Indigo Love of Reading Foundation Commits $1,000,000 in Funding for Books and Educational Resources to Support Canadian Families in High-Needs Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Apr 16, 2020

Today the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation committed $1 million in books and educational resources to support Canadian children in high-needs communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new Indigo Love of Reading Community Response Fund is part of the Foundation’s continued efforts to support literacy in high-needs communities across Canada.

“Books are critical to education and as a vehicle to ‘travel’ to new places and ‘meet’ new people. This is important always and especially at this moment,” said Heather Reisman, Chair of the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation. “I want to thank our customers for the special role they play in helping to support our Foundation. I also want to thank our employees whose commitment every day plays an equally important role.”

The Indigo Love of Reading Foundation has partnered with three outstanding national Canadian organizations to help distribute books to families in need across the country: Jays Care Foundation, Martin Family Initiative, and Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada. Local non-profit organizations that currently serve children and their families in high-needs communities can also apply for grants. Applications are open now and organizations are encouraged to apply at loveofreading.org.

“Jays Care is incredibly grateful for the support of our partners at the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation,” said Robert Witchel, Executive Director of Jays Care Foundation. “Now, more than ever, we are thankful to have a teammate like the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation to break down educational barriers for kids who need it most. Their generous donation will further literacy opportunities for thousands of kids in Jays Care programs across Canada.”

The Indigo Love of Reading Community Response Fund is an addition to the Foundation’s signature programs, the Literacy Fund Grant and Adopt a School program, which enable high-needs elementary schools to enrich their school libraries with educational resources and improve access to books for their students.

Since its inception in 2004, the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation has provided $31 million dollars in funding, supporting over 3,000 high-needs schools and reaching 1 million students.

For more information on Indigo please visit indigo.ca. To apply for funding through the Indigo Love of Reading Community Response Fund, please visit loveofreading.org.

Indigo Books & Music Inc. founded the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation in 2004 to address the underfunding of public elementary school libraries. To date, the Foundation has committed $31 million to more than 3,000 high-needs schools across Canada, impacting over 1,000,000 children. To learn more about the Foundation, visit www.loveofreading.org

SOCAN Announces Resignation of CEO

Apr 16, 2020

SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors & Music Publishers of Canada) has announced the resignation of Eric Baptiste as the company’s chief executive officer, effective immediately.

Jennifer Brown, Senior Vice President Operation & Reproduction Rights, has been appointed to the role of Interim CEO during the formal process of identifying a permanent CEO.

“We thank Eric Baptiste for his leadership over the past 10 years,” said Marc Ouellette, President & Chair of SOCAN’s Board of Directors. “During this time, SOCAN has seen growth and has maintained its presence as a leader in serving music creators and publishers in Canada and around the world.”

With the end of the current CEO contract approaching, Eric thought it was time to move on and a mutual decision was reached with the Board to end his tenure now.

Jennifer Brown has been on SOCAN’s executive team for nearly 10 years. She was previously Vice President of the company’s Licensing department and has worked with the company for more than two decades.

SOCAN will continue to serve its members as a not-for-profit organization, as well as its initiatives in rights management, licensing, advocacy, and support for the music and entertainment industry.

The decision is purely coincidental to the current COVID-19 crisis, and the Board of Directors has full faith in SOCAN’s executive management team. The organization continues to operate at full capacity.

