BKonthescene

By Sally Warburton

The 42nd edition of Canadian Music Week took place at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel conference rooms in Toronto. The 3 day CMW conference took place alongside Radiodays 2024 North America.  Live music has become a major part of the music economy. This year’s 7 day CMW music festival included artists such as Walk Off the Earth, Dallas Smith, Charlotte Day Wilson, Kingfish and Killy.  The CMW includes music award evenings – Live Music Awards where Canada’s Deadmau5 who is the most celebrated electronic artist who sold out the Rogers Centre, was inducted into the Hall of Fame.  

The opening session started with Neill Dixon, President of Canadian Music Week, who announced his retirement. With gratitude audience members showed their appreciation of his hard work and expertise over the years.  Randy Lennox, President of Loft Entertainment, will be the new President of Canadian Music Week. 

Many workshops, panel discussions, master classes, mentors café and fireside chats were offered over the 3 day conference. The International Marketplace had booths of equipment, colleges, workshop information and anything to do with the live music scene. So much learning of information and networking took place throughout the event. A highlight was experiencing Tom Jackson in action. The live music producer from Nashville critiqued a live band to show how small changes can make a huge difference in a band’s performance. Fascinating. He’s worked with Taylor Swift and Shawn Mendes, and with winners of the 2024 Jim Beam National Talent Search. Many of the events were hosted by the charismatic Rudy Blair.

Jeremy Erlich, the Global Head of Music at Spotify, the world’s largest streaming platform took part in a Fireside Chat with Randy Lennox.

Hip-hop was celebrated in the documentary trilogy which was screened during the conference. There were interviews with  Public Enemy’s Brother James Norman, producer Terminator X, and Easy Mo Bee, Brother James Norman who worked on both rap “Coasts” with The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. 

Tuesday, June 4 were the CMW Music Industry Awards. Hosted by Haviah Mighty. Jake Gold was inducted into the CMW Music Hall of Fame. Jake Gold was given his award by two members of The Tragically Hip, Paul Langlois and Johnny Fay, as he was their manager. This was a very touching moment. He has also worked with The Pursuit of Happiness, The Watchman, The Cliks and Sass Jordan, in addition to being a judge on Canadian Idol. This presentation was followed by a song by the band The Pursuit of Happiness. Also performances by Ari Hicks and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. Marsha Vlasic was awarded International Agent of the Year. For a full list of winners, consult the website. 

Thursday, June 6 were the Jim Beam Indie Awards at Danforth Music Hall Toronto with SiriusXM and hosted by Jamar McNeill. The award show which included The Beaches winning 3 awards, Karan Aujla, Indian singer and rapper, songwriter based in Canada winning 2 awards. A song by Tom Wilson and his son Thompson Wilson Shaw was amazing.  Tom Wilson also won the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award.  For a complete list and more info https//cmw.net  Then Finger Eleven hit the stage for their concert. The fans in the audience were ecstatic.  Excellent concert. Danforth Music Hall is a perfect venue for a concert with a smaller crowd. It’s very easy to get to by TTC from the Broadview subway. Steps away. A huge bonus in traffic congested Toronto.

Jacoby, lead singer of rock band Papa Roach and Raine Maida, lead singer of Our Lady Peace plus hockey players Joseph Woll and Ryan Strome were part of different panel discussions. In addition to the Canadian music scene, there was a focus on India and then panel discussions on African music.

‘It’s your Canadian Music Week. Follow the music and make the most of everything you hear.”  Excellent advice from Neill Dixon, CMW President.  Use the CMW app., read the guidebook, network with other like-minded music people, attend lots of different workshops, see the live music and enjoy every second. It was an honour to be surrounded by so many talented and ambitious artists.  A true honour.  We all felt it. We have lots of talent in Canada. Lots. CMW keeps getting better each year.  Mark your calendar for 2025! 

Check out all the photos taken during the CMW conference and award ceremonies. 

To view past sessions – cmw.n