Christopher Naoum

Cofounder, Listen Local First (Kingman Island Bluegrass and Folk Festival, Funk Parade)

Washington, D.C.

Chris Naoum Chris Naoum is the Co-founder of Listen Local First (listenlocalfirst.com).  Listen Local First DC (LLF) is a local music initiative devoted to building awareness and creating opportunities for local musicians to raise the profile of DC’s local music scene. LLF was born out of a collaboration with Think Local First DC and seeks to partner with local musicians, arts organizations, venues and businesses to create performance opportunities and new avenues for local music exploration. LLF co organizes two of the District’s largest all local music festivals, Kingman Island Bluegrass and Folk Festival and Funk Parade. LLF plans to launch the Fair Trade Music DC initiative in 2016 and has been working with a number of local government agencies and officials to establish a permanent DC Local Music Taskforce to advocate for musician specific interests within the broader Creative Economy.

Chris Naoum is a telecom attorney with background in copyright and media law and policy. Chris has advocated on behalf of the independent music community for the past 6 years focusing on artist development and policy reform that benefits the local creative economy. Before moving to Washington, Chris received his BA from Emory University and his JD and MA in Television Radio and Film Policy from Syracuse University.