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Venues & Festivals

What do you consider to be Toronto’s greatest challenges as a music destination?

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Keyword Searches: venue*, infrastruct*, locat*, festival*, event* we need more venues for emerging and diverse artists Lack of mid-size venues While the variety of live music/festivals is there, there is no major festival that people will necessarily go out of their way to travel to Toronto to attend. Cost of living, lack of mid-sized venues I would like to see more support for resources that promote live music such as *. I would also like to see fewer obstacles for live music venues in neighbourhoods outside of the downtown core. Lack of infrastructure Toronto Tourism is not capitalizing off of our amazing artists and festivals and they really should. There is a lack of variety of venues and festivals, lack of unity between promoters. It's a costly city to live in as an artist. There is not enough support for local initiatives. International promotion of Toronto based Musick events. The wrather in the winter remains unattractive to many foreigners from more temperate climates. An inadequate transit system to allow access to various areas of the city for events, especially outside of the downtown core

Extremely high costs of event production. a mediocre small to midsize standing GA rooms. perhaps capital cost upgrade subsidy to establisged and/or new venues to upgrade PA's, maintain existing PA's and help offset cost to hire established, experienced and professional house sound technicians. there's lots of these around

Venues are too expensive it's cold, so outdoor festivals are difficult to have Not sure what the greatest challenges would be, but I would think having venues for the public to be exposed to our local talent and we need to do a better job to connect with those musicians who have developed successful music careers as they are the role models for our future talent

While the diversity of music and festivals is a strength, they often are competing for the same resources. Bylaws, condo development and NIMBYisms that are threatening the health of Toronto's music venues old and new Lack of festivals celebrating local/national talent as opposed to international artists Rent costs closing music venue, having music venues be a welcomed part of a neighbourhood, There's a lot of regulation that makes it difficult for venue owners and events that prevent them from being lucrative, this often filters down to artists. I think many of our by-laws prevent us from hosting a full-scale SXSW-style music festival. Just one example there needs to be an all jazz live location By-laws, making it difficult to hold outdoor events in public spaces during festivals it's very difficult to see lots of bands as all the venues are so spread out all over the city. It would work well if festivals used venues all in walking distance The restrictions on how long an event can be held in Toronto venues. (ie. concerts ending before 12am at sustainable venues) Accessibility and lighter music discovery. Some festivals have a hefty price tag and venues are taking a beating and need more help getting back on their feet. There are very few venues that have around 800 capacity available. There are smaller ones, with fewer than 500, and then large venues 1200+. Hard for mid size bands to find a good space w/ good sound w/out going to a private or non venue space. when historic music venues are commercialized and ruined The lack of support for the use non-traditional venue spaces (warehouses, shops, parks, etc) The lack of awareness of the vitality of Toronto's musicians and very often the lack of marketing of the cool initiatives and events and special programs helping artists, and outcome of those programs and special events. 2

we need to revamp our bylaws to make them more friendly to music for example special permits that allow tour vehicles to not be ticketed durng load in or load out times. Our street poserting bylaws make it more difficult to adertverise shows. We havea wealth of talent and venues let's tell the world about them and include a musical component in our trade mission! bureaucracy with respect to permits, zoning, NIMBY-ism about allowing live performance and events the lack of midsize (200-300 person) venues lack of affordable living and working spaces mean that many of Toronto's musicians are leaving for cheaper locations like Hamilton. regulations surrounding licensing and permits for festivals and site specific events Lack of all-ages venues. Bylaws that make it difficult staging events during festivals such as NXNE and CMW The lack of conventional and social media exposing musical events limits the amount of exposure music events get. venues available to younger up and coming musicians in a variety of styles and genres, city should have public performance opportunities for up and coming acts Stiff noise bylaws and liquor laws (no drinking in parks, etc.). Makes it hard to offer "pop up" music venues. advertising and promoting -- there is a lot available but often there is limited announcement and events can get missed -- unless you are on a direct mailing list Issues at the border for international/US acts, no central music area/venues are widely dispersed, early bar closing times, too many small festivals, not one central one. need more recognizable acts at nxne/cmw to push them to the next level It's difficult to stand out sometimes; noise curfews/regulations make it difficult for venues Too many venues/promoters not paying equitable rates and too many musicians willing to play for free or at under-market rates Finding a rentable music venue for 200 people - is a real challenge in this city. it's the people who stays home and does nothing. There's already lots of people out in festivals and at certain live music venues. I think it's the challenge of people listening. I went to NYC and Montreal during their music festivals and at certain live music venues. People sit and listen. There's always many musicians out and about performing. I say not enough people appreciate and listen to the music. Cooperation between venue owners, promoters, bookers and musicians. S community driven approach would be ideal. Some music festivals should be not pay to play festivals. Artisits should benefit for their work. Artisits without agents should be included. rent is way too high for venues as it is, and the margins are always too tight to be able to guarantee any kind of compensation to musicians. I hear horror stories about red tape for festivals, venues, etc with the city The 'pay to play' atmosphere created by most bars/music venues the lack of a live-venue "strip" makes festivals like NXNE pale in comparison to SXSW. We can't close down streets and have people walk up and down a strip to enjoy the multitude of venues because everything is too spread out. often times, it's impossible to even know that a festival is taking place.

Oversaturation of music festivals in souther Ontario Exposure for new and/or unknown artists. Few venues pay enough to make a regular gig worthwhile and it is impossible to "market" live performances on a small scale. Venues, audiences Regulations that limit the nature and scope of certain musical events our currency, we need to draw bigger festivals downtown we're losing venues to condos. It is challenging to find performance spaces that are wheelchair accessible. It is challenging for good music venues to be able to provide low-cost performance spaces to musicians, while keeping up their own rent payments (AKA - rent prices are a barrier for Toronto's music scene) and this is a key difference between Toronto and Montreal's arts and music scenes. Most existing venues need a lot of repair, accessible prices (especially for soft seaters) - and there is a HUGE capacity gap around 150 SRO and 1000+ SRO The fact that traffic and a broken transit system make it difficult to access venues. There needs to be more venues There is an ongoing problem with a lack of medium-sized venues. As well, music from a wide diversity of cultural communities tends to be separated from many of the largest venues and festivals, kept to Harbourfront and a few other special occasions. Toronto's greatest challenge is our failure to SUPPORT OUR OWN NON-FOLK/INDIE ARTISTS. We also really need more nice venues with good, updated equipment able to accommodate multimedia experiences and that aren't total dives. The Drake Underground is an example, but that is only one venue and as it's in a basement and not street-level it's a really challenging space to connect with. Working on existing zoning regulations/by-laws to ensure that new venues are able to open and operate rent for venues, challenges for the venues being able to stay open because of rent and other red-tape regulations - would be great if there were more incentives for companies to sponsor music events in the city. affordability of concerts - more subsidy from the City would make more free festival concerts I find a huge deterrent for music destination is Toronto's/Ontario's drinking laws. It really messes up the flow of music festivals, creates line ups and is overall a huge deterrent for myself and concert goers due to odd barriers that come as a response to paternalistic drinking policies.

We need more music venues. It is costly to bring an international artist over the border. Permits are expensive. We need more music venues and a bigger range for big artists and small ones too. Rents intorotonto are too high. It is impossible to find a venue for teenagers to play someplace

Artists and venues need more support from all levels government. More jazz in the jazz festivals! Traffic and transit are big turnoffs for people travelling into the city. Invest in infastructure that would make our city more moveable! The venues for live classical music are too big to sustain and build up the industry again. we need less expensive venues that are accoustically appropriate and can also serve alcohol and food. 3

Parking for musicians. Out front of venues should be FREE for bands to park, bands I see are always ticketed. Toronto should work with the border to ensure smooth crossing for musicians. Bands find it impossible to cross without hassle. It also costs touring musicians an arm and a leg to get the permits and things necessary to cross the border and perform here. They end up losing money. There needs to be a way for the city to work with the Canadian government. Bands don't include Toronto as a tour stop for this reason. Small music festivals in parks can't run without expensive permits.

We have a lot of great festivals, music, etc, I think the challenge is in having other people in other music communities around the world know about what is going on here and why it is important for them to be a part of it too. Awareness outside of Toronto is the challenge. This is starting to change, slowly, but is taking a lot of time and more needs to be done. I am an internationally recognized musician who frequently plays my own music in a variety of venues in Toronto where one "passes the hat" for pay. Regardless of how good you are, it is next to impossible to make a living wage as a musician in this city. Toronto needs more mid-sized venues to accommodate both local and touring artists; Diversity of musical styles and cultures in Toronto while it is abundant it is also segregated; Toronto needs to make it easier for the start ups, and grassroots community groups to apply and receive the neccessary permanent licenses they require to make art, run a small business, and engage the community, including building use permits and liquor licenses The dearth of venues. Torontonians' homebound habits- we don't go out as much or as energetically as residents other major music cities (New York, Chicago, London etc) Venue quality It's very hard to find a decent , modestly sized venue to put on a show in the downtown/central west area. Many rock bands can't fill up places like horseshoe or lees palace, and ultimately we are stuck with very few choices. Silver dollar, smiling Buddha , the garrison to name a few. But as gentrification wears down these established areas, the venues keep getting pushed further to the outskirts of the downtown sector. And even as places open up (example the Mercury and SHIBIGBs on Geary lane) , they are shut down because of residential stipulations. I understand there needs to be a balance between venues and the residential area, but that situation is a perfect example of stark black and white policies that keep our city from having a variety of venues- as to location and size. The more venues we have, the more dedicated they can each become to certain facets of the music scene. The product of that would be amazing, a place where you could always go and know the type of music you would be finding. It would be a training ground for many toronto bands, and the community that would be born out of niche venues would undoubtedly excel the growth the scene, and produce bands that would have an influence farther than toronto. The major advertising dollars spent on theatre and lack of advertising dollars spent on music. It's not complicated: that's really what's going on. I'm not sure the best way around that but there need to be billboard and TTC ads for live music at local venues. Actually, that seems like a simple solution. You guys fund it? Give me credit for the idea. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. The same worked for theatre (thanks Ed) so why not for music? Not enough public spaces to host music events. More easy access to sugar beach or Sherbourne common area please. neighbour complaints about noise levels. It is very very easy for a live venue to be brought to its knees by a single disgruntled complainer--neverminding that someone has moved near (or often above) a bar knowing ahead of time that this was a live music venue. The city responds to these complaints often quite on the side of the complainer, and I have now seen multiple great community-enhancing music places/bars become stale music-less places (or music is forced into odd times in an effort to accomodate the complainer) and the overall neighborhood has lost in one swoop a chunk of its vibrancy, a part of what might have made it great prior. Getting venues to pay touring bands high enough fees. A lack of venues with a mid size capacity. A lack of support from government, challenges locating funding to support live music, a lack of strategy to market Toronto as a city with a rich music culture. There are now more festivals, but more smaller/local festivals would be a big boost. Lack of venues, early closing times, unfair enforcements by the police, Cost of producing and performing often outweighs the compensation involved. 2am last call prevents music events from running late, which is often prime time for many music scenes. Noise complaints, transportation to and from venues, entertainment district not a "Music" district The city needs to recognize the talent and venues/festivals that exist as opposed to trying to create something new. Lack of multi genre clubs and venues. We need more live urban music as an example Zoning laws for new venues. Bi-Laws or permits. providing easier access to spaces to play for toronto musicians. also affordable spaces for bands and promoters booking event, especially shows of a smaller scale. most of the spaces for these kinds of events are ristricted by bylaws mostly regarding noise Declining number of venues supporting smaller, emerging musicians and bands that contribute to the city being a music destination by offering affordable rehearsal spaces and venues Over regulation of music venues/ alternative spaces by zoning/bylaw/agco Over regulation and red tape of live music venues, both inside and out high rental prices for homes/business/rehearsal space makes it hard for musicians to remain local and find venues to preform at Ticket prices for major venues and shows (ACC, Roy Thomson Hall, Princess of Wales) No appropriate festival venue locations in the downtown area. The venues are often not well taken care of, and sound is often fairly bad. There is no central listing system - it would be difficult for a traveller to understand where to go to see what kind of music. The music scene can be impenetrable to an outsider. The main issue facing Torontonian aritsts is that venues are closing. This is partially in response to changing aesthetic tastes, however, as fewer consumers are willing to pay money to see a live act, particularly one playing original material. However, this is part and parcel with larger trends of consumers not playing a high monetary value on music, which has been driven, in part by the widespread piracy and subsequent devaluing of recorded music. This is due to the fact that in an era where every song ever recorded is availble for nearly free, it is difficult to convince consumers to spend money on music of any kind, particularly something as ephemeral as a live performance. However, one thing that the city can do to increase the vibrancy of Toronto's artists is to make it easier to be sucessful at home. Most of the big names to come out of Toronto have had to leave Canada in order to become famous and successful. Toronto could do a better job of nurturing homegrown talent. A lot of famous locations have been or are being shuttered for various reasons. Smaller Venues struggle to stay open/ Unable to compesate musicians The last call is too early, too many clubs and venues becoming condos Too many bands want to play here and not enough people go to the shows. Not enough alternative venues. unfair practices by bar and venue owners to drive down pay for artists It's scary that the El Mocambo almost closed. Although the ownership and booking strategy was pretty bad from 2001 til last year (those renovations were godawful). It would be great if something could be done to protect historic venues in such a risky business. 4

The quality of music available is not great, neither are the venues outdoor events often have to end at an early hour, could be more of a "camping" music festival here - people often head to mtl or BC for camp-out music festivals. as well, many music venues in the city don't seem to fill up on nights they should - fridays, saturdays - like they used to. music styles could be more diverse, or more diverse styles could be more visible. The city lacks public spaces for bands to properly load in and out of venues. We need more live venues of various sizes; more of The Smiling Buddha, more of The Horseshoe, more of The Opera House. Just not more of Rogers etc. Blech. Tough to specify one individual thing, but I do think we're on a bit of festival overload, and there are not enough good small venues and art spaces for bands to play. Bars need to take their percentages - indie bands need to pay to play. Bylaws make it difficult to busk, to have pop up events, and to have multidisciplinary events that also include art, movies, car shows etc. Paying the most talented local buskers to perform at key locations to liven up the mood and deter crime. The amount of lives shows a night can be overwhelming to live show goers, but also the rates in which venues pay musicians if at all. There needs to be support in getting more musicians paid fair wages Not enough suitable venues for growing talent. Gap between small venues (20-60 cap) and larger venues (250 and up). A few more venues (actual venues, not bars who lean on the artists to sell alcohol) that can affordably rented and execute high quality live shows would be an asset to the city. The contentious issues between bar owners and musicians hampers to ability of the art to succeed. Many artists feel they cannot be heard over the sound of the clinking of bottles. some venues require a large deposit from the bands/promoters and/or require a percentage of cover collected at the door expenses out of pocket for performers - either for venue or rehearsals, or limited parking Lack of funding for events, concerts and music related festivals The lack of a centralized theatre district/live music district. A trip to hear music often means travelling to a specific venue. If spaces were more centralized, more options would be available, and people might be more likely to take a chance. like most things in toronto, any public music event is mired in way too much bureaucracy. i think relaxing liquor laws in public parks that host events would make them more desirable for many to attend. Festivals are all right, but are dominated by "known" acts without much interest in supporting new talent. Similarly for venues - lots of variety, but difficult to get a first break. How uptight it is. Compare with Montreal's festivals. They bring the whole city out. In Toronto, our festivals are at venues too spread apart and the scene is too uptight and uncreative. The parking situation is a big drawback. Montreal closes down streets and people go on foot from act to act.

Too many small clubs in the downtown core. We need more mid-sized venues where acts can get booked as they are growing. We also need to ensure that talent buyers have budgets to afford high-value international touring acts and that the bookers themselves are paid well for the life-consuming job that they do. Lack of accessible venues -- there are far too many rehearsal, performance, and event spaces in Toronto that are not wheelchair accessible, do not have properly accessible bathrooms, etc. This severely limits both audiences and musicians. venues for unconventional gatherings. Noise issues with outside events and clubs being too close to where people live. Venues being too spaced out. The lack of mid sized venues, the tendency for Toronto's bureaucracy to vilify electronic music which is one of the musical genres that defines Toronto; the early bar hours; too many people who complain about noise and no city strategy that supports venues to make that noise (i.e. 100 people enjoying themselves at 3 in the morning should not be overridden by one grumpy person who would rather sleep and likes to complain) Getting big acts on tour to cross the border to make toronto a date for their event. Crossing the border can add a lot of headache for bands who tour outside the live nation umbrella. The city's support of certain smaller groups/areas/festivals I feel like the city is against music that goes into the night and try their best to shut down late night music events. there is also too much NIMBY mind set that go against venues that are building culture because people in condominums complain about the vibrant city they moved in to. lack of venues, lack of communication between public/ private/ govt, lack of proper soundsystem usage, inappropriate urban planning (not considering noise) Not enough of a concentrated campaign by the city to encourage more citizens explore new artists at local venues Lack of compensated opportunities. The amount of time that goes into preparing for gigs/concerts/shows, nobody seems to really understand. We lack venues for where larger groups can perform. Toronto has a rich community of concert bands....just as an example and they have anywhere from 30- 45/50 members.....I think also that for example, the TSO/CoC/National Ballet and show pit orchestras should be urged to hire more Canadian musicians. We have a great deal of phenomenally talented musicians here...... nobody seems to give Canadian musicians the time of day which is complete nonsense! There are next to none mid sized venues, lack of infustrcture and funding support has made it difficult for international booking and mid sized venues to stay a float All the clubs are owned by the same people who have no interest in growing talent within the city and only pay foreigners large sums of money to perform. There is no venue for Toronto musicians to play and practice on a daily basis, including having a healthy competitive environment. The same people have been performing live for the last 20 years and closing the doors on new upcoming talent. Djs included. World class venue for visiting artists; need a more robust audience building scheme to help all musical events Dreadful support in terms of the realistic relation between live venues and residential spaces. I live on a downtown main street because I like the probabilities and possibilities of noise at all hours. I don't understand why others who move on to a main artery think they have a right to silence this. I mean, haven't they heard of side streets or the suburbs? In respect to that, though, venues must take steps to hold to reasonable compromise on the noise they emit. LACK of venues. I'm not sure why festivals and venues would be put in the same answer when they are such different things. From what I hear, there is a serious problem with access to live music by racialized musicians. It seems like the predominantly White rock and jazz based communities have built up an infrastructure for live performance and it is hard for other genres of music to find the opportunity to showcase their music in an appropriate venue. a real lack of adequate performances spaces. aside from a few standard bars/clubs, that can be hard for less established bands to break into, there aren't enough places to play. not enough all ages venues. not enough alternative/funded spaces. not clear path from the genesis on an idea or a project, to live performance and/or career Awareness and branding of events to tourists Venues shut way too early. Compare us to New York or any other world renowned city and the differences are clear. Venues fail to establish themselves as consistently providing quality talent - they are not motivated to establish a reliable reputation for quality acts People who move into an area filled with venues and then complain about the noise. The culture landscape of some areas are being sterilized by people who some how think that living off of a major cultural artery should be a quiet at all times experience. Lack of exposure for very small venues that offer excellent music every night. 5

Finding venues that introduce unknown acts. good and more accessible venues for music culture. residents associations wanting the valuation of owning property in a destination neighbourhood but being deeply hostile to live music venues and nightclubs. Parking, promotion (much of which is up to the artists themselves, and many venues don't even promote their own shows). Extremely restrictive event and alcohol bylaws Our restrictive liquor laws and the consequent early closing of our bars, clubs, and venues. The location of venues. Most are in high density areas like the downtown core. live venues and broadcast channels to make Toronto a greater tour/showcase destination Live music venues are dying. The El Mocambo is just one example. It was recently saved but there are other venues that will suffer the same fate if something isn't done. Scarcity of mid-sized venues, noise complaints and NIMBYism, outdated venue capacity and liquor laws. Rapidly increasing rent, condo developments are threatening the few quality music venues this has. New residential neighbours who knowingly move next to a popular music venue and proceed to file noise complaints against the venue are a huge threat. New venues in less conventional spaces are often shut down due to rigid and illogical Not enough all-ages venues for music youth are actually interested in. Popular music scenes depend on enthusiastic teenage fans and they're by and large excluded from the Toronto music scene (except for outdoor festivals and Yonge-Dundas square shows). If you want a city to be a music destination, make it easy to indulge in that idea. When you arrive in Nashville you hear music artists welcoming you to the city and their music! You see musical instruments the moment you arrive. Toronto is not like that. If I were a tourist, I wouldn't know where to start. How do you find out about toronto's music history? It's not all in one place. There aren't various ways to experience it. Is there a Toronto concert calendar of our major festivals in all music genres? Does Toronto tourism promote this? Could we have a music passport that allows tourists to access discounts relating to music in the city? The biggest challenge is there isn't a plan in place. Being able to perform live and get exposure. There are not enough venues, and some of them charge bands to play there. for local artists, the need to promote has become exponentially important as venues expect artists to simply have a following they can reliably show up with. This is unrealistic for most startup acts. Big city, things are very spread out. But when a big festival happens, the entire city crowds into one area Underpaid, under-appreciated musicians (venues underpay) Preserving the historical locations and funding the venues in general Restrictive liquor licensing and too-strict requirements for events (i.e mandatory paid-duty officers) Lack of accessibility re: live music venues, getting 'in' to the scene not enough subsidies for venues that help to promote weirder/less-accessable music. Ie: The TRANZAC and The Holy Oak Cost of rehearsal space and other space/infrastructure related costs antiquated zoning and venue license laws that make it very difficult for venues to operate. The city is always saying it wants to be like Austin, but not reckoning with the fact that Austin has very different laws around venue capacity and alcohol. The city dhould be looking into this more. transportation issues getting to music venues, especially venues in the lower east side. the concentration of live music venues in the west end of Toronto vs the east. Historic venues closing because of restrictions placed on them by neighbours I think that there is not enough mingling across musical cultures and that people don't know local history. The city needs more mid-size venues. There are a lot of festivals but there are few opportunities for artists to work with each other across genres or disciplines.

There are not enough venues for mid-sized to large music shows. Noise by-laws are also inhibiting these venues (e.g. the Danforth Music Hall is not allowed to have music past 11 pm). Not enough wide-spread support from the city as great established venues are not protected and face noice violations, and other citations, and often are forced to shut their doors. Proximity of music venues during CMW, and NXNE. There needs to be more in the way of street performances, and pop up venues close to the main music venues. Traveling across town is far too time consuming, expensive, and is not to the benefit of artists being lost in the mix as a result.

Finding venues, the hoops promoters have to go through in securing venues, the NIMBY affect of people that move into the city but don't want want culture. Musicians are often not compensated other than tips at small venues. The venues do not promote the events. Independent musicians are not publicized or supported enough, so their audiences consist mostly of friends and music students. Currently, musicians are required to take every gig that they can get just to be able to support themselves. This prevents them from putting the appropriate amount of effort into any project. This results in music that is more supplementary than creative. Affordability of practice space, dubious festivals like NXNE where artists are not fairly compensated, the need for better festival grounds The survival of live-music venues and music festivals venues, weather Diversity of cultures, styles and genres is a double edged sword. The variation is amazing and can create wonderful art when mixed together. The sheer amount of choices mean people will be spread out across the venues throughout the city. Most of the venues are in the west end. I know that's partly a result of higher densities, but the east end needs some help. Help!! It's festivals. I feel as if not all music genres are represented when it comes to renown festivals taking place in Toronto. Our Jazz Fest is unheard of, we don't have an Early Music or New Music Festival... We have Bestival and on the island in the summertime, but we lack support in many traditional musical disciplines - which need to be supported by the government, as they have been for centuries, in order for the music and musicians to be succesful. for festivals the venues are limited to the island and downsview within the city Noise complaints that limit locations for public and private events Red tape in opening and operating a music venue There used to be more live music venues than there are now. And venue owners don't compensate musicians enough or at all for their services, and they rarely promote the musicians and instead rely on the musicians to do it themselves. Basically the club owners / managers don't do enough to help. 6

Allow for more festivals/events and permanently extend last-call. Allow most forms of grass roots music scenes to flourish even if they dance around the edges or legality. Allow those who perform and attend to make decisions about the venue, the security, the 'rules', etc.

