Workshop Series Recap
As we round out the year, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the workshop events of the past few months, as well as look into the future.
In October, MusicOntario held two workshop events. October 9th was "Living Live," where we talked about all aspects of playing gigs, both at home and on the road. Panelists from NXNE, The Feldman Agency, Coalition Entertainment, and Adelaide Hall joined us as we chatted about everything from getting that first gig, playing festivals, going on tour, and more. Stefan from PUP also joined in with the artist perspective, rounding out the conversation.
The second October session was "Working with the Media," held in Guelph on October 29th. Publicist extraordinaire Ken Beattie from Killbeat Music took us through the do's and don't's of getting press coverage for your music, and offered a number of tools, tips, tricks and strategies for how and when to approach various outlets.
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Ken Beattie at "Working with the Media"[/caption]
November saw 3 more events, in Kitchener/Waterloo, London, and Toronto. Kitchener/Waterloo learned all about the basics of rights collection, licensing, and more at "Get it Rights," with reps from SOCAN and ACTRA RACS being joined by Jeremy von Hollen, a music supervisor from instinct entertainment. Attendees gathered info on how to get the most out of the various copyrights that they control as songwriters, master owners, and performers, and came away with tools and information that will help their career grow in the coming years.
Next was London, where we held our first panel on public funding. Reps from FACTOR, OAC, London Arts Council were all on hand, along with grant writing consultant Erin Kinghorn of eEK! Productions and local artist Olenka and the Autumn Lovers. There's lots that goes in to applying for funding, and our panelists offered lots of information and guidance on how to best position yourself for success.
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A view from the moderator's chair, with Brent from FACTOR imparting knowledge![/caption]
At the end of November, we explored all the various revenue streams available to artists in Toronto, with "Money: Making a Living Making Music." We discussed traditional revenue streams like album sales and touring, but also explored other ways for artists (and the companies that work with them) to leverage digital platforms like PledgeMusic to add to the revenue pot.
In December, the funding panel was repeated in Hamilton, with FACTOR, Erin, and local artist Treasa Levasseur, a passionate musician who has seen funding success from various agencies over the years. This event, again, provided tips and tricks on how to put forth a strong application, and shone the light on other funding organizations like the Canada Council, Radio Starmaker, Ontario Music Fund, and more.
For our last event of the year, we repeated the revenue streams panel up in Ottawa, at our most well attended event to date. Joining the panel were two of Ottawa's smartest, in Rolf Klausener and Jon Bartlett, who offered important advice from the label, management, and artist perspective.
We've had a great season, and we want to thank all of the panelists, attendees, volunteers, sponsors, and partners who helped make these sessions possible. We've got LOTS more in store for 2014, so if you haven't made it out or if we haven't come to your city, not to worry: we'll get there soon enough!
To keep up to date on our upcoming events, make sure to sign up to our newsletter. We'll see you on the road in 2014!
The Workshop Series is funded in part by the Ontario Arts Council, with additional support provided by our sponsorship partners ACTRA RACS and TicketBreak, and our travel partner VIA Rail Canada
