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Record Store Day 2014: Celebrating independent record stores from coast to coast

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RSDCOM2010vector

This Saturday, April 19th is the 7th Annual Record Store Day, and independent record shops from across Canada will be celebrating with special releases, live-in store performances, and special deals. Record Store Day was created in 2007 by a group of independent record store owners and employees as a way to celebrate the unique culture of the independent record store, and the special role these stores play in their local communities. Today, Record Store Day is celebrated in stores on every continent except Antarctica.

To find a participating store near you, visit Record Store Day Canada’s list of participating stores.

Independent stores celebrating from coast to coast:

Record Store Day 2014 is a cross-Canada celebration, with more than 170 stores across Canada celebrating, with shops in all ten provinces taking part.

Fred’s Records in historic downtown St. John’s, Newfoundland, will be the first store in Canada to open on Record Store Day, as the only store in the Newfoundland Time Zone. They open their doors at 9am and will be hosting live in-store performances and are promising “the usual bevy of limited edition vinyl.”

Back Alley Music is Prince Edward Island’s go-to Record Store Day location, and will feature live music from The Meds, Al Tuck, Emilee Sorrey, Peter Forbes, and more. In addition to the performances, Back Alley will have exclusive RSD releases and deals on new and used LPs.

In Nova Scotia, Halifax’s Black Buffalo Records, Obsolete Records, and Taz Records will be filled with vinyl-loving Haligonians. The Coast features an informative overview of RSD happenings in the three stores, as well as a look ahead to the Halifax Record Fair on May 3rd.

New Brunswickers will have multiple options to get their RSD fix, with Moncton’s Spin-It Records & Video featuring live music from Michael Goguen, Colonial Quarrels, Outtacontroller, Kappa Chow, and Fifty Feet of Earth, while Live Wire Records and Music Emporium will be opening at 8am, and will feature RSD exclusive releases, food, and door prizes. Also in Moncton, Frank’s Music at 245 Carson Drive will be celebrating Record Store Day beginning at 10am.

150 km down the Trans-Canada Highway in Saint John, Backstreet Records kicks off their celebration at 8am with special releases and live performances beginning at 1pm. Also in Saint John, SecondSpin will be celebrating with special releases, sales, and prizes, beginning at 10am.

Backstreet Records’ Fredericton location is celebrating with special releases and live performances beginning at noon.

Quebecers have a bevy of Record Store Day options, with nine stores taking part in Montreal, including Aux 33 Tours, Beatnick, Boutique L’Oblique, Le Pick Up, Phonopolis, Primitive, Sonik, Sonorama, and Soundcentral. In Quebec City, Cd Mélomane and Sillons le disquaire are your sources for that special RSD vinyl. Other participating stores in La belle province include Rimouski’s Audition Musik, Sherbrooke’s Musique Cité, and Saint-Hyacinthe’s Fréquences Le Disquaire.

Ontarians have lots of options for RSD swag, with Belleville’s Sam the Record Man, Bowmanville’s Vinyl Alibi, Brantford’s The Beat Goes On, Burlington’s Looney Tunes, Cobourg’s Zap Records, Dundas’ Records on Wheels, Hamilton’s Dr. Disc, Hammer City Records, and The Beat Goes On, Kanata’s CD Warehouse, Kingston’s The Jungle and Zap Records, Kitchener’s Encore Records, The Beat Goes On, and X-Disc-C Music all taking part, in addition to happenings at Lindsay’s Iceman’s Games Movies and Music, London’s Grooves, Hot Dog Musique and Cinema, Speed City Records, and the Beat Goes On. Merrickville’s Vinyl Destination, Mississauga’s Ric’s Recollections, Nepean’s CD Warehouse, and Oshawa’s Star Records. Peterborough’s Bluestreak Records, Port Dover’s Robot Café, Sarnia’s Cheeky Monkey and Red Vinyl Records are all taking part, while Ottawatonians can visit CD Warehouse – Ottawa, Compact Music, LEGEND RECORDS, The Record Centre, or Vertigo Records for their fix. Sunrise Records in Barrie, Brantford, Burlington, Etobicoke, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Scarborough, St. Catharines, Toronto and Willowdale are all taking part. For more on Toronto’s RSD offerings, see BlogTO’s overview.

In Manitoba, eight shops are participating in Record Store Day in Winnipeg. The Winnipeg Free Press’ Jen Zoratti has a great overview of RSD events in The Peg , where Argy’s Collectables, Into the Music,McNally Robinson, Music Trader,Planet of Sound, the Winnipeg Record & Tape Co., War on Music, and the Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store celebrate with special releases and live in-store performances.

