SPILL NEWS: CIMA AND MUSICONTARIO LAUNCH LIVE MUSIC TORONTO | UNITING INDEPENDENT VENUES, FESTIVALS, PROMOTERS, PRESENTERS ACROSS CANADA’S LARGEST LIVE MUSIC MARKET

CIMA AND MUSICONTARIO LAUNCH LIVE MUSIC TORONTO

UNITING INDEPENDENT VENUES, FESTIVALS, PROMOTERS, PRESENTERS ACROSS CANADA’S LARGEST LIVE MUSIC MARKET

The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) in partnership with MusicOntario announced the formation of LIVE Music Toronto, a new industry collective created to represent and strengthen the independent and grassroots live music sector in Toronto. The initiative launches ahead of the CIMA and MusicOntario annual summer day party during NXNE.

LIVE Music Toronto will serve Toronto’s independent and grassroots venues, festivals, promoters, and presenters across the for-profit and non-profit sectors, providing a collective voice on local policy, resources, and the long-term sustainability of the spaces where artists develop and audiences connect with live music. The local focus of LIVE Music Toronto will serve as an addition to the excellent work being done on the national level by the Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA) and mirrors other successful, community-grounded models including Les SMAQ in Quebec, the Music Venue Trust in the United Kingdom and the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) in the United States.

“CIMA members know that a thriving local live scene sets up the entire music ecosystem for success,” says Andrew Cash, President and CEO of CIMA. “With the creation of the LIVE Music Toronto membership tier within CIMA not only are live sector independents in that city connecting to each other, there is now a bridge between them and the broader CIMA community of music companies, which include labels, managers, publishers and artists themselves.”

“Toronto’s independent live venues mobilized to generate significant support during the pandemic, including the City of Toronto’s creation of a property tax exemption for music venues,” says Shaun Bowring, owner/operator of venues The Garrison and The Baby G on Dundas West, as well as promoters Transmit Presents. “It’s fantastic to see the establishment of LIVE Music Toronto as a formal initiative with the support of CIMA and MusicOntario.”

“As both an independent venue and promoter, we are often operating in a vacuum,” says Camille Neirynck-Guerrero, programmer of Queen West live hub DROM Taberna and its non-profit presenting arm in•summer. “Being a part of LIVE Music Toronto has already hugely expanded both our community and our access to resources and networking — just through connecting us with our neighbours right here in Toronto.” 

Toronto’s independent live music economy is significant. According to the City of Toronto’s 2020 Re:Venues study, Toronto’s venues generate an estimated $850 million in annual economic impact and support the equivalent of 10,500 full-time jobs. More recently, the Canadian Live Music Association’s Hear and Now report found that Canada’s live music industry as a whole contributed more than $10 billion to the national economy in 2023.

LIVE Music Toronto will serve independent venues and presenters behind some of these numbers with a dedicated local organization to advocate for their interests, share resources, and coordinate with other advocates and associations on the policy issues that shape their day-to-day survival in Canada’s largest live music market.

Membership criteria:

• independent, grassroots venues, promoters, presenters and festivals
• Canadian-owned 
• Canadian-controlled
• operating in Toronto
• operating outside of the major institutional ecosystem
• not owned or operated by the municipal, provincial or federal governments

Supported by the City of Toronto’s Music Office, the initiative is the result of extensive groundwork by CIMA, its provincial partner MusicOntario, along with Toronto writer and founder of non-profit Wavelength Music Jonathan Bunce, who co-authored the acclaimed industry study, Reimagining Music Venues. The work that led to this announcement included a series of consultations with venue operators and promoters, focus groups and culminated in a year-end townhall-style gathering at The Garrison. To date, over 40 venues and presenters/ promoters have opted in as founding members with more to follow throughout the course of the year. 

As a long established CIMA partner, Tixr, the global ticketing and live event commerce platform, will provide financial support to help LIVE Music Toronto conduct outreach and onboard its initial membership base over the course of the next year.

If you are an independent venue or presenter in Toronto who’d like more info or to join, contact us HERE.

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