Zack Brenneman
Global Entertainment Mag
Canadian Music Week is an annual celebration of everything to do with the music industry. It's a celebration which draws thousands of music industry professionals to one spot to learn about current issues in the industry, new tools of the trade, new business models, and of course, to network and see some great acts perform. The CMW schedule can easily be broken down into two main time frames; day and night.
During the day, there are celebrity interviews, trade show booths, panels and workshops that cover various topics from new business models to new audio hardware and software, to entrepreneurial sales pitches and songwriting workshops. Panels are an interesting way to learn more about what interests you, by listening to what those in that position are doing and how they do it. While some panels may be better moderated than others, I found them very informative. Celebrity interviews this year included Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue), Sammy Hagar (Van Halen), and Melissa Ethridge. These interviews were strictly non performance and weren’t as entertaining as you'd imagine them to be, typically the celebrity interviews came to a point where the celebrity would pitch their new book, or album, or whatever and not really asked thoughtful questions regarding their career or their performance or writing technique. I was a little let down by these celebrity interviews, but celebrities don’t have to be entertaining all the time, do they?
During the evening CMW has a hundred of bands, both local and international playing at dozens of venues across downtown Toronto and the GTA. This years major acts were Janelle Monae, Big Sugar, Janet Jackson, Mother Mother, Papa Roach, Protest the Hero, Shad, Good Charlotte, Finger Eleven, Sean Kingston, and Danny Fernandes, to name a few. To name every band and every venue participating in CMW would be an exercise in futility. To put it simply, every venue in downtown Toronto and the GTA has bands playing each and every night during CMW. Any of these shows are worth attending because you get a chance to see any given band or act pour their hearts out on stage, as industry agents and producers drift from venue to venue, all looking for the next big act to sign. There are so many bands performing at so many venues during CMW that it’s impossible to see everything in the 4 days of the conference. Seriously, it’s that big.
With the facts about CMW out of the way, I can address the most important question on nobody’s mind, what did I take away from CMW? As a music industry arts student from Fanshawe College, I learned that my teachers were actually right. While attending panels and workshops, I found that I already knew the facts and topics being discussed and it was solely because they had taught it in class. While I already knew something about the topics of discussion, as each panel passed I learned more about how industry professionals communicate between one another, and how much the music industry depends on it’s flexibility to stay afloat. Yes, there was a lot of chatter about the evils of downloading, and the fall of the major labels and “the old ways”, and other “boogieman stories” but the most important thing I took away from CMW is this: while nobody can deny that the music industry under doing drastic change, it may be the end of something old, but it’s also the beginning of something new.
The attitude I took away from CMW, is that the old ways of doing certain things aren’t going to work in today’s economic and social climate. Some things may never change, but generally speaking, change is inevitable. People are alright with that. We’ll work out new ways of doing things, ways that use the tools of tomorrow in new and creative ways. New ways of building artists careers from the bottom up, and new ways to get the audience involved with the artists career. New ways of reaching an audience that until recently, was unreachable. I learned that professional flexibility, creativity and a positive attitude are going to be traits which will lead to success in the music industry of the future. These traits have been important to have in the past, but they’re important now so more than ever, as technology continues to scale the 15 minutes of fame down to mere seconds of recognition. The name of the game these days isn’t “international hits” it’s “longevity and growth” and having the right attitude will go far to prepare a person for whatever changes may affect the music industry of the future. I took away from CMW a positive outlook on the future of the music industry. I took away the hard fact that as change will continue to happen in the industry, success will always come down to the people involved, their abilities and their attitudes, even if these people may never see their name in lights, they are the ones who continue to push forward in the music industry. Always have, always will.
There will always be humble music lovers like us to help bands get promotion and people attending their shows. There will always be a need for people who care about artist development and helping the "lesser known acts" are out there, and we're the ones working behind the scenes to open communication with these people. We're the ones who encourage people to listen and checkout a band live. Most importantly, we're the real fans of music, in whatever form it may take. And as much as the music industry will continue to change, one thing will always remain the same. None of it would exist as it does, without the fans support.
