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Tag archive: The Tragically Hip (3)

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Rock, pop, and jazz score big at 2017 Canadian Screen Awards

The 2017 Canadian Screen Awards, which recognize excellence in Canadian film, TV, and digital media productions, were handed out Sunday night at Toronto’s Sony Centre for the Performing Arts. Canadian rock heroes The Tragically Hip picked up the most awards in the music-related categories for the unforgettable broadcast of their August 20, 2016 hometown show in Kingston, ON.

The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration earned six awards for the production’s direction, design, sound, and photography. Hip members Paul Langlois and Rob Baker were on hand to accept their award for Best Performance in a Variety or Sketch Comedy Program, sharing their appreciation for all the support they felt during their Man Machine Poem summer tour.

Born To Be Blue, the Chet Baker biopic starring Ethan Hawke, picked up two awards for the film’s original score. Todor Kobakov, Steve London, and David Braid were awarded Achievement in Music – Original Score, while Braid also won Achievement in Music – Original Song sponsored by Slaight Music for “Could Have Been.” The film was shot in Sudbury, ON.

Trevor Yuile’s win for Best Original Music Score helped Orphan Black earn their leading total of nine ‘Candy’ awards, while Best Original Music Score for a Program sponsored by Slaight Music was awarded to Robert Carli for Murdoch Mysteries.

The 2016 JUNO Awards broadcast won Best Music Program or Series sponsored by Yangaroo. Last year, the 2015 JUNOs broadcast won the Live Entertainment Special category, which was awarded to the Tragically Hip this year.

The full list of winners and nominees can be found here.

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CBC will broadcast The Tragically Hip’s final Man Machine Poem Tour performance on August 20

tragically-hip-screening-on-cbcThe Tragically Hip, one of Canada’s most beloved bands, and recipients of multiple Diamond, Platinum and Gold certifications, conclude their Man Machine Poem Tour this Saturday in the band’s hometown of Kingston, ON. The CBC has announced that it will be broadcasting the August 20 show live from the Rogers K-Rock Centre (located at 1 The Tragically Hip Way) across its television, radio and digital platforms.

A listing of CBC’s broadcast channels showing the concert is available here. The broadcast starts with a pre-show at 8pm EST and The Tragically Hip will begin promptly at 8:30pm EST.

Communities and businesses across Canada, as well as the US and UK, have organized viewing events for Saturday’s show. The CBC has compiled a list of places where fans can watch the live broadcast. Many viewing events are encouraging attendees to donate to cancer research foundations, including the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.

In a touching tribute, staff from Sunnybrook filmed a performance of The Hip classic “Courage” as a thank you to Gord, the band, and everyone who has donated to the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research.

In an interview with the CBC, Gord Downie’s chief oncologist, Dr. James Perry, thanked fans for all of their fundraising efforts following Downie’s decision to make his diagnosis public. “I’m really thankful to all of the folks from all of the cities on the tour so far that have held fundraising events outside the venues — you know, house parties, all kinds of things have been going on.” He reportedly likened the response to the Ice Bucket Challenge of 2014 supporting ALS research.

Donations can be made to the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research by following this linkhttps://donate.sunnybrook.ca/braincancerresearch

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The Rambler by Graham Henderson: Shining a Light on Brand Supported Piracy

Graham_headphones3Blog ThumbnailThe Rambler is a column by Graham Henderson, President of Music Canada. Graham writes from time to time about developments in the music industry, new trends or just about music! Let’s face it, Graham has been around for a long time and has a lot to ramble on about.

As Rambler readers will know, I have been monitoring Google’s promise to downgrade pirate sites in their search rankings since it was announced last August. I was initially skeptical about Google’s push, but willing to give them credit for this ‘better late than never’ effort. However, I was soon disappointed as my research showed that time and time and time again, licensed music sites and services were buried beneath dozens of links to dodgy sites that exploit artists’ work for financial gains. Unfortunately, Google’s 2010 claim that they would remove piracy related search terms from their Auto-complete feature was also exposed as bunk.