Toronto used to be a music destination but City Council has destroyed the music scene in Toronto with its 'war on fun.' Toronto needs more live venues and clubs in the downtown core. lack of proper venues that do not clash with Nimby'ism I believe that Toronto doesn't do a good enough job of promoting and encouraging the success of our own acts within the city. To use the microcosm of Drake, easily Toronto's most prominent global act: Drake did not become famous in Toronto, or because of Toronto. He had to get a co-sign from an American artist and labels in order to launch into the music market. To make myself clear, Drake specifically had to leave Toronto in order to achieve the level of success he has, and that is because Toronto lacks the musical infrastructure and clout to successfully launch a major artist in that way. Now that Drake has earned that clout, he can use it to launch the careers of some local acts (e.g. "The Weeknd"), but OVO can't be expected to put all of Toronto on its back. To reiterate, Toronto's two most successful currently active musicians had to either a) leave Toronto in order to find a gateway to success, or b) became successful after being promoted by an artist who gained prominence only after leaving the city to launch his career. more city-wide music festivals, as well as festivals similar to TURF and RiotFest. Access to venues via public transit after hours for those outside the downtown core, promotion from the city, and access for youth. Lack of suitable venues Limited spaces and venues to play music Connecting with the right supports, from agents, venues, publicists, promoters, other musicians can be difficult if you don't already have connections. While I don't have specific examples, I feel that there are bylaws (such as for noise) that hamper the flexibility of music events from happening in Toronto I think that liquor laws should be changed in order to have venues to have the option to serve past 2am. Also there needs to be a liberalization of liquor laws in public spaces to allow for concerts to occur. I don't believe the options you've given as choices make sense. I think lack of awareness is the largest challenge. It's hard to let tourists know what is happening throughout the city, especially at smaller venues. the city and the province work against venues and festivals rather than with them. location of venues Access to out bigger venues isn't great. Not as many genres are represented. A lack of easily accessible events, similar to Panamania. It would be great for Toronto to create a music series similar to Summerstage in New York. Also, there are way too many great venues that are pushed aside for development like condos. Toronto's own self-sabotaging - mostly due to major festivals and events - that don't actually cater to Toronto artists or the community that made them successful, and overall, resting on their laurels instead of being progressive like the industry in the US or in Europe or other festivals (i.e. Sled Island, HPX, etc.) The genres of music that export most readily and translate best to a global market tend to be urban genres (hip hop, electronic, R&B, and hybrids of these) which ironically receive the least funding and support here at home in the city itself, where we overfund non-evolving genres like bluegrass, folk, and classical. As a person who sits on a number of granting juries, and frequents music venues around the city, I will say that supporting these non-evolving genres is necessary, but is wildly disproportionate to what music lovers worldwide are actually consuming out of Toronto.

A number of great music venues have shutdown recently, or keep threatening to shutdown. The biggest challenge is keeping open enough music venue spaces. The high costs for certain music festivals like NXNE and CMW and INDIE WEEK, where the bands playing are not making money off of it but the people coming to see the bands have to pay 100+ dollars for a wrist band Cost of events - it's cheaper to go to Hamilton / out of town More venues needed. Eg closure of The Guvernment the bylaws surrounding the music industry that tend to hamper venues from opening or functioning at full capacity It is very tough to start a new music venue in Toronto. Rents are very high. Aging venues, logistical issues, many of the up and coming artists come from the 905 lack of arts funding and marketing for our city operated venues Red tape and bureaucracy. Loosen the restrictions on alternative spaces to be used as venues. The lack of concentration of venues and community The high cost of living, the high cost of rent for venues in high volume areas, and the stigma associated with anywhere that isn't Downtown-West End Toronto. By shutting down venues and art spaces drives artist out of the city. Once everyone is gone Toronto is no longer going to be a "Music Destination" focus your attention on supporting the artist community creating the content Both the lack of live venues & lack of musical diversity We need to find ways to make mid size love mysic fvenues more profitable for the proprietors so they can flourish - more profit = more venues and more pay for musicians. Also, the cost of living in Toronto is now so high that to survive musicians must either move, or work full times spending less time on their art. The over-abundance of summer festivals have watered down all of them, and largely benefit international acts rather than locals. Restrictions on alcohol. Lack of all ages events Historic inner city venues closing often, buildings are often not well kept or well promoted. Bigger name acts attract bigger crowds. Good music venues that are not bars Lack of unified networks and support for independent bands. Venues that have no regular audience and expect musicians to provide the audience. I feel that the city of Toronto needs to protect it's live music venues that act as character and landmarks from being sold to condo development and the like, by giving the owners special dispensation and tax breaks, as not to be temped by big money to give them up (think The El Mocambo). We need to protect them in a similar way as we do Heritage sites. Bad venues (old (all), claustrophobic (Horseshoe), bad sound/ownership (Sound academy). Google "The Waiting Room" in Buffalo to see what a venue should look like in 2015 There are not enough affordable all ages venues, which makes it hard to attract younger folks to fringe bands/styles, which often have more substance than, say, a huge radio pop star. Not enough outdoor venues or public spaces 7

Needs more chances to be in the spotlight. A world-class festival that featured Canadian openers would help. I have heard complaints for years about not having quality venues and quality sound to match but that is not the cities problem. That is up to venue owners to invest. Local venues not advertising the need for local bands. Hard for local bands to find shows. Pertaining to my "Other" above, the costs of hotels, etc. in peak summer months - ie. when most of the festivals are happening here, or most bands tour - is really far too expensive. Perhaps some sort of initiative could be put in place to convince some chains to make some rooms more affordable rather than jacking up the rates. Similarly, perhaps an incentive on reducing parking rates in key areas for the same reasons could be introduced. Large, but inaccessible, music venues (ie: Sound Academy), as well as a lack of medium sized venues. need more concert venues, more space for bigger and better festivals Venue availability, in general, is very poor. Especially in the city centre. Constant noise complaint issues when performing even in appropriate venues. Lack of all ages venues, lack of D.I.Y. venues/ spaces (as opposed to Montreal) lack of promotion given to smaller shows and venues Noise curfews for concerts can be limiting for some venues. Getting Toronto on the map - having more opportunities for live music and encouraging venues to bring in popular musicians and help launch their careers. So many great locations that are not always taken advantage of There definatly needs to be more venues willing to host a live band on the weekend, instead of playing it safe with a dj like every single venue in the city. Viable concert venues continually being demolished. The culture of the city. Not enough is done to promote the festivals or acts coming. noise restrictions, the entire SOP process, the fact that NXNE and other major festivals do not pay very much The quality of the venues and the financial security of Toronto's musicians. No central hub that encourages the mixing of musical cultures. Radio is playing top 40 american music, not an avenue to expose local music. Lack of parking at many venues, Horrible Scalpers and post-market ticket systems. Condos crushing our venues and desperate lack of all-ages venues. Also, our 2 AM last call is wildly out of pace with other world class destinations. Music venues are plentiful, but almost all are struggling. I have worked in venues that were repeatedly charged with sound violations. There seemed to be no standing for a long-time venue against a singular neighbour making complaints. Stop hosting wanna-be Coachella events and start focusing on the smaller artists and venues who want music and not just a weekend to party The closing of venues that often support small and growing acts. Inattentive audience; cost of venue rental in general; cost of parking/transportation to bring people in. Complaints/resistance from residents living near venues, high rents faced by proprietors of music venues/clubs There doesn't seem to be a lot of organization with music festivals like NXNE. It seems very scattered and random. the accessibility of certain venues to particular kinds of genres, artists, scenes, etc. Keeping the great venues we have already in the market. The loss of the Kool Haus is a big blow. The Portland location is isolated & expensive to get to. The Opera House is wonderful; protect it. Love the Phoenix but since becoming a Love nation venues prices have risen. Danforth Music Hall is good. Horseshoe is awesome as are all the little bars nestled close to Queen Street. Make it affordable for the bar owners to keep their businesses open & flourishing. The distances between all the music venues. (aka Sound Academy is in the worst location in Toronto and defers people from buying tickets to shows their because of its location) The acoustic qualities of toronto's many music venues a broken grant system, red tape around new venues and performance spaces Venues that do not provide all ages shows Lack of good performance venues big arena rock shows are more publicized. Very hard to find the smaller venues and their shows. venues for underage acts, venues for lower level bands to start out at It would be great to see more mid-sized venues and large venues, so that the ACC isn't the only place to see big acts outside of the summer festival series. In the last two years we've seen more outdoor festivals within the city and I think this is a great trend that needs to be expanded upon.

The support of the city in what they choose to sponsor musically - We also need to have an emphasis in making the larger musical events we do currently have (NXNE) have the same impact of its sister events (SXSW) with support dollars. The venues need to be regulated. By Laws affecting music venues (from Sound Limitations to Parking etc.) Gentrification closing affordable venues - driving up prices so that small local bands can no longer afford to play shows in central locations - are confined to the outskirts which are less accessable. There's almost too many options, and too many false-venues where music is an after-thought to the establishment. Too many restaurants trying to be music clubs. Some people wanna see music, some people just wanna eat. It's disheartening on either side. Music shouldn't be forced on an unwilling audience, it creates tension for the musicians and indifference to music to the potential audience. It is very difficult for promoters to find a venue that will accomodate loud music. Infact most events dont happend due to a lack of venues The lack of quality control. Venues only care if people bring people with them to play so walk-ins are low as very often the music sucks in the venues. People don't think to go to hear live music because the quality can be so hit and miss. Musicians should get work based on talent rather than being able to draw their friends out. Then people will actually go to bars for good music, like they do in other major cities. Famous locations are all but gone, everything else is DJs. Noise by-laws for local venues. maintaining an infrastructure that can subsidize music making to allow for musicians to develop and thrive Lack of small venues, overzealous regulators, red tape s 8

We keep allowing historic venues to be torn down and redeveloped for condos, and bury potential new venue owners in red tape when they try to build or open one. The music industry is a MASSIVE source of revenue to this city, and I don't feel that the government is doing a good enough PR job demonstrating the benefits to naysayers Not enough compensation for musicians, lack of cohesion within music community, lack of awareness of music venues, lack of support/government funding accessibility to venues spread across the city (NXNE, CMW, RiotFest, TURF, etc should get free rides on the TTC with festival wristband), inability to promote through postering, There is no centralized hub for resources for musicians or fans (See: Metronome Canada).

Toronto has no distinct centre where the majority of music venues and musicians can live side by side. The population is very spread out and so it is very difficult to have a independent music scene in the way that a city like Montreal has. The challenge in Toronto is communication between musicians and between musicians and venues. Bands don't know other bands and there is nowhere for them to meet. As mentioned above, we have thousands of amazing and varied musicians. We have some famous venues and a rich history. Bylaws and pandering politicians are the problem. I'll use the TURF Festival at Fort York as an example. You can't hear the music when the Go train goes by. The Gardiner is overhead. Condos shadow the place. And yet, politicians try to shut it down, condo dwellers complain of noise and bylaw enforcement shuts things down early. Musicians and fans are treated like crap in this town. What we really need are a couple of central music strips where clubs dedicated to live music line the streets. I have often felt that Victoria St. running south from Yonge-Dundas Square to Massey Hall would be excellent for this. There are theatres already. Back fill a couple of parking lots with clubs, reno other buildings and make it like Broadway in Nashville. You could have 2 or 3 hubs that will become destinations for tourists and local fans alike. The finicial burden of unfair compensation for live events Toronto has lost many historic music locations and should work on preserving ones like the Horseshoe, etc. we need more venues with good curated musicians Last call and noise laws restrict ability to plan events and maximize cash flow from said events Laws that make street festivals & public performances difficult. More festivals opportunities for diverse acts are limited to certain venues and festivals. Also, there is a real lack of acessible venues. Here's a challenge for you. Next Friday night, go to Union Station and start walking. Aside from a couple of small venues on Front Street like C'est What, how long will it take for you to find a club with live music coming out the door? Current restrictions such as sound/volume, advertising for events, 2am alcohol last call, etc. Aging venues that require renovations Publicity of all the amazing events around the city. Lack of downtown green space for festivals (downs view is too far, Coronation Park/Ontario Place would be great) and we need more transit Fan awareness. Many small to mid level venues and artists don't have the resources to promote effectively. The grassroots / up-and-coming is where the richest activity is. But Toronto is an expensive and harsh place to be an artist. The majority of activity is on the lower rung of the class system, and on top of the already huge challenge of making and presenting music, people are just trying to survive. This is why so many Montreal artists break out internationally. Montreal is an affordable place to be, and become a great artist.

Support and funding for local festivals, especially where the goal is to attract international tourism access to shows and venues for those who do not live directly downtown. Noise by-laws and other such legal impairments hampering venues close to residential areas. The lack of a bar culture like London, England means Toronto should look at alternative venues like parks for other opportunities in association with traditional music venues. Nearly half of our decent music venues have closed, and it's really messed with the music industry in this city. I mean, the only place you hear about regularly now-a-days in Muzik and that place is the only venue that should have actually been shut down because if how awful it is.

Lack of venues. The ever decreasing amount of availble, unique event spaces for one-off music events and festivals While there are quite a number of music venues, that number has consistently dwindled in recent years. Hard to foster innovation or just a music scene in general when there are a limited number of places to play/perform. affordability for all to attend live events Number of small venues that can make a go of it High cost of operation makes the music industry more competitive, which creates less opportunity to creating thriving, long-lasting communities. The focus of the industry tends to rely too much on popular acts, as venues and promoters need to rely on selling high levels of tickets just to rent a venue at cost. For every great Toronto band you see playing live, you will see just as many if not more bands that empty rooms by playing poorly, or overly loudly. Show promoters are constantly trying to fill rooms to make bar sales and get paid more money. Yes this is important, but it seems to come at the cost of having a solid lineup of musicians for am entire night. This has led to a culture where people show up to see just one band and then immediately leave the venue, making it hard for bands to grow their fan base. several of the large venue are in need of refurbishment Transit/parking at festival venues - Ontario Place, Fort York, Downsview, Toronto Island promoting events properly Artists and Venues supporting each other. Making bands go theough an arm and a leg to enter the country, not allowing certain musicians into the country, not enough venues in the downtown core, shows sell out too fast, The shrinking number of music venues and the shrinking value of the Canadian dollar. Large numbers venues where a bands draw is the first concern versus quality. This leads to bad shows of bands playing for friends. Even the most 'historic' and 'famous' venues are guilty of this. Lack of venues that accept genres other than rock music Toronto's by-laws limiting the amount of venues able to operate Toronto needs a wider variety of affordable music festivals. Cities like Montreal are often destinations for festivals like Osheaga. Toronto sadly doesn't have the same caliber of festivals. 9

Venues All Ages venues and opportunities CMW, NXNE and other festivals not paying musicians but still making money off of them is a real, true shame. Lack of venues where new band's can inexpensively stage shows, similar problem with live theatre Bad/inaccessable venues, expensive shows, the free live shows at Nathan Philips/Dundas square are poorly organized The unfair practices of venue owners, exploitation of musicians it is difficult for lesser-known venues to get the word out about their shows. Parking - Particularly during larger festivals (NXNE/CMW), as it is difficult to load in and load out near some venues. I also don't believe there has been an adequate solution or balance found in regards to the situation for advertising shows by means of posturing. The notice boards are a good start, but not enough. There seem to be no all ages venues that can be booked with out an insane amount of money. very simply 1. the monopoly some big companies have on radio stations ,this stifles the diversity that's already in this city. 2.the acquisition of permits to have festivals in public places no matter what size (it is easier to get a permit in montreal ) . 3 there are only outlets for mainstream music to flourish ,which once again stifles the diversity of this city Loss of rock/metal festivals There are fewer and fewer venues that don't cater to the rock/pop scene. For every gig I play and enjoy, I play another where I feel unwelcome or undervalued. Most often, it is the attitude of the venue and its expectations that I do all this work for their benefit that prevents me from enjoying myself as much as my audience does. Music venues keep closing down. We need more mid-size music venues with moderately-priced tickets. There are not enough mid-sized venues note that Koolhaus and Sound Academy are not available. Entitled condo owners or residents that move into music areas and then complain when they hear a bit of noise on the weekend. The nature of sound complaints need to change as many venues have had to shut down or change format away from music because of one person complaining. I think it is almost funny as though they are lonely and just mad that nobody invited them out for some fun. Toronto is expensive. There should be more cheap events with better music. Xmas markets should all across the downtown core. Or one big one with many places to go. We won't ever be say Austin but we need to make the laws and permits easier to get for events Getting permits to unique venues/spaces difficulty with compensation from some venues Noise by laws preventing more stores from hiring musicians. Lack of advertisement opportunities for concerts. Perhaps adding more community billboards or allowing concerts to poster on phone polls again might help. I'm seeing a lot of small-med venues close, which is best for many touring bands. Affordable venues and dirtbag scalpers Exorbitant rent. And noise complaints against small venues. The variety of live-music venues is there, but the quality isn't across the board. there are so many bad bands performing around town because the venues won't/can't pay for decent musicians. Also, promotors offering a show with 5 bands throughout the evening doesn't help. It's become a free-for- all race to the bottom, where neither the promotors not venue owners appreciate QUALITY bands. The high cost of music festivals. not enough gateway-venues for newer musicians permits and licenses take too long to get or are too difficult for non-standard venues which really hampers the electronic/rave/party scene Recognition, location, price. Not diverse in their support of variety of genres. Most venues are geared for rock, country, etc... Venues High cost of unionized venues yearly events - not just summer. Too much red tape and hoops to jump for music venues and bars in terms of licensing, noise complaints, zoning etc. The fact that Torontonians are often closed minded to music and going to out to venues to support musicians We need more venues... Not more condos Toronto doesn't have enough venues that fairly compensate their musicians which discourages live music and devalues the fine arts studied and practiced by these musicians. Lack of all ages venues, over-saturation of musicians, not enough media support for niche genres the best venues are spread out over a very large geographic area Thinking "outside of the box" in regards to holding more events and shows that are considered special and have something more to offer than just another gig. The focus should be on how a Toronto musician can make a living. If the artist can survive and pay bills, eat and create the people will follow. If you focus on festivals with touring acts the money flows out once the act leaves and or the promoters, venues and restaurants all make the money and very little gets passed down. The Toronto crowd is a very reserved one compared to europe or even montreal. this is in part due to the last call being at 2 am and limiting the hours that one can spend out at venues..because even if there are shows going on, when the bar shuts down people are gonna leave. many venues closing due to condo development Price of live music events There are very few all ages venues in Toronto for youth to attend shows at. Also very few venues will let underage musicians perform. 10

Strict rules for festivals Venues, restaurants and bars that fairly compensate musicians for performances, thus making a career as a musician not ideal. Keeping legendary music venues up and running in Toronto overbearing bureaucracy that makes it hard to throw shows (MANSION's struggles with venues, Great Heart fest almost being kicked out of Trinity-Bellwoods), last call being so early, 2 clashing annual music conferences that would do the city more good if they merged (CMW + NXNE),

Shortage of quality venues with good sound reinforcement and fair pay for performers, the crowds venues that charge musicians to play.. including forcing the musicians that play to pay the Socan fee which the bar should be paying for to have live music. More small, medium, and larger venues. KOOL house, guvernment, sound academy closures don't help. Restrictions on venues due to city bylaws. Cost of venue rental More open space venues American bands often have a difficult time crossing the border to play. They often don't make it. Also, again, venues are important! lack of established, central music festivals like Osheaga or Lollapalooza There needs to be more venues. Maybe a bigger and better blues scene the biggest problem is getting paid what they are worth by what they bring to the venue Red tape for venues and festivals Too many venues that don't pay artists, or actually CHARGE artists to play either through fees or ticket sales. This has to stop. ticket prices and overpriced food and drinks at events draconian laws that prevent patrons, from smoking within meters of the venue... as well as too many liquor licences spreading the potential audience too thin The prohibitive cost of concert space/event venues. There is not enough tourism and population filling the venues on a regular DJ's, people not supporting live music venues, people not willing to pay reasonable cover charges. by-laws that limit venue's full potential (eg. staying open later, expansion, etc) Lack of rehearsal space, lack of all ages live music venues Venues are being torn down or running out of business I really look forward to seeing shows at more historic venues in Toronto. I think the Elmo should come back in it's full glory! For attending festivals like NxNE or CMW, the greatest challenge for an audience member is that wristbands are priced as though a person may attend several venues in the same evening, yet the line-ups are so long to get in, that getting in at all anywhere is difficult. The second biggest challenge is around permits for musicians playing acoustic in the park. It is for community not for money, but the cost can be prohibitive, as can the risk of being fined for playing music without a permit. More on the music festivals, there are many music venues in TO We could really use better and bigger music festivals to attract more outsiders, the citys curfew law could also be worked on Not enough focus on Toronto-based artists. Many festivals hosted in the city make a bigger deal out of out-of-town acts while local acts are pushed aside. The ability to book international musicians for larger scale events is becoming more difficult. This is a necessary support system for local artists, as it allows them to play to a much wider audience. Also: 2 a.m. last call? Really?? I'd say one of our greatest challenges is that Montreal is getting all the action. The cold climate, it certainly doesn't stop people from going to venues, but it limits festivals and a degree of attendance to other music events where people would otherwise prefer to stay home Toronto needs to STOP closing venues in favour of condos and redevelopments. Properly organized and marketed music festivals and events. A recent example: the Cavalcade of Lights downtown- there were add for it on the TTC, but didn't indicate all of the performers. Some of Toronto's greatest talents ended up performing, and had I known, I would have gone and brought friends! We have an abundance of festivals but many, with the obvious exceptions of TURF and the higher profile electronic festivals, do not compensate an artist enough, if at all. Most street festival offer a very slight honorarium, and are over saturated with singer/songwriters. Better, if necessary, to have fewer artists and pay them appropriately. Rather than a loose assortment of hobbyists in shabby pop up venues, lets ensure consistency, high quality festivals and high quality artists. Also the music scene tends to dry up in the winter, and for goodness sake we're Canadian we shouldn't be afraid of a little snow. We need to offer people incentive to ensure they keep going out and keeping our culture alive even when its thirty below. Noise bylaws and ocupancy capicity of venues really make it tough for venues to survive. We need better zoning and places like geary lane getting shut down makes no sense to me. Noise ordinance, greedy promoters, crackdowns on DIY venues All of these issues are gigantically important. Toronto fails in every single one of these respects. The only training for Toronto musicians comes from Humber. Humber is not nearly good enough to educate Toronto. There is a serious lack of diversity as all venues exploit the 'indie' scene. The history is buried and forgotten. The venues are awful. Toronto's population size. Although it's the largest city in Canada it's tiny compared to cities like New York where its a metropolis and has the numbers to draw crowds and support many genres, venues and artists. lack of compensation for musicians at many venues who rely on music to bring in a crowd but pay pennies 11

Things are diverse to the point that the same venue will have a metal concert and then a folk show the next night. Everything becomes the worst restaurant you've ever been to. Every great music city has venues specific to genres, and this is up to the booking agents to filter through. The other challenge is the weakness of the educational system, and while it is not up to the system to actually teach, the information does exist and should be made more accessible. The final problem that I see is the noise by-laws. Venues are being bullied into having no noise emit from their doors. If the same laws existed in NYC or New Orleans, we would not have the culture that they have gifted to the world. The fact that the by-law states that it cannot even be audible for fines upwards of (paraphrasing) about $30,000 is ludicrous. These complaints can come from people getting kicked out of a bar for being a disturbance or a racist neighbour. These laws need to be expected to be further justified before fines take place. Another issue is condos and apartments above LIVE MUSIC VENUES. This seems to be just bad city planning. Of course there will be complaints that the best R&B event in Canada has to stop at 11:30pm instead of 2am now that they have moved to College Street where there are apartments upstairs from King Street that is slowly being knocked down for more condos.

The restrictions place on venues in certain locations; such as zoning and licences. I think it's the ability to connect the divers musical cultures, it's always the same bands playing at the same place. I think it's important to have culturally divers music play in public venues. Limited parking near venues where bands can unload gear, also general admission parking. The laws making it difficult for smaller international musicians to enter Canada cost of venues in areas with lots of people, being properly paid, cost of renting space for music rehearsals The culture of music shows being late night events. They have their place, but I think we could enrich the variety of patrons by being more like England and having music performances in the hours of 6-9, making it a social destination after work for many people who can't be bothered to leave the house once they're there venues in recent years tend have live music as an after thought. lack of Proper Stage, Sound and Lights as well as poorly acousticly treated rooms leave audiences flat ....give them a show and they will come ..and pay!...or just set the band up on a pub floor and nobody gives a damn or makes any money. choice seems pretty clear Genre specific venues have all but dissapeared in the city. e.g. I met a woman staying in Toronto from Japan this weekend and she asked about a venue where she could go to listen to Jazz. I know of no venue that plays Jazz music predominantly and that is unfortunate. That's not to say Jazz music has left the city entirely but hopefully you see my point. The opportunity for bands to play festival. Feel like a monopoly where it's always the same bands playing on rotation Cost of attendance (added up through parking/TTC use, food/beverages at venues, etc.) People don't go out anymore! It's too easy to stay home and have all the necessary resources - a big tv, loud streaming music, and a cheap bottle of wine. We need to find ways to get people off their couches and out to the live music venues. Specifically, people of my generation - 40 somethings that have kids and are exhausted at the end of the day I think Toront is successful as an arts and culture scene. The biggest platforms in the most high profile festivals go to imported talent, so anything our city can do to promote 'local' as worthy on a global-level is valuable. Medium-to-large sized venues in the downtown core. We have nothing between Sound Academy and Amphitheatre/ACC sized. Festivals at Downsview are a pain to attend due to transit, parking, organization. Sound quality at many venues is atrocious Some of the best venues in this city have been torn down! The Kool Haus was a great venue and it was an icon for so many people. And just another cookie-cutter condo replaced it. Also the fact that artist don't support other Toronto artist. That could change tho just with a little help from the city, going towards the talented, but outshined artist, due to money situations that prevent them from taking their CAREER to the next level. Other Torontonias do not see those other artist as talented if their IGs don't look a certain way. Some artist don't do music with other artist based on the shows they've performed. It really has to do with ego. But if it is EASIER for a TALENTED artist to come up & at least SEEM like they could be on the level as other local artist that are doing well in the community, I think that would kill a lot of egos, that DONT need to be there Apathy of the clients, patrons and the general public. The Music industry has downgraded to a small venue performance areas and has relied on the miserly venue owners... Archaic liquor laws and difficulty getting public permits for festivals The venues are varied but run down Post secondary specialty schools for music performance such as UofT and Humber bring in strong talent from around the world. Many international students tend to stay in canada after their schooling. Alot of canadians relocate here as well. With this influx of talent, we need support to continue fostering this amazing talent and bringing it to our fellow Canadians. All musicians are willing to put in long hours and work crazy runs. This profession has never been easy. But the interest for live music is dying as we cut it out of schools and do nothing to develop interest. We're left with EDM or Drake which have their perks.... but that doesnt represent the canadian music scene as a whole. Transit - no seriously, moving around this city makes it hard to enjoy things outside one's immediate area. ALSO - awareness of the cultural sub-cultures and events ALREADY occurring in town - cross-cultural marketing/awareness at a City level would be cool. venues and good planning Promoting the diversity of music that is performed here and getting our venues/festivals to focus more on local talent and having places for less commercial styles to have their voices heard. Venues shutting down. Access to these great venues for a more affordable price. by law restrictions hurting small local venues Unenthusiastic audiences. Musicians all over Canada know that a Toronto audience tends to stare at its feet and look cooler than everyone else in the venue. Toronto audiences are subdued and present as unenthusiastic about the music, by comparison to live music audiences in other cities across Canada. Head to Halifax, Saskatoon, Calgary or Victoria and you'll see packed houses for live music and very enthusiastic crowds. We really need to get Torontonians on board with being a music city - not just Toronto musicians.

