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Tag archive: Jeff Leiper (4)

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City of Ottawa’s Draft Budget 2018 makes significant commitment to Ottawa Music Strategy

The City of Ottawa made a significant commitment to the city’s burgeoning Music Strategy today, as Mayor Jim Watson unveiled Ottawa’s Draft Budget 2018 at City Council. The draft budget earmarks $100,000 to support the Ottawa Music Strategy.

The Ottawa Music Strategy was announced last March, and is part of the legacy of Ottawa’s hosting of the 2017 JUNO Awards. The Strategy is being developed by the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition (OMIC), with the goal of making the nation’s capital one of the world’s premier music cities. OMIC has already assembled a group of music industry representatives and local business and community leaders, known as the Ottawa Music Strategy Task Force, to develop a series of practical recommendations for the Strategy.

The announcement was applauded on Twitter by OMIC, Ottawa Councillor Jeff Leiper, and Music Canada Live.

To help guide the Strategy’s final recommendations, OMIC and the City of Ottawa are seeking public input in a brief, anonymous survey. The Strategy is expected to be presented to City Council in early 2018.

The draft budget will be voted on by City Council on Dec. 13, 2017.

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MEGAPHONO 2016 – ‘In Search of the Music City’ panel video posted

Ottawa-based music organization MEGAPHONO has posted a video of their In Search Of The Music City: What Does Local Business Have To Gain? panel, which it co-presented in February 2016 alongside the Ontario Music Industry Coalition (OMIC).

The discussion was moderated by Music Canada Live‘s Erin Benjamin and featured panelists Mark Garner (Downtown Yonge BIA), Councillor Jeff Leiper (City of Ottawa), Amy Terrill (Music Canada) and Tim Potocic (Sonic Unyon / Supercrawl). The panelists shared how music has changed their communities, and how they are working businesses to foster a better environment for artists and artist entrepreneurs.

The full video is available at https://vimeo.com/164892912, and is embedded below.

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What last night’s municipal election results mean for music sector development in Ontario

Last night, voters across Ontario went to the polls to vote in municipal elections, determining new leadership in Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton, Brampton, London, Windsor, and more.

In Toronto, residents elected John Tory to be the city’s 65th mayor. Music Canada has congratulated Mayor-Elect Tory, and we look forward to working with him and the newly elected council to continue to develop Toronto’s music sector. Many of the returning councillors have demonstrated a deep understanding of the value of music in Toronto and have supported efforts to promote and stimulate this important sector.

Early in his election campaign, Tory announced plans to support the growth of the music industry in Toronto. His plan is made up of three main points:

  1. Support the creation of a stand-alone Music Office: one stop shop to get things moving
  2. Work with the live music community to attract more music tourists to Toronto
  3. Work with the Music Community to Create a Plan for a more active Outdoor Festival Schedule

Tory reiterated his plans for the music sector in our music policy survey, stating that Toronto’s “Music Office will be established within the Economic Development department and will open in 2015” and adding “the importance of the music community and the broader creative sector cannot be understated.”

In his acceptance speech, Tory spoke of the need to tackle unemployment for youth in Toronto, and spoke of plans to work with business partners to foster opportunities for young people. Music can help. Our Next Big Bang report recommends municipalities work with their music communities in order to support local music scenes, and leverage them to attract music tourists, attract and retain creative workers, and attract businesses from all sectors of the economy. A 2009 report on the future of tourism in Ontario found that tourism is the single largest employer of young people in the province, and our Accelerating Toronto’s Music Industry Growth, Leveraging Best Practices from Austin, Texas report applies specific best practices to Toronto.

Toronto has made great strides in the development of its music sector in recent years; notably with the hiring of a music sector development officer last month, the creation of the Toronto Music Industry Advisory Council last December, and the partnership with Austin, Texas in the world’s first Music City Alliance, signed in October 2013. Tory’s plans to create a stand-alone Music Office will continue this momentum by reducing red tape and stimulating greater activity in the music community.

 

Elsewhere in the province, a number of strong candidates who have been strong advocates for the music sector were elected as well:

Congratulations to Berry Vrbanovic, who was elected mayor of Kitchener last night, building on his 20-year experience as a city councillor. As a councillor, Vrbanovic championed music as an economic driver and a vital contributor to local culture. Vrbanovic represented Kitchener at last summer’s Music Cities Exchange panel, which was hosted by Music Canada, 4479, and NXNE, and featured public and private representatives from six cities that are working proactively to develop their local music sectors.

Vrbanovic promoted the development of Kitchener’s arts and creative sectors as part of his platform, calling for further development of Kitchener’s Music Works program by creating a film and music officer position and pursuing provincial funding to develop a music resource centre. Vrbanovic also states his support for the continued development of the live music scene in Kitchener’s downtown entertainment district, and intent to work with Waterloo Region Tourism to develop tourism promotion opportunities.

 

Congratulations to Jeff Leiper, who was elected councillor in Ottawa’s Kitchissippi ward. In his recent role as Vice President, Strategic Communications, Research and Policy at the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), Leiper was instrumental in the development of the Music – A Catalyst For Technology Hubs And Innovative Talent report, which was supported by Music Canada and released last year. The report found that support from all levels of government for music education and scenes can help foster a talented tech workforce. Music education, the report finds, helps bridge gaps between technical know-how and critical soft skills, while the presence of music scenes in cities can help attract and retain skilled workers.

