhood Festival

Treme Creole Gumbo Festival

Best Recording Studio

The Living Room

Best Record Label

Basin Street Records

Best Producer

Anders Osborne

Best Record Store

Louisiana Music Factory

Best Instruments Store

New Orleans Music Exchange

Best Studio Sound Engineer

Misha Kachkachishvili

Best Booking Agency

White Oak

Best Manager

Rueben Williams, Thunderbird Management

Best Music Attorney

Ashlye M. Keaton

Best Music Photographer

Jeffrey Dupuis

Best Club Owner/Manager

Brian Greiner and Jeff Bromberger, Maison

Best Concert Promoter

Dr. Ira Padnos, Ponderosa Stomp

Bourbon Street Award

Pat O’Brien’s

Musicians Resource Award

Ellis Marsalis Center for Music

Best Use of Music or Musicians to Promote New Orleans

Lily Keber, Mairzy Doats Productions “Bayou Maharajah”

Music Business of the Year

Hypersoul (Tony Ciaccio and Donna Santiago)

Community Music Award

Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans (MACCNO)

Best Use of Music or Musician in Local Advertising

Zehnder Communications (Advertising spots for Times-Picayune/Nola.com and Superior Honda)

 

In addition, Publisher Ramsey also presented Lifetime Achievement Awards to deserving individuals who have excelled in a lifetime of dedication to music, music business, music education and for giving back to their community (the OffBeat “HeartBeat” award). These recipients were:

 

Lifetime Music

Cyril Neville

 

Lifetime Music Business

Sherman Bernard

 

Lifetime Education

Jason Patterson

 

HeartBeat Award

Dr. Steve Price

 

View the Best of the Beat 2013 Music Business Awards photo galleries below…

 

BoB-2013-Business-trophy

This year's Best of the Beat trophies were hand-made by local artist and glass-blower Ginger Kelly.

 

And the winners are…

[flickr-gallery mode=”photoset” photoset=”72157640076204806″]

All photos courtesy Kyle Encar. For more photos from the New Orleans music scene, check out and follow OffBeat’s Flickr stream here.