In the beginning … there was a plethora of poorly produced, free livestreams that I think started the industry off on a bad footing. It set the bar low for artists to actually be paid for their work, and it turned audiences off to the idea of livestreaming in general. Additionally, the streaming platforms first available to artists were not as they are today and did not provide for protection or control of their work in a way that many artists would prefer.

Nowadays … artists have since invested in better audio and video equipment and set up home studios that provide for better backdrops and presence for concert streams and other livestream activities. Better livestream solutions are now available that can offer 360-degree views of the performance setting, virtual reality settings, and private or paywall platforms to control access and avoid the horrendous possibility of having your event removed from the internet midstream. Despite the fact that technology has nearly caught up with the needs of this blossoming virtual industry, providing for high-production value livestreams from empty stages and artist living rooms, we as an industry are struggling to get attendance levels to anywhere near where it should be to sustain these events–and the artists and promoters. We need to shift our perspective as audiences from mere entertainment consumers to a model as supporters and patrons of the arts.

With nearly a year passed now since North America’s venues started shutting down, many performing artists have had to pack up and leave their homes to return to live with family members or relocate to areas with cheaper rents. Band makeups will change as a result of this when we do resume in-person events. Some will disband entirely. This may provide for some forced artistic challenges that could result in an amazing new direction, so there are benefits to this scenario perhaps. Sometimes under duress one can overcome to create genius works. But I wouldn’t want to force that struggle on anyone.

It’s important that those of us in the promotion side of the industry help to educate our audiences that have the financial ability to support on the reality of the situation–that we (the venue or organization, the artists, and the all of those as part of the larger arts ecosystem) are in need of their committed patronage to pull us through. Yes, there has been funding in the form of grants and low-interest loans made available to nonprofits and businesses during the pandemic, but for many gig workers, access to any government support–whether federal programs or state unemployment benefits–has remained and will remain inaccessible. It’s been weeks since the SVOgrant program was announced, and yet applications are not yet open, confusion abounds, and for the uninitiated in the world of grant applications, this can seem an insurmountable task to even consider delving into. And it’s tax season, as if we didn’t already have enough paperwork to concern ourselves with.

But I digress … the point I’d like for all to take away is that livestreaming remains vitally important from multiple angles–as a marketing investment and as a way to meet your mission as an organization (if that applies), and as a way for artists to still feel like their endeavors still hold value. Livestreaming remains our only option for connecting the community to the performing arts. Venues are still shuttered and summer outdoor events are looking less likely to happen in numbers we were optimistically aiming for just weeks ago.

So, artist friends: please take heart and continue to do what you can to create in this vacuous pandemic; your craft and presence really matters and lifts us all up. Promoter friends: please continue to offer virtual programming in some form to keep yourselves present in this industry and provide a place for artists and audiences to convene from around the globe. Audience friends: please understand that every dollar you spend in arts is probably doubly important and appreciated these days and that just “showing up” in the virtual space does help artists make their creative contributions and energies feel worthwhile.

Thanks for reading my heartfelt rant. I’ll be the first ticket buyer in line when venues in my state are able to open again, and one of the first festival-goers in 2021. Meanwhile, a heartfelt thanks to all of you creating and working in the virtual space. I’ll see you online.

The post The Importance of Livestreaming and Supporting Livestreams: A Call to Action appeared first on Canis Major Music.

Just before Covid-19 started to surface here in North America, many of us were on an emotional high, having showcased, attended, and schmoozed our way through the APAP NYC and FAI NOLA conferences. I am an ultra-extrovert. Attending conferences and discussing the artists I work with face-to-face with presenters is for me, the most enjoyable work I perform as an agent. It’s also an opportunity to re-ignite the passion I have for live music by attending as many showcases as possible at these conferences. And it is always an honor, and admittedly a moment of pride, when any of the artists I represent are showcasing. It is their art, their effort, their creativity, and their talent, that keeps me going–even in times like now when the booking world has halted while we await guidance on when we can safely gather again in numbers.

There are two artists I work with that have either recently been nominated or won significant acknowledgement for their music that I would like to highlight here. With the onslaught of conference follow-up, immediately truncated by the mass communications related to covid-19 cancellations, this is a later announcement than I would have liked to have posted, but the importance of these awards and the musicians’ contributions to the industry deserve to be touted many times over.

To that end, I would like to take a moment to congratulate Skye Consort & Emma Björling on taking home the prestigious Conseil québécois de la musique’s Opus Award for Album of the Year – World music and Traditional Québec music. It is indeed an incredible album and partnership between Skye Consort and Kongero’s Emma Björling. 

Mélisande [électrotrad] was recently nominated for two Independent Music Awards: best World Beat Album and World Music Producer (Gabriel Ethier) for their latest album, Les myriades. These incredible musicians continue to push creative boundaries in the traditional and global music scenes and their accolades are so well-deserved.

Congratulations to both Skye Consort & Emma Björling and Mélisande [électrotrad] on their 2020 nominations! We are grateful for your diverse contributions to the music community. It is a brilliant thing to see your work acknowledged in this way and we at Canis Major Music look forward to bringing your music to more audiences in the future. Well done, bien fait!

The post 2020 Artist Award Nominations and Recipients appeared first on Canis Major Music.

Welcome to the premier Canis Major Music “chatter” post. Instead of celebrating incredible live performances around the globe, all of us in the performing arts industry are grappling with an immediate loss of work, income, and purpose. Venues are forced to close and festivals to cancel. We are faced with self-imposed and mandatory quarantines. We are to engage in the new artform of “social distancing.” I can’t imagine handling all of this without internet access!

Artists are a creative force. It has been incredibly uplifting to see the number of opportunities popping up around the globe to participate in performance through live streaming solutions, in addition to new online offerings for musical or dance instruction, or simply seeing folks unabashedly asking for financial help. This collective resourcefulness will help all of us get through this, and I have to believe we will be stronger on the other side of it all.

In connecting over FaceTime last night with an artist, we agreed to spend only the first 15 minutes talking about the COVID-19 crisis, but then to move on to discuss a post-COVID-19 future–whenever that may land. Admittedly both of us are mega-extroverts and in part just wanted to connect over video chat to interact with another human…but to spend a good long while planning for the return of normalcy was a salve, to say the least. Looking ahead strategically to showcasing opportunities this year and next, targeting specific markets where opportunities for development are potentially highest–simply discussing plans for a successful 2021–turns out this was all truly uplifting. Maybe in another scenario such discussions would feel a bit more hefty, but it actually made us both feel lighter in the joy that comes from focusing on our combined potential.

I will undoubtedly be joining in with others to enjoy livestream concerts in the coming weeks, and will do what I can to help spread news of opportunities among friends and industry connections here and on social media. I’ll make more phone calls rather than sending emails as I seek to connect more meaningfully with colleagues. If you want to share news or events with CMM for posting consideration, please reach out. I wish everyone well-being and a brighter post-COVID-19 future.

Thanks for reading and for helping to make music and art happen in your communities.

Danielle

The post The Performing Arts Industry & COVID-19 appeared first on Canis Major Music.