Been reading many “best of” lists and have discovered some interesting new music. But I’m also struck that so many of the amazing records we found this year are not getting the love they deserve. It’s not surprising. Getting new music in front of DJ/programmers and music journalists can be difficult. Who you know, what impresses those folks at any given moment, and why.

The music discovery and curation process for this channel exists largely outside the hype machine. People and companies are in touch and sometimes we listen. But mostly our jazz, funk, blues, Latin, rock and other genre picks arrive via preferred channels and a personal search routine. Notably, we’re not catering to the kids. In fact I continue to discover and add great music of earlier eras.

As of today there are around 225 songs of 2019 (by 100+ artists) being played during New and Recent Releases. One of every six songs during New and Recent Releases is from 2018 and there are still 249 songs in rotation from that year. In total there are around 4,300 songs in active rotation on Los Angeles Music Festival® music festival network.

In 2019 we had listeners in 145 countries with the top 20 well represented (U.S., Germany, Canada, UK, France, Japan, Australia, Switzerland, Russia, Italy, Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Colombia, Poland, Hungary and Norway).

So much great music this year! Thank you also Santana, Maná, Carlos Vives, U2, Elton John, Chick Corea, Yo-Yo Ma, Mavis Staples, Willie Nelson, Van Morrison, Philip Bailey, Vampire Weekend, Robert Glasper, Madonna, Dolly Parton, Green Day, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Howard Jones, John Mayall, Jeff Lorber, Marc Anthony, Alejandro Sanz, Anita Baker, Herb Albert and The National. See also Theo Croker, Samantha Fish, Paul Combs, Michael Wolff, Gaby Moreno & Van Dykes Park, Cigarettes After Sex, Flying Lotus, Juana Molina, Bonobo, Walter Gorra, Laurence Hobgood, Greg Murphy, Randy Brecker, Scott Routenberg Trio, Villa Lobos Brothers, Stew & The Negro Problem, SF Jazz Collective, NoJazz, Moken, Bria Skonberg, Angelique Kidjo, Alex Cuba, Cuco, Steve Poltz, Jazz Funk Soul, Amina Figarova, Great Lake Swimmers, Cory Weeds, Gente de Zona & Silvesgre Dangond, Richie Cole & Tony Monaco, Youssou N'Dour, Dave Stryker, Mayer Hawthorne, Field Medic, Röyksopp, Tame Impala, Diego Amador, Lang Lang, The Naked and Famous, Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet, Beata Pater, Le Rex, Nikitch Kuna Maze, Väsen, Mirabai Ceiba, Death and Vanilla, Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, Rampant Egos, Telekineisis, Al Hood & the H2 Jazztet, Kenny Smith, Lionel Hampton Big Band and posthumous releases by John Coltrane and Miles Davis.