Indie Week Canada is a breath of fresh air that empowers and encourages artists, industry, and venues to keep the faith as a new report suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has struck a devastating blow to Toronto’s already struggling live music sector.

Along with the shut down of at least 11 live Toronto area music venue staples, there have also been closures of 140 restaurants and counting within the city. Pre Pandemic days had the Toronto and Canadian Live Music Association estimating that live venues generated an impact of $850 million every year in Toronto, and supported the equivalent of 10,500 jobs. Results also suggest that 97 percent of those 177 venues across Canada that are at risk of business failure, 70 percent of respondents saying they’d laid off staff already. The 11 Toronto music venues that have permanently closed since March, are considered the “core” to the city’s music scene. In total, they say these venues have hosted an estimated 5,000 musical acts every year and helped employ at least 190 people. The following 151 Toronto restaurants, bars, live music venue staples closed their doors for good in 2020 due to the outcomes and restrictions implemented upon these businesses, high rent, an extreme increase of costs moving forward through Covid-19, hurting them to the point of no return, and here is a list of a few,

• The Ace,
• Ama Always,
• Apollo Eleven,
• L’Arc en Ciel,
• Athena Bakery,
• Bake Shoppe,
• Bar Buca,
• Barcelona Tavern Diner,
• The Beaver,
• Big Sushi,
• THE BOAT,
• Boom,
• Brass Taps Danforth,
• Brickyard Bistro,
• Brothers,
• Burgatory,
• Buster’s Fish House,
• Butter Avenue,
• Cafe Crepe,
• Canis,
• Carmen,
• Cauldron Icecream,
• The Chase Fish and Oyster,
• Clove Apple Cafe,
• CLUB 120-120 DINER,
• Cold Tea,
• Crocodile Rock,
• Dark Horse John,
• Dave’s,
• The Delaware,
• Dino’s Pizza,
• District 34,
• The Dock on Queen,
• Don Alfonso 1890,
• Dufflet Pastries,
• The Ellery,
  Elm Tree,
• Elvy and Flo,
• Emmy’s,
• Flying Pony,
• Friday Roots and Vibes,
• Furama Cake and Dessert Garden,
• Gandhi Roti, GarfieldEATS,
• Genghis Khan Mongolian Grill,
• Golden Thai,
• Grand Elvis,
• Green Beanery,
• THE HIDEOUT,
• THE HIVE,
• HOGTOWN SMOKE,
• Hollandaise Diner,
• Hom Cafe,
• I’ll Be Seeing You,
• II Gatto Nero,
• JJ Bean,
• Jules Bistro,
• Kit Kat,
• Labothery,
• Lansdowne Cone,
• LeTAO,
• Live Organic Food Bar,
• Luci,
• Lucy Star,
• Maracas,
• Mean Bao,
• Mezu,
• MOD CLUB,
• Montecito,
• Moo Frites,
• Movenpick Marche,
• N’AWLINS,
• Nando’s,
• New York Cafe,
• Nishdish,
• Odin,
• THE OFFICE,
• OLD NICK,
• ORBIT ROOM,
• The Ossington,
• Pancho Y Emiliano,
• Pappas Grill,
• Pete’s Corner Grill,
• Plentea,
• Poutini’s (Parkdale),
• Prairie Girl Bakery,
• Pray Tell,
• Pretty Ugly,
• Prohibition Gastrohouse,
• The Puck,
• The Red Light,
• Rickshaw Bar,
• River Tai,
• Ronto’s,
• Roselle,
• Round,
• Ruby Watcho,
• Rusi,
• Scallywags,
• Sea-Hi,
• The Shore Leave,
• The Six Brewhouse,
• ‘Sneaky Dee’s,
• Sorelle and Co.,
• SoSo Food Club,
• Southern Accent,
• Spice Indian Bistro,
• Stones Places,
• Supernova Ballroom,
• Sweet and Soda,
• Yonge and Gerrard Swiss Chalet,
• Tacos Rico,
• Taiyaki NYC,
• Taste of Empanada,
• Tasty Chicken House,
• TENNESSEE TAVERN,
• Thai Chef,
• Torterian San Cosme,
• Trattoria Giancarlo,
• True Love Cafe,
• True True Diner,
• Tuckers Marketplace,
• UNDERGROUND GARAGE,
• Universal Grill,
• Vesuvio,
• Vicino Italian Kitchen,
• Victorian Monkey,
• Virtuous Pie,
• Wallflower,
• The Walton,
• Entertainment District’s Wayne Gretzky’s,
• THE WESTERLY,
• Wexford Restaurant,
• White Brick Kitchen,
• The Wickson Social,
• WOODLOT,
• Yeon,
• Yummy House.
• With the COVID-19 cases continuing to rise to alarming numbers and no sign of indoor events being allowed again any time soon, it only makes sense that more live music venues could be on the verge of shutting down. Not just temporarily but all together.
• Live music venues are a central part of a thriving music ecosystem (supporting artists and music industry careers), and they contribute to the economic prosperity of the city and enhance the quality of life for a city’s residents. As part of the music ecosystem, venues are critical for supporting artists’ careers, providing the main connection point for audiences to appreciate and discover musicians; and therefore, venues are the cornerstone of artists’ career development, with about two thirds (64%) of the acts featured at Toronto venues primarily performing original music. Beyond the impact on the music community, these closures have a material impact on the city’s economy. These figures should be viewed as early indicators of what could become a much larger issue. As such, it may be helpful to think of venue closures on a more relative basis. To that end, one should consider that each venue that closes in Toronto costs an average of 10 full-time employees, $575,000 in annual GDP contributions, and $148,000 in provincial and federal taxes. Since March 2020, Nordicity estimates that the shutdown of music venues across the city has cost Toronto’s economy $99M in Gross Provincial Product (GPP) and the equivalent of 1,480 full-time jobs and Nordicity estimates that between March 15 and August 31, 2020, 554,000 fewer tourists attended music events in Toronto, and this lack of music tourism sapped Ontario’s economy of an estimated $369 million in GPP and cost about 4,220 full-time employees.