SOCAN is a rights management organization that connects more than four-million music creators worldwide and more than a quarter-million businesses and individuals in Canada. More than 160,000 songwriters, composers, music publishers and visual artists are its direct members, and more than 100,000 organizations are Licensed To Play music across Canada. With a concerted use of progressive technology and unique data as well as a commitment to lead the global transformation of rights management, with wholly-owned companies Dataclef and MediaNet, and Entandem (co-owned with RE:SOUND), SOCAN is dedicated to upholding the fundamental truths that music and visual arts have value and creators and publishers deserve fair compensation for their work. For more information: www.socan.com

Giant Tiger Launches #ThankYou Sessions Livestream Concert Series in Support of Food Banks Canada

Apr 16, 2020

Giant Tiger Stores Limited (Giant Tiger) is launching the #ThankYou Sessions livestream concert series in support of Food Banks Canada. The weekly musical performances, featuring Anthem Records recording artists, will stream live every Wednesday at 8pm ET from April 15-May 27, 2020 on Giant Tiger’s official Facebook page. The first artist announced as part of the series is rising Canadian country star, Eric Ethridge, who is set to perform his hits, premiere unreleased songs from his new EP ‘Forever With You’ and chat with viewers about his musical journey. Giant Tiger is also making a donation to support Food Banks Canada with each performance to help fund food for the vulnerable in communities across the country. The concert series aims to thank everyday heroes for helping with the COVID-19 response, and unite Canadians at home in communities coast-to-coast, through the power of live music, all while social distancing.

Music fans are encouraged to ‘like’ Giant Tiger’s Facebook page to access the livestreams and sign up for the Giant Tiger email club to be the first to know the identity of each week’s performer when it’s announced online every Monday.

Giant Tiger stores continue to be dedicated to serving affordable groceries and everyday needs to communities across Canada by maintaining a safe shopping environment and providing customers value through everyday low prices.

The Ottawa-based national retailer continues to be committed to giving back, in small and large ways and recently donated 20,000 medical-grade masks to The Ottawa Hospital to support the medical community in the fight against COVID-19. Local Giant Tiger stores remain focused on giving back to their local communities during this time as well.

SiriusXM’s Kids Place Live launches special series “Tunetopia” during free streaming period

Apr 16, 2020

SiriusXM’s Kids Place Live announced the launch of “Tunetopia”, a daily series of exclusive performances featuring kids’ musicians, award-winning artists from Kids Place Live, and music educators from around the country. The special programming, in video and audio form, is available exclusively on the SiriusXM app beginning today.

“Tunetopia” on Kids Place Live will provide an assortment of fun and educational content for children ages 10 and under, including interviews, games, and in-studio performances from the best in family-friendly music, including those from Laurie Berkner, Jack Forman, Lucy Kalantari, Lisa Loeb, Brady Rymer, Danny Weinkauf of They Might Be Giants, and more.

In addition, “Tunetopia” will incorporate a special learning segment with music educators, including Matt Marshak (“Matt The Music Man”) and Darlene Graham of “Rockin Tots.” The teaching features include introducing kids to new instruments, and instruction on how to make drum beats, how to beat box, and how to keep rhythm, which helps children explore how sounds are made, and shows them how to make music at home using a variety of household objects.

Kids Place Live is the ultimate entertainment platform for children and an oasis that families come to for fun, learning and laughs. With school closures and increased quality time on the rise, Kids Place Live (ch. 78) is here 24/7 to turn the time at home into a family-friendly staycation. With an “we are in this together” approach, SiriusXM will provide a tool for families to navigate this challenging time.

The “Tunetopia” collection of video and audio can be found within the SiriusXM app on Kids Place Live (ch. 78) and is available to subscribers nationwide and to everyone – including anyone who is not already a SiriusXM subscriber – as part of SiriusXM’s recently announced free streaming access period through May 15. For more information and to start listening, visit: SiriusXM.ca/streamfree.

SOCAN Announces $2-million Enhanced Emergency Program for Struggling SOCAN Members

Apr 16, 2020

SOCAN announced today that it is expanding its efforts to provide financial assistance to struggling members as a result of the COVID-19 crisis by allocating up to a total of $2-million for emergency royalty advances.

The program is based on information gained from discussions with numerous SOCAN members. It is primarily aimed at SOCAN’s songwriters and screen composers whose ability to sustain their income has been compromised by the impact of the crisis on the music industry, especially on those whose concerts have been cancelled, or whose television and movie productions have been suspended. The interest-free advances will be considered based on each member’s most recent earnings history, urgency and need.