Lack of marketing streams for venues. There are fewer and fewer venues that can help young musicians start out ensuring venues have acceptable loading/unloading areas and parking that isn't far from the venue for bands and artists. It's a legitimate logistical aspect that gets overlooked, that sometimes lead to various parking violation. Venue loading/unloading The threat to small and medium sized venues from the scourge of condo development Regulations, lack of available public space for music events. The talent, venues and diversity of musicians, musical cultures, styles and genres are already here. The biggest challenge is that the musicians have very few resources to promote themselves or have access to playing in the venues. There are huge financial barriers to being a musician in Toronto and the music scene is less a culture of support and more a culture of "survival of the fittest." Changing that culture within the music scene is key. There are no venues anymore with consistant quality and genre, everything's a free market mixed bag, which is fine, but nobody just goes out to see live music anymore, everyone just goes out to see their friends bands, What you guys can do is somehow encourage venues to have a business model based on walk-in music listeners rather than pressuring bands to do their own marketing. This would help both musicians and the reputation of Toronto as a 'music city'. 12

Like much of the rest of Canada, a lack of infrastructure supporting music outside of the usual genres of indie rock and pop. Also, support often seems to go to the bigger acts that are already established rather than attempting to build the next generation of musicians.

The expenses musicians have to pay to perform. Many small venues actually charge musicians to play, not recognizing the VALUE ADDED that musicians bring. Plenty of venues claim to be "proper" but then you have to rent their sound equipment or bring it in. Buying equipment for venues could go a long way to helping support small businesses host a variety of musical acts. The Canadian music industry as a whole is pretty awful. The support doesn't seem to be there from the venue to the promoter, right down to the fans. Lack of all ages shows and venues to encourage youth to be involved in music Lack of all-ages venues, non bar venues, diy venues being shut down There is a lack of public infrastructure to guide and promote music in general. There should be a public talent agency/ artist management department. The private sector is profit motivated, and extremely exclusive - this could be very a very simple solution whereby artists who can perform at a certain level would be provided marketing/graphics/PR/booking support by new graduates/interns/co-op students and in return would have to pay this department a percentage of their earnings (just like a private agent/manager). The Canadian music industry is still very much "pay to play" in a lot of ways, and a government body such as this would provide 1) a pool of talent with proper marketing materials from which all aspects of the industry can draw 2) a guaranteed way for talented musicians to get their footing 3) an equalization of opportunity for musicians that do not have a rich family (the sad fact is that being a musician doesnt pay until you generate buzz, buzz can only be generated through visibility, and without a * TON of luck & talent - visibility is very expensive)

Toronto often loves to say that they're on the forefront of creating the best in entertainment, but often it becomes overshadowed by the hollow rhetoric that we as a city keep hearing. Make it believable, don't just bring in NXNE and assume the acts are enough - strive for more diversity, push every angle of the event. We need to get the public more engaged in coming out and supporting live music! There are many venues to hear music, more jazz options would be nice, however, we need audiences to make this viable. Like I said the venues and festivals exist but aren't interested in local up and coming acts The biggest problem is easily the lack of affordable housing. Being a musician in infinitely more difficult with current rent prices in this city. It's the biggest contributor to the lack of rehearsal spaces as well as the musical brain drain. When you work 60+ hours a week to make ends meet, it gets hard to launch a business, record an album, plan a tour, coordinate a festival, negotiate license fees, the list goes on. Take a look at San Francisco and how it's creatives have all fled due to exorbitant living costs. Lack of awareness of great venues. Bad sound equipment at most small venues We have loads of talented musicians, but we don't have any venues that always play a certain style or quality level (I know that it is subjective) so I find that stumbling into a venue to hear what's going on usually results in a poor experience. Good venues for chamber groups Funding for music related business' such as studios and venues lack of all ages/affordable venue spaces, too much policing on postering Advertisment, it becomes hard to reach your audience with so many people advertising as well so you eventually get downed out by the next large venue show due to lack of knowledge but potential fans. Promotion of being a music destination, we have talent, history, many locations, genres, festivals; but Toronto is still under-rated There are little to no venues for music outside of the downtown area. Places like Scarborough and Etobicoke only have a few small stages but its not enough to get kids and people out to shows. We need more concert halls. It's one thing to attract musicians to a venue, but you need to attract fans and average listeners too. Keeping historic music venues in business Making it a feasible life pursuit. Costs are too high and most musicians are essentially expected to play for whatever the venue feels like giving them. Fair compensation for musicians at venues, more music friendly venues. Technology has created lower barriers to entry in an already saturated market, labels have downsized staff, lack of affordable studio space, musicians relocating to different cities Lack of integration/balkanization of cultural events none of our venues for concerts are particularly good. we should follow the model of other cities and turn old churches or underused buildings into concert venues. accessibility and transport - this speaks to a wider issue in Toronto - but if the city wishes to open up more areas such as the island or the beaches for music venues and encourage people from outside of Toronto to attend then accessibility (for the physically handicapped) and transport need to be improved. The viability of live music venues, and quality of music presented. neighbourhoods close to venues that complain about noise, etc. There is no venue at that Sound Academy size - and Sound Academy was one of the worst venues in North America. It will be worse now it's becoming an EDM club. Shoving the entertainment District into venue with no transport there or back is not a solution to anything.

Noise bi-laws. Laws preventing drinking in parks. There are a lot of big ticket events in Toronto that consume most people's entertainment dollar. Bigger festivals in better venues-downsview is not a good place Cliques, certain bands / venues / promoters always seem to have the first oppourtunity. Summer-heavy festival schedule due to cold, few 2000-5000 seat venues Age restrictions in venues. 1. Bylaws that make it incredibly difficult to advertise shows. 2. Lack of All-Ages venues and/or the cost of booking an all-ages show. 3. Centralized "scenes", trying to do a show outside of the Queen W. area can be difficult. 4. Noise violation bylaws - venues have to be SO careful about noise, even if the neighbours that are complaining built after the venue was established. Liquor bylaws in parks (Montreal as example), noise bylaws, difficulty permitting festivals noise complaints and other deturing factors stopping live venues and shows Classic venues are shutting down due to condo development, like for example The Kool Haus/ The Government. Toronto does not advertise itself as a music city, even though in the past few years, multiple music festivals have decided to start up in Toronto 13

Not being able to find decent spaces to play or affordable spaces to rehearse. Not getting booked at venues because of age Many musicians who are not full-time musicians are willing to play at venues for reduced pay, mostly because they enjoy performing, and have a day job which earns them a living. This, in turn, allows the venues to operate on the assumption that they don't have to pay out properly to musicians, because they can find ones who don't care about it, when others demand fair compensation. This lack of viable living means any musicians who truly wish to earn a living from their profession move to other cities, where that is a more realistic option.

Transportation to various venues. Maybe set up an exclusive deal with the Cab Companies for events such as CMW or even smaller events! Ha! I will say some of the famous venues are disappearing. I also don't think everyone in the city is familiar with historic places - it's the current scene that knows. If you've been to The Horseshoe... you've been more than once. There are not enough music venues and the number is dropping rapidly Music education. The government and school boards provincially are cutting funding to amazing schools, and making it impossible for small programs to continue, even if they are strong. I came from a program that was thriving as a high school, but since I left, regulations became harder to manage for staff to maintain small class sizes and has totally distroyed the ability to have cultured and well executed music programs. This small classroom to larger classroom demand has also effected the creative arts and sports programs at many high schools. This is a disgrace to Canadians who say they want to be cultured. If more funding in the GTA was re-alocated to extra curriculars instead of board of education scoundrels we would have a more vibrant music and sports community in skill and understanding. transportation to venues central all ages venues There is NOT enough diversity in programmings and within infrastructure support. The industry is very rock and roll and country. Even though some of the biggest international stares are urban and from Toronto. Lack of venues. Support from sponsors and investors and the city Changes in recorded music industry revenue sources The disappearance of venues....especially venues with long iconic histories. The zoning concerns brought by residents of new condos who while attracted to the diversity of our urban spaces, hypocritically become hostile to the inescapable "intrusion" of sound that live music venues and establishments that host live music on occasion represent. Financial struggles, lack of promotion, lack of respect for live music, and not many venues made for live music or have a great room in regards to sound. Timing - getting an audience out to an event. the biggest challenge for any musician is getting paid, there are many venues, but few that will pay Musicians need to be able to monetize their talents. There are plenty of festivals and music clubs. What we need is marketing and the promotion of the part of the city to help fill the clubs and festivals. Some of the venues are awful, with sound, etc. But festivals have been great this year, the momentum needs to stay consistent. Getting people to pay for entertainment. NYC and most other places in the states have much higher cover prices (look at the jazz venues) how can we get the public to not mind PAYING for music? The loss of larger concert spaces and music venues (Big Bop, Guvernment, etc) Distance from other music hubs, 2am curfew on serving alcohol, realistic impossibility of obtaining and adhering to SOPs for unique venues The engagement of Toronto crowds. At a multi-band event, groups will come to see the band they know and not stick around for any other acts on at the same show. compensation, * venue owners 19+ venues is a huge obstacle. Venues taking too little activity in promotions and booking. Radius clause. Supernova events (poor exposure, too costly for musicians) smaller venues being put out of business by larger bars, or being shut down due to noise and other issues (for example; The 460) The lack of accessible and available music venues for different crowd sizes The bands and venues are there, but it's difficult to promote and get people to them. Lack of larger clubs to bridge the gap between mid-size venues (500-1500 cap) and very large venues like the ACC many great live music venues have closed and/or been taken over. great live music venues are dwindling. Pay for play venues Venues do not pay musicians enough to make a living. The pay is the same, or less than it was in the 70s-80s. Is there any by-laws that could be written to make sure musicians get paid fairly? The Rex is a place that at least let's you collect a door fee and 20% of the Bar. Could something like that be enforced? Plus a minimum? We need more venues and forums to perform. Clubs are closing. Exploratory musical arts like jazz & world music are being continually marginalized. If the city is interested in deepening it's cultural footprint it first needs to acknowledge where that depth is going to come from. It will not come from more Drake concerts. But it will come from more Brownman concerts (just to name one artist I admire in the city who pushes the envelope and deeps the city's culture just by doing what he does) The fact that a lot of the larger venues used by larger artists are trash, especially Sound Academy, and that even the better ones have major issues like Phoenix not having a sloped ground so you can't see. Better venues please. There is a lot of talented musicians that cannot make even a minimum wage when they work. It is a crisis and eventually the live music talent pool will dry up through attrition. Lack of venues paying well The level of respect and appreciation not given to the talent by the venues. People do not come out to hear music except for summer festivals. We need them out in January and February. The mayor should be out in clubs every week. And all kinds of clubs. Largest festivals NXNE and CMW mutual exclusivity (you can play one or the other) is completely unfair and hurts musicians. Grant program is massively inadequate- good, small bands who need the money lose out to very established acts for whom the need is not as great.

Musicians leaving the city because they can't afford to work and/or live here... the growth of venues charging musicians to perform (or not compensating them) as opposed to paying musicians to perform. Venue availibility. Noise by laws. Liquor licences. As a jazz musician, I feel there are not enough venues that support regular jazz shows. 14

Wages. And that we only pay for acts that come through booking agents. Too many of our festivals are built on the premise that the musicians should be grateful for the exposure to the audience and they are afforded little or no compensation for having provided the entertainment that the organizer makes money from the public on. Yes it costs a lot to run a festival, but the insurance guy got paid, the sound guy got paid, the truck rental people got paid and city hall got paid for their permits. Why then, if it is a music festival, are we asking the musicians to do it for free? Or merch sales. There's money for the headlines but the rest if us are supposed to me grateful to be included. AFM tariff rates are very fair and reasonable. Large public events should be on AFM contracts to receive public funding, that way the rights of the artists can be protected, not just the headliner.

Too much money gets 'thrown' at producing mediocre events...(Luminato) Too many musicians are forced into doing terribly low paying bar gigs since owners are too cheap to invest in quality and have no enforcement to pay reasonable (union sanctioned) wages. If there was a place musicians could report unfair and intolerable conditions to keep venue owners from profiteering, that would probably be useful. There needs to be more co-operation from city when the festivals are going on to help make it more accessible to more people. The public's knowledge of Toronto's music scenes beyond a select few venues, festivals or bands. The talent, variety of venues, diversity, and history of Toronto's music are not challenges but advantages! The challenge is getting everyone to see that music is a profession worthy of proper compensation, even if the group is getting great 'exposure'. Lack of good outdoor venues in the summer, licensing restrictions Not enough variety in music events. The city should allow for more creative/alternative spaces to be used. What happened to the Foundry music event this summer was not right. Toronto needs to loosen up about alternative parties such as raves and electronic music festivals. The electronic music sector is enormous in every other part of the world, generates income and stimulates the economy. Morality based by-laws which clamp down on that particular culture is hindering Toronto from moving forward economically and culturally. The Unsound Festival in the summer of 2015 is a great example of how many people appreciate and would welcome alternative music sites and electronic music.

Lack and variety of venues available / bylaws restricting the experience lack of all-ages shows and venues, lack of mainstream promotion There is very little industry here. Sure we have venues and a few record labels, but we need to do more to create a fully realized eco-system that allows for the industry to grow and thrive. This means investing in Canadian-based companies, labels and infrastructure - not just creating tax breaks for big US companies/labels who just send the money back down south of the boarder. Getting the message out in such a large population. Many venues have shifted philosophy/business models requiring artists to pay to perform, rather than paying the artists. The onus has shifted to the artists to bring their own audiences rather than venues playing a stronger curatorial role.

Poor attendance and pay at live events compared with Hamilton, London Etc The number of live music venues Support and infrastructure. Also, a comprehensive website featuring all music listings would be incredible! The quality of venues. The great hall, and the burdock, are the only good places. The holy oak punches above its weight class, but many other venues are improperly aoind treated for what they offer. Many places in our neighbourhood could benefit from acoustic treatments and better speaker systems.

Noise by-laws, draconian security/wristband requirements for licensed outdoor venues. The rules are far more uptight than the city's residents and seem to assume anyone who drinks needs to be in a kennel. Lighten up, most people are well behaved! Lack of advertising towards music venues. Not many people show up to shows, and it is quite sad. There are many expensive festivals all crammed together in a 3 month period over the summer, and then basically nothing after that The outrageous prices venues, events and stadium charge for beverages is something that should be changed. $7.15 + tax for a cup of domestic draught beer at the Air Canada center for example is in my opinion thievery (other venues are also charging high prices for their alcohol). Make the prices affordable and more people will want to spend more and go out more often. Seriously give this one some thought. please. Being a musician is expensive yet musicians aren't paid nearly enough and always get ripped off by venues. There is also too much competition with so many attractions in the city that it is hard to get people to attend shows. There aren't enough incentives to play live shows.

Canadians are fickle and cheap, American's actually go out to see live music and in Europe most people stay out and are social people. Canadians like to stay in, it's cold here. incentivizing the public to go out and experience live music would be good. More public free music events would be good. music is the parks and in public spaces needs to be ramped up big time. not crappy street festivals when they are all the same with the same vendors that close major streets. Close side streets and in parks and other public spaces. why is there no High Park Music festival or series ??? the Toronto Music office should partner with local musicians and arts professionals to program these events. I was offer to play the great heart festival in Trinity belwoods. what a cool little festival but not support from the city and they offered no pay for an 8 piece a band. with no power. We could not accept it with no PA, the no money sucks but it;s the DYI vibe that we respect and would participate but it would be nice to see them supported by the city and providing a PA for each park. this would ensure the sound would be controlled.

Let's not be coy, we all know the noise bylaws suck for musicians and venues. Toronto is at risk of becoming a stuffy, no-fun city. often overshadowed by US and European festivals and musical attractions talented musicians who cannot make a living because venues don't pay. Need a better variety of venues of different sizes and for different genres. There is usually only one or 2 that fit the bill for a certain event, and if they have bad practices like charging bands to pay their SOCAN fees for example, it makes it tough to find a suitable venue.

There isn't enough support to even say that Toronto , a city of its size, has enough concerts and events where musicians actually get paid fairly. Insufficient active promotion/public awareness of music events in the city Many small venues (reileys, the big bop, seiesta neveaux etc) have been closed to make room for gentrifying their surrounding neighborhoods and I believe we are losing our authentic local music communities. not enough venues simply and the way they are managed is not effective. Also, just managing the various diversity of musical cultures better. Maybe some the institutional structures of the City of Toronto itself need to be redeveloped or new agencies need to be created to manage this.

Greedy promoters, the ticketing industry, people who run venues that don't respect the neighbhourhood. The music industry can be its own worst enemy when it behaves unethically. Top talent seems to come to North America often trough Toronto but eventually leaves to cities where they find better resources and support for their craft. It's time we change that. Lack of paying venues for professional musicians. 15

lack of sonsors/venues sponsorship of events The lack of venues that pay well (or even something) , the lack of commitment of venues to provide professional space and equipment. Example there are few well maintained acoustic pianos in venues. Even our highest rated cultural institutions (ex.AGO) that used to think this was important have abandoned their prior commitment to provide a decent piano for their own events. (These to have 2 pianos)This is shameful coming from from an arts organization. accessibility to venues and parking/traffic It's Location, Toronto needs to give further incentives to music lovers in order to compete with music cities like NY and Austin insufficient showcasing of local talent, venue owners who are more interested in free or cheap performers than quality Too many small licensed establishments to support profitable live music venues as in the past. Violence in Toronto keeps 905 people away. The format---The TD Jazz Festival and the Beach Jazz Festival are sucesful and well organized. T he same is needed for Toronto to be classified as a music ddestination. Coordination and publicity. More venues that pay musicians properly. Organization. Especially among smaller events, there is a lot of overlap and scheduling conflicts. Too many places, too many venues that "hire" musicians for free or near-free, makes it so difficult to create an industry in which people can distinguish and promote the very fine. Lack of live music venues I think we need more venues to open up, big or small. Also have them in area's where there might not be any venue's, like in the east end for example. here could be better venues that compensate artists fairly. There aren't many bars that pay bands properly. there is are a lack of venues that properly pay musicians which in turn affects the quality of the music. Another great challenge is that few bars lack proper equipment for live music venues. more venues that can offer live music and pay decently Ensuring live-music venues, historical or otherwise, aren't priced out of/gentrified out of culturally thriving areas. Lack of a decent midsize venue (2000 capacity) Too many venues do not pay a livable rate or require the musicians to pass the hat. Hiring enough local bands for the various festivals. There could be an equivalent to a Canadian content regulation but on the city level. Compared to other major cities in Canada Toronto could be doing more to create exciting music festivals in the summer. Aside from TURF I can't think of any summer festivals here. Meanwhile in the rest of Canada we have: Vancouver Folk Fest, Winnipeg, Edmonton folk fest, Ottawa Blues fest,Ottawa chamber fest, festival of Sound in Parry sound... The challenge is getting those in power to see the value of live music and support the venues. Less small venues with Kool Haus and Guvernment gone. There is too much red tape. Too many rules at events, too hard to get live concerts in the community Minimal funding through Toronto Arts Council for select few -- need more funding support for musicians and creative projects. More city funding for live musical performance in city festivals There is no central location where music thrives (compared to Blues Alley in Memphis for example) in Toronto. Without a central live music scene, venues are spread out geographically and there is no "vibrant music feel" in any Toronto locations. Lack of avenues from which musicians can make a decent living, causing them to give up on playing live music Gentrification and population density are the greatest challenges as they threaten live venues due to noise issues. theres lots of "smaller" 50_300 seat venues but only a few venues between 750-3000 seaters which is needed to draw a large enough crowd to make the event work, and arent locked up or nonopolized by major promoters so all can work and rent the bigger facilitoes

Displaying Toronto's talent. Live music usually centre's around a few festivals Promotion of smaller artists and venues Resources, media relations and venues that offer a stage for underground and up and coming artists to hone their craft. Every artist starts small and we are lacking this in Toronto! The amount of talent and venues The challenges are in the cost and strictness of liquor and smoking laws and related insurance. Also the expenses of a 'sin tax' related environment, partly in getting home safely after TTC Subway closures especially for women and all ages events in winter. (pardon the run on)

There is a lot going on--summer festivals, etc. But it's everyone doing his/her own thing, it's not everyone as part of the whole. This is more of an opportunity than a challenge, but promoting sustainability across live music venues would make Toronto more attractive in the live music industry I think there are only certain types of venues and music that are properly promoted and awareness of the other options would be good, particularly for tourists Not enough financial support for live music venues means it is nearly Impossible to survive, let alone profit, from this as a business; culture that does not adequately value or understand live music; lack of venues presenting/providing live music. those who do are usually ill equipped to do so (ie inadequate stage, sound sytems , sightlines) Toronto feels "eventful" when it comes to music in the summer, in part due to NXNE, jazz fest, pam-am this year, etc. but it just goes dead in the winter. As a musician, a lot of the venues are dark/dank out of date. The sound engineers aren't really sound engineers in some places. They could be described as "hacks". The stage equipment (i.e. mic's/amps/drums/cables/lighting) is out of date. Lack of advertising of the venue which relates to the amount at times that artists get paid. They "get a cut of the door sales" which is extremely unfair as the venue profits from the sale of alcohol/door cover (regulation required). If this topic is up for discussion, the city should require venues to prove that they meet the minimum requirements of a "stage" to allow the sale(s) of tickets for performance. The audio systems should meet the requirements of the venue and should be vetted out to a third party service. Just like having a pass for health and safety on city restaurants, there should be a pass requirement for a stage. As a musician there is no regulation. If my band books a show at a venue and they have falsely advertised the "backline" (stage equipment) and I show up, the sound of our performance will be affected. This also relates to who is in the audiences, bloggers, record affiliates, media. I think just like everything else in the city, if you want to be a music destination, set the precedent that your venues are up to the gold standard/

There could be more Music Festivals with specific styles - like Blues. Etobicoke Jazz festival is a good start. 16

Small to medium venues for live music. Would be nice to have a music district like Austin Texas has. I feel that there needs to be more venues dedicated to live music in Toronto. Finding a balance between existing home owners & venues to ensure they can survive together. "Old boy's club" of festival bookers and promoters... Promotion of music festivals and events by all levels of government as part of tourism promotion. It's great that there are so many options of festivals and venues to choose from, but it hits a saturation point and starts to have a negative effect because these events and venues start to loose money as the music consumer has infinitely more options on where to spend their money but still only has the same amount of money to spend. Also, there is nowhere central to check all of the events happening across the city at any given time. For tourists coming to the city, it can be an overwhelming task trying to find and access some of the shows/events/talents that Toronto is offering. Unless they know what the Horseshoe is, they don't know to look there for performance listings. There aren't enough venues, particularly those that pay musicians fairly. There are also very few venues with (functional) acoustic pianos. Venues with poor sound! Bar owners and small cafe type venues should receive a subsidy for providing live music--which is then passed directly on to the musicians. My neighbourhood has only one live music venue, Enough locations that have live music, and support it fairly (financially). cost of rehearsal and performamce venues not enough venues Underwhelming support from venues and patrons attending fair payment, quality of venues, cost of living Marketing the events so that the public is aware of the events Very few paying venues, low pay, most working musicians live in poverty or near poverty, and our union is useless. Rehearsal space access to venues for up and coming artists ... low pay and some health and safety issues The number of events competing for the same audience There are not enough venues that host live music Need more, and need more variety. Also -- not enough acoustic venues. Promotion of events that prioritizes venues that PAY the artists. NXNE and CMW are poor excuses for local music festivals. Local acts are shunned and pushed out for international acts, and the promised 'exposure' is an illusion. The City should partner up with Dan Burke! Dan may be a crazy guy, but he cares about supporting local talent. We need festivals that do the same. The seemingly lack of support (radio/festivals) for music genres other than folk/rock/alternative. I think soul/r&b needs to be heard more. The lack of true large scale concert venues. we have the ACC and the Molson Amphitheater. need at least one more. right now foreign vompanies supply the toronto concert industry a lot, and we need more opportunity to promote a local company. Performance venues for amateurs are expensive There is very little work for musicians in Toronto. Small towns away from the city have more live music events and venues. Not enough LIVE venues for musicians to play. Also, music needs to better funded in public school. More music teachers and instrument lending t Affordability of festivals and concerts for the general public; family inclusive / all-ages festivals. Many live music venues are not surviving due to a number of reasons, and those who are thriving are highly commercialized winners of popularity contests where creativity and diversity are not at the forefront. There seems to always be a dominant voice of "the white male" in the Toronto music scene because that is the demographic that is the most affluent and privileged in established positions of authority and leadership. Toronto / GTA is too large and dispersed. Toronto needs to create a Music Row which will attract producers, songwriters and performers and put them in close proximity to incubate the industry. A few streets / blocks with many inexpensive (free?) spaces for co-writing, incentives for producers to work in that physical area. A reason for songwriters, performers, producers, etc. to congregate and rub shoulders with each other and to create. Nashville is small enough to support a Music Row, Austin is small enough to concentrate talent. Toronto needs to work at it - create a place, accessible by subway, bicycles and automobiles that promotes song creation and performance. Bring Pat Pattison up from Berklee College, Boston (one of the top songwriting professors on the planet, he used to visit Toronto regularly until SAC's budget was cut) and subsidize his seminars (esp. for young songwriters), get him space at RCM. Bring up other songwriting greats (Jason Blume, etc) and make Toronto a destination for songwriting education. Lure TAXI to have their Road Rally in Toronto in the spring / early summer (TAXI runs a Road Rally in L.A. in November). The TAXI Road Rally attracts 2,000 songwriters for 3 days in November in a horrible concrete location (3 miles from the airport). 14 consecutive tracks for instruction, open mics. The music district needs to be on the subway line - musicians won’t slog through winter slush carrying their expensive instruments, or make multiple TTC transfers (bringing just a guitar on a street car or bus is already a problem). Make Toronto's Music District a Destination - right now, the talent is just too spread out and not centralized.

