Music scene Events

While reflecting on this blog, and the nature of the GTA music scene/cluster, I realized that I have inadvertently implemented a bias on my discussions towards independent music, and the bar/club scene as key hubs for a Toronto music cluster.

After I posted the list of some of the great outputs our city has provided to the music scene, I realized that a music cluster would extend far past traditional bands and performers, and would likely encompass the arts as a whole.

To that end, I’d like to share with my readers a brief overview of how developed the Toronto arts scene truly is. Toronto is truly a hub for the arts, and is recognized on a global scale. I would say that every day we’re getting closer to a recognized music/arts cluster in this fine city – it’s only a matter of time.

 

Musicscape Slidecast!

We’ve been constantly embracing new technology over here at Toronto Musicscape, and are proud to bring you our first slidecast!

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

 

Cluster Geography

Every ‘true’ economic cluster has a geographical region. Examples are the Waterloo ICT cluster, the Halifax ICT cluster, and other similar clusters in other industries. The Toronto music cluster is no different. The majority of activity occurs within very specific boundaries, which you can see on the map below.

As is apparent from the map, the geographic boundaries of the Toronto entertainment district, which pull double-duty as rough boundaries for this cluster, are fairly constrained. However, a high concentration of venues, educational institutions, and artist support resources (such as music stores, recording studios) are within these boundaries.

This MasterCard sponsored page (http://www.mastercard.com/canada/teda/tedamap.html) provides a listing of many of the theatres and venues inside these boundaries that support the cluster and it’s growth.

 

So what good has come from this Toronto ‘cluster’?

That’s a very good question – but it doesn’t take long to find the answer.

Toronto has a history of developing and injecting the creative industry with high-quality individuals. A list (which is far from comprehensive) is available here . But here are some highlights…

 

 

• Louis Applebaum (1918-2000) – composer, writer
• Moe Koffman (1928-2001) – sax and flute player
• Glenn Gould (1932-1982) – pianist
• Teresa Stratas (b. 1938) – opera singer
• Bramwell Morrison (b. 1940) – singer, song writer, co-founder of Sharon, Lois & Bram
• Robbie Robertson (b. 1943) – musician, writer, singer, producer
• Sharon Trostin Hampson (b. 1943) – singer, song writer, co-founder of Sharon, Lois & Bram
• Neil Young (b. 1945) – singer, song writer
• Michael Cohl (b. 1948) – music producer, concert promoter
• Geddy Lee (b. 1953) – member of Rush
• Jeff Healey (1966-2008) – blind jazz and blues-rock guitarist and vocalist
• Tyler Stewart (b. 1967) – member of Barenaked Ladies
• Maestro (Wesley Williams) (b. 1968) – hip-hop musician
• Jim Creeggan (b. 1970) – member of Barenaked Ladies
• Steven Page (b. 1970) – member of Barenaked Ladies
• Ed Robertson (b. 1970) – member of Barenaked Ladies
• k-os (Kevin Brereton) (b. 1972) – MC, hip-hop
• Kardinal Offishall (b. 1976) – hip-hop musician
• Fefe Dobson (b. 1985) – singer, song writer

 

 

The list is long, and spans many years – but it gives food for though…how many creative people were lost due to the lack of infrastructure and support systems available in our fine city?

With the growth and recent strengthening of the Toronto music scene, it wont’ be long before we start to see more famous names added to the above list.

 

Musiccluster Podcast #1

(if the player doesn’t show up, check it out at http://odeo.com/audio/18049663/view]

 

Toronto Star: “Music industry needs innovation not intervention”

Throughout this blog, I’ve been pushing for recognition of the Toronto music scene as an economic cluster – and yet, despite the support of many key economists, this paradigm shift has still not occured. Why is that?

An article last fall in the Toronto Star shed some light on reasons why the music industry, as a whole, is faltering. You can see the article, in it’s entirety, on the Toronto Star’s website.