My findings were backed up today as the RIAA released their Google Report Card, a new document that shows how ineffective Google’s change was. The takeaway is clear: “Six months later, we have found no evidence that Google’s policy has had a demonstrable impact on demoting sites with large amounts of piracy. These sites consistently appear at the top of Google’s search results for popular songs or artists.”

Since Google’s pledge to downgrade pirate sites in their search rankings has been shown to be a complete farce, you’ll have to forgive me for taking their latest announcement with a handful of salt. According to the sparse details in the Telegraph, the Palo Alto search giant will now look to cut off financial payments to illegal download sites. Ellen Seidler, the independent filmmaker who became a reluctant advocate in the fight against piracy after finding her film hosted on thousands of illegal sites funded by advertising, has also announced her skepticism about Google’s latest move, asking “how much is just PR posturing versus real action?” Seidler’s blog, Pop-Up Pirates, has been documenting examples of brand supported for nearly three years.

Of course, there is a reason that these pirate sites are created: they make money from the advertisements. As Seidler said at Canadian Music Week’s Global Forum in 2011, “Online piracy isn’t about altruism, it’s about income.” Seidler’s presentation thoroughly explained how “legit” companies (such as ad service providers, advertisers, and payment processors) encourage and facilitate this theft while profiting from it. You can see video from her presentation on her Vimeo page.

Some of the screenshots below provide an example of how major brands are encouraging mass piracy by financing sites with their advertising dollars:

Here, Bell is supporting the exploitation of The Dears by placing an ad next to pirated copies of their album on 4Shared, a site that has received hundreds of thousands of copyright removal requests in the past month.

Bell - TheDears - 4Shared

Here, Lysol buys advertising on a page illegally distributing Drake’s Grammy award winning album ‘Take Care’:

Drake - Lysol - SongsloverIn this screenshot, the History Network funds advertisements next to pirated copies of The Tragically Hip’s music:

History Network - Tragically Hip - 4SharedOne of the most prominent critics of this ad-supported piracy is David Lowery of Cracker and Camper van Beethoven fame. Lowery will be one of the keynote speakers at the 2013 Global Forum at Canadian Music Week, which is coming up on March 22nd and is proudly sponsored by Music Canada.

Lowery has emerged as one of the most articulate voices championing artist rights in the digital age, penning a series of blogs at The Trichordist, including Letter to Emily White at NPR All Songs Considered and Meet The New Boss, Worse Than The Old Boss?.

The Trichordist has kickstarted discussion in this area, notably by launching a ‘name and shame’ campaign highlighting brands advertising on pirate sites. Music Canada has joined the campaign, tweeting at one brand per day to draw their attention to the problem. Canadian labels Last Gang Records and Six Shooter Records have also tweeted their support, as has the Featured Artist Coalition. The campaign has been gaining attention, and top brands have responded by ensuring their advertisements do not appear on pirate sites. For example, Levi’s was quick to respond to the news their ads were appearing next to pirated content. “When our ads were running unbeknownst to us on these pirate sites, we had a serious problem with that,” said Gareth Hornberger, Levi’s senior manager of global digital marketing. “We reached out to our global ad agency of record, OMD, and immediately had them remove them…. We made a point, moving forward, that we really need to take steps to avoid having these problems again.”

Also keynoting the Global Forum this year will be Chris Ruen, author of the new book, ‘Freeloading: How Our Insatiable Appetite for Free Content Starves Creativity’, which is an essential read for those working in the music industry.

Chris Castle will reprise his role as master of ceremonies at the 2013 Global Forum, which is sure to be an engaging conversation. I’d also like to announce that for the first time in the event’s history, the 2013 Global Forum will be streamed online and will encourage interaction through social media – which will hopefully bring the issue of brand supported piracy further into the mainstream discussion and encourage more brands to ensure they do not encourage or facilitate the exploitation of artists’ work.

Graham Henderson is the President of Music Canada. He also writes on an eclectic range of topics on his personal blog at www.grahamhenderson.ca.

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