The frequency of festivals makes individual events less prominent. Successful product tends to become over-exposed. Working musicians frequently must have secondary careers. The balance between disrupting residential neighbourhoods/noise issues and the proliferation of live music venues/festivals the number of live event venues seems to be shrinking, more condos means more people downtown and fewer venues Incredibly Low pay for most club venues. Traffic. City officials need to promote Toronto as a music destination and continue to fund music/cultural festivals. The lack of music venues throughout the city. Toronto's festivals are not particularly good. Real music festivals are held in a central location and all within a reasonable time so that bigger bands can bring in revenue and allow smaller bands to be able to make money and get more local and international exposure. As it stands, getting a time slot at 2am for NXNE or CMW at a small bar does not help anyone in the actual music industry. The current festival system needs to be changed and the multi-venue 'festivals' need to be culled. Lack of venues who will pay for live music effectively promoting live events to the public at large. 17

Getting young people into venues with live music. The bigggest issue facing Toronto's music scene is the RIDICULOUS REGULATIONS ON HOW LATE A CONCERT CAN GO, but other issues include: lack of meaningful promoters who help promote shows, lack of care from the general populace in Toronto (even touring bands often find that they do not have a good crowd in Toronto compared to Montreal or Vancouver), lack of good venues Medium sized venues are hard to come by. Expensive rent, difficulty in finding the right venues due to restrictions Great venues closing down. Venues do not value live music so paid gigs are rare We need more venues. Stop gentrifying venues out of the Downtown Lack of All ages venues, same artists keep getting same grants/funding, lack of affordable rehearsal spaces and difficult for musicians/artists to make a living with music full time or travel to the United States Only people with enough income are able to attend paid events accessible shows for people outside of but close to toronto eg. shuttles from venue to go train would be hella' helpful neighbours complaining about the noise at certain venues close by. The erosion of venues where live music can be played. Great music listings and event calendars - print and onlineDoes the city advertise our music scene outside of Toronto? Is a portion of the Toronto tourism marketing budget focused on promoting the Toronto music scene? Venues are too expensive, and there is not enough funding for small ensembles and organizations! Also, rent is so high that musicians can't afford to live here. We must spend too much time working at other jobs and not our art. All professional musicians should have a guaranteed income.

Music is not actively promoted internationally - making the city less of an attraction for international and national tourists. There are also a vast number of venues for music performance that it's difficult to know what's going on in the city. An online database of music venues and concerts where you could go to catch a show, updated daily, would be great in promoting the extreme variety of music in this city. The venues and programs need to pay a reasonable wage to musicians. Condos and "Hot" businesses! They are becoming a huge problems. over the past few years too many of our cities fantastic venues have become targets of what is trending. Look at how INK Entertainment handled the Velvet underground and more recently Sound Academy. It is true that Sound Academy will still host shows but large entertainment complexes have been known to scare away many music fans who are looking for smaller venues that house more intimate shows. There is also a problem with lack of preservation of important venues and music related businesses. The El Mocambo just narrowly avoided becoming another computer store next to 3 other computer stores and Sam the Record man is now the SLC. - the amount of students that are graduating and paying full tuition to get a higher learning degree of experience at the schools are available to perform but have very few choices of venues to do so - the pay structure and support from the municipailty and from the the province - the lack of education in the stream of music at the elemetary school and high school level - the lack of open mindedness in programing at festivals and events to not include all types of musical styles, genres and diversity across the spectrum(i.e. also including non-popular styles) - the lack of an internationally celebrated artist infrastructure for all types of musical styles Not enough medium sized venues!!! It goes from 300 people to 20,000 seat arenas. Where are the 2500-5000 people venues More venues, less hassle for artists coming from across the border Alot of our festivals are simply the same handful of 'bigwigs' patting themselves on the back. It's also a big city, it's not like Nashville's Music Row. Queen west was for a while but several venue closures has killed that. Drinking on the streets during festivals. Decent venues are too spread out. When tourists come, there is no real "district" or hub. It would be neat to designate certain parts of town as live music centres and support the bars so that they can pay musicians a base to play there on top of what the bar pays. way too many artists and venues, scenes tend to be small and enclosed, unwillingness of people to pay for music More venues need to be made available and for all ages Rising rents and cost of living will eventually force emerging and grassroots artists out of the city. If we want to keep artists and the industry here (rather than say, Hamilton), it's important to take a holistic look at how the City is managing things like rental rates. venues here suck We definitely need more venues that pay the musicians fairly. The lack of vision by many venue owners to cultivate and boost the scene in the city. Also, the "Condofiaction" is forcing too many venues to close. At an institutional level, there is a real lack of appreciation for the value of music and the importance of a vibrant live music scene in Toronto -- which hopefully this Music Strategy can begin to address. Combine the lack of sufficient music venues (see above), the lack of appreciation/respect for the value of music in the political and corporate spheres, and the typically low renumeration that professional musicians receive for their work, and you have a situation where maintaining a career as a musician is an intense and draining struggle against the odds, day in and day out, and that is the greatest challenge facing Toronto as a music destination -- it's much harder than it should be to be a musician here! Too many things happening at once, traffic congestion is a barrier for getting around to events Inclusion of artists outside mainstream access. Also I feel that is should be illegal for festivals like NXNE and CMW to demand payment from artists to play at their festivals for free. These festivals are also extremely exclusionary to many sects of the community and rarely include LGBTQ artists and focus mainly on cis male fronted acts. The diversity is lacking and beyond that, it's a kick in the teeth to artists to pay to play for a festival and then receive no compensation or barely any compensation for festivals that make hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue from sponsorships. They are not festivals for artists, they are festivals for industry. The systematic closing / pushing out of most of Toronto's live music clubs / venues from the downtown core to make room for condos has effectively gutted the core of viable venues for new artists or those working on becoming established. The lack of all ages venues in the music scene The lack of affordable (non church) concert venues, particularly in the west end of TO. The difficulty in obtaining funding for community music organizations. not showcasing as many minority musicians and less mainstream genres in accessible venues Lack of proper venues to showcase musicians, and the venues belief of "pay to play" mentality Promoting Toronto as a music city. Finding the means to get help musicians and venues present and promote their events. 18

We have a glut of talented musicians. The culture in smaller venues with live music is often "pass the hat". We need more venues that realize the vale of live music. not enough affordable venues with decent seating, site lines and sound. There is either free/under 20$ tickets or ACC tickets for shows. We need more venues and programs for the middle musicians and success levels. Range of venues across the city lack of venues supporting live music Price of rental spaces, high cost to perform at a TO venue too many irreverent events Afordability of some of the venues - more street frestivals could assist Toronto is bursting with musical venues and events, which means there is lots of competition and many music venues seem to be struggling to attract a crowd. Too much selection isn't always good. Going out to see live music is also very expensive. Many of my friends are musicians and I try to attend as many shows as possible, but I'm 28 and work a part time job and can't afford to go out, no matter how much I want to. Even if I only drink tea, the TTC cost alone adds up with each show I go to. Overall in society, there is less appreciation towards music; anecdotally, I have found younger people to be a less appreciative audience, or outright ignore the bands at venues. Some venues are really pricey and it makes it hard to go out and enjoy even a casual evening of music. Other venues are quite run down. I know a couple of venues that are always on the verge in spite of being quite sucessful because their taxes are so high. Perhaps a special tax status for any venue that provides a platform for live music a certain number of times a week? Lack of critical investment and leadership in the big festivals - we should put more effort in North by north East to make it the BIG festival the city as a whole is not on the map when it comes to big festivals compared to Montreal. Harbour front used to be huge thanks to Derek Andrews There is a need for more festivals with music and those festivals need to be more accessible People come from out of town to see festivals like O.V.O. and events like Caribana and the future "NBA All Stars Game" (2016), but there is not enough local talent presented in these big events for the city to be represented well and for emerging Canadian talent to break through.

Liquor sales ending at 2 am. Difficulty obtaining licences to have dancing in a live venue Toronto plays a small role in the international music industry. In order for Toronto to be taken seriously as a major player in the global community Toronto has to invest more in the the variety of live music venues and music festivals because thousands of people from around the world attend these events. These cultural tourists will spread the word about their experiences in Toronto. The ability to embrace itself as a music city such as Nashville or Austin. Musician parking, more outdoor venues etc A lot of the venues/bands that attract the under 19 crowd, cannot afford (the risk and financials) to put on all ages shows. The organisation "Johnnyland" is clad in scandal. Support by people buying tickets or venues being provided to play The cost of parking in some areas around the venues, especially The Sound Academy, and the tendency of certain taxi companies, most notably Beck, to either gouge patrons or refuse to transport them if their destination isn't far enough to obtain the level of profit that they want. Longer hours for subway service would also be helpful. The balance between free and paid (affordable) musical events.ie. Culture Days, Nuit Blanche and Free Concerts often allow people to attend musical events in lieu of paying for them. venues not willing to pay a reasonable amount for live entertainment, forcing musicians to take what is available. Venues That venues think they are doing you a favor by providing a spot to bring them customers. A number of music venues have closed down over the last few years. Would like to see that trend stopped, or older venues revamped. Music culture is very important to citizens and visitors of Toronto and to the artists that wish to perform. Liquor licensing ending too early, public transit closing to early, difficulty for promoters to obtain licensing for one-off venues maybe most venues are in the core and not spread throughout the GTA Noise - including music - is part of living in a city. There needs to be more spaces where people are allowed to make noise. Complaints from a single houselhold or a couple of condos can doom a venue, and ruin the business owners and the people they employ, as well as depriving the city of the music that would have been played there. We gotta stop this kind of NIMBYism. More live music in venues. For example, more live jazz music in restaurants. racism and sexism in the industry, not enough innovative spaces to put on shows, lack of all age venues, music lessons/instruments are expensive Promotion. Venues and appearances need to be better promoted through media, social media, and newspapers. The venues also need to have a bigger promo budget. So many venues and businesses try to use musicians to create a draw for their venue and book talent based only on this. As a result venues end up presenting inconsistent genres and quality of music which turns regular patrons off and drives them away in the long run. Then musicians get the blame. How can we foster better business understanding of the role that live music can play in helping venues build better business models so that we can all thrive and create a vibrant city? The difficulty of local musicians to find venues to play and be fairly compensated for shows Many festivals and venues cater to only certain genres of music. For example, Canadian Music Week and NXNE have completely dissolved any sort of metal showcases. There is so much talent in that genre in the city that would benefit from industry attention. There aren't enough venues. They are slowly closing down or being turned into condos or other establishments. For example, The Guvernment nightclub was Toronto's top music club and was a music destination that was recognized worldwide until it was bought by land-developpers and it is now being turned into a condo. The benefits of that single entertainment place far outweigh that of the condo which could've been built anywhere else. Other examples would be the El Mocambo, but it was supposedly saved by Mr. Michael Wekerle and being renovated. It would've been converted into another type of commercial building had Mr. Wekerle not saved it last minute. There are multiple multiple other key and historic music venues that are just disappearing like that.

Suitable grounds for a music festival in the city is a struggle. The best space we have is on Toronto Island, but 11pm curfew is a problem, as well as ample transportation back to mainland afterwards. Bestival proved that this problem is something that needs fixing. not enough live-music venues. I like a venue that takes itself seriously as a live venue. Some are just restaurants that seem to masquerade as a music venue. What is important to them, food or music? 19

The biggest issue is the quality of, and number of venues. Many of the best bands play at the Molson amphitheater or the Air Canada Center with horrible acoustics. Both are very poor facilities for patrons and performers. Most other cities have quality venues that are weather proof, accessable to public transportation or have parking, and have reserved seating that can be obtained at reasonable prices without having to buy from a scalper. In Toronto, the prices are obscene, and everything is sold out 30 minutes after tickets go on sale. If the City wants to influence anything, it will be to spread the venues around the city, and civilize the experience. poor music festival planning Liquor laws are a hindrance to live music festivals and performances being central to the night life here Low pay at venues booked by the City of Toronto. (How about AFM union scale across the board?) There might be a bit of over saturation in terms of the number of artists competing for the same, relatively few events There are not enough all-ages events and opportunities for youth to get involved in music culture in the city. It is driven too much by bar sales. Funding. City produced events with Corporate support would help place Toronto on the map Not enough venues, musicians should be subsidized, like other artists parking at venues? Too much concentration in too few locations For many people the cost of admission to professional performances of music, opera and ballet/dance is a hardship. To take a family to a concert, etc. could be a huge expense. When I was young I had to save up for performances and make hard choices about what I could attend. Free will offerings at more 'casual' events can help. These give performers a chance to try new things and develop their skills. We should encourage public schools to invite performers or to budget for certain grades to attend professional music. TSO has 'almost open' rehearsals several times through the year. This would introduce a new audience to classical music. The Royal Conservatory and the UofT could advertise their free sessions more widely. Musicians need places to live/rehearse which are reasonably priced. Toronto is our capital city and that makes it expensive. Could older industrial buildings be re-purposed for musicians? Sound-proofing is vital but they would be part of an instant community.If I thought longer, no doubt I could envision a great deal more.

Education. New York is known as a music city because of it's music scene but also because of it's educational prospects. Julliard, the Manhattan School of Music and others are all located in the city which draws talented, young students from around the world to study there and hopefully stay and perform. Toronto doesn't really have a large music education draw, with the exception of the Glenn Gould Studio, which means a lot of talented young musicians aren't coming or staying Toronto but are going south. The music venues are concentrated in the downtown while other areas of the city are ignored the limited availability of affordable venues The amount of music festivals in Toronto. We need more accessible live and local music. If Toronto worked closer with the local organicaly grown music industry, instead of catering to the needs of large international entertainment companies, there would be more diversity of events that showcase local talent. Our venue pool has also been shrinking drastically over the past few years due to increased downtown density, this has led to venue spread and no clear entertainment district. When people come downtown, you have to be 'in the know' to find the cool spots because there is no defined district with an 'acceptable use' and 'rental cost' level for the industry to focus its efforts. Its random bars/nightclubs that are pretending to be restaurants, here and there. Taxis are making lots of money. Toronto is known more for diversity than virtuosity right now - potentially focusing on the quality of music as opposed to the quantity might be a helpful thing to strengthen the scene overall. Festivals like Nxne and CMW aren't exactly known as illustrious and prestigious events in the same way that Sxsw and CMJ in the US are - trying to focus those events and make them about fewer, more high caliber shows as opposed to a "smearing" of acts playing in so many venues around the city would perhaps work to strengthen their appeal and status.

So many of Toronto's musicians are under the radar. They need much more exposure. We also need venues in areas like ours near North York Centre that support open mics, folk, blues, roots and jazz. Smaller bars and clubs which are vital to young bands are quickly disappearing due to greed over rent rates of the venues. Does Toronto actually have any 'famous' locations in it's history??? Weather affects outdoor festivals. Immigration costs to visiting bands to Canada. Lack of interest from general public. broader public appreciation of or support for local musicians/music venues There needs to be more community support and appreciation for live music in small local venues in order to develop the industry How big the city is makes it hard to keep up with all the variety in live music on offer. Magazines like Exclaim and Now keep people up to date, but with limited free time and money most people stick to their neighbourhoods, to go out or venues that they know, a circuit even in the city for bands would be great. Then you'd know if your band was playing downtown tonight, they'd be east, and west and north in the next few weeks. So you don't have to travel so far to see them. Venues being replaced by condos and a few large companies owning almost all the venues, too focused on being night clubs Lack of festivals in indoor months (winter). It seems music festivals all happen in the summer, leaving musicians scrambling for performances during January and February. The lack of consistency in quality of music in prominent venues. There are very few venues that provice consistent quality entertainment from night to night So many venues closed in 2015, especially ones that have been essential to the Toronto music scene (Kool Haus, Velvet Undergound, Rancho Relaxo). There doesn't seem to be much appreciation for our history, or preservation of landmarks. Venues lacking real good acoustics. Volume with both meanings doesn't mean quality. There are few decent mid sized venues for bands to book, especially since Kool House closed. ACC is too large for many bands, but a place like Sound Academy has terrible acoustics and setup of space. More venues like the Danforth Music Hall - perhaps one central and one west - would be wonderful.

If the goal of promoting Toronto as a music “destination” is to attract tourist dollars by offering musical programming, it makes sense to invest in music programming that appeals to tourists who are likely to spend significant sums while in Toronto. I’m dismayed at how few classical music festivals and series are available to tourists outside of the downtown core neighbourhood where Roy Thomson Hall, the Four Seasons Centre and Koerner Hall are located. Walking about summer festivals, one has an impression that Toronto focuses on musical programming that consists of bar bands playing thunderingly amplified “music” to patrons who pay no more than the cost of a beer-tent beverage (if that) for the privilege of hearing the performance. Too few venues that are careful about booking good quality bands rather than anyone who promises to bring a crowd Cost to the artist. Even established local Toronto musicians who want to play their "home town" can't find an affordable venue. Build the brand of Toronto being about 'music' There are not that many live venues out there, given the size/population of the city. And there are too many rules/restrictions on noise, advertising, and promotion/sponsorship (this may be a provincial govt issue). the city's cost of living, over-saturation of festivals during certain times of the year. More venues, less red tape 20

Not enough small venues to play gigs that are not bars. More all ages venues and events. Getting venues to value live music enough to pay decently. Licensing of venues for alcohol and places ability to serve / play at the hours they choose. Need more large-scale music festivals, perhaps done jointly with areas in the GTA. there is a lack of opportunity for young classical and jazz musicians to get their names/groups out into the public conciousness, due in large part to the significant cost of hall/venue rentals and then on top of that having to do all of the additional promotion There are very few venues in Toronto that consistently pay a livable wage, so as a result, the venues that professionals can play in and feel like they will earn enough to cover their expenses are very few (which is a big part of the variety of venues issue). Toronto's bylaw enforcement is consistently at war with its street performers because they always side with private interests over the needs of buskers. The challenge - why does all music have to be silent after 1:30 am - New York City can have live music in a venue until past 4 am. Although we have many festivals, there could be more festivals that promote only local Toronto musicians. lack of venues and opporunities lack of venues willing to pay their live performers in some way A lot of competition and not enough venues that appreciate what value musicians bring Not enough promotion from the city to see live music in bar and club venues. Musicians aren't generally compensated properly when playing at live music venues. Therefore, we end up playing weddings and corporate events that pay a decent wage. It becomes harder for the average person to see Toronto's best at a live venue. Complete and concise event listings in one spot for visitors to use. A marketing campaign promoting the city as a music destination. Too many musicians working for little money. So many venues will "hire" act that work for next-to-nothing, and so the quality control, professionalism, and consistency of the music scene is all over the map. Ultimately, this degrades the overall value of the city as a music destination.

Increasing funding and support for artists in formal venues, the parks and the streets! The main two issues are the low standard pay for most venues as well as parking and load-in difficulty. In these regards we often don't feel supported by the city and the result is a wide range of the musician population in the city struggling to make ends meet. If a venue chooses to host live music there must be designated load-in areas for them so we can load in without the fear of getting a ticket or being towed. While I support Toronto's crack down on parking violations I think there needs to be a structure in place that makes this easier and less stressful for musicians so we can do our work properly. The current standard pay for live acts is between $100-150 per musician at most venues for 3 45min-1hr sets worth of music. Once we pay for parking ($10-20) and eat ($10-20) that amount takes a huge hit and seems unfair. There must be a way for musician's parking to either be covered by the venue or city. And the standard minimum pay per musican should be closer to $200 each. The quality that this city provides certainly warrants the amount and when venues are paying more they will expect a high quality, which we can provide, and prevent weekend bar bands from taking work from us. venues, and promotion More venues, awareness, and funding is needed. Raise the profile of the music community with a public awareness campaign? The restrictions on doing anything different, eg. the barriers to putting on Great Heart Festival in Trinity Bellwoods Bureaucracy associated with major music events- NXNE and CMW hinder as much as they help There is a lot of talent, but also a lot of people getting their sea legs. There isn't really a structure for or system for fostering the various stages of development in a way that will appeal to potential consumers and having so many venues disperses talent even more. It's hard for people to know where to go to hear, consistently, the level or type of music they want to hear. So many venues are melting pots, just hoping to bring bodies in, that they'll put any artist of any genre and any level of skill on stage. That makes it hard to develop regulars, from a music perspective. That being said, many venues /small businesses don't have a marketing person who understands branding, music, or target markets. The city (perhaps through Enterprise Toronto and/or Canada's Music Incubator) could help train bar/venue managers and develop community and city wide based strategies for improved synchronicity in music programming across the city, to develop more consistent and high quality user experiences. This might, in turn, help consumers be able to make a decision to go out and pay money to explore the musical landscape of the city.

The lack of infrastructure and support for the independent and emergent presenters and venues to grow. disappearance of performing spaces not enough spaces for music- city should open buildings Lack of lockout jamspaces Not enough spaces to feature all the talent. Rehearsal spaces Lack of small to mid size show bookings The number of quality performance spaces in a variety of sizes. Space to perform/practice and overlapping of good concerts on the same night! Lack of recording facilities not enough live music pubs or bars Lack of creative space. Rehearsal space, recording space. Public access - concerts in public spaces is an attraction to folks. Also, create a central registry or an 'APP', to attract filks saying how easy it is to see amazing live music here... Our lack of creative risks, access to uniques performance spaces, etc. The lack of live entertainment in clubs, hotels and restaurants. It was great up until the early 90's There is no ecosystem to support local live music on a regular basis. 21

Civic Promotion

What do you consider to be Toronto’s greatest challenges as a music destination?

