Music Industry (Trade)

UNISON Benevolent Fund Springs Into Action

Story by Nick Krewen | November 5, 2015 For SOCAN Words and Music.   To quote Unison Benevolent Fund co-founder Jodie Ferneyhough, “It was something that had to happen.” Although the idea has been operational for seven years, it’s only since May 2015 that the Unison Benevolent Fund – a non-profit, registered charity that provides counseling and emergency relief services to the Canadian music community – has been able to incorporate…


Radio Ga Ga

Artists across multiple genres have carved out a new niche for their careers on the other side of the radio dial GRAMMY.com Nick Krewen “Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child,” he musically boasted in 1989. But even during the most infamous stages of his recording career, Mojo Nixon knew his days as an outrageously outspoken cult roots rocker were numbered. “I knew, and I knew early on…


Bob Dylan and The Band’s complete Basement Tapes resurface at last

Toronto duo largely responsible for lifting the veil off “the most sought after and mysterious recordings from the post-nuclear, pre-digital era.” Nick Krewen Music, Published on Wed Nov 05 2014   Sitting at Johnny Rockets, a ’50s-style burger joint in Yonge-Dundas Square, my dining companion pulls out a cardboard envelope and hands it over. “Open it up and have a look. Have a little whiff,” he insists. Inside is a…


Third Time’s The Charm?

Canada’s Copyright Modernization Act receives mixed reaction from music industry NICK KREWEN GRAMMYS   July 25, 2014 – 2:36 AM GRAMMY.com Will the third time be the charm? After signing its intention to conform its copyright act to World Intellectual Property Organization standards 11 years ago, the Canadian government has introduced Bill C-32, the Copyright Modernization Act, to fulfill that mandate. But after the failure of two previous attempts —…


The Drake Effect

Story by Nick Krewen | July 24, 2014 For SOCAN Words and Music.   “Started from the bottom, now the whole team here.” So says Drake in “Started From the Bottom,” and that’s exactly how his big-bang explosion on the worldwide hip-hop scene has affected the fortunes of his whole team – more than 60 Canadian, Toronto-based songwriters, beat-makers, producers and other collaborators. Drake has almost single-handedly created an entire…