“SOCAN has our members’ backs,” said Eric Baptiste, CEO of SOCAN. “Getting funds to struggling members as soon as possible is of the utmost importance, and we will do whatever we can to help. We have a long history of supporting our members in time of need.”

Each individual application will be considered on its own. SOCAN already provides royalty advances to thousands of deserving creator and publisher members every year as part of its commitment to nurturing the careers of Canada’s music creators. Domestic music publisher members are able to access support as well.

Members who have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis and wish to apply for the program should contact SOCAN’s Membership team at 1-866-307-6226, or by email at members@socan.com

Priority will be given to SOCAN members who are faced with a loss in live performance royalties or screen composers whose productions have been suspended.

The interest-free advance program will be followed by additional support initiatives that will be announced in due course as needs are better identified.

As one of the leaders in the Canadian music ecosystem, SOCAN is in proactive contact with all relevant levels of government to draw their attention to the need of music people and businesses to benefit from all general economic relief programs and to consider specific programs for music, as one of the highly impacted sectors. While SOCAN and others will do their parts, the crisis is on a scale that only governments can mitigate.

SOCAN collects license payments from businesses that use recorded and live music. It then identifies the music that was used to those who hold the rights to it and distributes what they have earned in regular royalty payments.

SOCAN will announce additional programs designed to assist its members through the crisis as they are determined.

SOCAN is a rights management organization that connects more than four-million music creators worldwide and more than a quarter-million businesses and individuals in Canada. More than 160,000 songwriters, composers, music publishers and visual artists are its direct members, and more than 100,000 organizations are Licensed To Play music across Canada. With a concerted use of progressive technology and unique data as well as a commitment to lead the global transformation of rights management, with wholly-owned companies Dataclef and MediaNet, and Entandem (co-owned with RE:SOUND), SOCAN is dedicated to upholding the fundamental truths that music and visual arts have value and creators and publishers deserve fair compensation for their work. For more information: www.socan.com

The Big Push Announce North American ‘Lockdown Live’ Virtual Tour

Apr 16, 2020

Brighton-based rockers The Big Push are set to jump across the pond on their first ever North American dates, with the four-piece embarking on a ‘Lockdown Live’ virtual tour presented by Live Nation, starting this Thursday, April 16th. The Big Push will perform different sets for each of their tour dates which will be available for live viewing on Live Nation’s newly launched Live From Home platform as well as hosted across Live Nation and House of Blues’ regional social media channels (dates and links below).

Thursday, April 23rd’s set at 6pm MT will be for fans in Alberta, and Friday, April 24th’s set at 6pm PT will be for fans in British Columbia.

Having only released their debut single ‘It’s Alright’ last year, the band have followed up in 2020 with the two-part single ‘Why My Woman?’ and ‘Oh My Woman!’, the latter of which landed mid-lockdown only recently on Tuesday, April 14th in bizarrely different circumstances to the former, which was the subject of a London release show in early March.

With just shy of 100,000 subscribers and over 9.25 Million views on their YouTube channel, the guys are no strangers to the online world. In fact, with many fans flying in across the world for their debut sold-out headline shows in Brighton (October 2019) and London (March 2020), the demand for The Big Push is truly global.

The Big Push NORTH AMERICAN Virtual Tour Dates and Links:
Live From Home
Live Nation Facebook

Thursday, April 23rd @ 6pm MT
Alberta – https://www.facebook.com/livenationalberta/
Colorado – https://www.facebook.com/LiveNationCO/
Salt Lake City – https://www.facebook.com/livenationslc/

Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton Album of live recordings from 1962 coming May 29, 2020 on Smithsonian Folkways