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Not sure what the greatest challenges would be, but I would think having venues for the public to be exposed to our local talent and we need to do a better job to connect with those musicians who have developed successful music careers as they are the role models for our future talent

The lack of awareness of the vitality of Toronto's musicians and very often the lack of marketing of the cool initiatives and events and special programs helping artists, and outcome of those programs and special events. The lack of conventional and social media exposing musical events limits the amount of exposure music events get. Too many venues/promoters not paying equitable rates and too many musicians willing to play for free or at under-market rates Exposure for new and/or unknown artists. Few venues pay enough to make a regular gig worthwhile and it is impossible to "market" live performances on a small scale. Toronto's greatest challenge is our failure to SUPPORT OUR OWN NON-FOLK/INDIE ARTISTS. We also really need more nice venues with good, updated equipment able to accommodate multimedia experiences and that aren't total dives. The Drake Underground is an example, but that is only one venue and as it's in a basement and not street-level it's a really challenging space to connect with. We have a lot of great festivals, music, etc, I think the challenge is in having other people in other music communities around the world know about what is going on here and why it is important for them to be a part of it too. Awareness outside of Toronto is the challenge. This is starting to change, slowly, but is taking a lot of time and more needs to be done. A lack of support from government, challenges locating funding to support live music, a lack of strategy to market Toronto as a city with a rich music culture. lack of venues, lack of communication between public/ private/ govt, lack of proper soundsystem usage, inappropriate urban planning (not considering noise) Awareness and branding of events to tourists Lack of exposure for very small venues that offer excellent music every night. Being able to perform live and get exposure. There are not enough venues, and some of them charge bands to play there. I believe that Toronto doesn't do a good enough job of promoting and encouraging the success of our own acts within the city. To use the microcosm of Drake, easily Toronto's most prominent global act: Drake did not become famous in Toronto, or because of Toronto. He had to get a co-sign from an American artist and labels in order to launch into the music market. To make myself clear, Drake specifically had to leave Toronto in order to achieve the level of success he has, and that is because Toronto lacks the musical infrastructure and clout to successfully launch a major artist in that way. Now that Drake has earned that clout, he can use it to launch the careers of some local acts (e.g. "The Weeknd"), but OVO can't be expected to put all of Toronto on its back. To reiterate, Toronto's two most successful currently active musicians had to either a) leave Toronto in order to find a gateway to success, or b) became successful after being promoted by an artist who gained prominence only after leaving the city to launch his career. I don't believe the options you've given as choices make sense. I think lack of awareness is the largest challenge. It's hard to let tourists know what is happening throughout the city, especially at smaller venues. The genres of music that export most readily and translate best to a global market tend to be urban genres (hip hop, electronic, R&B, and hybrids of these) which ironically receive the least funding and support here at home in the city itself, where we overfund non-evolving genres like bluegrass, folk, and classical. As a person who sits on a number of granting juries, and frequents music venues around the city, I will say that supporting these non-evolving genres is necessary, but is wildly disproportionate to what music lovers worldwide are actually consuming out of Toronto. lack of arts funding and marketing for our city operated venues No central hub that encourages the mixing of musical cultures. Radio is playing top 40 american music, not an avenue to expose local music. Lack of parking at many venues, Horrible Scalpers and post-market ticket systems. Keeping the great venues we have already in the market. The loss of the Kool Haus is a big blow. The Portland location is isolated & expensive to get to. The Opera House is wonderful; protect it. Love the Phoenix but since becoming a Love nation venues prices have risen. Danforth Music Hall is good. Horseshoe is awesome as are all the little bars nestled close to Queen Street. Make it affordable for the bar owners to keep their businesses open & flourishing. Not enough compensation for musicians, lack of cohesion within music community, lack of awareness of music venues, lack of support/government funding Toronto has no distinct centre where the majority of music venues and musicians can live side by side. The population is very spread out and so it is very difficult to have a independent music scene in the way that a city like Montreal has. The challenge in Toronto is communication between musicians and between musicians and venues. Bands don't know other bands and there is nowhere for them to meet. Fan awareness. Many small to mid level venues and artists don't have the resources to promote effectively. The grassroots / up-and-coming is where the richest activity is. But Toronto is an expensive and harsh place to be an artist. The majority of activity is on the lower rung of the class system, and on top of the already huge challenge of making and presenting music, people are just trying to survive. This is why so many Montreal artists break out internationally. Montreal is an affordable place to be, and become a great artist. 22

For every great Toronto band you see playing live, you will see just as many if not more bands that empty rooms by playing poorly, or overly loudly. Show promoters are constantly trying to fill rooms to make bar sales and get paid more money. Yes this is important, but it seems to come at the cost of having a solid lineup of musicians for am entire night. This has led to a culture where people show up to see just one band and then immediately leave the venue, making it hard for bands to grow their fan base. Toronto is expensive. There should be more cheap events with better music. Xmas markets should all across the downtown core. Or one big one with many places to go. Lack of all ages venues, over-saturation of musicians, not enough media support for niche genres Properly organized and marketed music festivals and events. A recent example: the Cavalcade of Lights downtown- there were add for it on the TTC, but didn't indicate all of the performers. Some of Toronto's greatest talents ended up performing, and had I known, I would have gone and brought friends! Transit - no seriously, moving around this city makes it hard to enjoy things outside one's immediate area. ALSO - awareness of the cultural sub-cultures and events ALREADY occurring in town - cross-cultural marketing/awareness at a City level would be cool. Lack of marketing streams for venues. There are no venues anymore with consistant quality and genre, everything's a free market mixed bag, which is fine, but nobody just goes out to see live music anymore, everyone just goes out to see their friends bands, What you guys can do is somehow encourage venues to have a business model based on walk-in music listeners rather than pressuring bands to do their own marketing. This would help both musicians and the reputation of Toronto as a 'music city'. There is a lack of public infrastructure to guide and promote music in general. There should be a public talent agency/ artist management department. The private sector is profit motivated, and extremely exclusive - this could be very a very simple solution whereby artists who can perform at a certain level would be provided marketing/graphics/PR/booking support by new graduates/interns/co-op students and in return would have to pay this department a percentage of their earnings (just like a private agent/manager). The Canadian music industry is still very much "pay to play" in a lot of ways, and a government body such as this would provide 1) a pool of talent with proper marketing materials from which all aspects of the industry can draw 2) a guaranteed way for talented musicians to get their footing 3) an equalization of opportunity for musicians that do not have a rich family (the sad fact is that being a musician doesnt pay until you generate buzz, buzz can only be generated through visibility, and without a * TON of luck & talent - visibility is very expensive)

Lack of awareness of great venues. Bad sound equipment at most small venues Technology has created lower barriers to entry in an already saturated market, labels have downsized staff, lack of affordable studio space, musicians relocating to different cities Musicians need to be able to monetize their talents. There are plenty of festivals and music clubs. What we need is marketing and the promotion of the part of the city to help fill the clubs and festivals. 19+ venues is a huge obstacle. Venues taking too little activity in promotions and booking. Radius clause. Supernova events (poor exposure, too costly for musicians) Wages. And that we only pay for acts that come through booking agents. Too many of our festivals are built on the premise that the musicians should be grateful for the exposure to the audience and they are afforded little or no compensation for having provided the entertainment that the organizer makes money from the public on. Yes it costs a lot to run a festival, but the insurance guy got paid, the sound guy got paid, the truck rental people got paid and city hall got paid for their permits. Why then, if it is a music festival, are we asking the musicians to do it for free? Or merch sales. There's money for the headlines but the rest if us are supposed to me grateful to be included. AFM tariff rates are very fair and reasonable. Large public events should be on AFM contracts to receive public funding, that way the rights of the artists can be protected, not just the headliner.

The talent, variety of venues, diversity, and history of Toronto's music are not challenges but advantages! The challenge is getting everyone to see that music is a profession worthy of proper compensation, even if the group is getting great 'exposure'. Insufficient active promotion/public awareness of music events in the city Resources, media relations and venues that offer a stage for underground and up and coming artists to hone their craft. Every artist starts small and we are lacking this in Toronto! I think there are only certain types of venues and music that are properly promoted and awareness of the other options would be good, particularly for tourists As a musician, a lot of the venues are dark/dank out of date. The sound engineers aren't really sound engineers in some places. They could be described as "hacks". The stage equipment (i.e. mic's/amps/drums/cables/lighting) is out of date. Lack of advertising of the venue which relates to the amount at times that artists get paid. They "get a cut of the door sales" which is extremely unfair as the venue profits from the sale of alcohol/door cover (regulation required). If this topic is up for discussion, the city should require venues to prove that they meet the minimum requirements of a "stage" to allow the sale(s) of tickets for performance. The audio systems should meet the requirements of the venue and should be vetted out to a third party service. Just like having a pass for health and safety on city restaurants, there should be a pass requirement for a stage. As a musician there is no regulation. If my band books a show at a venue and they have falsely advertised the "backline" (stage equipment) and I show up, the sound of our performance will be affected. This also relates to who is in the audiences, bloggers, record affiliates, media. I think just like everything else in the city, if you want to be a music destination, set the precedent that your venues are up to the gold standard/ Marketing the events so that the public is aware of the events NXNE and CMW are poor excuses for local music festivals. Local acts are shunned and pushed out for international acts, and the promised 'exposure' is an illusion. The City should partner up with Dan Burke! Dan may be a crazy guy, but he cares about supporting local talent. We need festivals that do the same. The frequency of festivals makes individual events less prominent. Successful product tends to become over-exposed. Working musicians frequently must have secondary careers. Toronto's festivals are not particularly good. Real music festivals are held in a central location and all within a reasonable time so that bigger bands can bring in revenue and allow smaller bands to be able to make money and get more local and international exposure. As it stands, getting a time slot at 2am for NXNE or CMW at a small bar does not help anyone in the actual music industry. The current festival system needs to be changed and the multi-venue 'festivals' need to be culled. Great music listings and event calendars - print and onlineDoes the city advertise our music scene outside of Toronto? Is a portion of the Toronto tourism marketing budget focused on promoting the Toronto music scene? Promotion. Venues and appearances need to be better promoted through media, social media, and newspapers. The venues also need to have a bigger promo budget. So many of Toronto's musicians are under the radar. They need much more exposure. We also need venues in areas like ours near North York Centre that support open mics, folk, blues, roots and jazz. Cost to the artist. Even established local Toronto musicians who want to play their "home town" can't find an affordable venue. Build the brand of Toronto being about 'music' Complete and concise event listings in one spot for visitors to use. A marketing campaign promoting the city as a music destination. More venues, awareness, and funding is needed. Raise the profile of the music community with a public awareness campaign? There is a lot of talent, but also a lot of people getting their sea legs. There isn't really a structure for or system for fostering the various stages of development in a way that will appeal to potential consumers and having so many venues disperses talent even more. It's hard for people to know where to go to hear, consistently, the level or type of music they want to hear. So many venues are melting pots, just hoping to bring bodies in, that they'll put any artist of any genre and any level of skill on stage. That makes it hard to develop regulars, from a music perspective. That being said, many venues /small businesses don't have a marketing person who understands branding, music, or target markets. The city (perhaps through Enterprise Toronto and/or Canada's Music Incubator) could help train bar/venue managers and develop community and city wide based strategies for improved synchronicity in music programming across the city, to develop more consistent and high quality user experiences. This might, in turn, help consumers be able to make a decision to go out and pay money to explore the musical landscape of the city.

The provided answers don't make a lot of sense to me... Why would the talent of Toronto's musicians be a challenge to the city being a music destination? I think the cost of coming here is probably an issue. Parking in the city can cost an arm and a leg, especially downtown. Largely I also think that we haven't been 100% effective in marketing ourselves as a music destination to other cities. There is no identity or brand unifying the message that Toronto is a Music City. 23

Helping talented artists get exposure and payment. Toronto needs to better market itself to international performers, labels and talent managers as a must-play city. FIRST: over regulation. No difference to City between noncommercial art space and sports bar - unacceptable. Then, a couple of noise complaints can kill a space or bar. AND, secondly. Lack of communication, cohesion between communities. Rap and RnB completely overshadows any other genres in Toronto.. and the city adds to that by marketting artists affiliated only with these genres. Drake is not the only artist in Toronto.. there are more talented individualls / bands waiting to catch their break. Getting funding for musicians to create. Oversaturation of so many musicians. Lack of professionalism and awareness of business practices when trying to "make it." no cohesive marketing internationally that draws attention to Toronto as a 'music destination' proper coverage by media outlets. public awareness Opportunities for new/unknown groups to perform and gain exposure You have to factor all of the above in. In order to establish Toronto as a great music city, you also have to recruit great musician who will want to come to play here. Local businesses are missing out, some of the greatest artists in the world use to show up and play here from the Rolling Stones, Buddy Waters and more ... there are only a few establishments like the Hugh's Room that invest in bringing in local and outside talent. You have look after local musician but also mix them in with bigger names, the exposure is a win win for everyone.

Booking and promotion market have been cornered by a small amount of "collectives". Which only cater to a small group and demonstrate favouritism. This is stifling growing bands and variety in Toronto. Inadequate exposure of music to children in schools. Media only mainly promotes popular music and since music education is not a priority in our schools, people are no longer interested in the more complex art form of music. They gravitate toward simpler music, such as pop music. It is wonderful, but there is so much more out there.

Convincing the massive US market (and the rest of the world) that Toronto has as much to offer musically as any comparable US city. Lack of coordination in marketing. The prevalence of interest in non-Canadian commercial music in the mainstream media. financial support for musical groups/individuals and access marketing support City is too expensive for professional musicians, and for the experimentation and development of music cultures that aren't immediately profitable or appealing to license-givers (for busking, for example, or proposed city subsidies). Many music genres presently well-known here could not have developed under these economic conditions. Awareness that professional live music is a valid, vibrant & rewarding entertainment option While diversity is amazing, it could potentially dilute the branding of Toronto as a music destination compared to say... Nashville or Chicago. Only a challenge to solve though! Go Diversity! I'm not aware of any challenges. This whole music city thing seems to be made up by City Hall to address a tourism issue that doesn't exist. reach to markets outside of canada too much market confusion. needs a clear umbrella marketing strategy Lack of media attention towards local musicians/bands The public's awareness of who is out there and what they're doing is quite minimal, unless you're a dedicated fan of a particular group. We need to raise of awareness of the variety of musicians in the city. marketing, getting the word out about what we have to offer. Very provincial - not globally aware enough. Exposure Awareness of the breadth of artistic expression. There is a lack of awareness of classical/opera/ballet and too much focus on world music & pop music. Toronto should play a role in equitably promoting all art forms. The market is extremely saturated. Every night of the week theres 2-4 major concerts and 20 local shows. Promoting music is the biggest challenge. People are just not aware of what is available to them. Exposure of local musicians. Musicians from outside Canada and the province often receive more attention Global Marketing Marketing, publicity, as well as more, consistent opportunities for artists to perform live parking, marketing, compensation for musicians 19+ shows are slightly ridiculous and extremely restricting in exposing the young residents of the city to up and coming talent, 18+ would make more sense. Exposure levels. Canadian content rules seem to encourage radio play of a few artists on the stations I end up listening to. I have learned more about the Toronto music scene by listening to international stations than I seem to get from local stations. Lack of publicity and media attention for local artists. support from grants, media, etc. is usually in favour or safe choices, especially same old "canadiana" stuff; instead, support should go to more avantgarde projects/musicians, especially if the objective is to make toronto internationally attractive as a music city. Avantgarde projects may not have a big enough local audience to be feasible without support/brants. They need it! You'll want to support the kind of things that you can't see in hundreds of other cities. That's the kind of stuff that'll draw an international audience in time. Go out on a limb - don't just support middle of the road stuff.

Monopolies that control international talent when in Toronto (*, etc.); and thus, the lack of competition; * staff (promoters, managers, bar staff, bouncers, communications etc.); cost of a ticket to a show that is more in demand; The double-dipping * gets away with >> the fan has to pay more because of their third party sites - and others (e.g. *) getting artists enough exposure Promotion of lesser-known artists and types of music to the mass public. We have many who can be better exposed to fans who would enjoy them. Cuts to CBC Radio have made fewer opportunities for radio exposure and extra income for musicians. General awareness of all of its strengths. People know about the mainstream, but that's not what makes Toronto's scene so special. Marketing. Getting the word out 24

radio stations and advertisement need to be made more available to local bands or smaller bands because social media doesnt cut it and advertising is expensive for broke musicians. From a marketing perspective we don't stand for one thing when it comes to music. And just being the place that offers the most going on is a tough sell when music is so personal to those who care about it and are driven often by a love of a certain genre. Just being a music city still doesn't say alot about us other than we have music here and alot of it. What is special about our music scene is what is missing. Lack of promotion and marketing, transit issues - we don't tell our story economics, access to media There is a lack of awareness when it comes to how important it is for people to go out to support shows. Not enough branding - how to celebrate diversity of Toronto's music scene while also carving out a public and aesthetic identity a la Austin, Nashville, etc. where there is already an expectation or excitement around what the place and/or scene is/represents. market saturation, cost of living, lack of resorces Marketing, advertising and funding for Local artists not many people outside of Canada are aware of Toronto's music scene. The city should be more actively promoted as a music destination. the greatest challenge is marketing the power of the music as a city asset. In Chicago - the city charges every hotel room an extra dollar. That money is used throughout the year to produce FREE, LIVE concerts for citizens and tourists alike. Blues, jazz, country, big band, etc. fundamentally the underlying challenge of being a musician as an economically viable career; for all but a very very very few there is not enough $ spend to afford marketing and promotion to establish "destination" Marketing TO as a music destination and creating an indie music hub in the city that draws new talent and fosters existing talent Nourishing the talent already here and holding onto them rather than having them leave for more lucrative markets such as the states. The over-saturation of the market. Branding the city as a music destination. So much competition, hard to make a living, and bars paying with exposure. There is an abundance of great music happening in this city, though many music lovers I speak with are unaware of a large portion of it. This applies acutely to less popularized music. Some of our city's highest level musicians are playing for the smallest crowds. Making tourists aware of the options available The history isn't celebrated enough. There should be more effort in marketing the history, walking and bus tours around it, a music museum/hall of fame creating awareness about the destination and the high quality of music available - both internally and externally market competition, inflexibility of sound bylaws, city policies Proper compensation for the very talented musicians IN Toronto. There is a pervasive attitude that musicians should want to play for free for exposure; as a result, amateur musicians are often booked with little/no pay, resulting in an unpolished product that puts the professional reputation of the hiring parties into question. They then receive less funding because of their lackluster product, leading to a more amateur pool of musicians next time, etc etc. we are not on the circuit for a huge number of US acts, growing an otherwise. WE can't just have our own playing here; we need folks from our US markets promotion, central website (use of social media) to promote Toronto show in a categorized manner Not enough promotion/exposure/spotlighting of local and homegrown talent promotion and marketing communicating where to see live music, exposure of Toronto's talents, access to low cost performances awareness of what Toronto's music scene has to offer Not a lot of attention is put into the music scene because people are not aware of the concerts happening but the ones that show up always have an amazing time. Communication of what is already going on! Audiences in Toronto are the worst. For a city of this size, the support is pathetic. Efforts need to be made to quantify, and promote the scene in such a way that the public feels they *need* to take part, not just once, but regularly. That requires a sustained effort, a brilliant marketing strategy, and some serious buy-in from stakeholders. Difficult, but not impossible. Because of Toronto's role as the biggest cultural hub in Canada, musicians come from across the country and to a lesser degree the world to try to build careers in music here. Unfortunately this influx of talent leads to a saturated market of musicians, with virtually zero protections available for people working in the industry. The ECONOMY, THERE IS NO FOCUS or CENTRALIZED, MEDIA PROMOTED AREAS where consistently high quality musicians play regularly. Membership in the TMA does not necessarily mean the members are raising the bar of creative music that will lead to develop a market based village of financially successful content creators. The city's neds to raise the bar in its marketing support for musicians Lack of awareness, difficulty of physical advertising, lack of city-driven initiatives Despite all of it's gifts and it's massive superiority as the de facto music capital of Canada, it should do more to market itself as such, in the same way other music cities such as Nashville, New Orleans, Memphis and others already do. Lack of SUSTAINED operational funding (vs. project) for smaller organizations to properly market their high quality product. The legal difficulties involved in bringing in musicians from other countries, particularly the US. It's so complicated and costly that far fewer independent musicians visit TOronto to perform (particularly jazz for example) than they used to. This creates a vacuum where we aren't exposed to outside influences as much, and stagnation. Civic branding of music is plain hokey, not cool. When 'Austin Music City' took there banners and ads to London England, they were laughed home. Need to support local artists and bring awareness to the talent lack of understanding of the importance of community music performance; too much support for the music intermediaries at the cost of the musicians The lack of awareness and communication in the music industry that could lead to better coordination and possible collaboration. Toronto needs to create more of a musical presence internationally, perhaps more music related media? Making local arts part of the media narrative, which is so often driven by American pop culture advertising Lack of support/awareness from the general public and municipal government 25

accessible awareness Lack of promotion & exposure in mainstream Toronto culture diminished exposure of young people to the arts in general, in schools Marketing a solid theme We don't use music to market to Toronto. All major global artists come to Toronto! We are 10X a "music city" compared to Austin..... marketing and promotion of the music in toronto. it's history, the current scene and the future development of the music industry. (past, present and future) also the protection of live performance space with the growth and redevelopment of the city. Awareness, marketing, advertising etc. Marketing to those outside of the city, parking for musicians. There is no identity for Toronto as a jazz, blues, rock, country or reggae town. With no real identity Toronto will struggle to be a musical destination. more visibility for music of various styles / approaches / scales (visitors should easily be able to find out about both large-scale concerts and smaller more specialist-oriented ones) Having an oganized body to help promote Toronto as a music destination, to be able to work with the promotors on a global scope for the promotion of Toronto as a Music Destination. How the artist could be promoted. Promotion Lack of promotion of local artists. Should have City sponsored talent shows. Lack of press except for pop and indie. Most official sources of promotion and support (ex. the CBC) tend to cater to one kind of Toronto sound, the country-twinged singer-songwriter à la Blue Rodeo. To put it simply we are NOT world class. That's the difference. We do not create the history like London or New York. We need to create our own legends. the lack of support from radio, and the city to have bands promote their shows. The Now magazine the music hub... is no more than a cliquey highschool team. it ignores many genres and sub genres. Someone needs to create one that is sustainable. the grid tried. radio access and recording studios No Radio support for local acts, especially urban Financial pressure on both musicians and presenters The promotion of artists, options within the city beyond mainstream The city doesn't promote or support their own local talent or reach out to them to collaborate within the city's interests Promotion and helping musicians develop a business, not live gig to gig Starting off as a band can be very difficult as bars and clubs now expect a built-in following for bands they book, while taking none of the onus to promote on themselves. Lack of advertising/promoting Toronto as a music destination Promotion. We're terrible at selfpromotion. lack of promotion Promotion of true talent in the city. Toronto still has a " our own isn't good enough mentality. our biggest challenge is the lack of organization and the lack of ability to promote a show properly the insufficient promotion of Toronto's up-and-coming local talent and the way some of our greatest talents only get recognition here after they go to the U.S. or U.K. and get famous. Music needs to be promoted more in many areas of the city Making Toronto known as a destination worth coming to for both musicians and fans. I think Toronto is a good music city, but with a little self-promotion and getting to know organizers a little more intimately, The City could make itself a premiere music city. The history is lush and full of talent that has never broken out of the shell that is the GTA hub, and many talents that have gone on to worldwide success, however there is a strange middle ground that is isolated in its uncanny ability to alienate artists trying to bridge the gap between excelling in a larger arena versus residing as hometown heroes. Musicians are really paid properly for their service and struggle to support themselves without a full time job on the side. which also makes it hard to schedule practices, shows and to promote them properly. Promotion Publicity/promotion/renown musicians supporting eachother & promoting eachother's work the industry seems vibrant to me. NOW magazine ads show there is lots of choice need more independant artist on radio and shows Toronto only promotes pop artists, after they become big outside of Toronto. Where is the support for the underground acts before they get big? Promoters that look down on the musicians and treat them like we owe them something promotion Having a lot of unprofessional artists and musicians. Also finding promotion for artists. Emphasis and promotion - convincing thelistening public to turn off the TV or computer and get out and support live music Promotion Radio across the country needs a major overhaul. Despite having a vibrant hip-hop scene in Toronto there is no dedicated radio station for hip-hop and the closest thing we have rarely features Toronto rappers. The same issue extends into the rock world where Toronto bands will rarely receive airplay on The Edge or Indie88. Toronto needs to rep our artists in all respects and I truly believe new radio stations specifically focused on the entire Toronto scene would boost all other Toronto Music City efforts to a massive degree.

Getting pair fairly and promoted properly Promotion both in Canada and abroad needs to be ramped up 26

promoters/Club owners/ all ripping muscians off! Radio stations not playing Toronto artist, or limited tv shows that show Toronto/Canadian artist. Live music for emerging artists is tied directly to bars. Which is great but also limits the artists visibility. Not sure what the solution is but the majority of music fans can't see a band perform because they have jobs and families and can't stay out til 1 often. :) Toronto's music history is mostly hidden and unknown to local inhabitants. Creating a work environment which promotes the exchange of ideas and mentors budding musicians .., A Toronto version of Abbey Road! Its lack of promotion of itself as a music destination. making for a cohesive music strategy that promotes and highlights the industry timing, external promotion, municipal support could always be greater The visibility of Toronto musicians and promoting their music, getting it out there, labelling it as local, and having less of a focus on major artists in discussion of music from the city Lack of promotion of local artists to a wider global audience. the music industry in its depressed state The biggest challenge is to get the word out about our wonderful arts scene. Get the public to come out! Toronto tries to cater to all types of music, and risks being associated with none. I suggest picking a horse that makes sense and building an association - not to the exclusion of others. The city doesn't have the character like Quebec City, Vancouver, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, etc. Toronto is a plain, bland city. Extent of publicity and public reach of most local musicians Lack of an understanding of what music in Toronto is; that includes the reports being presented to Council. Helping increase the profile and getting airplay for Toronto musicians. The city not properly highlighting what currently exists in Toronto's amazing music scene generating the correct amount of hype for non-prime artists People need to know where good live music is happening. we don't support our local music scene enough. the city is more geared towards nightclubs and dj's Possible lack of specific music genre associated with Toronto (ie. "Chicago blues") We don't like to talk about the past, always moving to the next big thing as opposed to celebrating the uninterrupted streak of great music this city continues to spawn. lack of publicity Advertising/PR/getting the word out The City of Toronto does not assist in getting the word out about live music. With the city so big and so many attractions, there's no specific focus on music as a strength for Toronto. It gets lost in the size of the city. you have to know about things to go to them, and there isn't much information on gigs. The scene is almost dead. No one really goes to small shows. The big ones are way to expencsive for me. There are no raves anymore. Most people i know leave toronto to go to shows. For audiences finding out where performances are going on. For musicians finding out where they can perform. Supporting local talent , and smaller less known artist , need more publicity for the new guys lack of recognition for less mainstream acts Finding an audience Outdated approach to addressing what are common issues facing artists and the music industry (i.e.- artists lacking resources with the simple solution of creating the tools and resources that can guide them through securing corporate sponsorship and positioning themselves to target audiences.)

