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FYI

A Podcast Conversation with...Melleefresh

Toronto’s Melleefresh has long been a shining light on this country's EDM and dance music scene, both as an artist and head of the Play Records label. The imprint celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and is doing so in style, as Bill King learns in his latest FYI podcast.

A Podcast Conversation with...Melleefresh

By Bill King

Melleefresh is President and founder of Play Records — the label through which deadmau5 was discovered and first signed to, and with whom she collaborated with as freshmau5 on many tracks, including the 2008 Juno Award-nominated release, After Hours. She has also collaborated with such artists as Dirty 30 (Alixander III), Billy Newton-Davis, Calvertron, Hoxton Whores, 40oz Profits, Gettoblasters, Jerome Robins, dj genderfluid, and more. She is an inimitable reference point for the cut-throat, competitive intersection that is music, business, and being a woman in the thick of it all.


Deemed “one of the pivotal figures in North American dance music” by Clash Magazine, the Toronto-based EDM dynamo has been a prominent avant-garde performance artist for the last 30 years. Play Records celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

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Charlotte Day Wilson
Jessica Foley
Charlotte Day Wilson
Concerts

CNE 2026 Bell SOUNDSTAGE Lineup: Charlotte Day Wilson, JoJo, Finger Eleven and More

As part of its partnership with NXNE and a renewed focus on live music, CNE will also welcome a special soon-to-be revealed global headliner presented by Billboard Canada on Aug. 28.

The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) is embracing its musical roots with a high-profile lineup for 2026.

The beloved long-running fair, baptized The Ex by Torontonians, has unveiled the full list of artists who will be headlining the newly-named Bell SOUNDSTAGE at the Bandshell to celebrate the event's 147th edition. Canadian stars like Charlotte Day Wilson and Finger Eleven as well as international pop star JoJo have been added to this year's programming, which reflects a diverse mix of renowned names and rising stars across a multitude of genres including pop, hip-hop, Punjabi music and soca, among others. They join previously announced acts like Lights, Lupe Fiasco, Shaggy and more.

This year, the exhibition is partnering with Toronto music festival NXNE, to modernize its musical programming with chart-topping artists and newer acts, and revamping the Bandshell as the Bell SOUNDSTAGE. “Music is such a massive part of who we are,” Mark Holland, CEO of the CNE, told Billboard Canada in April during his Executive of the Week interview. "Connecting everybody to that is a democratic mission that we are really invested in."

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