Some interesting excerpts…

In the mid-1990s, the industry focused on retaining its core business model by emphasizing two strategies:

First, it relied on copy-control technologies, supported by additional legal measures, to curtail unauthorized copying.

Second, it lobbied for the establishment of a private copying levy on blank media to compensate for the copying that technology could not control.

Ten years later, that strategy is in tatters. The use of copy-controls has proven to be an abject failure. Moreover, despite generating more than $200 million in revenue for the industry and artists, CRIA has abandoned support for the private copying levy.

A growing number of international stars are following suit. Last week, Radiohead released its latest CD without copy-controls on its website under a pay-as-you-like system.

The Radiohead announcement has unleashed a stunning series of follow-up moves – reports indicate that Nine Inch Nails, Oasis, Jamiroquai, the Charlatans, and Madonna have either left or are ready to leave their record labels in search of greater commercial success through live performances, merchandise sales and other online innovation that might even include free distribution of their music.

Other artists are exploring new distribution partnerships – the Eagles are selling their latest CD directly to Wal-Mart, Prince distributed millions of copies of his latest CD for free in Britain in a newspaper promotion, and Nettwerk Records, one of Canada’s leading independent labels, combined with a newspaper to offer free downloads of some of its most popular artists.

The music industry (and specifically the CRIA) has shot themselves in the foot. Copy protection levys have justified P2P sharing, and artists are getting sick of seeing executives take all the record profits. And we wonder why independent and local music is suffering? It’s interesting to note that even at the time of writing, not much has changed in this landscape.
Apart from a shift back to vinyl for true aficionados. But that’s another post for another time.

 

Ontarios’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund

While I know that clusters are typically geographically constrained organisms, I hope that by now, readers of my blog have realized that the music scene/cluster in Toronto is far from ordinary – this also stands true for it’s support systems. One unique system existing in Ontario is the Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund (Ontarios’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund), a project of the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC).

What is the OMDC?

Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC), an agency of the Ministry of Culture is the central catalyst for the province’s cultural media cluster including book publishing, film and television, interactive digital media, magazine publishing and music industries.

OMDC promotes, enhances and leverages investment, jobs, and original content creation by:

(a) contributing to the continued expansion of a business environment in Ontario that is advantageous to the growth of the cultural media industry and to the growth of new employment, investment and production opportunities in Ontario;

(b) facilitating and supporting innovation, invention and excellence in Ontario ’s cultural media industry by stimulating creative production, format innovation and new models of collaboration among sectors of the cultural media industry;

(c) fostering and facilitating co-operation among entities within the cultural media industry and between the public and private sectors to stimulate synergies in product development and the creation of products with original Canadian content;

(d) assisting in the promotion and marketing of Ontario’s cultural media industry as a world-class leader;

(e) administering provincial tax credit programs and such other programs and initiatives as may be required by legislation or a Minister of the Government of Ontario; and

(f) acting as a catalyst for information, research and technological development in the cultural media industry provincially, nationally and internationally.

To help Ontario be recognized as a leading global jurisdiction to invest in, create, produce and enjoy original cultural media product.

“Culture is our Business”

And what is the Fund about?

The Entertainment and Creative Cluster Partnerships Fund (the Partnerships Fund) is a three-year program of the Ministry of Culture and is co-administered by the Ontario Media Development Corporation. Program funds allocated for this, the third round, amount to over $3.0M.

The Fund assists Ontario’s Entertainment and Creative Cluster stakeholders in the commercial theatre, film and television, interactive digital media, music, book and magazine industries by supporting strategic partnerships that develop fresh approaches and solutions to the priorities and needs of the cluster.

Good news for a growing cluster here in the city. $3.0M may not go a long way in the eyes of some, but that money could make it for one of our many independent artists.

 

Toronto Independent Music Awards

One of the purposes of this blog is to point out why I believe Toronto is incubating a music cluster. While some would be skeptical of the music scene here in Toronto, especially compared to bigger players in the US, I would invite these skeptics to pay the $7 cover for the Toronto Music Awards, and go check out what this city is putting out there. What is this awards show, you might ask?

