Free Tool: First North American World Music Directory of Festivals, Venues, Agents and More
(UPDATED) If you are involved in managing a world music artist — that is, someone who plays music with some flavor from Africa, Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Beyond – there is a new free resource: the first North American World Music Directory. The directory was created by world music PR firm rock paper scissors and funded by an Indiegogo campaign with title sponsor Bandzoogle. The directory can be downloaded at WorldMusicBook.com at no charge.
The World Music Directory, a nicely designed PDF, features over 200 festivals and venues receptive to world music, as well as helpful articles by festival directors, booking agents, a visa specialist, and more, each offering touring tips for world music artists in North America. The directory a;sp includes useful "heat maps" showing America's and Canada's geographic hotspots for world music performance. rock paper scissors founder Dmitri Vietze tackles the world music semantic dilemma head on with an article titled "The World Music Glass Ceiling and the World Music Contingency Theory."
Though world music is an imperfect genre category, it is a useful term for a resource like there where aggregation of receptive tastemakers for live music can be aggregated. Vietze and the rest of the rock paper scissors team hopes that the directory will be an annual publication and serve as a magnet for the field as new concert presenters and agents emerge in search of their globally-minded tribe.
Free 2 Day World Music Conference
In addition, Vietze is organizing and hosting a two-day world music industry preconference January 9-10, 2014, during APAP, the large performing arts center conference which descends on New York City every year with over 200 world music showcases alongside thousands of other performances. The preconference is free to attend for professionals of the field. More information on APAP here.
Additional information about the performing arts events taking place in NYC that week are available JanuaryNYC.org, under the umbrella "January in NYC is the Place to Be for the Performing Arts." The January consortium also includes globalFEST, a showcasing festival with a dozen artists at NYC's Webster Hall on January 12, 2014.
