This past year saw the live music industry take some hits, with festival ticket sales declining and production costs rising. FACTOR CEO Meg Symsyk is doing what she does best — tackling the problem head-on, launching FACTOR’s Promoter Program and investing directly into Canada’s live sector, supporting concerts presented by Canadian promoters and featuring Canadian artists. At the same time, Symsyk is fighting some major battles, as FACTOR’s expected revenues from the CRTC’s “streaming tax” regulation to support Canadian Content face a legal appeal by the biggest companies in the business — Spotify, Apple and Amazon, among others — and the company takes on Scotiabank in a high-profile cybertheft case. Amidst all that, she runs an organization that provides pivotal funding to Canadian artists and organizations every year — including early support for stars like Charlotte Cardin and The Weeknd — and continues to work with one of her favourite clients from her previous artist management career, a little Canadian band called Rush.