Music Canada is proud to return as the sponsor of the Album of the Year Award at the 44th Annual JUNO Awards.
“One constant among all the changes in the ways that we listen to music is the concept of an album, which remains the definitive statement of an artist’s creativity. An album is more than a collection of songs; it establishes an artist’s commercial and public presence. The album is the core of all of the activities that allow a performing artist to make a living, underpinning touring, merchandise, and licensing,” said Graham Henderson, President of Music Canada. “A successful album has a ripple effect that sets many layers of employment into motion, creating momentum for a tour or video shoots, which provide activity for agents and promoters, venue operators and sound technicians, and more.”
At Music Canada we are proud to work alongside the record labels who invest in great Canadian artists like those nominated for the Album of the Year Award, who support artists’ creative development, and who help bring their talents to the world.
The Album of the Year Award will be presented at The 2015 JUNO Awards Broadcast on CTV at Hamilton’s FirstOntario Centre on Sunday, March 15th.
Below you will find Music Canada’s Gold/Platinum certifications for the week of January 19, 2015. For the latest certification news, make sure to follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page!
In December 2014, Michael Buble’s 2011 album Christmas received the highest certification of the year, earning Diamond certification status in Canada. It is the first Diamond certification since Adele’s 21 in 2011 and the first Canadian Diamond Certification since Celine Dion’s Christmas album These Are Special Times and her greatest hits compilation All The Way…A Decade Of Song in 2007.
Earlier in the year, Mumford & Sons 2012 album Babel was certified 5X Platinum while Eminem‘s 2013 album Marshall Mathers LP 2 was certified 4X Platinum. The highest Canadian multi-Platinum album certifications were Arcade Fire‘s Reflektor (’13) and The Canadian Tenors‘ The Perfect Gift (’10), both of which were certified 3X Platinum. Other albums to be certified 3X Platinum were The Black KeysEl Camino (’11), Imagine DragonsNight Visions (’12) and Bruno MarsUnorthodoxJukebox (’12).
There were 85 albums certified Gold in Canada this year (up from 75 in 2013), with 20 of those albums being Canadian artists. There were 36 albums certified Platinum this year (up from 34 in 2013) with 9 of those albums being Canadian artists.
The highest certification for a song released in 2014 was Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” at 5x Platinum, while Sam Smith‘s “Stay With Me” and Meghan Trainor‘s “All About That Bass” were the 2nd highest certified 2014-released tracks at 4X Platinum. There were 2 tracks certified 9X Platinum this year; Adele‘s “Rolling In The Deep” (’10) and Robin Thicke‘s “Blurred Lines” (’13). Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger” was certified 8X Platinum (’11).
The highest certified Canadian track released in 2013 was Magic!‘s “Rude” at 3X Platinum, while the highest certified Canadian track not released in 2014 was Simple Plan‘s “Summer Paradise” (’10), also certified 3X Platinum. Other songs released in 2014 that were certified 3X Platinum were Calvin Harris‘ “Summer”, Ariana Grande‘s “Problem (ft. Iggy Azalea)” and Iggy Azalea‘s “Fancy (ft. Charli XCX)”.
There were 143 tracks certified Gold this year (up from 124 in 2013), 21 of which were Canadian artists. 74 tracks were certified Platinum, 10 of which were Canadian artists.
Some certified artists were presented with Canadian Gold/Platinum award plaques during their tour stop in Canada throughout 2014. These artists can be seen in the photo collection below:
Kongos (photo courtesy of Sony Music Canada)
Bruno Mars (photo courtesy of Warner Music Canada)
Nico And Vinz (photo courtesy of Warner Music Canada)
Avenged Sevenfold (photo courtesy of Warner Music Canada)
USS (photo courtesy of Coalition Music)
Fitz & The Tantrums (photo courtesy of Warner Music Canada)
The Sheepdogs (photo courtesy of Warner Music Canada)
Jess Moskaluke (photo courtesy of MDM Recordings)
Clean Bandit (photo courtesy of Warner Music Canada)
Slipknot (photo courtesy of Warner Music Canada)
Lady Antebellum (photo courtesy of Universal Music Canada)
Charli XCX (photo courtesy of Warner Music Canada)
Echosmith (photo courtesy of Warner Music Canada)
Tove Lo (photo courtesy of Universal Music Canada)
Chromeo (photo courtesy of Last Gang Records)
Magic! (photo courtesy of Sony Music Canada)
Katy Perry (photo courtesy of Universal Music Canada)
Glenn Morrison (photo courtesy of Sony Music Canada)
Ed Sheeran (photo courtesy of Warner Music Canada)
The Black Keys (photo courtesy of Warner Music Canada)
Bastille (photo courtesy of Universal Music Canada)
Arcade Fire (photo courtesy of Universal Music Canada)
Robin Schulz (photo courtesy of Warner Music Canada)
Moments before taking the stage for a sold-out show Tuesday night at Toronto, ON’s Air Canada Centre, UK singer and 2014 breakthrough artist Sam Smith was presented with a Multi-Platinum award plaque by Universal Music Canada. The custom award plaque commemorates the recent Double Platinum certification of his debut album In The Lonely Hour as well as it’s accompanying singles “Stay With Me” (4X Platinum) and “I’m Not The Only One” (Double Platinum).
