Bay Beats is a new program set to debut this fall curating works by local musicians on a digital platform run by the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL). It’s based on similar programs run in Nashville, New Orleans, Minneapolis, and other cities across the nation.
“It’s really all about community engagement and wanting to connect with this group of people [musicians] who have always been around us,” according to Electronic Resources Specialist Daniel Matsumoto.
Music has long been a major driving force behind local culture and discourse in the Bay, so SFPL saw the relevance of building a project like this a long time ago, but like damn near every other institution, business, and enterprise, it got waylaid by COVID-19. Now the project is back on track.
One of the first steps was finding a platform through which to provide the eventual streams. That would be Rabble, software developed to provide a space for digital music archiving through libraries. SFPL has also partnered with Amoeba—whose expansive music store on Haight Street has long been a fixture of the arts community—and started reaching out to local music luminaries to gather a panel of community judges. Then came defining what they sought in terms of genres that would represent the local region, but that proved difficult given the diversity of the Bay’s communities.
“In the end we came up with a list we thought we could be very proud of and also very representative of what we saw in the Bay Area,” says Matsumoto
How will Bay Beats benefit the selected musicians? For starters, it pays cash: a $250 honorarium for each selected artist, which doesn’t sound like much, but in an industry where recorded music has taken a backseat to live performance in terms of financial reward, even that payout is meaningful. There’s also the chance for publicity, as the platform will showcase artists’ websites (so they can connect fans with paid offerings like live shows and merch) and the implicit credibility of appearing on an official city platform. And since artists aren’t required to pay a submission fee or give over streaming rights to SFPL, it’s hard not to see it as a win-win.
“It’s almost certain to be amazing when we launch,” says Matsumoto. “We haven’t announced the date yet, but some time this fall we’ll have a nice collection and we’ll showcase that collection, probably at the main library, with at least one event, showcasing some of that talent.”
A lot of the project’s parameters still remain undetermined (for instance, that panel of local music figures has yet to be finalized), but they’re already seeing the submissions roll in, and they’re making the organizers question the very definition of music.
“Some of it’s live performance, some of it is studio recording, some of it is a cappella. The idea is not to restrict and discourage participation. And that’s what we’re getting right now. So that’s wonderful.”
If you’re a musician and you miss this round, don’t worry – the plan is for it to be an ongoing project—if city budgets cooperate.
Submissions for Bay Beats are being accepted until July 31. The main restriction is you must live in one of the nine counties to apply (sorry, Sacramento and Santa Cruz). More specific details on how to apply here.
