Music Business grad nominated at 2024 Canadian Live Music Awards Posted on August 6, 2024 at 10:00 am. This spring, Durham College (DC) alumnus Brendan Kennedy was nominated in the Road Warrior (Tour Manager) of the Year category at the 2024 Canadian Live Music Industry Awards (CLMIA), recognizing his more than 10 years on the road working with bands including The Glorious Sons, Valley and Billy Talent. The 8th annual CLMIAs took place on June 4 and celebrated Canada’s live music industry. Kennedy grew up in Brockville, Ontario, playing in local bands as a drummer. In a small town with minimal resources, he also took on the role of promoter and sound technician – creating a clear vision for a career in the music industry. Coming from a musical family, with both of his parents being teachers, he was encouraged to get a post-secondary education in an area he felt passionate about. He enrolled in the Music Business Administration program at DC and graduated in 2013. “I went into the program with a pretty solid goal of what I wanted to accomplish, but the courses and faculty helped me understand how the whole music industry ecosystem works,” said Kennedy. “I took every available opportunity to gain experience doing sound. I did every open mic and took on a really big leadership role at The Reel Music Festival.” The Reel Music Festival, now Oshawa Music Week, is an annual event organized by students in DC’s Music Business Administration/Music Business Management program and features live music showcases, entertainment for music lovers, and music-industry education for aspiring and established music-business practitioners. After graduation, Kennedy moved to Toronto with his band, but quickly found his existing connections in the industry were opening opportunities for him to kick-start his career off stage. He began working in the studio with his friend, and future Juno Award-winning producer, Derek Hoffman. He then secured a position doing sound at two Toronto venues working DJ nights and shows. A bartender at one of the venues was Chris Cresswell from Canadian punk-rock band, The Flatliners. Cresswell heard Kennedy mixing a show and invited him on tour. Since that first tour, Kennedy has been on the road with different bands consistently for 10 years touring Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada and the United States. He attributes his success not only to technical skills but to soft skills like organization, problem solving and an ability to connect with people. “You have to be good at your job, but being personable is also important,” he said. “I’ve been told I’m a very patient person, so that helps. I’ve always attributed that to my grandparents because they were so patient with my cousins and me as kids.” A self-described open-book, Kennedy returns to campus when he can to offer guidance and inspiration to current students. His advice to those starting out in the music industry is to find an area you enjoy and stick with it. “If you know you want to go into tour management for example, find people in that role to network with and just work really hard at that one thing. Putting yourself out there is the most important thing you can do in this business, and if you can stick close to your goals, it’ll pay off.” * photo credit: Becca Hamel Music Business Management students gain hands-on learning and business experience during Oshawa Music Week Posted on April 11, 2024 at 9:23 am. Durham College’s (DC) Music Business Management (MBM) students hosted their annual event – Oshawa Music Week – which promotes local musicians and elevates the local music community through performances, exposure and showcases. The five-day event, which runs the first week of April, features live music performances across the Durham Region, a music business summit and networking opportunities and is a dynamic way for students to gain hands-on skills and experience. “All students have different needs and interests. Some want to be administrators, some want to be event planners, artists, managers. Some want to be venue owners, some people want to run shows,” said Tony Sutherland, an MBM faculty member. “An event like this allows students to try their hand at different facets of the industry.” Eyrica D’rozario, a second-year student in the MBM program was tasked with doing the promotional work, including managing and developing social media content, posters and video promotional material for the week. “There were so many moving parts, it takes a big team,” D’rozario said. “That’s what was so special about the program, was that it was so collaborative. You are going to talk to everybody, you are going to meet everybody, and you will make some of the best memories in this program.” Barry Waite, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Media, Art and Design says this event is beneficial for both current students and those looking to come to DC. “It’s the best example of experiential learning at the college,” Waite said. “The real value is it gives them an opportunity to see the business side of things and all different aspects of the music business.” Waite said this event is an excellent way to show students how they can take their interest in the arts and turn it into a career. During many of these events, Waite said he hears many DC students say things like: “We didn’t know you had a program like this.” Many of the students participating in or organizing the event are performers themselves or are career professionals in the music industry. Even faculty involved in the event are experts of the music industry and are committed to helping these students be successful. “My background has always been within the music industry,” Sutherland said adding that this event helps students gain the skills to negotiate and reach out to people in the industry. “It helps them in building a portfolio,” he said. “It helps them to build those bridges to a music industry, which is what they’re going to graduate and work in.” DC alumna making noise in the music business Posted on March 23, 2023 at 9:10 am. Durham College (DC) alumna Anne Stirk’s successful career in the music business has been recognized with a place on the inaugural Women in Music Canada Honour Roll. Working in artist and label partnerships at Spotify, she amplifies the voices of Canada’s homegrown artists and introduces them to the world, while also helping international artists increase their presence in the Canadian market. She joined her peers at a gala event in Toronto on International Women’s Day, March 8, for an evening of recognition, gratitude and, naturally, music. “I feel so deeply honoured to have been nominated, and even more so to have shared the space with such amazing individuals,” she said. “So much laughter, love and good vibes were had, and the evening was a testament to the incredible power of women coming together. It was an incredible and long overdue celebration.” The career she enjoys today is one she dreamed of as a young girl growing up in a musical family. She found that she was more interested in working behind the scenes than in performing, and she spent her time exploring the nascent internet for news on her favourite bands, meeting fellow fans and interviewing musicians for her own website. Her passion led her to DC’s Music Business Management program. “DC started it all for me. That program is really good at making sure you have the fundamentals of everything in the music business, from publishing to copyrighting to event management.” She is often reminded of her time at DC thanks to her enduring friendships with her classmates, some of whom also work in the industry. She has also employed a number of interns from the program over the years, confident that they have received a great education. “The real-world scenarios that get thrown at you in that program are what prepared me to deal with different personalities and different people in the business, especially artists. You can teach people anything from a book, but nothing prepares you for life and dealing with people until you’re actually in those real-life scenarios. It gave me the ability to evolve quickly.” That’s an ability she’s had to call on many times in her career. After graduating in 2007, she spent over a decade at Universal Music Canada, where she experienced a seismic change in her own career and the industry itself. She worked with the biggest music retailers in Canada on a number of in-store events with popular artists like Justin Bieber, Drake and Halsey before the rise of streaming services changed the way people buy music. Transitioning into digital marketing, she made sure that Universal artists were properly promoted on the new platforms. In the constantly shifting music business, she has thrived by embracing change, and jumping to Spotify in 2018 was another big one. There, she works with artists and their managers to ensure that as broad an audience as possible hears them. Her most rewarding experiences are when an artist she has helped to cultivate experiences a surge in popularity on the platform. Working at Spotify has given her a whole new perspective on the business, and not just the good parts. Her new position showed her the true scope of the inequalities faced by women, people of colour and Indigenous artists in the industry, and she devoted herself to addressing that imbalance. With so many voices struggling to be heard, she takes every opportunity to promote those that have been marginalized. “If someone who needs and deserves support might not get it otherwise, we can amplify them a little further. That’s what keeps me going; making sure the artists that deserve to be heard, are heard, and have equal opportunity.” Now that she has a voice of influence in the industry, she is determined to use it to create positive change, not just for artists around the world, but for those closest to her. “I just want a world where my nieces don’t have to worry about being women, or being part Indigenous. I know the music business is a small percentage of that overall equity conversation, but if I can make a little difference for them, I will.” That motivation will fuel her as she continues to lead the way in reshaping the music industry.
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