Prior to his concert in Toronto, Smith’s tour stopped in Montreal for a sold-out show at the Bell Centre. Smith expressed his gratitude for his enthusiastic Canadian fans in the Instagram photo below:
German house DJ Robin Schulz was in Toronto over the weekend for a series of performances including a Saturday night gig at electro-hub The Hoxton and a Monday evening meet-and-greet at HMV’s new downtown Underground performance venue. During the stop at HMV, Warner Music Canada presented Schulz with a Platinum plaque for his remix of “Prayer in C”, originally performed by Lilly Wood & the Prick.
Schulz expressed his gratitude over receiving the award by posting a photo on his Facebook page, thanking his Canadian fans for their support of the track. A few Canadian tour dates remain on Schulz’s world tour including Vancouver on January 14 and Montreal on January 24.
Below you will find Music Canada’s Gold/Platinum certifications for the week of January 5, 2015. For the latest certification news, make sure to follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page!
On the weekend of July 11-13, 2014, Big Music Fest took place at Kitchener, ON’s McLennan Park headlined by rock superstars Aerosmith and Bryan Adams. As reported by the Waterloo Region Record, Big Music Fest 2014 provided a significant $7 million impact to the local economy, more than doubling the projected economic impact of $3 million prior to the festival.
Of the 60,000 attendees, nearly 65% of spectators came from within 50 kilometers of the Kitchener-Waterloo area. The other 35% was made up of out-of-province and international concert goers, arriving in Kitchener from nearly 15 states and as far as Australia, England and Japan.
Prior to his mayoral election victory in October of 2014, then-Councillor Barry Vrbanovic stressed the importance of music as an economic driver and ensured continued development of the live music scene in Kitchener’s downtown entertainment district as part of his platform. Vrbanovic also represented Kitchener at NXNE 2014’s Music Cities Exchange panel hosted by Music Canada and 4479, which featured public and private representatives from six cities that are working proactively to develop their local music sectors. Following the festival, Vrbanovic shared his appreciation for the festival via Twitter.
Big Music Fest is scheduled to return to McLennan Park in 2015 from July 10-12. In 2014, the opening Friday night was reserved for a free Battle of the Bands. A video recap of the free community event can be seen below:
Republic Live, producers of the Boots and Hearts country music festival, have announced a new annual music and arts camping festival, taking place at Burl’s Creek Event Grounds in Oro-Medonte, ON, from July 24th to 26th, 2015. The festival is a collaboration between the Peterborough, ON-based Republic Live, and US promoter AC Entertainment, co-founders of the Bonnaroo Music Festival.
The festival’s name and lineup are still to be announced, but the release promises “an extraordinary lineup featuring some of the leading artists in music, the best selection of indie bands and local heroes.” The festival will include four stages, art installations, a late night forest, an on-site farmers market, and will be licensed across the venue’s 700 acre grounds.
“We’ve felt so fortunate to see Boots and Hearts grow in 3 short years to become Canada’s largest camping and country music festival, with the same aspirations for this new music and arts festival we’re excited to share more details including the name, brand and of course the line up, in the coming weeks,” Shannon McNevan, Executive Director, Republic Live said in the release. “We can see with the growth of Boots and Hearts that Canada, and in particular Ontario, has the appetite to sustain camping and music festivals and we believe that the location, being so close to the GTA, is the perfect site for a music and arts camping festival.”
The release notes that the new festival fits well within the Ontario Live Music Strategy, which was announced in January 2013 to strengthen Ontario’s position as a global leader for live music. Republic Live estimates, based on the Ontario TREIM model, that the new festival could generate approximately $13.6 million in economic impact for the province in its first year, with the opportunity to generate as much as $40 million.
In 2014, the Boots and Hearts festival generated approximately $17 million in economic impact in the Durham Region. The festival has been so successful that Republic Live is moving the 2015 Boots and Hearts festival to Burl’s Creek Event Ground, which will allow for expanded capacity and camping grounds. Boots and Hearts’ 2015 festival will take place August 6th to 9th, and will feature performances by Brad Paisley, Florida Georgia Line, Dallas Smith, Chad Brownlee, with more to be announced.
