Jan Ramsey

Ramsey has been a music industry leader and music ecosystem advocate for New Orleans since 1985, when she formed the New Orleans Music & Entertainment Association (NOME), a non-profit geared to helping to develop the city’s music industry. She produced the first-of-its-kind Mayor’s Conference on Music & Economic Development in 1987. In 1988, Ramsey founded the award-winning OffBeat Magazine—a cultural icon in New Orleans for almost four decades in print and digitally through OffBeat.com, social media platforms and the free Weekly Beat newsletter. Ramsey produced many compilation CDs and has worked with local government and tourism agencies on their music programming, as well as the annual “Best of The Beat Awards” show. OffBeat works with artists, festivals and events to promote local music and culture and emphasize their positive effects on the local economy. For 16 years, Ramsey also created and published the Louisiana Music Directory, a comprehensive database of over 9,000 musicians, bands and music businesses—a free database for which she advocates consistently. 

Ramsey is known for her outspoken opinions in her blog, “Mojo Mouth,” addressing such topics as music and music business education; the pressing need for a New Orleans music museum; music and noise ordinances; Frenchmen Street development; the city and state’s lagging recognition of local music to promote tourism and more. OffBeat has sponsored hundreds of events, educational activities and business opportunities for musicians, venues and music businesses, including NOLA MusiCon.