Advertisement of said performances getting the music out there - think Austin TX. People often don't know what's in the city or is available to them. The breadth and depth of music is not really well advertised, not can it be found centrally. lack of good Toronto-centric music journalism or broadcast programming Being recognized outside of the city as a music destination - I think the people who live here already think it is one! We need to focus on generating interest and legitimacy from outsiders. Publicizing the range of music rather than just mainstream. Getting the public to realize LIVE music is different, artistic, important, and worth going out for. Busy/big city with lots of things going on makes it tough to create substantive followings Lack of publicity Lack of distribution on a wider scale - being successful just in one city is not enough to sustain musicians for a long career, there must be something drawing people into the city to see these musicians, but there also needs to be exportability sonthey are known to a wider audience, which will in turn bring people back to the city to see more up and coming acts, and so on. you need to showcase the musicians more often, in a better light In typical Canadian fashion, we don't often celebrate/support our own until they've made a name for themselves elsewhere. We can't really expect outsiders to consider Toronto as a true music destination without believing and acting like it is one ourselves. The spread of local music news. Advertising The limited opportunities for live performances to be brought to the attention of the public. Toronto's familiarity and pride of its local musical scene. 27

Theres no one really out here rooting for us, trying to make the next Justin Bieber or Drake. Music is not a major focus of the city and therefore there are less and less music fans that go out to the shows. advertising / getting word out, tdot not well known as music destination... i think 28

Financial

What do you consider to be Toronto’s greatest challenges as a music destination?

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Too many venues/promoters not paying equitable rates and too many musicians willing to play for free or at under-market rates Exposure for new and/or unknown artists. Few venues pay enough to make a regular gig worthwhile and it is impossible to "market" live performances on a small scale. A lack of support from government, challenges locating funding to support live music, a lack of strategy to market Toronto as a city with a rich music culture. The genres of music that export most readily and translate best to a global market tend to be urban genres (hip hop, electronic, R&B, and hybrids of these) which ironically receive the least funding and support here at home in the city itself, where we overfund non-evolving genres like bluegrass, folk, and classical. As a person who sits on a number of granting juries, and frequents music venues around the city, I will say that supporting these non-evolving genres is necessary, but is wildly disproportionate to what music lovers worldwide are actually consuming out of Toronto. lack of arts funding and marketing for our city operated venues Keeping the great venues we have already in the market. The loss of the Kool Haus is a big blow. The Portland location is isolated & expensive to get to. The Opera House is wonderful; protect it. Love the Phoenix but since becoming a Love nation venues prices have risen. Danforth Music Hall is good. Horseshoe is awesome as are all the little bars nestled close to Queen Street. Make it affordable for the bar owners to keep their businesses open & flourishing. Not enough compensation for musicians, lack of cohesion within music community, lack of awareness of music venues, lack of support/government funding Fan awareness. Many small to mid level venues and artists don't have the resources to promote effectively. The grassroots / up-and-coming is where the richest activity is. But Toronto is an expensive and harsh place to be an artist. The majority of activity is on the lower rung of the class system, and on top of the already huge challenge of making and presenting music, people are just trying to survive. This is why so many Montreal artists break out internationally. Montreal is an affordable place to be, and become a great artist.

For every great Toronto band you see playing live, you will see just as many if not more bands that empty rooms by playing poorly, or overly loudly. Show promoters are constantly trying to fill rooms to make bar sales and get paid more money. Yes this is important, but it seems to come at the cost of having a solid lineup of musicians for am entire night. This has led to a culture where people show up to see just one band and then immediately leave the venue, making it hard for bands to grow their fan base. Toronto is expensive. There should be more cheap events with better music. Xmas markets should all across the downtown core. Or one big one with many places to go. There is a lack of public infrastructure to guide and promote music in general. There should be a public talent agency/ artist management department. The private sector is profit motivated, and extremely exclusive - this could be very a very simple solution whereby artists who can perform at a certain level would be provided marketing/graphics/PR/booking support by new graduates/interns/co-op students and in return would have to pay this department a percentage of their earnings (just like a private agent/manager). The Canadian music industry is still very much "pay to play" in a lot of ways, and a government body such as this would provide 1) a pool of talent with proper marketing materials from which all aspects of the industry can draw 2) a guaranteed way for talented musicians to get their footing 3) an equalization of opportunity for musicians that do not have a rich family (the sad fact is that being a musician doesnt pay until you generate buzz, buzz can only be generated through visibility, and without a * TON of luck & talent - visibility is very expensive)

19+ venues is a huge obstacle. Venues taking too little activity in promotions and booking. Radius clause. Supernova events (poor exposure, too costly for musicians) Wages. And that we only pay for acts that come through booking agents. Too many of our festivals are built on the premise that the musicians should be grateful for the exposure to the audience and they are afforded little or no compensation for having provided the entertainment that the organizer makes money from the public on. Yes it costs a lot to run a festival, but the insurance guy got paid, the sound guy got paid, the truck rental people got paid and city hall got paid for their permits. Why then, if it is a music festival, are we asking the musicians to do it for free? Or merch sales. There's money for the headlines but the rest if us are supposed to me grateful to be included. AFM tariff rates are very fair and reasonable. Large public events should be on AFM contracts to receive public funding, that way the rights of the artists can be protected, not just the headliner.

Toronto's festivals are not particularly good. Real music festivals are held in a central location and all within a reasonable time so that bigger bands can bring in revenue and allow smaller bands to be able to make money and get more local and international exposure. As it stands, getting a time slot at 2am for NXNE or CMW at a small bar does not help anyone in the actual music industry. The current festival system needs to be changed and the multi-venue 'festivals' need to be culled. Cost to the artist. Even established local Toronto musicians who want to play their "home town" can't find an affordable venue. Build the brand of Toronto being about 'music' More venues, awareness, and funding is needed. Raise the profile of the music community with a public awareness campaign? 29

There is a lot of talent, but also a lot of people getting their sea legs. There isn't really a structure for or system for fostering the various stages of development in a way that will appeal to potential consumers and having so many venues disperses talent even more. It's hard for people to know where to go to hear, consistently, the level or type of music they want to hear. So many venues are melting pots, just hoping to bring bodies in, that they'll put any artist of any genre and any level of skill on stage. That makes it hard to develop regulars, from a music perspective. That being said, many venues /small businesses don't have a marketing person who understands branding, music, or target markets. The city (perhaps through Enterprise Toronto and/or Canada's Music Incubator) could help train bar/venue managers and develop community and city wide based strategies for improved synchronicity in music programming across the city, to develop more consistent and high quality user experiences. This might, in turn, help consumers be able to make a decision to go out and pay money to explore the musical landscape of the city.

The provided answers don't make a lot of sense to me... Why would the talent of Toronto's musicians be a challenge to the city being a music destination? I think the cost of coming here is probably an issue. Parking in the city can cost an arm and a leg, especially downtown. Largely I also think that we haven't been 100% effective in marketing ourselves as a music destination to other cities. Helping talented artists get exposure and payment. Getting funding for musicians to create. Oversaturation of so many musicians. Lack of professionalism and awareness of business practices when trying to "make it." City is too expensive for professional musicians, and for the experimentation and development of music cultures that aren't immediately profitable or appealing to license-givers (for busking, for example, or proposed city subsidies). Many music genres presently well-known here could not have developed under these economic conditions. Monopolies that control international talent when in Toronto (*, etc.); and thus, the lack of competition; * staff (promoters, managers, bar staff, bouncers, communications etc.); cost of a ticket to a show that is more in demand; The double-dipping * gets away with >> the fan has to pay more because of their third party sites - and others (e.g. *) radio stations and advertisement need to be made more available to local bands or smaller bands because social media doesnt cut it and advertising is expensive for broke musicians. market saturation, cost of living, lack of resorces Marketing, advertising and funding for Local artists the greatest challenge is marketing the power of the music as a city asset. In Chicago - the city charges every hotel room an extra dollar. That money is used throughout the year to produce FREE, LIVE concerts for citizens and tourists alike. Blues, jazz, country, big band, etc. fundamentally the underlying challenge of being a musician as an economically viable career; for all but a very very very few there is not enough $ spend to afford marketing and promotion to establish "destination" So much competition, hard to make a living, and bars paying with exposure. Proper compensation for the very talented musicians IN Toronto. There is a pervasive attitude that musicians should want to play for free for exposure; as a result, amateur musicians are often booked with little/no pay, resulting in an unpolished product that puts the professional reputation of the hiring parties into question. They then receive less funding because of their lackluster product, leading to a more amateur pool of musicians next time, etc etc. communicating where to see live music, exposure of Toronto's talents, access to low cost performances Audiences in Toronto are the worst. For a city of this size, the support is pathetic. Efforts need to be made to quantify, and promote the scene in such a way that the public feels they *need* to take part, not just once, but regularly. That requires a sustained effort, a brilliant marketing strategy, and some serious buy-in from stakeholders. Difficult, but not impossible. Lack of SUSTAINED operational funding (vs. project) for smaller organizations to properly market their high quality product. The legal difficulties involved in bringing in musicians from other countries, particularly the US. It's so complicated and costly that far fewer independent musicians visit TOronto to perform (particularly jazz for example) than they used to. This creates a vacuum where we aren't exposed to outside influences as much, and stagnation. lack of understanding of the importance of community music performance; too much support for the music intermediaries at the cost of the musicians Cost of living, lack of mid-sized venues There is a lack of variety of venues and festivals, lack of unity between promoters. It's a costly city to live in as an artist. There is not enough support for local initiatives. Extremely high costs of event production. a mediocre small to midsize standing GA rooms. perhaps capital cost upgrade subsidy to establisged and/or new venues to upgrade PA's, maintain existing PA's and help offset cost to hire established, experienced and professional house sound technicians. there's lots of these around

Venues are too expensive Rent costs closing music venue, having music venues be a welcomed part of a neighbourhood, Accessibility and lighter music discovery. Some festivals have a hefty price tag and venues are taking a beating and need more help getting back on their feet. Some music festivals should be not pay to play festivals. Artisits should benefit for their work. Artisits without agents should be included. The 'pay to play' atmosphere created by most bars/music venues It is challenging to find performance spaces that are wheelchair accessible. It is challenging for good music venues to be able to provide low-cost performance spaces to musicians, while keeping up their own rent payments (AKA - rent prices are a barrier for Toronto's music scene) and this is a key difference between Toronto and Montreal's arts and music scenes. We need more music venues. It is costly to bring an international artist over the border. Permits are expensive. We need more music venues and a bigger range for big artists and small ones too. Rents intorotonto are too high. It is impossible to find a venue for teenagers to play someplace

The venues for live classical music are too big to sustain and build up the industry again. we need less expensive venues that are accoustically appropriate and can also serve alcohol and food. Parking for musicians. Out front of venues should be FREE for bands to park, bands I see are always ticketed. Toronto should work with the border to ensure smooth crossing for musicians. Bands find it impossible to cross without hassle. It also costs touring musicians an arm and a leg to get the permits and things necessary to cross the border and perform here. They end up losing money. There needs to be a way for the city to work with the Canadian government. Bands don't include Toronto as a tour stop for this reason. Small music festivals in parks can't run without expensive permits.

I am an internationally recognized musician who frequently plays my own music in a variety of venues in Toronto where one "passes the hat" for pay. Regardless of how good you are, it is next to impossible to make a living wage as a musician in this city. 30

It's very hard to find a decent , modestly sized venue to put on a show in the downtown/central west area. Many rock bands can't fill up places like horseshoe or lees palace, and ultimately we are stuck with very few choices. Silver dollar, smiling Buddha , the garrison to name a few. But as gentrification wears down these established areas, the venues keep getting pushed further to the outskirts of the downtown sector. And even as places open up (example the Mercury and SHIBIGBs on Geary lane) , they are shut down because of residential stipulations. I understand there needs to be a balance between venues and the residential area, but that situation is a perfect example of stark black and white policies that keep our city from having a variety of venues- as to location and size. The more venues we have, the more dedicated they can each become to certain facets of the music scene. The product of that would be amazing, a place where you could always go and know the type of music you would be finding. It would be a training ground for many toronto bands, and the community that would be born out of niche venues would undoubtedly excel the growth the scene, and produce bands that would have an influence farther than toronto. The major advertising dollars spent on theatre and lack of advertising dollars spent on music. It's not complicated: that's really what's going on. I'm not sure the best way around that but there need to be billboard and TTC ads for live music at local venues. Actually, that seems like a simple solution. You guys fund it? Give me credit for the idea. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. The same worked for theatre (thanks Ed) so why not for music? Getting venues to pay touring bands high enough fees. Cost of producing and performing often outweighs the compensation involved. 2am last call prevents music events from running late, which is often prime time for many music scenes. The main issue facing Torontonian aritsts is that venues are closing. This is partially in response to changing aesthetic tastes, however, as fewer consumers are willing to pay money to see a live act, particularly one playing original material. However, this is part and parcel with larger trends of consumers not playing a high monetary value on music, which has been driven, in part by the widespread piracy and subsequent devaluing of recorded music. This is due to the fact that in an era where every song ever recorded is availble for nearly free, it is difficult to convince consumers to spend money on music of any kind, particularly something as ephemeral as a live performance. However, one thing that the city can do to increase the vibrancy of Toronto's artists is to make it easier to be sucessful at home. Most of the big names to come out of Toronto have had to leave Canada in order to become famous and successful. Toronto could do a better job of nurturing homegrown talent. unfair practices by bar and venue owners to drive down pay for artists Bars need to take their percentages - indie bands need to pay to play. Bylaws make it difficult to busk, to have pop up events, and to have multidisciplinary events that also include art, movies, car shows etc. Paying the most talented local buskers to perform at key locations to liven up the mood and deter crime. The amount of lives shows a night can be overwhelming to live show goers, but also the rates in which venues pay musicians if at all. There needs to be support in getting more musicians paid fair wages Not enough suitable venues for growing talent. Gap between small venues (20-60 cap) and larger venues (250 and up). A few more venues (actual venues, not bars who lean on the artists to sell alcohol) that can affordably rented and execute high quality live shows would be an asset to the city. The contentious issues between bar owners and musicians hampers to ability of the art to succeed. Many artists feel they cannot be heard over the sound of the clinking of bottles. expenses out of pocket for performers - either for venue or rehearsals, or limited parking Lack of funding for events, concerts and music related festivals I feel like the city is against music that goes into the night and try their best to shut down late night music events. there is also too much NIMBY mind set that go against venues that are building culture because people in condominums complain about the vibrant city they moved in to.

There are next to none mid sized venues, lack of infustrcture and funding support has made it difficult for international booking and mid sized venues to stay a float All the clubs are owned by the same people who have no interest in growing talent within the city and only pay foreigners large sums of money to perform. There is no venue for Toronto musicians to play and practice on a daily basis, including having a healthy competitive environment. The same people have been performing live for the last 20 years and closing the doors on new upcoming talent. Djs included. a real lack of adequate performances spaces. aside from a few standard bars/clubs, that can be hard for less established bands to break into, there aren't enough places to play. not enough all ages venues. not enough alternative/funded spaces. not clear path from the genesis on an idea or a project, to live performance and/or career Underpaid, under-appreciated musicians (venues underpay) Preserving the historical locations and funding the venues in general Cost of rehearsal space and other space/infrastructure related costs Proximity of music venues during CMW, and NXNE. There needs to be more in the way of street performances, and pop up venues close to the main music venues. Traveling across town is far too time consuming, expensive, and is not to the benefit of artists being lost in the mix as a result.

It's festivals. I feel as if not all music genres are represented when it comes to renown festivals taking place in Toronto. Our Jazz Fest is unheard of, we don't have an Early Music or New Music Festival... We have Bestival and on the island in the summertime, but we lack support in many traditional musical disciplines - which need to be supported by the government, as they have been for centuries, in order for the music and musicians to be succesful. While I don't have specific examples, I feel that there are bylaws (such as for noise) that hamper the flexibility of music events from happening in Toronto The high costs for certain music festivals like NXNE and CMW and INDIE WEEK, where the bands playing are not making money off of it but the people coming to see the bands have to pay 100+ dollars for a wrist band Cost of events - it's cheaper to go to Hamilton / out of town The high cost of living, the high cost of rent for venues in high volume areas, and the stigma associated with anywhere that isn't Downtown-West End Toronto. We need to find ways to make mid size love mysic fvenues more profitable for the proprietors so they can flourish - more profit = more venues and more pay for musicians. Also, the cost of living in Toronto is now so high that to survive musicians must either move, or work full times spending less time on their art. I feel that the city of Toronto needs to protect it's live music venues that act as character and landmarks from being sold to condo development and the like, by giving the owners special dispensation and tax breaks, as not to be temped by big money to give them up (think The El Mocambo). We need to protect them in a similar way as we do Heritage sites. Pertaining to my "Other" above, the costs of hotels, etc. in peak summer months - ie. when most of the festivals are happening here, or most bands tour - is really far too expensive. Perhaps some sort of initiative could be put in place to convince some chains to make some rooms more affordable rather than jacking up the rates. Similarly, perhaps an incentive on reducing parking rates in key areas for the same reasons could be introduced. noise restrictions, the entire SOP process, the fact that NXNE and other major festivals do not pay very much Inattentive audience; cost of venue rental in general; cost of parking/transportation to bring people in. The support of the city in what they choose to sponsor musically - We also need to have an emphasis in making the larger musical events we do currently have (NXNE) have the same impact of its sister events (SXSW) with support dollars. The music industry is a MASSIVE source of revenue to this city, and I don't feel that the government is doing a good enough PR job demonstrating the benefits to naysayers Support and funding for local festivals, especially where the goal is to attract international tourism High cost of operation makes the music industry more competitive, which creates less opportunity to creating thriving, long-lasting communities. The focus of the industry tends to rely too much on popular acts, as venues and promoters need to rely on selling high levels of tickets just to rent a venue at cost. 31

The shrinking number of music venues and the shrinking value of the Canadian dollar. CMW, NXNE and other festivals not paying musicians but still making money off of them is a real, true shame. Lack of venues where new band's can inexpensively stage shows, similar problem with live theatre Bad/inaccessable venues, expensive shows, the free live shows at Nathan Philips/Dundas square are poorly organized There seem to be no all ages venues that can be booked with out an insane amount of money. For every gig I play and enjoy, I play another where I feel unwelcome or undervalued. Most often, it is the attitude of the venue and its expectations that I do all this work for their benefit that prevents me from enjoying myself as much as my audience does. The variety of live-music venues is there, but the quality isn't across the board. there are so many bad bands performing around town because the venues won't/can't pay for decent musicians. Also, promotors offering a show with 5 bands throughout the evening doesn't help. It's become a free-for-all race to the bottom, where neither the promotors not venue owners appreciate QUALITY bands. The high cost of music festivals. High cost of unionized venues The focus should be on how a Toronto musician can make a living. If the artist can survive and pay bills, eat and create the people will follow. If you focus on festivals with touring acts the money flows out once the act leaves and or the promoters, venues and restaurants all make the money and very little gets passed down. Shortage of quality venues with good sound reinforcement and fair pay for performers, the crowds venues that charge musicians to play.. including forcing the musicians that play to pay the Socan fee which the bar should be paying for to have live music. Cost of venue rental Too many venues that don't pay artists, or actually CHARGE artists to play either through fees or ticket sales. This has to stop. The prohibitive cost of concert space/event venues. DJ's, people not supporting live music venues, people not willing to pay reasonable cover charges. For attending festivals like NxNE or CMW, the greatest challenge for an audience member is that wristbands are priced as though a person may attend several venues in the same evening, yet the line-ups are so long to get in, that getting in at all anywhere is difficult. The second biggest challenge is around permits for musicians playing acoustic in the park. It is for community not for money, but the cost can be prohibitive, as can the risk of being fined for playing music without a permit. We have an abundance of festivals but many, with the obvious exceptions of TURF and the higher profile electronic festivals, do not compensate an artist enough, if at all. Most street festival offer a very slight honorarium, and are over saturated with singer/songwriters. Better, if necessary, to have fewer artists and pay them appropriately. Rather than a loose assortment of hobbyists in shabby pop up venues, lets ensure consistency, high quality festivals and high quality artists. Also the music scene tends to dry up in the winter, and for goodness sake we're Canadian we shouldn't be afraid of a little snow. We need to offer people incentive to ensure they keep going out and keeping our culture alive even when its thirty below. lack of compensation for musicians at many venues who rely on music to bring in a crowd but pay pennies cost of venues in areas with lots of people, being properly paid, cost of renting space for music rehearsals venues in recent years tend have live music as an after thought. lack of Proper Stage, Sound and Lights as well as poorly acousticly treated rooms leave audiences flat ....give them a show and they will come ..and pay!...or just set the band up on a pub floor and nobody gives a damn or makes any money. choice seems pretty clear The opportunity for bands to play festival. Feel like a monopoly where it's always the same bands playing on rotation Cost of attendance (added up through parking/TTC use, food/beverages at venues, etc.) Also the fact that artist don't support other Toronto artist. That could change tho just with a little help from the city, going towards the talented, but outshined artist, due to money situations that prevent them from taking their CAREER to the next level. Other Torontonias do not see those other artist as talented if their IGs don't look a certain way. Some artist don't do music with other artist based on the shows they've performed. It really has to do with ego. But if it is EASIER for a TALENTED artist to come up & at least SEEM like they could be on the level as other local artist that are doing well in the community, I think that would kill a lot of egos, that DONT need to be there Unenthusiastic audiences. Musicians all over Canada know that a Toronto audience tends to stare at its feet and look cooler than everyone else in the venue. Toronto audiences are subdued and present as unenthusiastic about the music, by comparison to live music audiences in other cities across Canada. Head to Halifax, Saskatoon, Calgary or Victoria and you'll see packed houses for live music and very enthusiastic crowds. We really need to get Torontonians on board with being a music city - not just Toronto musicians.

The expenses musicians have to pay to perform. Many small venues actually charge musicians to play, not recognizing the VALUE ADDED that musicians bring. Plenty of venues claim to be "proper" but then you have to rent their sound equipment or bring it in. Buying equipment for venues could go a long way to helping support small businesses host a variety of musical acts. The biggest problem is easily the lack of affordable housing. Being a musician in infinitely more difficult with current rent prices in this city. It's the biggest contributor to the lack of rehearsal spaces as well as the musical brain drain. When you work 60+ hours a week to make ends meet, it gets hard to launch a business, record an album, plan a tour, coordinate a festival, negotiate license fees, the list goes on. Take a look at San Francisco and how it's creatives have all fled due to exorbitant living costs. Funding for music related business' such as studios and venues Making it a feasible life pursuit. Costs are too high and most musicians are essentially expected to play for whatever the venue feels like giving them. There are a lot of big ticket events in Toronto that consume most people's entertainment dollar. 1. Bylaws that make it incredibly difficult to advertise shows. 2. Lack of All-Ages venues and/or the cost of booking an all-ages show. 3. Centralized "scenes", trying to do a show outside of the Queen W. area can be difficult. 4. Noise violation bylaws - venues have to be SO careful about noise, even if the neighbours that are complaining built after the venue was established. Many musicians who are not full-time musicians are willing to play at venues for reduced pay, mostly because they enjoy performing, and have a day job which earns them a living. This, in turn, allows the venues to operate on the assumption that they don't have to pay out properly to musicians, because they can find ones who don't care about it, when others demand fair compensation. This lack of viable living means any musicians who truly wish to earn a living from their profession move to other cities, where that is a more realistic option.

Music education. The government and school boards provincially are cutting funding to amazing schools, and making it impossible for small programs to continue, even if they are strong. I came from a program that was thriving as a high school, but since I left, regulations became harder to manage for staff to maintain small class sizes and has totally distroyed the ability to have cultured and well executed music programs. This small classroom to larger classroom demand has also effected the creative arts and sports programs at many high schools. This is a disgrace to Canadians who say they want to be cultured. If more funding in the GTA was re-alocated to extra curriculars instead of board of education scoundrels we would have a more vibrant music and sports community in skill and understanding. the biggest challenge for any musician is getting paid, there are many venues, but few that will pay 32

Getting people to pay for entertainment. NYC and most other places in the states have much higher cover prices (look at the jazz venues) how can we get the public to not mind PAYING for music? Pay for play venues Venues do not pay musicians enough to make a living. The pay is the same, or less than it was in the 70s-80s. Is there any by-laws that could be written to make sure musicians get paid fairly? The Rex is a place that at least let's you collect a door fee and 20% of the Bar. Could something like that be enforced? Plus a minimum? Lack of venues paying well Largest festivals NXNE and CMW mutual exclusivity (you can play one or the other) is completely unfair and hurts musicians. Grant program is massively inadequate- good, small bands who need the money lose out to very established acts for whom the need is not as great.

