I'm currently involved in booking artists for several festivals this summer. Recently, I spent some time reviewing applications for one particular festival. It's a smaller family-oriented event, driven by the local community and typically draws around 3000 visitors. While it may not be the most financially robust festival. It has though a family feeling and it’s a good starting point for a newer artist.

If you've worked in live booking, you know that personal relationships play a significant role - perhaps even more than you'd expect. The prices you can secure when you have established connections with booking agencies can be vastly different from what you'd get if you were just another person seeking a live show from an artist on their roster. In some cases, I've witnessed discounts of up to 50% off the regular price. This is why price tags are usually not listed on the agency's official websites; you have to contact them for a price quote, as it can vary greatly depending on the circumstances.

Indie Night In Canada (INIC) will host its annual artist showcase on June 6, 2023, featuring a lineup of 18 independent artists on two amazing stages during Canadian Music Week.

The showcase will take place at the legendary El Mocambo, and each stage will be emcee-hosted so as to keep things flowing as well as keep the energy levels high. Each of the 18 selected artists will perform a 30-minute set, with the schedules staggered between the two stages.

This format allows for everyone in attendance, whether they are music-loving fans, music media, or music industry attendees, to catch at least 15 minutes of all 18 performers. As INIC is produced during, but not part of, Canadian Music Week, running the schedule in a tight fashion allows everyone to be able to effectively get between venues and see who they want to see.

For 2023, INIC received 184 submissions to perform. “This year’s INIC Artist lineup might be the most diverse and talented offering we have ever presented,” says INIC Producer Paul Husband of The Next Level Entertainment Consulting Inc. “INIC is open to all genres of music because good music is good music, period.”

Sing! The Toronto International Vocal Arts Festival marks its 12th year with an array of inspiring live performances and industry insider workshops taking place from May 29 to June 4. The full schedule, tickets and festival passes are available now at singtoronto.com.

Canada’s premier a cappella festival includes 28concert performances incorporating musical styles from around the globe, from jazz to pop, barbershop to Broadway, and even spoken word.

This year’s festival will take place at The Concert Hall in Toronto. Performance highlights include:

Aysanabee leads with six nominations, Snotty Nose Rez Kids follow with five at National Indigenous Music Awards Show at The National Arts Centre in Ottawa

The Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival today announced nominees for The SSIMAs, (Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards) presented by TD Bank Group. Winners will be celebrated and honoured in Ottawa during the awards ceremony at the National Arts Centre on Tuesday, June 6th, 2023. 

The SSIMAs span 16 categories, celebrating solo artists, duos and groups from across Canada and showcasing the diverse and growing music and culture of artistic expression and accomplishment within the Indigenous community. Nominees were selected from 250 Canada-wide submissions by an invited panel of jurors comprising Indigenous and music industry professionals. No public voting was involved in the selection process. 

YouTube: youtube.com/c/SummerSolsticeIndigenousFestivals

It is also available wherever you stream music but being true to their aesthetic, Canada’s rockinist rockabilly band the Shook Boys just released their first 45rpm single and it hits hard. The band draws inspiration from the 1950s rock and roll era while infusing a modern sound that pushes the boundaries of rockabilly. This sound has them fitting right in with the fact they are a part of the LA-based, Wild Records. The double A sides single features the band’s original songs “Tell On You” and “Dead by 22”. Both songs were recorded at Ganaraska Recording Company and self-produced by the band.

STEPPING (instrumental written by Willi Williams) featuring Herb Alpert on trumpet

ONE MORE STEP (written by Willi Williams) with Willi Williams (vocals) featuring Herb Alpert on trumpet. Both tracks produced by Willi Williams & Michael “Greydread” Williams

I have come across this idea a few times lately from various blogs and articles: that as an artist, you must have the mindset that you are your own label, publisher, PR agent, and everything else. Being an artist today is like to starting a company, and you must build it up from the ground up.

This stands in stark contrast to the dream that the music industry has been peddling for decades, particularly during the 80s and 90s, which was that you could only "make it" if you signed with a big record label. According to that narrative, your job was just to get to the moment when you sign the papers, and then you could sit back and enjoy the ride.
However, that was never entirely true, and now it's even further from the truth. I've noticed that many young, intelligent people are abandoning major labels because they are frustrated that they can't get the needle to move in any direction for an artist. I see the same frustration in many people who work for new tech companies that try to fit every artist into their own box, believing that every artist is equal and should follow the same path to success.

Canadian Pro Audio manufacturer, Yorkville Sound, and iconic amplifier brand, Traynor Amps, are celebrating 60 years in 2023. This milestone marks significant achievements in manufacturing, sound technology, and tells the unlikely story of how a mild-mannered jazz trumpeter and a rock & roll bass player ignited a major cultural shift in Canadian music.

Six decades ago, Long & McQuade founder, Jack Long & then staff repair person, Pete Traynor took a walk outside of the very first Long & McQuade location on Toronto’s Yonge Street, seeking inspiration for their new venture.  With the Yorkville street sign in their line of sight, Yorkville Sound was born.