Therefore, music plays a vital role in creating our vibrant city, and Indie Week Canada is one of the motivational driving force values. On weekdays, Toronto music venues used to stage 1.8 acts per day, and on weekend days (Friday to Sunday), venues host an average of 2.3 acts per day. Effectively, venues featured live music an average of 4 days per week, which works out to 212 days a year, the largest share of this activity occurring on Fridays and Saturdays. In 2019, there were an estimated 107,000 individual acts staged at live music venues in Toronto. Most Toronto venues surveyed have made efforts to make their spaces more inclusive and accessible with 73% of venues who made efforts to be more accessible for people with disabilities, and over two-thirds (69%) have established a code of conduct. This result aligns with Province-wide Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities (AODA) guidelines, as well as the Province’s Vision for Ontario’s Live Music Industry report, which outlines a goal of improving access at venues, particularly for touring musicians. Venues and Festivals do not just support musicians, as a whole, the community is built around live performance, including positions at the venues themselves, as well as, inside for the broader music industry as promoters, recording labels, studios, festivals, and related businesses. By supporting the success of artists, music venues also support the economic growth of other businesses/sectors in the city. In general, music performances tend to lead to more staffing, and more consistent reliance on contract and freelance workers. The impact of venues extends beyond the artists and resulting in employment opportunities, giving creative spaces, that bring people in a city together, and provide people a sense of identity and belonging in their city. This effect is particularly true for marginalized communities that may not have other places to gather. As research suggests, the largest concentration of music venues is in the Toronto downtown core, with pockets of venue activity existing across the city, which makes this discussion of music venues, a city-wide conversation. In Toronto in 2019, the total spending from out-of-province music tourists was an estimated $663.6 million.

Therefore, we can all agree that music and festival conferences have massive impacts on our lives as it heightens our senses, influences our emotions, moods, thoughts, feelings, and in my opinion, that’s why the power of music and festival conferences like Indie Week Canada, should never be underestimated. Music from birth and even before creates neuron pathways in the brain making understanding the world around us a little easier and we are able to relate, communicate, and excel faster too. Music-related educational tools like Indie Week Canada are so vital and essential to a musician’s development, and their impact can’t be overstated. The cognitive and creative implementation that occurs during and after this pertinent 5-day event, is laced with nonstop knowledge and upgrading ways that are well documented as being thoroughly engaging and it can improve our competency and quite literally increase our IQ and just as important, Indie Week is a great equalizer, as it encourages socialization, collaboration, and communication and totally bridges cultural gaps while it teaches us about the world around us. IWC opens up magical connections which in turn, makes this conference a life-changing powerful entity. Normally, this premier emerging 5-day indie artist festival presents live music and an Indie 101 Conference, an official VIP launch party, and the annual Indie Week Awards show all founded by Darryl Hurs in 2003. He created an event that invites and showcases over 350 artists from around the globe who perform live in front of industry professionals in 25+ venues throughout Toronto, that generally hosts an average of 10,000 fans. However, in the blink of an eye and a strike of a chord, the world’s music realm was affected in 2020 intensely by the entrance of the world-wide COVID-19 Pandemic.