Leiper has also promoted music tourism and the development of Ottawa’s music sector as part of his platform, campaigning on the creation of a Music Office in Canada’s capital city. “As a researcher, I’ve taken a look at the economic benefits of focusing on music performance in a city – specifically using great music scenes as a way to attract tech workers,” wrote Leiper in June.

 

Several other cities have implemented or explored ways to build and capitalize on their music sector for greater economic benefits, including Windsor, London, Hamilton, St. Catharines, and Peterborough. Music Canada looks forward to working with municipal leaders throughout the province to help them advance their communities through music.

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Report Identifies New Directions to Drive Growth and Job Creation in the Economy at Large and Canada’s Commercial Music Business in Particular

Report Identifies New Directions to Drive Growth and Job Creation in the Economy at Large and Canada’s Commercial Music Business in Particular

Music Education, Digital Innovation, Music Tourism, Export Expansion and Interconnected Tax Credits identified as critical areas for development

Toronto, March 21, 2013: Music Canada today tabled a new report identifying programs and public policies to stimulate the development of Canada’s commercial music sector. The Next Big Bang: A New Direction for Music in Canada proposes a renewed industrial strategy for music and pinpoints key recommendations in the following areas: music education, digital innovation, music tourism, export expansion and interconnected tax credits.

The report demonstrates that by addressing these areas, music can contribute more substantially to the broader economy. The commercial music industry employs thousands of people in a highly creative and dynamic field that has been reshaped by the digital revolution.

“The commercial music sector has the potential to support government efforts to improve economic performance and job growth at all levels. We want to get the message across that music can help in a multiplicity of ways,” says Graham Henderson, President of Music Canada. “Music’s potential can be fully realized, and Canada can secure its place on the global cultural map, by updating current policies and programs from the analog era in which they were created.”

The Next Big Bang: A New Direction for Music in Canada is intended to stimulate a broader conversation about how best to strengthen Canada’s music business. The report was developed after months of research, interviews and expert submissions. Contributors include the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), Nordicity, digital expert Darlene Tonelli and Austin’s Titan Music Group.

The report’s recommendations are designed with the realities of today’s music industry in mind. Among these realities: (i) digital revenues have grown significantly but do not yet make up for the massive losses in physical sales; (ii) legitimate music services still must contend with unlicensed music sources that do not pay artists and music companies; (iii) in 2012, for the first time in over a decade, the global market for recorded music increased slightly over the previous year; (iv) music companies, despite the implosion of revenues, continue to invest in talent development; (v) music discovery has largely moved online; and, (vi) live performance constitutes an increasingly important part of an artist’s income.

The report contains 17 recommendations, including:

a) Given the strong evidence that music education prepares workers who are more creative, better problem-solvers, and possess soft skills that are critical in the digital economy, as well as the correlation between music scenes and tech clusters, governments should invest more in music education and should consider music scenes as a tool for economic development;

b) Music funding programs should reward innovation;

c) Efforts should be made to support the discovery of Canadian music online through partnerships with digital music services;

d) Cities and regions should develop a music tourism strategy in partnership with their local music community;

e) Canada should develop a national music export office to better assist music companies and artist entrepreneurs to expand their export markets;

f) A presence for the music industry should be established in Los Angeles to stimulate exports to the US market and attract more music recording activity to Canadian recording studios; and

g) Tax credits for music companies should be modernized and expanded, (replicating the best practices established in film and TV at the federal and provincial levels) resulting in jobs, economic activity and contributions to the tax base.

QUOTES:

“Ontario is home to a wealth of talent – from the artist to the industry. Our government is a proud partner of our music sector, working in concert with stakeholders like Music Canada to identify key priorities to further enhance the vitality and vibrancy of music in Ontario. Together, we are working in concert to develop a Live Music Strategy for Ontario that will firmly place our province on the map as a premier destination for live music on the international stage.”
Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport

“Music and technology are, in our view, inextricably linked. Tech jobs today require discipline and logical thinking, as well as creativity and an ability to innovate on the basis of strategic thinking. Music education, and lifelong involvement with music made possible in cities with strong scenes, could be Canada’s competitive advantage. Educators, parents, policy-makers and business leaders concerned with Canadian economic prosperity should consider the role music might play as a global competitive advantage.”
Jeff Leiper, Chief Policy Advisor, Information and Communications Technology Council

“Tax credits have been very effective as a creative industry stimulus. Properly enhanced, they could power even more growth in the music sector and its spin-offs in the economy at large. For instance, music could take a leaf from success in the film and TV business – and leverage foreign as well as domestic investment in Canada through tax credits.”
Peter Lyman, Senior Partner, Nordicity

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For more information:
Amy Terrill – Vice President Public Affairs, Music Canada
aterrill@musiccanada.com 647-963-6044

Music Canada is a non-profit trade organization that represents the major record labels in Canada, namely Sony Music Entertainment Canada, Universal Music Canada and Warner Music Canada. Music Canada also provides membership benefits to some of the leading independent record labels and distributors. Its members are engaged in all aspects of the recording industry, including the manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music.

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