Saskatchewan is represented by Regina’s X-Ray Records and Saskatoon’s Vinyl Diner , Bluemont Film & Record, the Vinyl Exchange, all of whom will be celebrating RSD in their own way.

In Alberta, Calgarians can celebrate Record Store Day at Heritage Posters & Music,Hot Wax Records, Recordland,the Inner Sleeve, Melodiya Records, andSloth Records. Jerry Keogh of Heritage Posters and Music spoke with Breakfast Television Calgary about what vinyl fans can expect at his shop this RSD beginning at 9am.
In Edmonton, Blackbyrd Myoozik, Freecloud Records, Listen Records, Permanent Records, Sound Connection, and the Gramophone Inc. will be taking part in RSD, which is a nice lead-in to the Edmonton Music Collectors Show, happening April 27th.

British Columbia boasts a bounty of participating record shops, with Vancouver represented by Audiophile, Beatstreet Records, Dandelion Records & Emporium, Highlife Records, Red Cat Records,Scrape Records, Sikora’s Classical Records, Vinyl Records, Zoo Zhop, and Zulu Records. In Victoria, Ditch Records & CDs, Lyle’s Place, Talk’s Cheap, and the Turntable will be outfitting vinyl fans with special RSD releases. Vinyl fans can also get their RSD fix at Kelowna’s Milkcrate Records or Underground Music, Penticton’s Remember Vinyl Records or The Grooveyard, Richmond’s Beat Merchant, Salt Spring Island’s Salt Spring Sound, or Maple Ridge’s The CD Shack.

For the official list of special releases, visit http://www.recordstoreday.com/SpecialReleases, or download the PDF here.

For more on Canadian record store promotions this Record Store Day, visit http://recordstoredaycanada.com/, follow our Twitter List of Canadian record stores, and get out to visit your local record store!

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2014 Prism Prize Winners Announced

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Last night, the 2nd annual Prism Prize Award Reception took place at The Everleigh in Toronto, ON. The Prism Prize is a national juried award established to recognize the artistry of the modern music video in Canada. The 2014 Prism Prize was awarded to director/photographer Emily Kai Block for Arcade Fire’s “Afterlife” from their Triple Platinum-certified album Reflektor. Bock, who was also nominated for Majical Cloudz’s “Childhood’s End” this year, was on hand to accept the $5,000 prize.

“Emily made some truly remarkable videos last year,” said Prism Prize Founder and Director Louis Calabro, “it says something that two of Emily’s pieces were on the Top Ten Shortlist. Ultimately, I think our jurors chose Afterlife because it’s thoughtful and well-paced, and because – frankly – it looks beautiful.”

The Prism Prize Audience Choice Award, which is awarded based on thousands of online votes collected in collaboration with Exclaim! Magazine, was presented to director Kheaven Lewandowski for The Belle Game’s “River”.

Other videos on the shortlist, which was selected by a jury of more than ninety Canadian music and film industry professionals, included Hollerado, Keys N Krates, Shad, Jessy Lanza, Young Galaxy and Drake.

Writer/director Scott Cudmore and producer/cinematographer Michael Leblanc received the inaugural Arthur Lipsett Award, which recognizes an innovative and unique approach to music video art. Floria Sigismondi received the inaugural Prism Prize Special Achievement Award, presented to a Canadian music video artist for their artistic achievements and exceptional contribution to music video art on a world stage.

Plans for the third annual Prism Prize will be announced later this year. Congratulations to all of the 2014 Prism Prize winners and nominees.

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Digital Music Report 2014 released by the IFPI

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Today, the IFPI released the Digital Music Report 2014, which provides a comprehensive overview of today’s global digital music sector, including statistics on international markets, developments in the licensed online marketplace, and industry efforts to tackle online piracy.

DMR14 largeThe IFPI says that despite positive growth in most markets, overall global music trade revenues fell by 3.9% in 2013, to US$15.0 billion. This was heavily influenced by a drop of 16.7% in Japan, which accounts for more than one fifth of global revenues. Excluding Japan, the overall global recorded music market was generally flat, declining by 0.1% in 2013.

This report highlights the growth in music subscription services, which helped drive growth in most major markets in 2013, as revenues from subscription services grew by 51%, helping global digital revenues grow by 4.3%. Global revenues from streaming and subscription services topped the US$1 billion mark for the first time in 2013.

Digital downloads and physical formats remain an important revenue stream for the global recorded music industry, as downloads account for 67% of digital revenues, and physical product sales account for more than half (51.4%) of all global revenues.