This year’s 18th edition of Indie Week Canada switched gears in August of 2020, canceling and then reviving the idea of hosting Indie Week online. Within 3 months Darryl put together and lead an energized and collaborative team who develop a strategic vision while delivering great results, plenty of driving purpose, and is just one of the dedicated bunch that helps change the lives of many by keeping the spirit of music alive! They put together one of the most essentially intriguing, in-depth, pertinently successful, and impressively imperative online conferences that molded and unleashed an abundant quiver of life-saving arrows to the distraught music industry, giving hope to the revival, and survival of the future of live music.

They held 16 informative weeks of Indie Weekly, starting July 7th through Nov. 3rd every Tuesday leading up to the 5-day online 1st ever virtual conference. This highly recommended and successful 18th Annual Indie Week Canada was stupendous from start to finish, allowing thousands of industry insiders and artists to come together worldwide for online discussions on the future of the music realm, international markets, and how to find success in music during a pandemic. We all shared diversity and equality inside the music industry with stellar presentations that showed us how to stay busy, how to grow our fans, how online connections are more vital than ever before, how to revamp brands, record your music yourself, and the necessary topics that every artist needs to stay focused, involved with the right amount of impressive stuff to engage, to know and to grow from. This was made possible via the online platform called WHOVA, where attendees and participants got connected with one another and made fruitful business connections, and built a supportive online community seeing 357,049 sponsor impressions, over 7,000 messages being shared, and 575 participants got to collaborate inside breakout rooms, with a noted 82 community boards, Being online allowed this network to go viral globally, which doubled the country attendance, seeing 40 countries being represented by attendees and speakers this year compared to last year’s country representation of 20 as Darryl Hurs stated back in 2019, “About 5-6 years ago I realized that it was important to make some changes and make a concentrated effort to grow international awareness and partnerships. I am very proud of what we were able to do in that regard at that time. This year (2019), it is looking like we will have 20 countries represented with partnerships with associations/ festivals in Brazil, Korea, and Israel.”

