Canadian Musician - September/October 2020 | Page 13
New Canadian Collective Launched to
Champion Black Music Professionals
A new Canadian music industry non-profit organization has been launched to
champion the advancement of Black professionals in the Canadian music industry.
Called Advance, Canada’s Black Music Business Collective, its stated purpose is to hold
the corporate, private, and government sectors accountable in order to build a more
equitable Canadian music industry that grants Canada’s Black music communities a fair
and valued voice in a consistently growing music nation.
A couple of weeks after the collective’s launch, Toronto Mayor John Tory announced
a $2-million partnership between the city, the Slaight Family Foundation, and
Advance to support the entry, retention, and advancement of Black professionals in
Toronto’s music industry. They are working to target that funding to best achieve sustained and tangible results.
For more information, contact Advance: [email protected], www.advancemusic.org.
(L-R) ROB LANNI, MATT MAW & ERIC LAWRENCE
Coalition Music & APTN
Launch ‘Red Music Rising’
Coalition Music and The Aboriginal
People’s Television Network (APTN)
have launched a new Indigenous music
company, Red Music Rising (RMR), which
is owned, managed, and operated entirely
by Indigenous professionals and artists.
RMR’s mission is to help develop
robust, sustainable, life-long careers for
Indigenous artists and industry members.
RMR will sign, release, and market music
from Indigenous musical artists while
also assisting emerging Indigenous music
companies and industry professionals.
Toronto-based artist manager Matt
Maw of Chippewas of the Thames will
leverage over 10 years of music industry
experience as the first leader of RMR.
To hear an in-depth conversation with
Maw about Red Music Rising, listen to
the Sept. 2, 2020 episode of the Canadian
Musician Podcast. For more information,
go to www.redmusicrising.ca.
@ CANADIAN MUSICIAN 13