Performance rights revenue, generated from broadcast, internet radio, and venues, saw strong growth in 2013, as performance rights income to record companies reached US$1.1 billion, an increase of 19% over 2012. Income from synchronization deals, where music is placed in film, television, or advertisements, declined by 3.4% in 2013, now accounting for 2.1% of total industry revenue, the report states.

The report includes the IFPI’s Global Recording Artist Chart, which measures the popularity of an artist across an array of channels, including digital downloads, streaming services, and physical format sales. One Direction topped the chart in its first year of being tabulated, while Burnaby, British Columbia’s Michael Bublé achieved the #9 position.

The report also profiles how record labels utilize the digital world in promoting artist releases, with features on innovative promotional campaigns, including:

  • Sony Music Entertainment’s global campaign for Daft Punk – Random Access Memories , which coordinated physical advertisements like billboards with television ad buys and digital teaser videos to achieve the robot duo’s vision of a global album release
  • Universal Music Group International’s campaign with Avicii, which partnered with Ericsson to create a ‘crowd sourced’ hit song, and later unveiled the album as a live performance at the Ultra Music Festival, helping Avicii grow from a club DJ to a global superstar
  • Warner Music Nashville/Atlantic Records’ innovative ‘Youtube Orchestra’ campaign with Hunter Hayes, which enlisted a range of ‘Youtube Stars’ to post their own versions of his song, Everybody’s Got Somebody But Me, with Hayes and Justin Mraz creating a mashup of the videos in a one-shot music video
  • Passenger’s partnership with German indie label Embassy of Music, which worked with Sony Music Netherlands to campaign in the smaller Dutch radio market to establish a foothold on the airwaves
  • Katy Perry’s PRISM campaign, in which Capitol Music Group developed multiple promotional campaigns for the album’s various singles, including international events in Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan

To view the full report, visit http://www.ifpi.org/digital-music-report.php.

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Royal Wood performs songs from his new album, ‘The Burning Bright’, at Music Canada office

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After a culmination of five weeks spent writing in his ancestral home of Ireland, and, for the first time, Los Angeles, it only seemed appropriate to have the JUNO nominated Royal Wood stop by the Music Canada office mid St. Patrick’s Day celebrations for a performance. RW4

Royal played a set of songs from his newest album, The Burning Bright, which debuts tomorrow on iTunes. A few dozen festive people, including neighbours from the Liberty Village business community, had the opportunity to take in the set which included “It’s Only Love”, “Forever And Ever”, and “City Lights”, all of which are featured on The Burning Bright album. Our thanks to Charlotte Thompson of Red Umbrella PR as well, who handles publicity and proposed the performance, as well as Stature Films for putting together this live performance video.

RW2

Royal Wood’s EP record, The Burning Bright, has been said to capture his truest, most confident musical voice even as it chronicles an extraordinary year of tumult, travel and personal discovery. With a record so personal, and a product of multiple worlds, the anticipation of tomorrows release is high.

The Burning Bright is available now at MapleMusic.com.

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Meredith Shaw performs at Music Canada office

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Thanks to Meredith Shaw for visiting and performing at the Music Canada office today! Meredith played a short set of songs from her new EP, ‘Hardest Goodbye,’ including the title track and ‘Slide.’ A few dozen people took in the mid-afternoon set including our neighbours from the Liberty Village business community. Our thanks to Charlotte Thompson of Red Umbrella PR as well, who handles publicity for Shaw and suggested the performance.

‘Hardest Goodbye’ is Meredith’s second EP in a series of three 3-song EP recordings, and was released just yesterday via eOne Music Canada. The EP was produced by John-Angus Macdonald of the multi-platinum certified band The Trews, and follows 2013’s release of ‘Trouble,’ which was produced by acclaimed artist Joel Plaskett.

Meredith will be performing at her Toronto release party tomorrow night (Thursday, March 6th) at The Cameron House at 408 Queen St. West, which will also feature a performance by Andrew Austin. The show begins at 8pm, admission is $10 at the door.
You can also catch her on Canada AM tomorrow morning, when she’ll play ‘Hardest Goodbye’ on the AM Soundstage.

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Tom Cochrane Announced As A 2014 Inductee To The Canadian Music Industry Hall Of Fame At Canadian Music Week 2014

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Congratulations to Tom Cochrane, who has just been announced as a 2014 inductee to the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame by Canadian Music Week!

The award winning and Diamond-certified singer, songwriter, producer, activist and Canadian icon will be honoured at the Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Awards gala, taking place on Thursday, May 8, 2014 at the Kool Haus in Toronto.