• Featured Speakers included
• Derrick Ross (Executive VP Slaight Music),
• Tracy Maddux (CCO of Downtown Music),
• Stephanie Bedford (CEO Bandzoogle),
• Rebecca Webster (Director of Industry Relations CMRRA),
• George Clark (Publishing Specialist Songtrust),
• Dave Cool (VP Business Development Bandzoogle),
• Aaron Friedman (President Make Music Alliance),
• Ace Piva (Over The Bridge Cofounder),
• Adam Lewis (Planetary),
• Alan Greyeyes (Festival Director sakihiwe),
• Alistar Turnham (Founder of MAKE associates),
• Allie Silver (Founder Free Radical Productions),
• Allison Shaw (CEO of Manic Monkey),
• Aly Gillani (EU Artist and Label Rep Bandcamp),
• Amanda Godda,
• Amie Therrien (Operations Director at Canada MMF),
• Amy Eligh (Director of Publishing Arts and Crafts),
• Andre Noblat (Trampa, COMA Fest),
• Andrea Higgins (Head of Music Supervision and Arpix Media),
• Andrew Hunter (Legal Counsel CMRRA),
• Andrew Karis (Membership and Industry ACTRA RACS),
• Ania Kasperek (Manager and Owner of Chimes),
• Anthony Gordon (Marketing Director at AutoTune),
• Barry Rooke (Executive Director of National Campus and Community Radio),
• Belen Fasulis (Latam Project Manager Slammin Media),
• Beverley Whitrick (Strategic Director Music Venue Trust),
• Brandon Frankel (Strategic Partnership Cameo),
• Brian Moncarz (Producer Mixer at Brian Moncarz),
• Brock Tinsley (Guitarist, Songwriter Double Experience),
• Bruce Bradley (Managing Director Slammin Media Inc),
• Byron Pascoe (Entertainment Lawyer at Edwards Creative Law),
• Carlos Mills (President ABMI),
• Catherine Harrison (President Purple Voodoo),
• Catharine Jones (Director Executive CONNECT Music Licensing),
• Cecilia Soojeong Yi (Executive Manager Zandari Festa/DMZ Peace Train),
• Chris Robinson (Head of Music Brain Power Studio),
• Chris Robley (Senior Content Manager CD Baby),
• Connie Farr (Founder/Creative Director of ThinkSync Music),
• Constantine Roussos (Founder CEO MUSIC),
• Cory Crossman (Music Industry Development with the City of London Music Office);
• Cecile Doo Kingue (Artist, CDK MUSIK),
• D.O Gibson (Founder CEO Northstarr Entertainment),
• Daniel Jean (Producer of Moment Factory),
• Daniel Melnick (Partnerships Director of SonicBids),
• Danny Keir (Cofounder of ENKI),
• Darryl Hurs (CD Baby and founder Indie Week),
• Darryl Spring (Blogger Podcaster of Dean Blundell.com),
• Dave Cool (VP of Business Development, Bandzoogle),
• David Hazan (Head of North America Midem),
• David McLoughlin (Director of Brasil Calling),
• David McKay (Cofounder and CEO of Seated),
• David Silbaugh (Talent Buyer and Production at Summerfest),
• Diane Foy ( PR and Marketing Coach),
• DJ Mam (Curatorn Sotaque Carregado),
• Dmitri Vietze (CEO of Rock Paper Scissors),
• Doug Elliott (Program Director with 94.9 The Rock),
• Dr. John Chong (Musicians Clinic of Canada),
• Ekaterina Bazhanova (CEO of Music Development),
• Enrique Blanc (FIMPro),
• Eric Alper (Owner of Eric Alper Public Relations),
• Fabiana Batistela (Director of SIM Sao Paolo),
• Felipe Grajales (Altavoz Fest),
• Fiona Bloom (Music Entrepreneur of The Bloom Effect),
• Francisco Hauck (President of Fabrica do Futuro and Audio),
• Gabriele Turielle (Director of Contrapedal Conecta),
• Gavin Alexander (Music Supervisor of Head Vapour Music),
• George Clark (Publishing Specialist at Songtrust),
• Glenny G (Export Music Producer with Sounds Australia),
• Greyson Gritt (Singer/Songwriter G.R. Gritt),
• Hannah Danilova (Artist Manager of NEEDSHES),
• Heli Del Moral (VP of International CD Baby/ AVL Digital),
• Henriette Heimdal (Market Development of UK CD Baby AVL),
• Ian Nichols (Double Experience),
• Ilan Cooley (President of Loud Mouth Communications),
• Jacquie Black (Manager of Indigenous Music Awards),
• James Barker (Director of MYSTIC SONS PR),
• James Leacock (Manager of Media SOCAN),
• Janika Reuter (International Relations at FACTORY 92),
• Jason Joven (Content and Insights Manager at Chartmetric),
• Jeff Liebenson (President of Liebsenson Law),
• Jeff Rogers (President of Handsome Boy Inc),
• Jeffrey Crossman (Cultural Trade Commissioner with Global Affairs Canada),
• Jenn Ivanovs (JIVES Management),
• Joe Chisholm (Host-Producer of IndieCan Radio),
• Joe Cressy (Councillor City of Toronto),
• Joe Vesayaporn (Squadron Leader of Music Glue),
• Joel Jelinski (Business Development at Showpass),
• John Seo (Vocal Theatre8);
• Jonathan Campbell (Head of Strategic Initiatives at Global Toronto),
• Jordan B Wright (he/him),
• Jordi Puy (CEO of Unison Rights),
• Julian Taylor (CEO of Howling Turtle Inc.),
• Julie Neff,
• Kali Bradford (Lovers Music),
• Karabo Motijoane (A & R Manager of Sheer Publishing (Pty Ltd),
• Karma Bertelsen (Marketing Consultant),
• Keith Tan (Director of Marketing Development at CD Baby),
• Kenda Legaspi (The Creepshow),
• Kevin Breuner (VP of Marketing at CD Baby),
• Kurt Schmel (Owner of The Beard Music),
• Laura Simpson (CEO and Cofounder of Side Door),
• Leon Harrison (Founder of Bandwagon),
• Linda Bloss Baum (Senior Director of Industry Relations at SoundExchange),
• Luciana Pegorer (CEO of Trends Brasil),
• Luke Danelon (Founder of Prohibited Party),
• Magdalena Jensen (Cofounder of Chimes Agency),
• Marcela Murillo (CD Baby),
• Marcos Chomen (General Manager of CD Baby),
• Mark Tara (LGBT Content Creator),
• Martina Putnik (Head of International Music in Estonia),
• Martin Atkins (Invisible Records, drummer P.I.L, Nine Inch Nails and Pigface),
• Mathew Morris (Songwriter, lead guitar (The Lazy’s and Bandwagon),
• Matias Moreno (CD Baby),
• Michael Bamfo (CEO, CTO of Apprise Music Distribution),
• Michael Perlmutter (Music Supervisor of Instinct Entertainment),
• Michael Raine (Editor in Chief at NWC & Canadian Musician Mag),
• Michelle Holtzkener (Program Consultant at Ontario Creates),
• Michelle Titian (Drive Foundation),
• Mikaila Simmons (Music Supervisor at Instinct Entertainment),
• Mike Strano (Founding Director of ONGEA! Africa),
• Mike Tanner (Music Officer at City of Toronto),
• Mike Warner (Author of Work Hard Playlist),
• Milica Cuckic (BMAT),
• Myla Hardie (Creative Director at Worldhaus Music),
• Nate Sprague (Tinta Negra),
• Nicole Sarmiento (Head Ninja at Red Ninja Production),
• Nik Drozg (Assistant Booker with Kino Siska),
• Nik McLeod (LyricFind),
• Nuno Saraiva (AMAEI/WHY-Portugal),
• Olly Rowland (Artist Manager Tour/PR/RAGE Touring/CTK Management),
• Oscar Furtado (Tandemtracks Promotions),
• Patricia Carrera Marin (Music Supervisor at Royal Collections Control Freaks),
• Peter Albert (NCRA),
• Peter Astedt (Cashbox Radio),
• Piyapong Muenprasertdee (Board Member of Thailand),
• Radek Chudzio (Managing Director of Poland Fource Entertainment),
• Rebecca Helgeson (Strategic Partner and Manager Show.co and HearNow),
• Rebecca Webster (Director of Industry Relations at CMRRA),
• Rick Van Dyk (The Headstones),
• Ritnika Nayan (Owner/Director of Music Gets Me High, and CD Baby),
• Robert Singerman (Senior VP of International Publishing at LyricFind),
• Robyn Stewart (WCMA Breakout West),
• Rodrigo Espector (Director at BAFiM),
• Sandra Graham (Owner and Program Director of Cashbox Radio),
• Sarah Hagerman (Industry Events Manager with Unison Benevolent Fund),
• Sarah Johnston (Senior Operations Manager at FUGA),
• Sarah Lutz (Owner of Looters),
• Scott Baker (Music Video Director at Bandwagon),
• Scotty Taylor (Music Supervisor of Kiss the Sun Music),
• Shaun Bowring (Owner of The Garrison and Baby G),
• Stacey Bedford (CEO at Bandzoogle),
• Stephen Carroll (Director of Music Programs at Manitoba Film and Music),
• Steve Bootland (A&R Digital Strategy at Circulate Music),
• Steve Waxman (Entertainment Career Guidance),
• Steve Dagenais (Conference Director with MIIM),
• Tagui Sole (International Development at CD Baby),
• Taiwo Bah,
• Tanisha Clarke (CEO of NWYE INC.) ,
• Tara Tank (Research at Sound Diplomacy),
• Tenniel Brown (Therapist Facilitator at the Centre for Anti Oppressive) ,
• Tom Barlow (Artist),
• Tony Duckworth (General Manager of PIAS Poland Eastern Europe),
• Trista Yeager (Strategist at Rock Paper Scissors),
• Yvette Angela (Blue Crane Agency).
• and Zack M Jones (Events at Indie Week).