Musicians leaving the city because they can't afford to work and/or live here... the growth of venues charging musicians to perform (or not compensating them) as opposed to paying musicians to perform. As a jazz musician, I feel there are not enough venues that support regular jazz shows. Too much money gets 'thrown' at producing mediocre events...(Luminato) Too many musicians are forced into doing terribly low paying bar gigs since owners are too cheap to invest in quality and have no enforcement to pay reasonable (union sanctioned) wages. If there was a place musicians could report unfair and intolerable conditions to keep venue owners from profiteering, that would probably be useful. There is very little industry here. Sure we have venues and a few record labels, but we need to do more to create a fully realized eco-system that allows for the industry to grow and thrive. This means investing in Canadian-based companies, labels and infrastructure - not just creating tax breaks for big US companies/labels who just send the money back down south of the boarder. Getting the message out in such a large population. Many venues have shifted philosophy/business models requiring artists to pay to perform, rather than paying the artists. The onus has shifted to the artists to bring their own audiences rather than venues playing a stronger curatorial role.

Poor attendance and pay at live events compared with Hamilton, London Etc There are many expensive festivals all crammed together in a 3 month period over the summer, and then basically nothing after that Being a musician is expensive yet musicians aren't paid nearly enough and always get ripped off by venues. There is also too much competition with so many attractions in the city that it is hard to get people to attend shows. There aren't enough incentives to play live shows.

Canadians are fickle and cheap, American's actually go out to see live music and in Europe most people stay out and are social people. Canadians like to stay in, it's cold here. incentivizing the public to go out and experience live music would be good. More public free music events would be good. music is the parks and in public spaces needs to be ramped up big time. not crappy street festivals when they are all the same with the same vendors that close major streets. Close side streets and in parks and other public spaces. why is there no High Park Music festival or series ??? the Toronto Music office should partner with local musicians and arts professionals to program these events. I was offer to play the great heart festival in Trinity belwoods. what a cool little festival but not support from the city and they offered no pay for an 8 piece a band. with no power. We could not accept it with no PA, the no money sucks but it;s the DYI vibe that we respect and would participate but it would be nice to see them supported by the city and providing a PA for each park. this would ensure the sound would be controlled. talented musicians who cannot make a living because venues don't pay. Need a better variety of venues of different sizes and for different genres. There is usually only one or 2 that fit the bill for a certain event, and if they have bad practices like charging bands to pay their SOCAN fees for example, it makes it tough to find a suitable venue.

Lack of paying venues for professional musicians. The lack of venues that pay well (or even something) , the lack of commitment of venues to provide professional space and equipment. Example there are few well maintained acoustic pianos in venues. Even our highest rated cultural institutions (ex.AGO) that used to think this was important have abandoned their prior commitment to provide a decent piano for their own events. (These to have 2 pianos)This is shameful coming from from an arts organization. More venues that pay musicians properly. here could be better venues that compensate artists fairly. There aren't many bars that pay bands properly. there is are a lack of venues that properly pay musicians which in turn affects the quality of the music. Another great challenge is that few bars lack proper equipment for live music venues. more venues that can offer live music and pay decently Too many venues do not pay a livable rate or require the musicians to pass the hat. Minimal funding through Toronto Arts Council for select few -- need more funding support for musicians and creative projects. More city funding for live musical performance in city festivals There is no central location where music thrives (compared to Blues Alley in Memphis for example) in Toronto. Without a central live music scene, venues are spread out geographically and there is no "vibrant music feel" in any Toronto locations. The challenges are in the cost and strictness of liquor and smoking laws and related insurance. Also the expenses of a 'sin tax' related environment, partly in getting home safely after TTC Subway closures especially for women and all ages events in winter. (pardon the run on)

Toronto feels "eventful" when it comes to music in the summer, in part due to NXNE, jazz fest, pam-am this year, etc. but it just goes dead in the winter. I feel that there needs to be more venues dedicated to live music in Toronto. It's great that there are so many options of festivals and venues to choose from, but it hits a saturation point and starts to have a negative effect because these events and venues start to loose money as the music consumer has infinitely more options on where to spend their money but still only has the same amount of money to spend. Also, there is nowhere central to check all of the events happening across the city at any given time. For tourists coming to the city, it can be an overwhelming task trying to find and access some of the shows/events/talents that Toronto is offering. Unless they know what the Horseshoe is, they don't know to look there for performance listings. There aren't enough venues, particularly those that pay musicians fairly. There are also very few venues with (functional) acoustic pianos. cost of rehearsal and performamce venues fair payment, quality of venues, cost of living Very few paying venues, low pay, most working musicians live in poverty or near poverty, and our union is useless. Rehearsal space access to venues for up and coming artists ... low pay and some health and safety issues Promotion of events that prioritizes venues that PAY the artists. Performance venues for amateurs are expensive 33

Not enough LIVE venues for musicians to play. Also, music needs to better funded in public school. More music teachers and instrument lending t Toronto / GTA is too large and dispersed. Toronto needs to create a Music Row which will attract producers, songwriters and performers and put them in close proximity to incubate the industry. A few streets / blocks with many inexpensive (free?) spaces for co-writing, incentives for producers to work in that physical area. A reason for songwriters, performers, producers, etc. to congregate and rub shoulders with each other and to create. Nashville is small enough to support a Music Row, Austin is small enough to concentrate talent. Toronto needs to work at it - create a place, accessible by subway, bicycles and automobiles that promotes song creation and performance. Bring Pat Pattison up from Berklee College, Boston (one of the top songwriting professors on the planet, he used to visit Toronto regularly until SAC's budget was cut) and subsidize his seminars (esp. for young songwriters), get him space at RCM. Bring up other songwriting greats (Jason Blume, etc) and make Toronto a destination for songwriting education. Lure TAXI to have their Road Rally in Toronto in the spring / early summer (TAXI runs a Road Rally in L.A. in November). The TAXI Road Rally attracts 2,000 songwriters for 3 days in November in a horrible concrete location (3 miles from the airport). 14 consecutive tracks for instruction, open mics. The music district needs to be on the subway line - musicians won’t slog through winter slush carrying their expensive instruments, or make multiple TTC transfers (bringing just a guitar on a street car or bus is already a problem). Make Toronto's Music District a Destination - right now, the talent is just too spread out and not centralized.

Incredibly Low pay for most club venues. Traffic. City officials need to promote Toronto as a music destination and continue to fund music/cultural festivals. Lack of venues who will pay for live music Expensive rent, difficulty in finding the right venues due to restrictions Lack of All ages venues, same artists keep getting same grants/funding, lack of affordable rehearsal spaces and difficult for musicians/artists to make a living with music full time or travel to the United States Venues are too expensive, and there is not enough funding for small ensembles and organizations! Also, rent is so high that musicians can't afford to live here. We must spend too much time working at other jobs and not our art. All professional musicians should have a guaranteed income.

The venues and programs need to pay a reasonable wage to musicians. - the amount of students that are graduating and paying full tuition to get a higher learning degree of experience at the schools are available to perform but have very few choices of venues to do so - the pay structure and support from the municipailty and from the the province - the lack of education in the stream of music at the elemetary school and high school level - the lack of open mindedness in programing at festivals and events to not include all types of musical styles, genres and diversity across the spectrum(i.e. also including non-popular styles) - the lack of an internationally celebrated artist infrastructure for all types of musical styles Decent venues are too spread out. When tourists come, there is no real "district" or hub. It would be neat to designate certain parts of town as live music centres and support the bars so that they can pay musicians a base to play there on top of what the bar pays. way too many artists and venues, scenes tend to be small and enclosed, unwillingness of people to pay for music Rising rents and cost of living will eventually force emerging and grassroots artists out of the city. If we want to keep artists and the industry here (rather than say, Hamilton), it's important to take a holistic look at how the City is managing things like rental rates. We definitely need more venues that pay the musicians fairly. Inclusion of artists outside mainstream access. Also I feel that is should be illegal for festivals like NXNE and CMW to demand payment from artists to play at their festivals for free. These festivals are also extremely exclusionary to many sects of the community and rarely include LGBTQ artists and focus mainly on cis male fronted acts. The diversity is lacking and beyond that, it's a kick in the teeth to artists to pay to play for a festival and then receive no compensation or barely any compensation for festivals that make hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue from sponsorships. They are not festivals for artists, they are festivals for industry. The lack of affordable (non church) concert venues, particularly in the west end of TO. The difficulty in obtaining funding for community music organizations. Lack of proper venues to showcase musicians, and the venues belief of "pay to play" mentality Price of rental spaces, high cost to perform at a TO venue Toronto is bursting with musical venues and events, which means there is lots of competition and many music venues seem to be struggling to attract a crowd. Too much selection isn't always good. Going out to see live music is also very expensive. Many of my friends are musicians and I try to attend as many shows as possible, but I'm 28 and work a part time job and can't afford to go out, no matter how much I want to. Even if I only drink tea, the TTC cost alone adds up with each show I go to. The cost of parking in some areas around the venues, especially The Sound Academy, and the tendency of certain taxi companies, most notably Beck, to either gouge patrons or refuse to transport them if their destination isn't far enough to obtain the level of profit that they want. Longer hours for subway service would also be helpful. The balance between free and paid (affordable) musical events.ie. Culture Days, Nuit Blanche and Free Concerts often allow people to attend musical events in lieu of paying for them. venues not willing to pay a reasonable amount for live entertainment, forcing musicians to take what is available. racism and sexism in the industry, not enough innovative spaces to put on shows, lack of all age venues, music lessons/instruments are expensive Low pay at venues booked by the City of Toronto. (How about AFM union scale across the board?) Funding. City produced events with Corporate support would help place Toronto on the map For many people the cost of admission to professional performances of music, opera and ballet/dance is a hardship. To take a family to a concert, etc. could be a huge expense. When I was young I had to save up for performances and make hard choices about what I could attend. Free will offerings at more 'casual' events can help. These give performers a chance to try new things and develop their skills. We should encourage public schools to invite performers or to budget for certain grades to attend professional music. TSO has 'almost open' rehearsals several times through the year. This would introduce a new audience to classical music. The Royal Conservatory and the UofT could advertise their free sessions more widely. Musicians need places to live/rehearse which are reasonably priced. Toronto is our capital city and that makes it expensive. Could older industrial buildings be re-purposed for musicians? Sound-proofing is vital but they would be part of an instant community.If I thought longer, no doubt I could envision a great deal more.

If Toronto worked closer with the local organicaly grown music industry, instead of catering to the needs of large international entertainment companies, there would be more diversity of events that showcase local talent. Our venue pool has also been shrinking drastically over the past few years due to increased downtown density, this has led to venue spread and no clear entertainment district. When people come downtown, you have to be 'in the know' to find the cool spots because there is no defined district with an 'acceptable use' and 'rental cost' level for the industry to focus its efforts. Its random bars/nightclubs that are pretending to be restaurants, here and there. Taxis are making lots of money. Weather affects outdoor festivals. Immigration costs to visiting bands to Canada. Lack of interest from general public. How big the city is makes it hard to keep up with all the variety in live music on offer. Magazines like Exclaim and Now keep people up to date, but with limited free time and money most people stick to their neighbourhoods, to go out or venues that they know, a circuit even in the city for bands would be great. Then you'd know if your band was playing downtown tonight, they'd be east, and west and north in the next few weeks. So you don't have to travel so far to see them. If the goal of promoting Toronto as a music “destination” is to attract tourist dollars by offering musical programming, it makes sense to invest in music programming that appeals to tourists who are likely to spend significant sums while in Toronto. I’m dismayed at how few classical music festivals and series are available to tourists outside of the downtown core neighbourhood where Roy Thomson Hall, the Four Seasons Centre and Koerner Hall are located. Walking about summer festivals, one has an impression that Toronto focuses on musical programming that consists of bar bands playing thunderingly amplified “music” to patrons who pay no more than the cost of a beer-tent beverage (if that) for the privilege of hearing the performance. 34

the city's cost of living, over-saturation of festivals during certain times of the year. Getting venues to value live music enough to pay decently. there is a lack of opportunity for young classical and jazz musicians to get their names/groups out into the public conciousness, due in large part to the significant cost of hall/venue rentals and then on top of that having to do all of the additional promotion There are very few venues in Toronto that consistently pay a livable wage, so as a result, the venues that professionals can play in and feel like they will earn enough to cover their expenses are very few (which is a big part of the variety of venues issue). Toronto's bylaw enforcement is consistently at war with its street performers because they always side with private interests over the needs of buskers. lack of venues willing to pay their live performers in some way Musicians aren't generally compensated properly when playing at live music venues. Therefore, we end up playing weddings and corporate events that pay a decent wage. It becomes harder for the average person to see Toronto's best at a live venue. Too many musicians working for little money. So many venues will "hire" act that work for next-to-nothing, and so the quality control, professionalism, and consistency of the music scene is all over the map. Ultimately, this degrades the overall value of the city as a music destination.

Increasing funding and support for artists in formal venues, the parks and the streets! The main two issues are the low standard pay for most venues as well as parking and load-in difficulty. In these regards we often don't feel supported by the city and the result is a wide range of the musician population in the city struggling to make ends meet. If a venue chooses to host live music there must be designated load-in areas for them so we can load in without the fear of getting a ticket or being towed. While I support Toronto's crack down on parking violations I think there needs to be a structure in place that makes this easier and less stressful for musicians so we can do our work properly. The current standard pay for live acts is between $100-150 per musician at most venues for 3 45min-1hr sets worth of music. Once we pay for parking ($10-20) and eat ($10-20) that amount takes a huge hit and seems unfair. There must be a way for musician's parking to either be covered by the venue or city. And the standard minimum pay per musican should be closer to $200 each. The quality that this city provides certainly warrants the amount and when venues are paying more they will expect a high quality, which we can provide, and prevent weekend bar bands from taking work from us.

Musicians and their industry seeking public money and feel entitled to it. Musicians being fairly comensated for their work and talent. Businesses using music in their business and getting away with not paying either licenses or adequate appearance fees or both. lack of guidelines and also lack of easy accessible funding. Oversaturation: many people complain they feel overwhelmed by all of the choices. accessing the music I like in a comfortabel and safe manner. My favourite music is opera and musical and I simply can't afford it. If I go to live free concerts, I don't feel safe and I am mobility challenges and have a yound child. I would like to sit down somehwere and take it in. I feel very limited to youtube. lack of coordination among interest groups, funders, administrtors Noise by-laws, funding and accessible resources Not enough financial support and interest from the city/corporations to fund the expense of living in Toronto and trying to have a career in the arts. It is DAUNTING. Fees associated with having foreign smaller bands cross the border. Overcoming the mindset and culture that you can't make a living in music unless you're riding grants or private investors. Cost of living is high and when people move to Toronto to build a career, they get wrecked just trying to make their monthly overhead. Lots of talent, near vertical learning curve.

How expensive it is to live and travel here. The high costs of tickets COST TO GET STARTED People often don't want to pay for smaller, less known bands. Cost of living, cost of doing business, over-saturation, the over-valued perception that Toronto is the music-hub of Canada. Our sinking dollar. Zoning. Nimby attitudes. The massive overhead A) restrictions (usually licensing/zoning) or B) costs of presenting music in an even remotely non-traditional space. The race to the bottom to avoid paying musicians for their services. regulatory issues, noise curfews, bylaws, international musician visa fees developing a true culture of appreciation of the arts, generally; matching funding levels of Montreal for example. Cost - it is expensive to hire musicians naturally the cost of accommodation relative to smaller and rural communities for visitors and residents Often there is a small lack of respect, if that is the right word, for performing musicians from business owners. Specifically I'm referring to a lack of knowledge on pay and the fact that musicians need to be fairly compensated for their work. Perhaps his relates more to private businesses and less to the city, but at the same time it is an ongoing issue to be asked to perform for very little money, or no money at all. the abundance of musicians and lack of any enforcement of 'standards of trade' (payment) the scene has become the wild west with too musicians desperate enough to play for free (or pay to play) and too many clubs willing to take advantage of their desperation funding, bylaws that restrict logistics of live music high rent, lack of funds, bookers and promoters who suck Cost Cost Cost of living for new, not yet established musicians and bands. Housing costs are pushing to places like Hamilton. We have to keep these people here. Cost of living in neighbourhoods where music figures prominently. Toronto is an expensive city, which makes it a tough place to travel to for anything Too expensive to live in the city.. Musicians cant make enough to stay Too costly to reside in the city, rehearse music, perform music 35

Lack of support from the city itself to help cultivate a community of musicians that are provided with enough funding to support their own lifestyles. The expenses and licensing challenges involved in putting on a show Toronto's lack of real support for home grown artist and making it appealing VS a gov't pushed thing that makes it then "Uncool" and young toronto citizens then don't want to participate or come to the show. MAKE IT COOL. Hire a YOUNG P.R person to help with roll out if you choose to support an artist or fund a project or promote a show.It's not just about the support BUT ALSO the appearance. You want people to support? MAKE IT COOL. Funding for musical initiatives, including tours for Toronto's musical companies high rents and the high cost of real estate are pricing out the musicians and artists here Although Toronto is a place for musicians to connect and play, it's economically hostile to actually nurturing that talent. Cost of living and low-wage, poor quality jobs make it hard for creative people to engage in creative work. A cost of living subsidy (or promotion of higher quality part time jobs) for musicians meeting some criteria (e.g. having won a competition) would go a long way to making it possible for talent to actually be expressed in a form that's commercially viable and yields returns for the city. Musicians in Toronto face particular challenges with rehearsal and living spaces. Cost of living in Toronto makes it difficult to work at music full-time The huge number of clubs unwilling to pay a decent wage let alone a guarantee for musicians. fundings for musicians I think it is important for the city to also help Toronto musicians in performing outside the city. Right now a big issue for local musicians is trying to bring their talent to the USA, and that is difficult, and often too expensive, under the current regulations of the CFM/AFM.

1) Lack of funding. 2) Lack of resources driving unhealthy protectionism & nepotism, the cost of real estate that is passed on to ticket holders and not providing MG's to bands Bylaws, fees, and bureaucracy that seems to contradict the city's desire to foster a strong local music scene It is expensive to make music and musicians are working class people; the city needs to do more to support the rehearsing and recording of Toronto's musicians. Without your help, we'll all just move to Montreal or Berlin. types of music are generally siloed/segregated, only certain types of music seem to be supported, city/industry's clinging to old models of music-making and its dissemination, funding (with accessible application processes) for musicians and smaller organizations to activate their ideas

The Toronto public's lack of desire to pay for music The cost of living in the city. Musicians and producers/engineers etc as well as the culture surrounding and supporting musicians can no longer afford to live here. Organic cross-pollination between disparate communities is hard to foster. Geographically, our fees for international artists are higher because of travel, which lessens the reach of interesting independent international artists and the ideas they bring. The key is fostering innovation, whereas right now the economics are too stacked in favour of big corporate players who conservatively stick to status quo practices instead of pushing for innovation. A richer community of mid-level independents may prove more fruitful. We need better funding and support for music education in schools and outside of schools. Passport worry; not getting into the country because of minor charges; the dollar; Continued government funding How spread out everything is compared to other music cities like Austin. The transit system is in many ways archaic and poorly designed for outsiders to figure out and use. Multiple-day passes being the worst offender as they start only on Mondays, so if you buy it on Thursday you pay the same price but only get 4 days. It makes it difficult to enjoy the spread-out diversity when there are basic accessibility issues in the city. Cost. Spending $100 to see a band you idolize as they've only come to a stadium is tough. Also, some genres don't have representation and not everyone has the skills to coordinate internal talent just to see them play. Too expensive and lack of public funding to overcome that expense. Cost of attendance Many people don't want to pay for music because we've created a culture where people get music for free online and now in bars. promotion costs expensive to play here Cost, nighttime public transportation, promotion We are a great music city with a plethora of talent, but the problem is getting word of this to the outside world. It is hard to build a reputation as a music city when so much of our talent feels the need to leave because they can't make money here or make advancements in their careers because there is not enough industry presence. It would be great to have not just all the great talent here, but a strong industry that will sustain that talent and keep them here. All the other great music cities (Nashville, LA, NYC, etc.) have this industry presence.

Because everything is privately funded and corporate sponsored, it makes it difficult for young musicians to break out into the Toronto scene. We often have to leave the city in order to build reputation in order to return, and I feel that isn't right! Toronto, in many cases, is among the strongest arts destinations in North American, if you are an established professional. Young artist support is severely lacking. Government funding and promotion of various kinds of performing arts, such as opera, should be increased. Being able to get your foot in the door, getting gigs that pay relatively okay money. Lack of parking to be honest. There are also a number of promoters active in the city who take advantage of younger musicians, refusing to compensate them for their work, and instead claiming all of the profits of a given show as their own. (I'm not sure if they're still active in the city but Supernova was a big culprit of this. They would over book shows packed with different bands, forced the bands to sell overpriced ticjets, chose the set times based on ticket sales of each band (which would lead to a lot of tension between bands fighting over timeslots, and the bands would never see any of the money by the end of it) The fact that people aren't willing to go out and support live music or pay for it period. cost of rehearsal and performing space Musicians making enough money to survive. Opportunities for young or new musicians to meet others like them and have resources to actually record and create a record, studio are expensive especially for students The price. It always seems to be so expensive. Or tickets sell out too quickly (it is a big city, after all). Pay Most musicians are relatively poor and Toronto's cost of living in the most relevant areas for them to be is very high. 36

Cost and avaliblility of resources High cost of living Cost, space finding the people who want to pay for the music; allowing the musicians to live off of making music. The cost of living while working in Toronto. Bars pay horrible Paying fairly funding and good promoters. inadequate funding to attract high calibre artists cosistently (as was done during Panam Games) the cost, whether local or to travel here, can be prohibitive Pay to play obstacle Getting to shows is impossible without a vehicle, but vehicles are prohibitively expensive to most musicians in this city because of the cost of living. Affordability. Either the concerts themselves are too expensive, or the musicians are being paid so poorly or performing for free. Sometimes both. NO ONE PAYS. GET VENSUS TO PAY US MUSICIANS A LIVING WAGE. recording engineers and the cost to record... loosing talent to the USA High cost of living, as well as high cost of musical services/space/equipment. ((Dedicated musicians must follow the 'starving artist's' path in this city Lack of money bands get paid for there art Expensive for musicians to thrive/ live here Bars have a tendency to hire bands who are cheaper instead of better. Shows where 12 bands play and have to sell 20 tickets each in order to play are common. Each band gets 30 min set and no money despite bringing people. Also if you want a bar to sign a contract guaranteeing payment and that they wont decide the day of not to have music and not pay you the bar will just get a different band. Cheaper bands who dont want contracts are the ones who work. there's no middle class; a few 1%s earning good money and most others with second jobs. living with parents or working spouses transit is too expensive for visitors Cost of living in Toronto, especially housing, makes working on music financially unfeasible Lack of payment for musicians and musicians encouraged to do free shows for publicity, when they need to (get paid to ) eat. No money to support musical endeavours. Little education to continue musical growth. A huge challenge sometimes is getting people out to shows and getting people to support musicians. I feel that there could be a more supportive atmosphere in Toronto's music scene. The cost of pursuing music professionally means musicians need to either stay on tour to survive or look for supplementary work, which takes away time from actually making music in toronto Financial support for musicians, theft protection of their equipment. It is rare the authorities will even take part in trying to track down stolen gear, and one theft can bankrupt an entire group of musicians in what it would cost to replace the stolen equipment. Our amazing talent has to leave the city and play in the suburbs or out of town to earn a living wage, so if the talent goes to those cities, those people won't visit Toronto. Why would they? They pay more to bring the talent to them and avoid the trip and other expenses associated with visiting Toronto.