Apr 16, 2020

It’s hard to imagine a time when the brilliant guitar playing and Appalachian roots of Doc Watson weren’t a part of the American musical fabric. A famed artist in his day and a continuing influence on American music, Watson happened into the music industry much by accident, “discovered” by noted folklorist Ralph Rinzler in the early 1960s when he was mainly playing rockabilly tunes on the electric guitar near his home in tiny Deep Gap, North Carolina. Rinzler convinced Watson that audiences around the country were interested in the older music of Appalachia, and the nation soon fell in love with his heartfelt, powerful singing and his inimitable acoustic guitar playing. He inspired countless people to pick up the guitar and learn to flatpick the old melodies, much of this encouragement coming in person after performances. It was at the first of these shows in New York, really Watson’s first time headlining a show in the city (the previous time he’d played there he was one of two guitarists in Clarence Ashley’s band), that we get to hear this old music played by Watson and his fiddling father-in-law, Gaither Carlton. These live recordings from 1962 are to be released May 29, 2020, by Smithsonian Folkways as Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton on CD, digital, and vinyl. Most of these tracks have never been released before, and the recordings capture two masters at the height of their power, reveling in an audience that was there to listen, not just to drink and dance. It’s a moment where the rural Appalachian world of North Carolina came face to face with the urban New York world of young people desperate to learn folk music and to learn more about the Southern traditions they’d been discovering. These recordings show two very different worlds coming together, buoyed by Watson’s charming personality and his willingness to teach all who would learn.

Members of The Last Shadow Puppets, Muse, Jet, and Blur Form New Supergroup

Apr 16, 2020

The Jaded Hearts Club shares new track “This Love Starved Heart Of Mine (It’s Killing Me)” featuring Nic Cester on lead vocals. This lost Marvin Gaye song was originally recorded in 1967 a couple of months after “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” (which at the time was making Gaye a global star), but it wasn’t released from the vaults of Motown until 1994 almost 30 years later. Here The Jaded Hearts Club give it some renewed verve in a way only they can. In the bands’ words…

The Jaded Hearts Club are a new band featuring frontmen Miles Kane (The Last Shadow Puppets) and Nic Cester (Jet), guitarists Graham Coxon (Blur) and Jamie Davis, plus Matt Bellamy (Muse) on bass and drummer Sean Payne (The Zutons). “This Love Starved Heart Of Mine (It’s Killing Me)” is the second track the band have released following “Nobody But Me” which had Miles Kane lending his raucous rock ‘n’ roll vocal on The Isley Brothers’ Northern Soul classic.

The band were formed in 2017 when Jamie Davis, a British guitarist living in Los Angeles who previously ran Coxon’s Transcopic Records label in England, wanted to book a Beatles covers band to play at his birthday party. The cost proved to be excessive and the available tribute acts were drab, so Davis had a back-up plan. “I realised I knew a bunch of half decent British musician friends living in L.A. so I thought I’d ask if they’d come together to form an early ’60s Cavern-era Beatles band.”

They kept their plans a secret. So when family and friends turned up at the party, they were shocked to see an all-star band rampaging through a Cavern Club era Beatles set. “The place went nuts,” smiles Davis, “and everyone had such a good time that we decided to do it again.”

If their debut gig was a big surprise, their second raised the bar in dramatic fashion after Stella McCartney asked Bellamy if the band would play her fashion show in Los Angeles in January 2018. They arrived to see an A-list crowd gathered to see them: Quincy Jones, Katy Perry, James Corden and even Ringo Starr were in attendance. And then things took a turn for the unbelievable. Paul McCartney strolled on stage, winked at Davis and led the Hearts through “I Saw Her Standing There” and “Helter Skelter”. In the space of just two gigs, The Beatles covers band had effectively become the surrogate Beatles.

Things progressed in the same way that they had started. They played SXSW; a late night gig in Chicago after Bellamy had completed a stadium show with Muse; supported Roger Daltrey at The Royal Albert Hall in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust; and headlined London’s legendary 100 Club. Expanding their repertoire to cover other classic British rock songs from the Sixties, the 100 Club show was a tribute to Davis’s late father, with all proceeds donated to the Shooting Star Children’s Hospices. The charity further benefited from the limited edition vinyl only album Live At The 100 Club.