I was over the moon excited to be included inside the prestigious Media Row on Nov. 12th that was held from 6 to 8 pm. It was my pleasure to have had one-on-one interview time for 5 minutes or so in the interval break out style rooms with Jill Snell who worked with Island, A&M, and BMG major record labels until 2003 when she co-founded The Orange Record Label (UMG), and eventually Angeline Entertainment (Fontana North), and Road Angel Entertainment (Warner Music Canada). Multi-award winning musician and rising talent Sean Beaver was my 2nd interview. I got to speak with the Owner/National Radio Promotions Director (Canada) with Tandemtracks’s, Oscar Furtado. This was so much fun as the clock was ticking fast and the coordinator for our media session at Indie Week would hit the switch and boom into another total mind-blowing room with the winner of CTV’s The LaunchCTV Season 2, Michelle Treacy. I had more fun as I was switched over to Iqaluit, Nunavut Canada’s accomplished recording artist, and music producer, Thor Simonsen, and we got mixed up on the last one by placing two media minds into the interview room to which I thoroughly enjoyed chatting to Dropout Entertainment’s Jesse Read. 2nd round started at 7 pm and ran till 8 pm where I found myself thrilled to the max when speaking to previous The Funk Brother’s now Commotions Band sax player, songwriter, singer, arranger, and teacher Brian Asselin. Indie Folk-Pop artist Colin Middleton from Bentroads Tavern Band was my next chit chat. The ball of energy known as singer, songwriter, instrumentalist Keats Conlon filled my next 5 mins, followed by Vancouver’s Americana Folk-Rock artist Bobby McAlonely from the talented duo Focus Your Audio. Alternative Folk artist from the Yukon, Sophie Noel, we ran out of time, unfortunately. I asked the question and she couldn’t answer as IWC switched us before the 5 mins were up. Please stay tuned for the next portion entitled My Road to Indie Week Canada 2020 Media Row Sessions, out the week of Christmas which features my brief answers to these 11 interviews. I reached out as well, to all these artists to offer my full interview services and have had a great response. Online this week, interview fun with Keates Conlon https://www.seeingshowswithdebdraper.com/live-music-reviews/december-interview-with-keats-conlin January interviews with Brian Asselin, February with Sean Beaver, March with Thor Simonsen, April with Sophie Noel and hopefully Michelle Treacy. Stay tuned at both http://www.thewiremegazine.com and https://www.seeingshowswithdebdraper.com