The City of Hamilton moved forward with a major step in the Hamilton Music Strategy this week, as the City’s Music and Film Office moved into their new space in the Lister Building (28 James St. N). The office provides resources and information to members of Hamilton’s music and film industry.
Hamilton’s Music Strategy celebrates “all things music” in Hamilton, and “guides the activities of its partners to create and nurture an environment where music and the music industry flourishes, grows and prospers,” as per the Mission Statement. The goals of the strategy are to strengthen the local music industry, grow audiences and appreciation of music, increase access to music experiences, and cultivate music creation and talent.
The creation of the office was an action item outlined in the strategy document as well as the item approved by Council last January, which stated “the purpose of the Music Office is to be the single point of contact for the music sector interface with City Hall. Staff is to lead public/private efforts to generate new economic activity in the City, ensure music alliances deliver results, and identify ways that music can be leveraged for other sectors such as tourism, investment attraction and business retention.”
Jacqueline Norton, Business Development Consultant, Creative Industries at the City of Hamilton spoke with CHCH about the new location and goals for the office with CHCH. “Over the next year hopefully we’ll be setting out some details of what exactly are we going to accomplish and we’re going to start hitting the low hanging fruit.”
2015 is set to be an extra busy year for music in the Hammer, which will host the 2015 JUNO Awards and JUNO Week, which is estimated to have an economic impact of $11.9 million in Hamilton.
“This will really benefit a lot of hotels, restaurants, and major venues, so this will spread across the community – but it is something that our residents and visitors alike can take part in,” said Sue Monach of Tourism Hamilton in a video last March.
“It’s massive economic impact, it’s great for the local music community, and now that we’ve just opened our Hamilton music office, the timing is perfect to sort of bring together all of the elements of what’s going on in culture on the music side in Hamilton, so it’s a perfect fit,” said Tim Potovic, Chair of the 2015 JUNO Awards Host Committee.
Yesterday, Music Canada President Graham Henderson appeared on CBC Metro Morning to discuss the recent shutdown of The Pirate Bay, and how to restore respect for creators’ work.
When asked why the Pirate Bay remained in operation despite legal threats for so long, Henderson replied, “I think it’s one of the realities of our digital environment, that if you are persistent, and you want to operate outside the law, there are ways to do it. And very clearly that’s what the Pirate Bay has been doing for these past years. But it also reflects an almost insatiable demand for music.”
“The site was popular, because music is popular,” said Henderson. “What we’ve seen for the past 14 years is an entirely avoidable, inappropriate loss of value for creators. I think it’s fair to say that musicians and creators in general today are worse off than they were in 1999 – was that the plan? I don’t think that was the plan, and in fact, I would suggest to you that there was an implicit promise that came from the intermediaries, that came from everybody, that creators were going to be okay – and they’re not, and I think we can thank The Pirate Bay for a lot of the reason for that.”
Host Matt Galloway asked why, with the emergence of licensed digital music options, “what still drives some people to a site like the Pirate Bay?”
“It’s not even a really good experience, we have to remember that,” said Henderson. “It’s free, but the contrast would be a service like Spotify, which is $10 a month. I think people are gradually migrating to legal – I think once they experience legal services, for example, there was a brand new high-def service named TIDAL launched here last week – once they experience these services, they realize there is a phenomenal customer experience there.”
“Intellectually, people understand that illegally downloading is like stealing,” said Galloway. “And yet they still do it – how do you convince them to make that intellectual leap, that downloading is no different than going and taking something from a store?”
“I think that a lot of people have lost the connection with the recording artist; I think we have to restore that respect for the creative process, restore the respect for the creator,” said Henderson. “I also think we need to acknowledge the elephant in the room: creators are not doing as well as it was suggested they’re doing – in fact, they’re worse off. I think when people realize that the direct consequence of their actions is to impoverish the musicians they love, then maybe we’ll move in the right direction.”
“Do you think people care if Taylor Swift doesn’t get more money because they are getting it for free?”, asked Galloway.
“I don’t think everyone does, because I think people can be quite selfish in terms of the way they behave – but it’s not about Taylor Swift – that’s an easy thing to say, but what’s happening is we’re seeing an unprecedented shift of wealth,” said Henderson. “It’s moving from creators to the hands of billionaires and trillionaires – that’s where it’s going, into the hands of intermediaries. Lost in this – Taylor Swift is doing fine. It’s like the 1% problem – more and more wealth, concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, and the middle-class in the music environment: wiped out. We have more hobbyists than professional musicians. And I think it’s been very convenient in the past to think, ‘I’m doing this because rich artists are fine anyway.’”
Music Canada