Back in Los Angeles, Bellamy and Davis wanted to develop the band further and started working on an album, with Bellamy producing at Red Room Studios in Los Angeles. The band decided to focus primarily on recording lost classics from the world of Northern Soul, supplemented by their raw, soulful takes on some famous standards from the era.

“Living in L.A. it seems like no-one has heard of Northern Soul,” says Davis. “We just love the story of how the north of England fell in love with American soul music even after it stopped having hits, and using that music as the soundtrack to a good night out.”

“I read somewhere recently, which made me laugh, that rock is the new jazz,” adds Bellamy. “It’s becoming an esoteric genre, but still with huge historical and cultural importance. Like jazz, which often reinvents old songs, The Jaded Hearts Club is continuing the tradition of how bands like The Beatles and The Stones started out – finding great soul and blues standards and recording them in a more modern style.”

Bellamy and Davis shifted through hundreds of songs as they researched what material they should record for the album. The first taster of the project (with Miles Kane on lead vocals) was a raucous rock ‘n’ roll take on a Northern Soul classic, The Isley Brothers’ 1962 song “Nobody But Me”, recorded in the spirit of The Human Beinz’s cult version that followed in 1968.

The band’s motivation, states Davis, is simple. “It goes back to the purest point of why people started bands in the first place – a group of great musicians getting together to play for fun with no pressure. We’re doing it because we have a bloody good time.”

ONE WORLD: TOGETHER AT HOME Details Are Here

Apr 15, 2020

The international television event ONE WORLD: TOGETHER AT HOME is available on Crave from Sunday, April 19–Tuesday, April 21 at 8 p.m. ET, following its live TV, radio, and digital broadcast. As previously announced, Bell Media is a foundational Canadian partner for the historic broadcast, which is hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert. The benefit event includes appearances and performances by Canadians Céline Dion, Shawn Mendes, Jessie Reyez, Lilly Singh, Michael Bublé, and P.K. Subban, along with Alanis Morissette, Alicia Keys, Amy Poehler, Andrea Bocelli, Awkwafina, Billie Eilish, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Burna Boy, Camila Cabello, Chris Martin, David Beckham, Eddie Vedder, Ellen DeGeneres, Elton John, FINNEAS, Idris and Sabrina Elba, J Balvin, Jennifer Lopez, John Legend, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Kerry Washington, Lady Gaga, Lang Lang, Lizzo, LL COOL J, Lupita Nyong’o, Maluma, Matthew McConaughey, Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Pharrell Williams, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Smith, Shah Rukh Khan, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Usher, and Victoria Beckham.

Shania Twain, Luke Combs, Lady Antebellum, Morgan Wallen and Jordan Davis Present Canada Together: In Concert In Support Of Food Banks Canada And Unison Benevolent Fund

Apr 15, 2020

ET Canada in partnership with the Canadian Country Music Association and the CCMA Foundation, present Canada Together: In Concert, an unprecedented five-night broadcast event showcasing 20 of the biggest names in country music coming together in support of Canada’s COVID-19 relief efforts. The week-long concert series premieres Monday, April 20, airing nightly on ET Canada at 7:30 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m PT on Global, and will be broadcasting simultaneously on Corus country radio stations Country 105, CISN Country 103.9 and Country 104.

Featuring intimate performances and exclusive interviews with artists remotely from their homes, Canada Together: In Concert will also be shining a light on a number of the courageous individuals who are making a difference in their communities through these organizations, while checking in with some of the Canadians whose lives have been impacted through their generosity.