Thank you for the inspirational presentations, B2B sessions, media row, and breakout rooms with the world’s trailblazing companies like:

• Downtown Music,
• Chartmetric,
• Moment Factory,
• Side Door,
• Bandcamp,
• SOCAN just to name but a few, which was presented by sponsors
• Slaight Music and CD Baby,
• Actra RACS,
• CMRRA,
• Bandzoogle,
• Cashbox Radio,
• Lyric Find, and Canadian Musician. Music Association Partners were
• CIMA and Midem, with Festival/Conference Partners
• Breakout West 2020,
• COMA,
• Global Toronto,
• International Indigenous Music Summit,
• MONDO NYC,
• SIM Sao Paulo,
• Canadian Music Week (CMW),
• Midem,
• FIM PRO,
• and Industry Partners
• ENKI MUSIC,
• Songtrust, and Show.co,
• Music Managers Forum (MMF) hearnow,
• Rock Paper Scissors,
  CAB, and trends Brasil Conference.
• The Community Partners were
• Unison Benevolent Fund,
• Over The Bridge, and Seneca, which featured Mentorship Partners
• Bandwagon, and Diane Foy. Also, partnered by Online and Radio with
• Earshot Distro,
• 94.9 The Rock, and Canadian Musician. Case insurance Brokers were the Insurance Partners, and IWC was granted by Ontario Creates, as well, funded by the City of Toronto, and Global Affairs Canada.

I was thrilled to be included in daily sessions that ran from 10 am through 7 pm starting November 10th to the 14th, 2020. Kicking off the festivities on Nov. 10th with Indie Week Canada founder Darryl Hurs who was joined by the peaceful warrior woman, Sandra Sutter, who acknowledged that Toronto was the largest Indigenous population in Ontario and the 4th largest in Canada and that Toronto or in Mohawk, pronounced Tkaronto, meaning “where there are trees standing in the water.” and that Toronto lies upon the sacred ground signed by Treaty 13, the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

Darryl Hurs, founder of Indie Week Canada, had this to say regarding their 1st ever successful Virtual Conference, “I’m very pleased with the results especially during this time and this being our first online conference of this size. My expectations were surpassed and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive with many mentions of this being the best conference attended online this year.”

