KEY TAKEAWAYS: New Orleans Public Library is recruiting six to eight volunteer curators for Crescent City Sounds. Applications are open through Aug. 17 for the platform’s fifth round of artist selections. The streaming service features 225 albums from more than 200 New Orleans-based artists. Selected artists receive a $300 honorarium per album, with new music debuting in December.   The New Orleans Public Library is seeking community volunteers to help curate the next class of musicians for Crescent City Sounds, a music streaming platform dedicated exclusively to artists based in New Orleans. Applications are open through Aug. 17 for six to eight volunteer curators who will help select artists for the platform’s fifth round of music submissions, according to the library. Selected curators will work alongside library associate Joshua Smith and library staff to review submissions and help shape the platform’s next collection. Launched in October 2022, Crescent City Sounds was developed by the New Orleans Public Library to showcase local musicians and preserve a digital record of the city’s contemporary music scene. The streaming service, built using software designed by Rabble, has expanded from 30 artists at launch to a catalog of 225 albums representing more than 200 bands. Library officials said they are seeking curators with a wide range of musical interests and backgrounds to ensure the platform reflects the diversity of New Orleans’ music community. “Our curation team really is the heart of this project,” Smith said. “Crescent City Sounds is strongest when we have as many different voices as possible at every level so that we can highlight the beautiful diversity of New Orleans. We encourage anyone who feels like they have the expertise to apply to be a curator.” Curators must be at least 18 years old, live in New Orleans and have a strong connection to the local music scene. “We’re asking the public to self-identify as a candidate due to the wide array of voices, backgrounds, and identities that populate the local music scene,” Smith said. “You may love everything about New Orleans music, or you may be deeply embedded in a specific corner of the scene most people don’t even think about, or land somewhere in between. Whatever makes you special, makes New Orleans special, and that is what we are trying to capture through this project.” Artists selected for the platform will receive a $300 honorarium for each album included. Past volunteer curators have included music industry professionals and artists such as Tank and the Bangas manager Tavia Osbey, music journalist Alison Fensterstock, rapper Alfred Banks, members of LSD Clownsystem, talent booker Mark Roberts and author Kyle DeCoste. “Curating for Crescent City Sounds hipped me to lots of new music, put me in touch with other curators who also care deeply about the wellbeing of the city’s music and musicians, and allowed me to contribute to a free public resource for music-lovers everywhere,” DeCoste said. “If you’re serious about good music and care about the music of New Orleans, curating for Crescent City Sounds is one way to demonstrate and deepen that care.” Music submissions for artists will be accepted from Sept. 4 through Oct. 2, with the next collection scheduled for release in December. The New Orleans Public Library, whose history dates to 1843, operates more than 15 locations across Orleans Parish. ...read more read less