The Toronto Independent Music Awards are an indie awards ceremony, showcase series and seminar founded in 2004. The concept evolved out of a frustration for the lack of true support for independent musicians. The TIMAs serve as a platform to award and acknowledge up-and-coming independent artists regionally and locally. Our ultimate aim is to create an infrastructure to give independent artists a hand in ways that are actually useful by providing industry connected prizes and community support!

Sounds a lot like those incubators/facilitators we hear about supporting ICT in Waterloo….

What’s in it for the musicians?

– We had over 35 different MAJOR and INDEPENDENT MEDIA at our showcases and at our awards date.

-If you are a selected winner, you not only receive a MAIN PRIZE and UNIQUE PRIZE, but you get to showcase your music in front of a SOLD OUT CROWD at the following award show to take place at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto.

- We have a team of INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL JUDGES that are trained in each genre category, judging is completely blind and all scores are compiled by Bonaccorso and Cancelliere accounting firm.

Any budding musicians out there should check this show out, or register over at their website (Toronto Independent Music Awards).

 

Humber Music College Program

What cluster would be complete with some sort of musical institution at it’s hub? While I do acknowledge the contributions of U of T and the Rotman School of Business, especially in the realm of research, I think that Humber College deserves a special mention for it’s development of grads to support the Toronto Music Scene. A look at their program design shows why this school could be a key player in the growth of a Toronto music cluster.

What makes our degree unique

• Is the only degree of its kind in North America
• Focuses on contemporary music (jazz, pop, world music, R&B)
• Delivers a comprehensive education in performance/composition and music production
• Features a strong component of business and entrepreneurial studies

How our degree works

• Offers a two-year study of contemporary music followed by two years of dedicated learning in the profile of your choice: Performance/Composition or Music Production
• Provides for a professional portfolio upon completion of program

Where our degree takes you

Workshops and clinics with world-class musicians such as Renee Rosnes, Rob McConnell, Paquito D’Rivera, Maria Schneider, Michael Brecker, Bill Holman and others will complement the high level of expertise and professionalism of Humber’s own Music degree faculty. This unique combination of experiences will help you gain entrance to a wide variety of careers, including: performer, composer, arranger, songwriter, producer and clinician. Further education, including study in various graduate programs, is also an option for graduates.

That’s a comprehensive program. Note the links to industry skill sets, entrepreneurial development, and program streaming. A program such as this is integral to cluster growth in Toronto.

You can find out more information about this program here.

 

Florida’s “Sonic City”

In keeping with my previous report, I submit for your personal edification a second Richard Florida paper, this one titled “Sonic City” (view Florida’s Report here). While Florida noted the lack of quantitative research existing on music clusters in the previous report I discussed, it seems as though he’s working to change this, alongside co-author Scott Jackson.

Our research examines the changing economic geography of the music industry over the past several decades. It does so by tracking the location of musicians and music groups from 1970 to 2004 in 31 large U.S. metropolitan areas. It also provided a more detailed cross‐sectional analysis of the geography of music employment and music‐related business establishments for all U.S. combined statistical areas, core based statisical areas and counties in 2004. Our analysis suggests that the music industry is simultaneously becoming geographically both more concentrated and more spread out. On the one hand, New York and Los Angeles remain dominant centers, and a larger share of musicians overall is concentrated in fewer metros than in 1970. Furthermore, Nashville has emerged over time as a major center for the music industry alongside New York and Los Angeles. On the other hand, we find evidence of the persistence of smaller musical centers and scenes in smaller communities such as Billings, Montana. We suggest that these tendencies reflect the ongoing economic and spatial restructuring of the music industry brought on by technological changes which have lowered the costs for producing, distributing and consuming music.

The paper is an extremely interesting read, especially for those that love to crunch numbers. I found the following diagram interesting, showing a heavy concentration of music-related employment in the US mid- and north-east…perhaps this bodes well for Toronto’s emerging cluster?