Mayor Tory celebrates Toronto’s music industry and the return of live music across the city

Toronto’s live music venues receive some support from the City

TORONTO, March 30, 2022 – On Monday The Mayor visited The Baby G at 1608 Dundas St. W., along with Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre), Deputy Mayor Ana Bailão (Davenport), Councillor Brad Bradford (Beaches–East York) and Allan Reid, President and CEO of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and The JUNO Awards.

Toronto’s live music venues generate a total economic impact of $850 million annually, while providing the equivalent of 10,500 full-time jobs. They also attract and retain creative young people, drive tourism and tourists’ spending in Toronto, and add to the culture and liveability of the city.

To help support our live music venues early in the pandemic, the City of Toronto introduced reduced property taxes for every eligible live music venue. In 2020, 48 Toronto venues received this benefit – saving an average of $18,995 – increasing to 58 venues last year. After a successful 2020 and 2021, the City made the decision to make the program permanent to help local venues on an ongoing basis. To date, eligible live music venues in Toronto have saved $1.7 million collectively per year.

To further help the City is working closely with the music industry to continue to sustain and grow the music ecosystem that supports musicians and enhances our civic identity, including the new five-year Music Strategy recommended by the Toronto Music Advisory Committee for approval by Council next month. Other good news in music includes:

• Toronto is the Host City for the 2022 JUNO Awards, with JUNO Week events taking place from Monday, May 9 through Sunday, May 15 and the Awards on May 15. The JUNOs will showcase Toronto and many of its amazing venues and artists and its music scene.
• In partnership with MusiCounts, Canada’s music education charity associated with the JUNO Awards, the City’s Music Office has created a free and accessible “Industry Insights” video series. The series is a free, professional development resource featuring industry experts sharing information and best practices for emerging artists and early-stage music entrepreneurs interested in starting a music festival or creating new  events. The videos are available here
• In recent months, live music venue across the city have been opening or reopening, from icons like Massey Hall and the El Mocambo, to large new spaces like History and small ones like Café Pamenar.
• Many of Toronto’s major music festivals, promoters, venues and event organizers have confirmed plans to bring live music back for the summer of 2022.
• The return of in-person events and performances signals that the city’s vibrant entertainment sector and cultural community are back and ready to re-energize Toronto.
• The Music Office’s City Hall Live series will return this summer with City Hall Live After Dark. This year’s focus will include partnering on live music events happening outside Toronto’s downtown core that reflect the diversity of the city’s social culture at night.
• YYZ Live, the Music Office’s partnership with Toronto Pearson Airport that programs live music at the airport, is also back this year. Performances have been running from March 14 and will continue through to Thursday, March 31. Plans are being discussed for a return during JUNO Week and later in the year, providing paid opportunities for local artists.

In 2021, through the City’s Music 311, City Hall Live and YYZ Live programs, 81 paid performance opportunities were created, supporting 81 acts, 161 individual musicians (42 per cent of whom were Black, Indigenous and people of colour), with 58 per cent of the acts featuring female-identifying artists. The Amplified Music on Patios (AMP) pilot program, which featured live music on CaféTO patios in City Wards of Davenport, Spadina–Fort York, Toronto–Danforth and Beaches–East York from August through October 2021, generated paying gigs for an estimated 900 local musicians. Toronto also saw many virtual or hybrid music festivals and events last year, including Manifesto, Global Toronto, Indie Week, AfrowaveTO, Long Winter, Honey Jam, Wavelength and the 2021 JUNO Awards.

Musicians and the music industry – especially the live music sector – have faced tremendous challenges, particularly during the past two years. The City will continue to work with the industry to nurture and grow the sector and the artists it employs.

More information about the City’s Music Office is available here

SOURCE City of Toronto

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