Photo by Sarah Kirby, Imagine Photography ©2017
Finding Funds and Resources to Help Musicians
Music has been evolving since the dawn of time.
Further, live performances evolved to include distribution via stone tablets (who knows!) to sheet music to vinyl to 8 tracks to cassettes in days of old. Additionally, distribution went on to evolve into CDs to downloads/streaming to thumb drives/download cards and now the fastest growing music genre born during the COVID-19 pandemic: live-streaming.
“Music Evolution: Live Performance to Live Streaming”
The music industry is on the move again. Coming to a standstill when the coronavirus shut down live music in March 2020, musicians scrambled to stay in touch with their fans, keep the music alive and pay their bills.
Now almost a year into the pandemic, we ask ourselves:
In reality, who really knows?
But one thing for sure:
Even if you have representation and a music team, you should at least be well versed in the various aspects of the music business. Why? Because one thing won’t change: musicians need to wear many hats.
In the beginning of your music career, you are probably wearing them all or any combination of them:
musician
songwriter
bandleader
side musician
organizer
gig booker
gig promoter
poster maker
venue pleader
post-gig money chaser
sound engineer / lighting tech
rehearsal organizer
radio promoter
press release writer
social media expert
music industry
networker
copyright/music licensing submitter
grant writer
album maker
producer
arranger
fan data base builder
accountant
income-tax filer
And that’s just starters.
Slowly you learn how to put a team together to wear one or more of those hats. However, savvy musicians remain an integral part of the decision-making or at least be aware of what each hat-wearer is doing on your behalf.
This is YOUR empire you are building and YOUR success depends on all the elements working smoothly together to help advance your vision. Moreover, there are a lot of moving parts and you are ultimately the best person to decide what needs to be done to give you a successful sustainable career in music.
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Identifying Funds and Resources To Help Musicians
During this pandemic, you can read/study/absorb/learn as much as you can about different aspects of the music industry before the madness of music overtakes your life again and you barely have time to think.
Who has their finger on the pulse of the music industry in Canada and can help you navigate what music will look like post pandemic?
Resource: Advocacy
1. Canadian Live Music Association
The Canadian Live Music Association is the voice of Canada’s vibrant live music industry. You can thank the hard work of Erin Benjamin (President & CEO) along with her amazing team for their tireless advocacy to the Canadian government on behalf of musicians & presenters/agents/promoters, etc.
Thanks to CLMA, the Canadian music industry has a powerful voice at the government table.
2. Learn from Miranda Mulholland about advocacy and resources:
Special mention to Miranda Mullholland who is busy running her own career PLUS helping musicians behind the scenes.
She has posted a great explanation on how Music Royalties work (link above) – perfect to use as a resource.
Additionally, who can help you get through the pandemic with resources specifically for musicians?
Resource: Emergency Relief
Unison Benevolent Fund is a non-profit, registered charity that provides counselling and emergency relief services to the Canadian music community. “We are here to help professional music-makers in times of hardship, illness or economic difficulties.”
Funds and Resources to Help Musicians
Resource: Grants
“We’re proud to be Canada’s public arts funder. We champion and invest in artistic excellence through our grants, services, prizes and payments to Canadian artists and arts organizations.”
Factor (The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent On Recordings) is a private non-profit organization dedicated to providing assistance toward the growth and development of the Canadian music industry.
Music Canada’s members are engaged in all aspects of the recording industry. This includes the manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music. Furthermore, their companies actively develop and nurture Canadian talent throughout the world.
In addition, they also work closely with recording studios, live music venues, concert promoters and managers in the promotion and development of the music cluster.
Resource: The Music Pulse
Subscribe to Lefsetz Letters
Almost nobody reads music tea leaves like Bob Lefsetz – no matter where you play your music around the world.
Dig into the archives to learn/apply his insights in your own career.
Who Is Bob Lefsetz?
Bob Lefsetz addresses the issues that are at the core of the music business: downloading, copy protection, pricing and the music itself. His intense brilliance captivates readers from Steven Tyler to Rick Nielsen to Bryan Adams to Quincy Jones to EVERYBODY who’s in the music business.
Never boring, always entertaining, Bob’s insights are fuelled by his stint as an entertainment business attorney, majordomo of Sanctuary Music’s American division and consultancies to major labels.
(Excerpt from Rhino)
The good news is that just about everything you need to learn in the music business is online somewhere
Not-so-good news is that there is way to much out there and you need someone to help filter out what will work for you and what won’t.
JAMS Canada can help you with that.
Quinte area Ontario Canada:
Musicians need a gig? – contact us
Venue owners need musicians – contact us.
email: jamscanada1@gmail.com
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BIO
JAMS Canada (Jeanette Arsenault Music Services) has set out her mission: “Helping Musicians Help Themselves” by offering consulting, resources & administrative support services.
Jeanette has over 30 years of experience as a singer/songwriter/performing/recording artist. She has independently released 8 albums, performed for the Canadian Olympic Team in Salt Lake City (2002) & again in Athens Greece (2004) and also opened the 37th World Congress of the Business & Professional Women International (BPW, 2011) and has produced/organized/performed in numerous benefit concerts/fundraisers/variety shows,
JAMS Canada can help you focus on what you want most – more gigs, more fans, more money.
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Some contributors also responded with videos – please subscribe to our JAMS Canada YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-CmaB7MV0r1ehhveBPmBEg
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