As a past media source to Indie Week Canada, I was also granted the opportunity over the years to become a past Judge, and I had the honor of being an announcer at the Hideout in 2019, where I announced the acts who moved on to the next rounds, etc. I got to see first hand what it takes to put on a festival in over 25 bars across the city in just 5 days. I wish to give thanks to the die-hard Indie Week Team players, who dedicated their lives to keeping this Annual event going, especially during trying times to which benefited the lives of so many around the world, that are all struggling together to grasp the changes inside the entertainment field. Congrats once again on a job well done Darryl Hurs, Zach McEwan-Jones, Cameron Carpenter, Katia Montesano, Matthew Kennedy, Sara Davidsen, Abigail Smudsky, Maeve Badger, Eryn Roberts, and Cristina Nikolic.

Reflecting back to my interview with Darryl Hurs last year, Did you ever think that your once festival hobby would ever explode into an independent music scene flagship festival that would affect 10s of 1,000’s of musicians each year that bid for a spot?  DARRYL HURS: “Never! It was literally a hobby that was started out of frustration for festivals not giving local talent an honest chance. We are very proud of the work we do on an indie budget.” Moreover, Indie Week pledges to continue to build the international community that was established through the conference so stay tuned for their outstanding 2021 sessions as IWC focuses on creating quality connections, meaningful business, and extensive networking opportunities in order to provide music industry representatives and its artists with the tools and professional development they need to enhance their careers.

The Canadian Independent Venue Coalition has been calling people to help keep other venues open so that live music doesn’t disappear in Toronto. By providing relief to music, venue owners, and operators can ensure that they have a greater chance of surviving and staying open. Burdock, The Cameron House, The Garrison, Horseshoe Tavern, Lula Lounge, The Painted Lady, The Phoenix Concert Theatre, and Relish Bar & Grill are among the 45 venues newly added to the city’s Creative Co-Location Facilities Property Tax subclass. “The 45 live music venues in Toronto will realize an estimated $1.7 million in combined tax relief – $0.92 million for the municipal portion and $0.78 million for the education portion of their combined property taxes,” states the city of Toronto.

“Indie Week Canada is committed to using this online platform to be a leader moving forward in a positive direction. Connecting artists, industry, and fans from around the world is more important now than ever before as the music industry adapts and evolves. Now is the time to log on, connect, and move forward together,” states Darryl Hurs (Founder of INDIE WEEK).

December 15th, 2020 4 pm EST the ‘Best of Indie Weekly’ Tuesday Series continued with So You Want To Get Your Music On Playlists?

UNISON BENEVOLENT FUND – Indie Weekly is asking for your help to raise funds by donating to the Toronto area Unison Benevolent Fund. So many in the music industry are having a hard time right now and every bit helps. There’s been a lot of sad news lately and we want to do something good to help others get through this difficult time. Indie Week will match up to a total of $2,500. Donate CAD funds only. If you’re having trouble or looking to donate in another currency use PayPal and sent to: darryl.hurs@indieweek.com

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Post-Indie Week 2020, the Indie Weekly resumes with Screen X Screen ‘Live Online’ February 16-20, 2021 which is a new online conference launching the emphasis on live-streaming, gaming, Al, virtual reality, and techs in the music industry, featuring artists Lil Nas X, Marshemello, and Travis Scott performing concerts in video games such as Fortnite and Roblox, Billie Eilish has stunned the world with her incredible live stream. What’s next for the Industry? How do other businesses and artists access this technology and generate income and monetization? “After the success of moving Indie Week online, it just made sense to launch a new event that focuses on the future and new business models. We have to look at the new opportunities that are being presented, and I believe that this is an amazing time for businesses and artists to grow at an explosive rate with an engaged global online audience. Live Streaming, gaming, VR, and Al, are going to play an integral role,” states Indie Week founder, Darryl Hurs. SCREEN X SCREEN is going to be a deeper conversation about embracing the digital world. Join for an important and exciting look at what the future will look like. ABOUT THE PRESENTER: Indie Week has existed for SAVE 50% SUPER EARLYBIRD DEADLINE: DEC. 29th, 2020 buy tickets at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/screenxscreen/460988%5D