Awards News
Spotify has just announced its first-ever Global Impact List for Canada. This list highlights artists whose songs were in heavy rotation among listeners outside their own countries during the last six months. To nobody's surprise, Drake and The Weeknd are each featured on three of the Top 10 each, while rising global star Tate McRae makes the list with "It’s OK I’m OK"at No. 4.
Less expected is the appearance of Toronto newcomer Chris Grey, who checks in at No. 3 with his viral hit, "Let The World Burn," launched as a background track to many social media clips. Grey's largest international audience is found in cities across Indonesia, Brazil and Malaysia. Confirming the international appeal of the Punjabi Wave are Shubh and Raghav who respectively come in with "King Shit" at No. 6 and the Bollywood-fuelled hit "Teri Baaton mein Aisa Uljha Jiya" at No. 9.
Here's the top 10:
- The Weeknd - "Timeless" (with Playboi Carti)
- Drake - "Push Ups"
- Chris Grey - "LET THE WORLD BURN"
- Tate McRae - "It's ok I'm ok"
- The Weeknd - "Dancing In The Flames"
- Shubh - "King Shit"
- 4batz, Drake - "act ii: date @ 8" (Remix)
- Future, Metro Boomin, The Weeknd - "We Still Don't Trust You"
- Asees Kaur, Raghav, Tanishk Bagchi - "Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya Title Song" (From Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya)
- Drake - "Family Matters"
Festivals News
Music PEI Week is now well under way in Prince Edward Island. One recommended event is the SOCAN Songwriters Concert, at Scott MacAulay Performing Arts Centre in Summerside on Match 6 (7.30 p.m. start). The lineup includes Dylan Menzie, Gizmo, Lawrence Maxwell, Noah Malcolm and acclaimed honkytonker Whitney Rose (now based in Austin). The five days of activity culminates in the 24th Music PEI Awards Gala, at the Confederation Centre of the Arts on March 8. Performing there will be Vishtèn Connexions, Dylan Menzie, Hikado and Lawrence Maxwell. Tickets here. See the full list of nominees here.
– The Springtide Music Festival has announced the first wave of artists for the 2025 festival lineup taking place June 12-14 in Uxbridge, Ontario (northeast of Toronto). Folk and roots artists feature prominently in an impressive lineup that includes Juno winners The East Pointers and Quique Escamilla, Reuben and The Bullhorn Singers (led by Reuben and The Dark leader Reuben Bullock), Indigenous shoegazers Status/Non-Status, indie roots-rock veterans Cuff The Duke and The Burning Hell, Casper Skulls, Torrance (led by Tamara Williamson), The Pairs and The Vaudevillian. More artists will be announced later this spring. The festival features both free and ticket events and is helmed by Folk-Roots artist Tania Joy. More info here. Weekend passes are on sale here.
– The M For Montreal Festival is now accepting submissions from artists wanting to showcase there. Apply here. This year, the event runs Nov. 19-25. (Billboard Canada is a presenting partner of M for Montreal.)
Industry News
Music Publishers Canada (MPC) and the non-profit Women in Music Canada organization are undertaking a needs assessment to explore and identify the specific requirements of the music community related to the demands of caregiving. This survey is meant to be answered by those who currently have caregiver responsibilities and work in the music sector in Canada as well as those who have exited their music careers due to caregiving demands. The survey (here) must be completed by April 14.
– Fresh from its successful recent FAI Conference in Montreal, Folk Alliance International (FAI) is having its Annual General Meeting on March 6, at 2 pm CT, via Zoom. The Board of Directors reviews the last year, and if you’re a voting member of FAI, you’ll receive an email with the agenda, meeting documents, and a Zoom link to join (with the ability to participate and ask questions). Non-members are also invited to join. You can view the live AGM at the appointed time on the FAI YouTube channel.
– Acclaimed Toronto-based company Opera Atelier is marking a milestone 40th anniversary this year by presenting the Toronto premiere of a 17th-Century masterpiece, David and Jonathan, composed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. The production will run at Koerner Hall’s TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, from April 9-13, and is fully staged and choreographed by Opera Atelier co-artistic directors Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg. Tickets and information at OperaAtelier.com.
Artists News
It is hard to believe that it has been 40 years since Toronto's much-loved beatnik jazz band The Shuffle Demons took to the streets of their hometown to busk up a storm. They have since earned an international audience for their free-spirited sound, and this week they release a new album, Are You Really Real, on Alma Records/Universal. Original members Richard Underhill and Stich Wynston are joined by other Juno-winning players in the current Shuffle Demons lineup. Over these four decades, the band has released ten CDs and two hit videos and toured nationally and internationally including 25 cross Canada tours, 5 U.S. tours, and 17 European treks. The new album will be launched on March 6 at Hugh's Room Live in Toronto (tickets here), followed by shows at Hotel Wolfe Island, Kingston, March 7-8. Stream the advance single "X Marks The Spot" here.
– Via his seminal band Three O'Clock Train, Montreal singer/songwriter Mack MacKenzie was part of the '80s Canadian roots-rock boom alongside the likes of Blue Rodeo and Jr. Gone Wild. He is still going strong, with that band, as a solo artist and as a full-fledged member of Medicine Singers, the internationally acclaimed Indigenous collective based in the U.S.. MacKenzie is joined by Suzanne Nuttall (ex-Bare Bones) for a double-bill acoustic singer-songwriter tour beginning in Kingston on March 6, with dates in Ottawa, Montreal, Cornwall, London, Hamilton (The Gaba Gaba Gool Club, tickets here), Toronto and Norwood. A full itinerary here.
– On March 21, Hamilton-based rockabilly/roots singer-songwriter Ginger St. James will release her fourth album, Told Ya, out on regional label Busted Flat Records. Renowned for a spirited performance style, St. James has an eclectic sound that draws upon rockabilly, country, blues and early rock 'n roll elements. She plays a hometown album release show at The Mule Spinner on March 22 (tickets here) and has other shows in Guelph (March 8), London (March 14) and Tweed (April 25).
– Emerging Toronto alt-pop singer-songwriter Zoe Ferris has a debut album coming in April, and she has just released a second advance single, "Touch Ground," co-produced by Annelise Noronha. Later this year, Ferris will attend Berklee NYC’s master’s program in music production and songwriting. Check the track out on Soundcloud here.