The first Yorkville Sound product was also a first for the globe. In the early sixties, lead vocalists showed up to gigs with a microphone and a hope that there was something to plug in to. At the request of a local band, Pete Traynor built two road-worthy column PA speakers to solve this problem once and for all. The resulting Yorkville YSC speakers comprised the first known portable column PA system, soon to be commonplace on stages around the world.

The career-spanning overview Tommy James with the Shondells and a solo artist, this is a ‘must have’ for any music fan.

This is the ONLY collection to include the A-sides of EVERY single he released between 1966 and 2006 – 47 in all – each one in its original version and format, whether mono or stereo.

Many of these tracks have never been released on CD and are available ONLY on this comprehensive compilation. Plus a long lost BONUS track he recorded in 1962 as Tom & the Tornadoes, “Long Ponytail”.

Had a great lecture with a researcher and expert on the music industry the other day. He had deep-dived into the AI that now is coming through at an enormous speed. And yes, it’s pretty clear where we are heading and what part of thhe business that will take the blow.

My guess here is that the recorded music will take a heavy blow. Making music has never been easier. Today I needed a new jingle for my Tiktok channel. With ease, I have five different AI systems that can make a jingle from scratch, copyright free, without any cost. It took me approximately around five minutes to get it and implement it in my next Tiktok video.

This song in the eighties cost me dearly. First, I would have needed musicians to make the song, then go into an expensive studio to record it. Just that alone we are talking over $1000.00. On top of that it wouldn’t be my song since another person wrote it, so I would need to get the rights. Then also mixing and mastering on top of that. And aren't even addressing the fact that it would talk probably two months to just create it.

Ann Wilson, known the world over as a founder and the lead singer-songwriter of the barrier-breaking band Heart, is here to stay.

Widely praised among the greatest singers in the history of rock, Ann’s extraordinarily powerful voice has been sending chills down her audience’s collective spine for over five decades, earning record sales of more than 35 million, an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award.

“Barracuda,” “Crazy On You,” and “Magic Man” are among the many songs she’s written that now reside in the pantheon of rock’s greatest hits. “Greed” from 2022’s Fierce Bliss plays seamlessly alongside the classics in her current live set.

It never ceases to amaze me how people think. When I plan my festivals, we research other music dates globally and check what we are up against even if it is on the other side of the world if it’s big enough. At the same time,  we check what happens in closer proximity or any other events that might attract people to get hotel rooms or not attend our event for some other reason. It’s part of being professional and thorough in our position.

Organize a local showcase for local bands and put it on the same day as when the biggest showcase in the world is happening just a couple of hours from your city. Top of that, the week before your event the biggest city in the area holds one of the biggest showcases in the country. I don’t know if you are bold or just plain stupid? Then to add to the stupidity you hold the event online? There is no way you can get a professional to be on since they are already busy. Maybe some local music industry people, but what is the point that two locals should meet online? Then you overcharge for your service and think that the industry delegates should participate for free?

SPIKE is once again getting ready to welcome delegates and performing artists to the ancient city of Plovdiv (EU Capital of Culture 2019) between 25-27 May, 2023. With an expanded program featuring delegates from over 15 countries and over 30 performances from artists coming from as far Canada and Japan, SPIKE is an international music industry hub where talent and ambition will have a chance to acquire new skills, opportunities, and partners.

“We have seen a 100% increase in delegate registration and more than threefold increase in artist applications,” reports founder Boyan Robert Pinter. “We take this is a sign from the music and professional community that have managed to provide the educational and networking opportunities that we set out to do.” 

Guests Who doesn’t love taking a trip down memory lane and reminiscing? If you think back to your youth, there were probably many iconic figures who made a huge impact on you, and wouldn’t it be cool to learn more about what made them tick?

If so, you’re in for a real treat as the 30-year veteran of radio, Jeff Sammut brings you his newly created podcast called, “Remembering with Jeff Sammut”. He unlocks all the behind-the-scenes stories of your favourite cultural figures with his first episode launching on Thursday, April 13th!

Remembering kicks off this Thursday with Toronto-born host, Jeff Sammut remembering the late, great singer/songwriter and legendary Canadian Rock icon – Gord Downie, the Tragically Hip frontman. This episode will give the listeners an in-depth account of his life and an inside perspective from Gord’s wife, Kaya Usher, who shares many amazing, heartfelt stories.

I just got a request from a music company to find new artists for them to develop. This is a really good opportunity for an artist. The style was not a big issue, they want music that works in most places, so not too nice genres like extreme metal, underground hip hop, or experimental music.

Since they want to invest for an extended period of time, they see that the artist is not over twenty-five years old. Not a must, but I can understand their wishes here. In fact, today age doesn’t really matter in the music industry since you can break through in the strangest ways and age doesn’t matter in those cases. Here they want to work with the artist in a certain way and need time that an older artist really might have available.

They had a special request that the artist should be able to write good songs themselves. Of course, they could buy them from writing camps, but they felt that they want a uniqueness for the artists so they would love to have an artist that could write their own material. But not a total must.