The FYI News Bulletin

By David Farrell

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment with Live Nation and Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corp. have announced the ‘OLG Play Stage,’ a new drive-in entertainment venue where fans can watch Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors playoff games as well as live concerts. Upcoming concert dates will include Walk off The Earth, Sam Roberts Band with The Reklaws kicking off the series on Aug. 13. Tickets on sale Aug. 7 at 10 a.m. and American Express Front of The Line pre-sale a day earlier. The venue is located alongside the Toronto waterfront on the east side of Ontario Place in Lot 2.                                                                                       

– Calgary-based Byta has raised a $1.9M seed round led by the Canada Media Fund to further develop its fee-based platform offering musicians a secure way to send and receive digital audio in any format. The capital will be used to invest in upcoming initiatives, including its new non-profit HowWeListen Education program.

Founded in 2015 by CEO Marc Brown, the Calgary-based startup claims to offer better audio quality or more features than SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Dropbox, WeTransfer and other watermarked distro services.

– While the pandemic may have put a hold on many events in the music industry, the Re:Sound team created a virtual show comprised of video performances by staff and Entandem (the org's joint licensing venture with SOCAN) employees. And it was a big success, raising $28K in support of the Unison Benevolent Fund and the Alzheimer's Society Music Project. Donors and sponsors involved included Greenwald Wealth Management – RBC Dominion Securities and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, as well as REAL Software Systems, NagataCONNEX Executive Legal Search, Evron Computer Systems Corp., Acumen Solutions and IT Weapons.

– Now celebrating 30 years since Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson met up in the beverage room of the Spadina Hotel and seeded plans for a group, Skydiggers have released 20 or so albums and EPs. The group’s latest release is a cover of Michel Pagliaro’s 1971 Much-label hit, Lovin’ You Ain’t Easy.

– Coalition Music in partnership with The Aboriginal People’s Television Network (APTN) have jointly launched Indigenous music company Red Music Rising (RMR). Under the oversight of Dadan Sivunivut, an arms-length holding company established by APTN, RMR will sign, release and market music from Indigenous artists and assist emerging Indigenous music companies. Toronto Based artist manager Matt Maw of Chippewas of the Thames is heading the new division.

– Sultry CanCountry hat singer Madeline Merlo recently had the brilliant success of having Lady A pick Champagne Night as their new single. The winsome BC native is back in the spotlight with the CMT exclusive premiere of her danceable country-pop Kiss, Kiss song video. With Ron Kitchener at the steering wheel, her star is headed into the Galactica.