Canadian Music Week (or CMW) is an industry conference and music festival held over ten days in Toronto and Ontario, Canada.
History
Canadian Music Week is an annual four-day music and media conference that began in 1981. It is one of Canada's largest and most influential conferences drawing top industry professionals from around the world. The event is designed to stimulate the exchange of market intelligence, increase dialogue, and provide networking opportunities.
The conference includes a variety of activities, such as conferences, award shows, and one of Canada's biggest "New Music" festivals. The festival features performances by emerging and established artists at venues ranging from popular bars and halls, to trendy clothing stores and cafés.
One of the unique aspects of Canadian Music Week is its ability to draw in significant numbers of A&R representatives. Emerging new bands use the festival as an opportunity to be spotted by these representatives.
In January 2017, Jim Beam along with Canadian Music Week Canada launched the "Jim Beam Make History Talent Search", a talent search program designed to discover the next big Canadian music star.
Canadian Music Week has become an important platform for the Canadian music industry consistently bringing together more than 3,000 music industry professionals for the week's events. It is the single, longest running multi-day Canadian music and media event that helps to increase the visibility of emerging artists and encourage collaboration among industry professionals.
Notable participants
Notable speakers and performers who have been a part of the event include: Slash, celebrity interview artist Gene Simmons, celebrity interview artist David Foster, celebrity interview record producer Dennis DeYoung, celebrity interview artist/songwriter Chuck D, keynote speaker artist/record producer Stereos, pop-rock band Alan Parsons, keynote speaker British record producer Hollowphonic, an ambient, post-rock unit Seymour Stein, president of Sire records Trapt, a nu metal rock outfit Public Enemy, hip hop group Cassius Khan, Indian classical musician; The Ghazal Tabla Wizard Wolfmother, rock band MENEW, indie rock band The Exies, an indie rock band Glen Ballard, producer Don Was, producer Sturle Dagsland, Norwegian artist Mark Hudson, producer Mathew Knowles, keynote speaker – World Music Entertainment C.E.O. Sir George Martin, producer Jordan Galland, panel member, director/musician Gastón Iungman, rock musician and producer; Bullmoose, indie rock band.
Hall of Fame inductions
Canadian Indies Hall of Fame
CMW honors important independent and alternative artists with its annual "Canadian Indies Hall of Fame" program. Artists who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame include Parachute Club, The Pursuit of Happiness, Martha and the Muffins, D.O.A. and Rough Trade.
Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame
The Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame at Canadian Music Week 2008.
Featured Cultural Spotlight performances
2010 Spotlight on India – Rock Showcase featured a number of South-Asian-Canadian acts such as J'sin who performed tracks from his Fatlab's produced first album, Born.
Canadian Music Fest
Since 2009 Canadian Music Week has referred to the festival component of the event as Canadian Music Fest, which it calls "Canada's largest new music festival".
Startup Launchpad
In 2016, CMW hosted its first annual Startup Launchpad event, a pitch competition for startups in the music industry. Seven startups were selected to pitch their business to potential investors and a judging panel including Michael Wekerle and Ted Cohen. The first finalists of this event were Mugatunes, an intercollegiate music sharing site, Audiokite Research, a market research company for musicians, Mission Control, a music management platform, Aybo, Trebba and Notetracks, a music collaboration app.
Canadian Radio Music Awards
In 2016, the CMW launched an award show, called the Canadian Radio Music Awards. The show, similar to the Juno Awards, recognized and celebrated Canadian music artists. The award show has not been held since 2018.