Monday April 20
Shania Twain with Dallas Smith, Lindsay Ell, and High Valley

Tuesday April 21
Luke Combs with Brett Kissel, Tenille Townes, and The Washboard Union

Wednesday April 22
Lady Antebellum with Meghan Patrick, The Reklaws, and Dean Brody

Thursday April 23
Morgan Wallen with James Barker Band, MacKenzie Porter and Tim Hicks

Friday April 24
Jordan Davis with Gord Bamford, Jess Moskaluke and Jade Eagleson

With the help of some celebrity friends, including Christopher Plummer, Elisha Cuthbert and William Shatner, viewers will be encouraged to lend their support to the CCMA Foundation, in which all proceeds raised will be donated equally between Food Banks Canada and the Unison Benevolent Fund, as these organizations work to support Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Spotify will help make donations stretch even further by matching every dollar (up to $10M USD globally) provided to the Unison Benevolent Fund through their #SpotifyMusicRelief project. Canadians looking to donate can do so through a one-time or monthly donation option at the CCMA Foundation website, or by texting CCMA to 20222.

Canada Together: In Concert is a multi-platform event for Corus, with Corus Radio’s Country 105, CISN Country 103.9 and Country 104 simultaneously broadcasting the specials each night, and can be streamed live on the Global TV app. Viewers looking for a sneak peek of Canada Together: In Concert can watch Global’s The Morning Show the week of April 20, as Jeff McArthur and Carolyn MacKenzie chat with some special guests ahead of their Canada Together: In Concert performances.

Canada Together: In Concert joins Corus’ national #CanadaTogether initiative, designed to help inspire, educate and engage Canadians as we band together as a nation during this unprecedented time.

ET Canada airs weeknights at 7:30 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT on Global. For up-to-the-moment entertainment news, celebrity interviews and more, visit etcanada.com.

The CCMA Foundation is a charitable organization that aims to support Canadians with the help of the music community, artists and partners. Each initiative taken on by the Foundation falls under three distinct pillars — Music For Healing, Music For Your and Music For Change. You can learn more about The CCMA Foundation online at ccmafoundation.org.

Unison Benevolent Fund is a non-profit, registered charity that provides counselling and emergency relief services to the Canadian music community. We are here to help professional music makers in times of hardship, illness or economic difficulties. Unison Benevolent Fund is an assistance program – created and administered for the music community, by the music community – designed to provide discreet relief to music industry professionals in times of crisis through financial assistance, counselling and health solutions. Visit www.unisonfund.ca to learn more.

Food Banks Canada provides national leadership to relieve hunger today and prevent hunger tomorrow in collaboration with the food bank network from coast-to-coast-to-coast. For 40 years, food banks have been dedicated to helping Canadians living with food insecurity. Over 3,000 food banks and community agencies come together to serve our most vulnerable neighbours who – last year – made 1.1 million visits to these organizations in one month alone, according to our HungerCount report. Over the past 10 years, as a system we’ve sourced and shared over 1.4 billion pounds of food and Food Banks Canada shared nearly $70 million in funding to help maximize collective impact and strengthen local capacity – while advocating for reducing the need for food banks. Our vision is clear: create a Canada where no one goes hungry. Visit foodbankscanada.ca to learn more.

That Eric Alper

Indigo Love of Reading Foundation Commits $1,000,000 in Funding for Books and Educational Resources to Support Canadian Families in High-Needs Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

SOCAN Announces Resignation of CEO

Giant Tiger Launches #ThankYou Sessions Livestream Concert Series in Support of Food Banks Canada

SiriusXM’s Kids Place Live launches special series “Tunetopia” during free streaming period

SOCAN Announces $2-million Enhanced Emergency Program for Struggling SOCAN Members

The Big Push Announce North American ‘Lockdown Live’ Virtual Tour

Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton Album of live recordings from 1962 coming May 29, 2020 on Smithsonian Folkways

Members of The Last Shadow Puppets, Muse, Jet, and Blur Form New Supergroup

ONE WORLD: TOGETHER AT HOME Details Are Here

Shania Twain, Luke Combs, Lady Antebellum, Morgan Wallen and Jordan Davis Present Canada Together: In Concert In Support Of Food Banks Canada And Unison Benevolent Fund

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