Canadian Musician - November/December 2018

CHANGES SNOTTY NOSE REZ KIDS AT THE 2018 POLARIS GALA Polaris & Music Canada Partner to Improve Equity & Access for Canadian Music Community THE BEACHES’ JORDAN MILLER & KYLIE MILLER Fender Study Shows Equal Number of Men & Women Picking Up Guitar Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) released the results of a survey it conducted in conjunction with Egg Strategy detailing the current state of guitar playing in the U.S. and U.K. While the “Illuminating the State of Today’s Guitar Players” research revealed a number of guitar playing’s educational benefits, one of the key insights is that women continue to define the emerging guitar market, accounting for 50 per cent of all beginner and aspirational players. As well, the growing diversity of players expands beyond gender. Both African-American and Hispanic consumers now represent a sig- nificant and growing share of new players, with African-Americans accounting for 19 per cent of aspirational players, while Latin players make up 25 per cent of beginners. The Polaris Music Prize and Music Canada have partnered on a new initiative called the Polaris Community Development Program. Launched in advance of the 2018 Po- laris Music Prize Gala, the program will partner with 10 Canadian not-for-profit music organizations each year to support and develop the music community by eliminating barriers to access for engaged music creators, entrepreneurs, and change makers. This year, each participating organization received tickets to the Polaris Music Prize Gala to distribute to individuals who directly impact or participate in the orga- nization’s music programming, courtesy of Music Canada. The program also includes additional opportunities for participants to connect with Polaris staff, board mem- bers, and other community members on the night of the gala. For more information, go to www.polarismusicprize.ca. SOCAN Launches New Music Services Division SOCAN has launched a new services arm called Dataclef following a number of large moves by the music rights organization in recent years, including the acquisitions of Audiam, MediaNet, Royalty Guru, and SODRAC, as well as its expansion into Los Ange- les, Seattle, and New York According to SOCAN, Dataclef has created an authoritative global music services platform designed to empower customers with a fully-customizable service suite that simplifies complex back-office and technology tasks. “Dataclef is a milestone for SOCAN and the music industry on a global level,” says SOCAN Group CEO Eric Baptiste. “For the first time ever, organizations can go to one place for state-of-the-art license administration, worldwide reporting, and intelligent royalty tracking and delivery, improving their efficiency and bottom-line to return superior results.” Led by COO and Head of Sales Janice Scott, Dataclef will operate at arm’s length from SOCAN’s core business teams and on segregated systems in order to ensure privacy and confidentiality with clients. For more information, go to www.dataclef.com. Music Canada Launches Non-Profit to Promote Benefits of Music to Society Music Canada has established a new non-profit called Music Canada Cares, an affiliated national organization that will lead Music Canada’s corporate social responsibility efforts. The new non-profit is focused on highlighting the benefits of music to society and will work to promote equitable access to music education, and strive to improve the connection between Canada’s diverse music industry and communities. Music Canada Cares’ first initiative is The Three Rs Music Program, which will improve the inventory of musical instruments in Ontario schools by restoring gently used instruments to a fully-functional condition. For more information, contact Music Canada: 416-967-7272, www.musiccanada.com. 14 • C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N

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