OffBeat, the monthly magazine that has covered the music and culture of New Orleans, LA for the last 37 years, will cease publication at the end of 2024, per a new report by noted The Times-Picayune/NOLA.com music journalist Keith Spera.
The long-running magazine, first published in 1988 and serialized beginning in 1989, has remained a vital promotional force in the New Orleans music world throughout its run. In addition to publishing in-depth features and interviews about virtually every notable player from the city’s vibrant musician community, OffBeat published a “Jazz Fest Bible” issue each spring that gave locals and visitors alike a comprehensive rundown of all the live music taking place in the Big Easy during the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Jan Ramsey, the magazine’s founder and publisher, told The Times-Picayune that barring a last-minute buyer stepping in at the eleventh hour, OffBeat‘s December 2024 issue will be its last.
According to the report, various factors contribute to the decision to shutter the publication. Ramsey and her husband and business partner, Joseph Irrera, are both 74 years old and are currently dealing with various health and mobility issues that have made the work-intensive process of publishing a monthly magazine unsustainable.
A shifting media landscape also complicated the magazine’s operations and finances in recent years. Since the pandemic, the report notes, Ramsey has largely moved to a paywalled, online-only model, and only printed the annual Jazz Fest Bible issue. The magazine’s office had downsized, relocating from its longtime home above the Louisiana Music Factory on Frenchmen Street to a smaller space at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Still, a continued decrease in revenue and increase in operation costs complicated the business’s cash flow. Per NOLA.com, “For the past few years, Ramsey and Irrera have not drawn a salary. … Revenue was so bad this summer and the previous summer that Ramsey had to borrow money just to produce the magazine.
“It’s time to let it go,” Ramsey said. “Joseph and I are getting older. We’re to the point where we can’t work like we used to work. We just can’t do it anymore. It’s a lot more stressful than it used to be.”
Though she acknowledged that she can’t keep it up herself, Ramsey maintained that OffBeat was invaluable to the New Orleans music community. “If somebody wanted to take it over, that would be great,” she said. “Something like OffBeat is needed in this city. OffBeat has been standing up for musicians and the music community for 37 years. Musicians need to be respected and music is just too important to the city’s economy and culture.” She has reportedly been in talks with several interested buyers but has yet to solidify a deal to sell the publication.
The OffBeat website, which includes daily news content and hosts thousands of archival articles, may “go into oblivion” in December, as well. To keep a website current costs money,” Ramsey told NOLA.com. “I can’t afford to just give it to anybody, because it’s worth something. You’d think one of the museums would want the archive. But so far nobody has come forward.”
Live For Live Music offers its sincere gratitude to OffBeat for its service to the New Orleans music community through the years. We sincerely hope a buyer emerges to keep the publication alive.
Read the full NOLA.com report on the impending closure of OffBeat here.
[h/t NOLA.com]