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OMDC announces key dates for Ontario Music Fund program Years 2 and 3

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The Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) has announced the key dates for years 2 and 3 of the Ontario Music Fund.

As per the release, application launch dates, deadlines, and funding decisions timelines for the four streams of the Ontario Music Fund are as follows:

Music Company Development:
Year 2 (2014 – 15)

  • Application launch: Early April 2014
  • Deadline: May 30, 2014
  • Activity period: July 1, 2014 -July 31, 2015
  • Funding decisions: Early September, 2014

Year 3 (2015-16)

  • Application launch: Mid-March, 2015
  • Deadline: May 15, 2015
  • Activity period: July 1, 2015 –July 31, 2016
  • Funding decisions: Mid-September, 2015

Music Industry Development:
Year 2 (2014-15)

  • Application launch: Early May, 2014
  • Deadline: December 31, 2014
  • Activity period: April 1, 2014–May 31, 2015
  • Funding decisions: ongoing to late January/Early February, 2015

Year 3 (2015 – 16)

  • Application launch: Early March, 2015
  • Deadline: December 31, 2015
  • Activity period: April 1, 2015 – May 31, 2016
  • Funding decisions: ongoing to late January/Early February, 2016

Live Music:
Year 2 (2014 – 15)

  • Application launch: Mid – April 2014
  • Deadline: June 16, 2014
  • Activity period: August 1, 2014 – August 31, 2015
  • Funding decisions: Mid – September, 2014

Year 3 (2015 – 16)

  • Application launch: Early March, 2015
  • Deadline: April 30, 2015
  • Activity period: July 1, 2015 –August 31, 2016
  • Funding decisions: End of July, 2015

Music Futures:
Year 2 (2014 – 15)

  • Application launch: Early May 2014
  • Deadline: June 30, 2014
  • Activity period: May1, 2014 –May 1, 2015
  • Funding decisions: Late September, 2014

Year 3 (2015 – 16)

  • Application launch: Mid – March, 2015
  • Deadline: May 29, 2015
  • Activity period: April 1, 2015 –April 1, 2016
  • Funding decisions: Early September, 2015

For further information on the Ontario Music Fund, visit the OMDC’s website at http://www.omdc.on.ca/music/the_ontario_music_fund.htm.

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Music Remains – A Recorded Music Rube Goldberg Machine

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The IFPI has released a new film called Music Remains that illustrates that throughout all of the technological changes in our industry, there has been one constant: the music.

Shot at historic Abbey Roads studios, this compelling 90 second video features a Rube Goldberg machine showing various recorded music technologies.

Launched today, MusicRemains.org features the video, a ‘making of’ documentary, and lyrics of the rap in the video.

“The idea was to convey the message that, while technology may be continuously changing, recorded music is always at the centre of people’s lives”, says creative director Steve Milbourne. “At the same time, we wanted to it to be a very personal story. Pepstar’s lyrics are about key experiences – from the meeting of our parents to childhood memories, first girlfriends and family tragedy.”

Check out the video and feel free to share it using the hashtag #MusicRemains.

 

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Blue Rodeo named official 2014 Record Store Day Spokesband by Record Store Day Canada

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Record Store Day Canada has named Blue Rodeo the official spokesband for Record Store Day 2014, happening April 19, 2014 at independent record stores across Canada and the world.

The JUNO Award winning and multi-platinum certified band waxed poetic on their love for record stores in a new video released by Record Store Day Canada.

“When my kids began to develop their own unique tastes in music I took them to their first independent record store. It was like a whole new world had opened to them. The fact of the matter is those record stores are so much more than just merchandise sellers. They are a social service. Like-minded people sharing their love and knowledge of music. My children have never lost their connection to independent record stores and their knowledge of music is now broad and unique”, said Jim Cuddy in a release.

“Growing up, records were our religion. They were our statements of cool. We carried them from party to party, rec room to rec room, symbols of our hipness. It’s funny, things haven’t changed that much. Go buy some records. Take a trip!”, added Greg Keelor.

Earlier this week, Record Store Day announced hip-hop artist and social activist Chuck D would be the official Ambassador of Record Store Day 2014 south of the border, following in the footsteps of past ambassadors Josh Homme, Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop, and Jack White.

Last year’s Record Store Day was the largest yet in Canada, with more than 150 stores from across Canada are celebrating, with stores in all 10 provinces taking part. More information on this year’s celebration, including in-store performances and special release vinyl will be released as it becomes available.

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