Music Industry (Trade)

Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye, Business, Canada, Events, Hamilton, Music Industry (Trade), Professional Adjustment, Toronto, Tourism, Travel, United States December 12, 2025

Paul McCartney tickets for $5,000? Insiders reveal why going to a concert costs so much

Artists’ business managers say that after the pandemic touring became a lot more expensive.  For Paul McCartney’s recent performance at Hamilton’s TD Coliseum, it wasn’t unusual seeing tickets go for $5000. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star It’s no secret that concert ticket prices have reached unprecedented heights, bolstered in part by the secondary resale market, dynamic pricing and ticketing fees that rise accordingly with each transaction. In fact,…

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Banjo, Bob Dylan, Canada, Events, Experimental, Festivals, Jazz, Metallica, Music Industry (Trade), Prince, Punk, Rock 'N Roll, Rolling Stones, Toronto November 30, 2024

He helped bring the Ramones, the Police and the B-52’s to Toronto for the first time. Nearly 50 years later, he’s being celebrated in a new book

Nearly 100 key players, including performers, scenesters and other promoters, were interviewed for “He Hijacked My Brain: Gary Topp’s Toronto.”  By Nick Krewen Special to the Star In a career that has lasted nearly five decades and involved thousands of concerts, eminent Toronto promoter Gary Topp has but a few regrets. One of his biggest involved an act he and partner Gary Cormier (known collectively as the Garys) tried to book…

Beatles, Business, Canada, Collectibles, Education, Events, Music Industry (Trade), Toronto, United Kingdom September 22, 2024

He unearthed a recording of a legendary 1965 Beatles concert from Maple Leaf Gardens. Here’s why it might be worth a fortune

Toronto Beatles expert and author Piers Hemmingsen recently determined the reel-to-reel tape was higher quality than he initially believed. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star There may be no happier man on the planet right now than Piers Hemmingsen. In a story that broke a few weeks ago in Billboard magazine, the Toronto-based Beatles expert announced that he had a reel-to-reel recording of the Fab Four’s entire afternoon Maple…

Bob Dylan, Business, Canada, Country, Country Music Hall Of Fame, Emmylou Harris, Gordon Lightfoot, In Memoriam, JUNO, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Leonard Cohen, Los Angeles, Music Industry (Trade), Music Publishing, Nashville, New York, Producer, Record Labels, Robbie Robertson, The Band, Toronto, United States July 10, 2024

Remembering the Toronto music exec who helped shape the careers of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen

Artists as diverse as Van Morrison, Thin Lizzy and the Marshall Tucker Band were touched by Mary Martin’s expertise. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star If the only thing Toronto’s Mary Martin had achieved during her extraordinary career was introducing Bob Dylan to the Hawks, it would have been enough to enshrine her place in music history. But Martin, who died July 4 in Nashville at the age of…

British Columbia, Canada, Country, Country Pop, Folk, Guitar, Music Industry (Trade), Pop, Rock, Songwriter, Toronto, Vancouver, Voice May 23, 2024

He made radio hits in the 1970s but later gave up music for woodworking. Now Ray Materick is back

Materick, whose Canadian radio hits included “Linda, Put the Coffee On,” “Feelin’ Kinda Lucky Tonight” and “Northbound Plane,” will play Hugh’s Room Live on Saturday. By Nick Krewen Special to the Star Linda, it’s almost time to put the coffee on. When singer/songwriter Ray Materick performs at Hugh’s Room Live Saturday for the first time in over a decade, it will be with renewed interest in his most popular material, including…