Toronto is one of Canada’s most culturally vibrant cities, boasting three major sports teams, the Blue Jays for baseball fans, the Raptors for basketball and of course The Maple Leafs, the city’s ice hockey team, coincidentally competing in the NHL playoffs that week for the first time in over a decade! 

Torontonians love their sport, but they’re also major music fans. The city is awash with music venues of all sizes – from grassroots venues like The Rivoli, The Monarch and Lee’s Palace, right up to the huge Air Canada and Rogers Centres. Canada punches well above its weight when it comes to musical export too with acts like the Arcade Fire, Bryan Adams and countless others entertaining music lovers globally. All this combined makes Canadian Music Week an essential conference and festival for those in the business of music every April.

TicketWeb UK kicked off the festival with a blast, hosting an international showcase at the iconic West End venue the Rivoli. Gracing the stage for the first time in Canada were UK acts Fond of Rudy and SEAZOO plus Los Angeles duo KOLARS, with a bit of local talent on show courtesy of Canada’s Exit Someone and Call Security.

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Exit Someone

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Call Security

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KOLARS

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Fond of Rudy

Subsequent evenings meant more live music, with Artist Services getting the chance to see international acts such as hot Irish export Elms, Canada’s Viking Fell and the energetic four-piece WEAVES.

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WEAVES

During the daytime it was down to business; Canadian Music Week hosted a series of panels throughout the week, with speakers from across the music industry and from around the world.

Most notable was Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino in conversation with George Stroumboulopoulis. The business leader and head of the world’s biggest live entertainment company discussed what it takes to run a progressive company in the 21st century while striking a work/life balance, hailing Live Nation’s Take Care of Your Own initiative and how it impacts on Live Nation’s policies. Michael also touched on the much debated topic of who owns a ticket and sets its terms of sale, citing the importance of the content or artist in this process. Check out a great summary of the talk here on Samaritan Mag.

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Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino in conversation at CMW2017