Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to thank the committee for inviting me to speak here today.
I'm the president of Canadian Music Week. Now in its 32nd year, Canadian Music Week has become the largest, most influential music and media conference and festival in Canada. Each year, the event draws more than 3,000 delegates from more than 32 countries. The festival now features over 1,000 performers in more than 60 venues throughout downtown Toronto, engaging over 160,000 fans, with the total economic impact estimated at $16 million this year. By the way, it just finished a day ago. So if I look a little tired....
CMW assists in the education and development of performers and music business professionals of the future and promotes Canadian artists and recordings around the world. Our slogan is “bringing the world to Canada and Canadian music to the world”. CMW's key activities include music education, live performance, discovery and recognition, international trade and export, and music tourism.
In the past decade, CMW's efforts have increased the number of international music industry executives coming to Canada by more than 500%, resulting in thousands of dollars of new business being struck in territories including Japan, Australia, China, India, Germany, Britain, France, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and of course, the U.S.A.
We have seen increases in numbers of Canadian songs being placed in film and television productions, and we've facilitated export marketing training sessions presented by these experts. As a result, a better trained industry with a clear understanding of the export process is better able to take advantage of business and export opportunities.
Prior to running CMW, I started my music career as a working musician. You probably didn't know that.