Cost Toronto is an expensive city for both musicians and music fans To be able to pay the musicians, singers Lack of commitment to paying musicians grant funding for recording, touring etc. there is still money in live gigging ONCE you are established. Getting 'established' is the tough part. mainly requires getting a good couple of songs recorded well, which is expensive. Cost of concert tickets ridiculous postering laws, 2am last call, expensive rent for musicians who are usually broke, HORRIBLE MUSIC PRESS, condo culture wiping out underground musician culture, NO GOOD MUSIC WRITERS IN PRESS This isn't a problem that is unique to Toronto, but the lack of creativity in our gov music funding agendas is horrible. OMF has one of 3 or 4 boxes they will provide funding for. It doesn't matter how good of an idea you have, how much it would help the music scene in this city, or how economical it would be, if it doesn't fall under one of the "studio recording, music video, tour support" boxes everyones hands are tied. In a sector that is focused around creativity, there in an astonishing lack of creativity in the process. Non-musicians have been educated to not support live music, and pay very little for music themselves compared to previous generations Bands making it across the border. The Canadian dollar. Cost of living for musicians as they develop their talent. The cost of attending live performances The idea that some promoters have of barely paying smaller musicians enough to make it worth while The crowd expects to watch performances for free. I watch countless people walk away from a show with a $10 entrance fee Poor pay for performing artists Cost of attending live performances Because rehearsal spaces are so expensive they go to Montreal and then they get all the credit for having more successful musicians The amount of money musicians make is a * joke. Costs of living and working in the city People don't want to pay too much cover to see 3-4 bands in a night. Even $10 is too steep for some. We need to raise the expectation that artists deserve to charge more for cover because the amount of time and effort being put into theses shows is way beyond $100 per band. Divide that through 3-5 band members and it's a slap in the face. 37

That musicians have it very hard to make a living in this city, where everything is very expensive and they rarely get fair compensation for their work. As logical as it sounds, people seem to forget that musicians are the base that builds any kind of music scene, destination or industry and if they are not fairly compensated then everything falls apart. the weather and the cost of transportaion/ accommodation Accessibility to services that aid a musician in producing their products and rehearsing. Most production is out of pocket. When it comes to vinyl, this is costly due to the lack of lattes. Provide a public lathe, generate more Toronto music. It's simple. I feel as though there is more of an emphasis placed on bringing in large acts as opposed to supporting and creating opportunities for local artists. Bar owners not paying a fair wage like they do their other "employees" (ie bartenders, cooks, wait staff) but instead make the artist have to pass a hat or charge a cover which is harmful to the new artist trying to make a living and develop a fan base. Bar owners/clubs should be building their business' reputation as a place where there's always great live music and then people will naturally flock their to hear whoever is playing and then the cover charge/pass the hat might make sense...but not every bar is like the * where that works... but plenty try to employ the same shamefull cheap tactics... thats a big challenge facing musicians wanting to survive the toronto music industry. the cost of living in toronto paying musicians, so that more people will be attracted to work as musicians here It really isnt encouraged here. It's more profitable in terms of buzz and money for a band to go to the states and perform. Cost of living The cost to perform in the city. Its very expensive. THE COST OF LIVING. for musicians in the city. who are unable to find rehearsal spaces, or even apartments for that matter. How are we expected to be able to make a career being musicians if we can't even afford to live. The expenses of travel and some ticket sales. there are many more talented musicians than there is work. As a result, many unbelievably talented musicians are forced to work minimum-wage jobs that do not make use of their expertise in order to pay rent/bills/etc. The degree of difficulty in allowing Canadian bands to tour in the U.S. (which would promote the Canadian music presence internationally) and how expensive it is for musicians to live in Toronto the cost - there should be more mid-level shows (tickets 15-20) instead of big ticket arena shows. Audiences. Many don't want to go out to see shows. I feel that is from a lack of music education. Cost of rent/cost of living High cost of living, intolerant "Toronto the Good" attitude toward music culture (esp. surrounding noise) lack of core funding, lack of public and government understanding and general support. The quality of gigs, there are too many people, most with little musical talent. So gigs that actually pay real money are few and far between. Funding and Expressed importance Showgoers apathy - people pick and choose what they go to because going to shows because it can be expensive Just not enough money for the work put in There is too much emphasis on support of ethnic groups at the cost of support for our general Canadian culture. Lets invest in things we can all enjoy as a nation, rather than our ethnicities. Ability to actually get gigs with a guaranteed pay. Lack of funding for artist projects however this is improving. Musicians aren't valued here and are paid such awful wages and receive such awful funding that it makes it impossible for them to survive. The cost Garnering public excitement. The best music destinations have people practically bouncing off the walls when enjoying a live show. If Toronto more closely identified as a music destination, we could truly feel pride and excitement at hosting musicians, both local and otherwise. the cost of living in toronto doesnt match with what any musician makes. i had tomleave toronto because i couldnt afford to live there and still be a ,usician Musicians can't survive. Nobody wants to pay them. Precarious, expensive living and low pay for musicians perhaps the cost, expenses, the value of our canadian dollar? modern economics. People just don't expect to have to pay for music anymore. Collaborative and inclusive environment in addition to funding are huge issues - there is not enough support from the City or funding institutions for individual artists, and programs that exist, dictate heavily what projects musicians/artists can and cannot do. The music scene is difficult to break into, I am a classical musician with extensive post secondary education both within Canada and the US, I have traveled to perform across the world and have found it still difficult to perform and make a career in Toronto after over 4 years of living here.

The cost of living for up and coming musicians Toronto is a money making city,therefore most people don't care about arts,and the ones that do,most of them want it for free the lack of funding International respect, notoriety, initiative/programs, and funding. The culture of pay to play and the anti-union atmosphere High cost of living throughout Toronto makes it difficult to attract musicians. low-paying club dates clubs refusing to pay musicians good wages; people who move into music areas because they love the music then when they move in they call the police and make noise complaints. People have less time and less money to devote to attending concerts. Musicians are in more of a need of subsidies now than in the past. Sustainability in the music community...having consistent funding from year to year from all levels of government. It would also help if there were more incentives for the private sector to contribute to the arts community. Paying the musicians living wages. 38

The vagaries of public and private funding from year to year. Payment is low so often musicians have to play outside of the city Cost of living for artists in Toronto is very difficult for artists, save the few who belong to the "flagship" organizations (Opera, symphony), or those low-level artists who do not rely on arts money for their living. Lack of adequate provincial and federal funding for classical music. Professional pay for professional players. Lack of proper transit and payment for musicians It is hard to get support and funding for groups that are starting out. The pay has been reduced below most professional standards to live on. The number of presenters who do not pay adequate compensation as per TMA contracts Musicians are payed less and less for their work. It is less of a career than ever, and has been on the decline for decades. Accessibility to music. Most olaces charge a heavy fee not everyone can afford. Lack of funding Getting the same kind of financial support that is enjoyed by other sectors of the economy that use government loans and grants to make themselves profitable. Artists use financial support to survive. That means that they put that money back into the local economy the challenge will be to pay for music Government funding in the form of grants. The greatest challenge is that it costs money to be part of the Union. Sure, union gigs pay great, but let's face it, most of our opportunities to make money are non Union. Therefore, there are hundreds of people undercutting. Those are the same people who make a living doing what they call "a real job". While $50 cash is great for them on a Friday night, it's a terrible standard for people to expect a working professional to be able to live on. There's always someone who will do it for less, and I can't see a clear cut solution to this problem.

The pay structure in clubs makes it difficult to live in the city. I feel Toronto is already quite musical, but compensation has not kept up with the times. I also feel that quality instrumental programmes in our schools are essential, and that many schools are actively phasing them out, which is a shame. Instrumental programmes should be mandatory.

Torontos greatst challenge is to make music and live performance a part of the cultural thinking to the extent tht people would be willing to pay the appropriate fee to hear any number of styles of music Pay to play promoters 1. The quality of our public and corporat supported programs. 2. Supporting and promoting local artists so they don't feel they need to go somewhere else. There's not enough money going to artists and so it's hard for artists to go out and see shows to support other artists. The cost of music overall seems to be too high for audiences Pay It needs to be less prohibitively expensive for musicians to travel to and from the USA. For a musician - high cost of living, low pay, generally dismissive white-collar culture. Often great music in Toronto is only consumed by others who make it - there needs to be a cultural shift where the regular downtown Toronto white-collar employee would more regularly go out and engage with the artistic community. A big challenge is transit - the TTC stops running too early. Extending by even an hour would bolster activity - music culture is a *nightlife*. Music has declined because of drinking and diviving, no smoking in the clubs, expense and lack of parking,elimination or restrictive tax breaks for companies to hire entertainers. the cost of living; the costs associated with practicing and producing music. Funding or sponsors The ability for musicians to make a living and survive in such an expensive city. Many concerts are too expensive. Many cutting edge groups are under-funded so cannot perform often. Cost: Personally, I'd rather spend my scarce resources on performing than listening to others, although I do enjoy the (free/donation) Music Garden entries. I find it challenging to make a full time living in Toronto as a musician because of how expensive it is to live here. I also am challenged by how often I am asked to provide my services for free or at a discount. Even as a member of the AFM, I am often asked to do things for free as a musician. I have studied diligently, gone to school, won scholarships, performed at the Grand Ole Opry, the Olympics, the ACC, practiced for thousands of hours and have performed with such notable legends as Barbra Streisand and yet it is still very hard for musicians like me to gain the respect of the general public (and especially financially) that one would assume would be given to someone who had spent equal the amount of hours to obtain such highly specific skills. It is very challenging and it would be wonderful if Toronto was able to celebrate musicians the way other great cities (like Nashville) do. Fair, living wages for all is the first challenge. Equal pay for the work put in. Cost for American bands to perform in Canada The ability for the majority of musicians (who are predominantly low income supporting a high-cost activity/lifestyle) to live well within the city. This is why I think using the TPL as an institution that provides an alternative to conventionally high-cost requirements such as rehearsal/recording space would be a valuable contribution to the music industry. lack of funding Too expensive for both practitioners and fans to visit or live. Like I said before... It's a very expensive place to exist period! So we need to have incentives and proper compensation put in place. The dollar Pride. It feels like few people are proud of Toronto's music scene. It's important, and achangeable. lack of paying engagements The biggest challenge is getting a paid gig. The type of payment that can support a career in music. Not just a tank of gas and a couple beers. 39

Support for burgeoning organizations could be stronger, so that they can move past the initial burst of underpaid work that gets them off the ground. Enthusiasm can get you started, but money and good training keeps organizations alive. While Toronto is certainly the centre of the industry, there is a massive consolidation of power due to the FACTOR program being chaired by the labels who receive the funding. This has lead to a rather homogenous group of artists taking advantage of the entire industry and the government programs that support it. It would be great for the City to actively promote more artists from a great plurality of genres to participate. Broad minded listeners, or even listeners with discerning taste. Again, I think this is a bigger cultural problem that is the problem of all people and isn't just about money for gigs or album sales. Funding from the City to support the music industru taxes bands have to pay to play here. The amount of beurocratic red tape in bringing artists here, the availability for funding and all the points listed above too. cost of living in Toronto Expensive for artists to come up to Canada, though not a strictly Toronto problem. promotion and fees Cost of tickets It's an expensive place to visit Room and board costs for permanent and visiting musicians and the amount of fairly compensated gigs. The culture of having to pay to play or clubs offering only pwyc renumeration for musicians. the cost of shows continues to increase. second, it's becoming impossible to get tickets to big-name shows b/c tickets to go press and "important" people first. Lack of funding for school programs, overpriced concert tickets, many groups are snubbed because general public does not "like" a kind of music. An apprecaiotn by governments at all levels to support ticket purchases i.e the elimination of fees for tickets when purchased be any other means than in person.ets people do not see the value of music, or think it costs too much Finding a paying audience. People expect music to be free and that is wrong. Costs (tickets, parking, etc) Mostly the cost. Cost lack of support. not enough bums in seats. I can only assume because the audience thinks it costs too much. Aborignal muscians and musical genres could be woven more into the fabric of our society. Not just special occasions. Musicals are very expensive, west end has more than the east , cultural music could be even more visible Low density of minimum scale jobs, compared with high cost of living Getting out of country artists here seems too difficult and expensive...like a deterrent. If there could be some programs in place to help bring other world talent here to work WITH our local talent, everyone wins. The competition for the entertainment dollar. Toronto needs an organized and systematic approach to redeveloping the music culture. In large part music operated totally independently without any city support. There are not enough places to perform that offer equitable compensation. It makes it difficult to make music a career for most; people need to pay bills. Quality music/art takes time and energy. lack of low-cost rehearsal spaces; red tape for public performances in parks and on the streets affordability - tickets are very expensive for most live concerts for the average family. Clubs not willing to provide decent pay to artists. Creativity is by far our greatest challenge. Works of art take a great deal of time and thought, but a just little bit of money. Most musicians are forced to work full-time, low paying jobs to sustain themselves. If we had more time to worry less about money and more about our art Toronto would be a much more creative place. The level of entertainment offered (bar owners preferring amateur basement bands that will pay to play) Money not enough places to play and not enough places pay well enough In my experience, people are not willing to pay a cover at the door for live music even if they are going to spend more than that on drinks. Toronto doesn't have the funding to be the music powerhouse it has the potential to become I think one of the biggest challenges is getting people to go out to shows. I think one issue is admission. Bands generally have to make their money at the door, which means people have to generally pay an average of $20 just to get in. Then they need to pay for drinks as well. Many times bars make good money because of the crowds bands bring in, but the band doesn't often see a return. Cheaper admission I would think would get more people out. Toronto's greatest challenge is educating the community on the quality of local talent - people will pay high ticket prices for international artists but are reluctantly to pay a small cover for local artists, simply because they are not familiar with the artist. Funding programs for diverse and contemporary genres of music; public performance laws/ stret performance and busking Financial pressure on both musicians and presenters Musicians are really paid properly for their service and struggle to support themselves without a full time job on the side. which also makes it hard to schedule practices, shows and to promote them properly. Affordability for artists to live and rent in the city To remember without musicians there isn't music. Musicians must be paid as a priority in order for anything music related to thrive! the way booking in clubs is cheaper for DJ then a band so owners lean toward what will bring in the most profit Lack of opportunities for informal, free musical performances outdoors The difficulty of making a living as an artist in Toronto Livability and affordability for musicans to live and work in Toronto. making it an affordable place to live for the talent that resides here. People's new perception that music should be free. Musicians need to get paid. 40

Ticket prices as well as the amount musicians get paid. financial support from corporate and government to ensure live music has its place, education to ensure future of excellence in musicians The affordability for people to appreciate the talents of musicians Fair and equal access to rehearsal and performance spaces for all artists, including low-income and disabled artists Creating an environment where those involved in music receive fair compensation for their talents would help create a healthy environment for them to be able to create full time, creating a stronger scene, upping the ante with the quality of what Toronto has to offer. unpaid labour, top heavy granting system, corporate rock Shrinking financial support across all government levels for the arts rehearsal space & affordable recording studios Musicians not being appropriately compensated for their work. Lack of affordable rehearsal space and affordable studio equipment rentals... affordable rehearsal and recording space Too much red tape, noise violations, fair compensation, dad bands Being able to afford living in Toronto as a musician. Fair compensation for quality musicians and the abundance of amateurs that will play for next to nothing for exploitive club owners. being paid to perform Affordability of hotels for out of town visitors Income inequality--musicians and many music fans are too poor--this means the music of the 1% is more heard--pass minimum income! Rent is nearly unaffordable Toronto musicians often can't afford rehearsal time, which compromises the quality of live performances. Make rehearsals affordable! Toronto is a great music destination, there's plenty of free music every night of the week from performers who have forged their craft in the fires of poverty. Musicians are not paid what they should be for their services, despite the demand for live music being higher than ever. "Bag Name Bars" replacing original live music programming with exclusively Top 40 cover bands; lack of fair compensation for live musicians. Musicians not being compensated enough financially No one gets paid enough to make a decent living Not enough compensation for musicians Getting Paid Compensation the low compensation performers get Ensuring that musicians ae failry compensated for their work. Getting artists paid a reasonable rate. There is no assistance for musicians financially or in guidance How difficult it is to be compensated as performing musician. Live music in this city could be 10 times better if musicians were paid fairly. You would also attract top acts from other cities. The amount of paid work for musicians so they can be self sustainable Not enough cheap or free concerts affordable space and by-passing beurocractic issues when it comes to permits Price of tickets Bands are underpaid at gigs. It is a Canada wide problem but the solution could start in Toronto. Compensating musician for their "art". Jazz musicians specifically dedicate their lives to their music and are rarely compensated appropriately for that dedication The amount musicians are paid - which in turn becomes the amount they are willing to work for. Weak union also. Affordable rehearsal spaces for musicians Musicians are not fairly compensated Compensation for musicians. affordable rehearsal spaces Ticket prices can be very high and unaffordable. Income for musicians Artists being paid Affordable rehearsal space Lack of big (non)local talent due to poor compensation financially consideration for musicians compensation for gigs ever-increasing rent prices. would like to see more gov't subsidized artist buildings. 41

fair compensation for perfoming Making sure our musical talent can be appreciated and compensated and not be forced to move to the US or Europe to be appreciated. Proper compensation, an ideology of what is correct and/or what is good. "Not indie-rock enough" is a common theme breaking into the scene, being discovered, making connections, joining the musicians union, finding affordable housing Ticket prices of some of the bigger attractions such as the TSO and opera Ticket prices to COC, TSO are pretty high KEEPING TICKET PRICES DOWN Musicians are not paid properly Prices for medium or high-profile artists who perform live in Toronto often create financial barriers for music fans. The lack of fair compensation. Musicians are often not fairly compensated for their work Not enough free concerts for citizens Compensating good musicians enough that they might actually be able to make a living at it! The ridiculously high prices for tickets to majority of shows Lack of financial support for musicians, lack of ability to move from hobby to job As indicated in the music strategy: rehearsal spaces, musical education and compensation for musicians ticket prices. Subsidies would allow access to more people. Affordability of renting space (to practice, to perform). Make music more affordable to enjoy and access Lack of compensation for musicians . It is virtually impossible to make a living as a musician in this city . That is going to effect the quality of the music I offered . Lack of affordable housing for musicians is also a huge problem . Some have given up and are moving to places like Hamilton

The lack of affordable housing/rehearsal space in the downtown core affordability, access, education of audiences Providing affordable accommodation (rent) and services to artists (musicians). It is difficult for musicians to survive in an economic center such as Toronto which has little to no financial support for musicians. They want free music the low standard of compensation for musicians ticket prices Lack of support from the restaurants and bars that still expect musicians to play for free. The lack of compensation Affordability A lack of middle-class music professionals who make their living off of performing and selling their original music. It is very hard for professional musicians to receive fair compensation for their work, compensation similar to what was standard when the musicians union was active in the 70s and 80s.

The problem of little compensation for the artists. Music industry remuneration in general. The ability for musicians and techs to make a decent living making music for a living the ability of musicians to make a living Toronto patrons undervalue independent acts. Music is only performed where alcohol is sold Musicians being able to get by Inability for bans/artists to profit from their work Music is considered a hobby or pastime rather than a valuable skill. Most trades have lost their artistry and the idea that someone should dedicate years of their life to learning the finest points of any art starting in childhood is considered antiquated in many fields. We do not have fine carvings as part of construction, great murals, handmade housewares for these reasons. Yes musicians continue to aspire to a level all but forgotten elsewhere. It must be valued as the art it is. $$$$$$ Tickets being sold through ticketmaster for large shows. Bought up by robots/scalpers Housing pricing, performance opportunities, and grant availability. The penalizing of new artists who dont have large followings via ticket sales Finding a job amount of support that Toronto get's from successful musicians. people don't help each other out. The lack of respect for musicians. People treat us like its a hobby. It's hard to make a living being a musician We need to get over the ridiculous notion that "talent" plays any pat in musical achievement. Excelling at music is the result of opportunity, stability, and hard work. If you want to develop Toronto as a music destination, you have to create an environment where musicians are not stressed by a shoestring existence and have the stability to work hard and master their craft. 42

No government support, tax breaks, or incentives Poverty The perceived value of musicians is very low. Viability of music as a career Current lack of significant monetary support. too much reliance on sponsorships. not enough grass roots. Difficulty for musicians to earn a living Ensuring employment for all musicians Not enough investment; artists aren't seen as economic drivers; need to change this and build business cases for economic investment in music and art spaces. The challenge is that there is no $$$ in music. It's hard to make a living - our best artists leave for Nashville and LA. The ability of Toronto musicians to make a living at what they do. Being able to provide professional artists with professional gigs. musicians to do not know how to value themselves and in turn generate audiences who do not value them. 43

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Keyword Searches: regulat*, by-law*, law*, politic*, zoning, policy, policies, liquor, closing time, neighbour*, nimby, condo*, bureaucra*, red tape, last call

Rent costs closing music venue, having music venues be a welcomed part of a neighbourhood, It's very hard to find a decent , modestly sized venue to put on a show in the downtown/central west area. Many rock bands can't fill up places like horseshoe or lees palace, and ultimately we are stuck with very few choices. Silver dollar, smiling Buddha , the garrison to name a few. But as gentrification wears down these established areas, the venues keep getting pushed further to the outskirts of the downtown sector. And even as places open up (example the Mercury and SHIBIGBs on Geary lane) , they are shut down because of residential stipulations. I understand there needs to be a balance between venues and the residential area, but that situation is a perfect example of stark black and white policies that keep our city from having a variety of venues- as to location and size. The more venues we have, the more dedicated they can each become to certain facets of the music scene. The product of that would be amazing, a place where you could always go and know the type of music you would be finding. It would be a training ground for many toronto bands, and the community that would be born out of niche venues would undoubtedly excel the growth the scene, and produce bands that would have an influence farther than toronto. Bars need to take their percentages - indie bands need to pay to play. Bylaws make it difficult to busk, to have pop up events, and to have multidisciplinary events that also include art, movies, car shows etc. I feel like the city is against music that goes into the night and try their best to shut down late night music events. there is also too much NIMBY mind set that go against venues that are building culture because people in condominums complain about the vibrant city they moved in to.

While I don't have specific examples, I feel that there are bylaws (such as for noise) that hamper the flexibility of music events from happening in Toronto I feel that the city of Toronto needs to protect it's live music venues that act as character and landmarks from being sold to condo development and the like, by giving the owners special dispensation and tax breaks, as not to be temped by big money to give them up (think The El Mocambo). We need to protect them in a similar way as we do Heritage sites. 1. Bylaws that make it incredibly difficult to advertise shows. 2. Lack of All-Ages venues and/or the cost of booking an all-ages show. 3. Centralized "scenes", trying to do a show outside of the Queen W. area can be difficult. 4. Noise violation bylaws - venues have to be SO careful about noise, even if the neighbours that are complaining built after the venue was established. Music education. The government and school boards provincially are cutting funding to amazing schools, and making it impossible for small programs to continue, even if they are strong. I came from a program that was thriving as a high school, but since I left, regulations became harder to manage for staff to maintain small class sizes and has totally distroyed the ability to have cultured and well executed music programs. This small classroom to larger classroom demand has also effected the creative arts and sports programs at many high schools. This is a disgrace to Canadians who say they want to be cultured. If more funding in the GTA was re-alocated to extra curriculars instead of board of education scoundrels we would have a more vibrant music and sports community in skill and understanding.

Venues do not pay musicians enough to make a living. The pay is the same, or less than it was in the 70s-80s. Is there any by-laws that could be written to make sure musicians get paid fairly? The Rex is a place that at least let's you collect a door fee and 20% of the Bar. Could something like that be enforced? Plus a minimum? The challenges are in the cost and strictness of liquor and smoking laws and related insurance. Also the expenses of a 'sin tax' related environment, partly in getting home safely after TTC Subway closures especially for women and all ages events in winter. (pardon the run on)

How big the city is makes it hard to keep up with all the variety in live music on offer. Magazines like Exclaim and Now keep people up to date, but with limited free time and money most people stick to their neighbourhoods, to go out or venues that they know, a circuit even in the city for bands would be great. Then you'd know if your band was playing downtown tonight, they'd be east, and west and north in the next few weeks. So you don't have to travel so far to see them. If the goal of promoting Toronto as a music “destination” is to attract tourist dollars by offering musical programming, it makes sense to invest in music programming that appeals to tourists who are likely to spend significant sums while in Toronto. I’m dismayed at how few classical music festivals and series are available to tourists outside of the downtown core neighbourhood where Roy Thomson Hall, the Four Seasons Centre and Koerner Hall are located. Walking about summer festivals, one has an impression that Toronto focuses on musical programming that consists of bar bands playing thunderingly amplified “music” to patrons who pay no more than the cost of a beer-tent beverage (if that) for the privilege of hearing the performance. There are very few venues in Toronto that consistently pay a livable wage, so as a result, the venues that professionals can play in and feel like they will earn enough to cover their expenses are very few (which is a big part of the variety of venues issue). Toronto's bylaw enforcement is consistently at war with its street performers because they always side with private interests over the needs of buskers. Noise by-laws, funding and accessible resources Our sinking dollar. Zoning. Nimby attitudes. The massive overhead A) restrictions (usually licensing/zoning) or B) costs of presenting music in an even remotely non-traditional space. regulatory issues, noise curfews, bylaws, international musician visa fees funding, bylaws that restrict logistics of live music 44

Cost of living in neighbourhoods where music figures prominently. I think it is important for the city to also help Toronto musicians in performing outside the city. Right now a big issue for local musicians is trying to bring their talent to the USA, and that is difficult, and often too expensive, under the current regulations of the CFM/AFM.

Bylaws, fees, and bureaucracy that seems to contradict the city's desire to foster a strong local music scene ridiculous postering laws, 2am last call, expensive rent for musicians who are usually broke, HORRIBLE MUSIC PRESS, condo culture wiping out underground musician culture, NO GOOD MUSIC WRITERS IN PRESS Funding programs for diverse and contemporary genres of music; public performance laws/ stret performance and busking As a musician, a lot of the venues are dark/dank out of date. The sound engineers aren't really sound engineers in some places. They could be described as "hacks". The stage equipment (i.e. mic's/amps/drums/cables/lighting) is out of date. Lack of advertising of the venue which relates to the amount at times that artists get paid. They "get a cut of the door sales" which is extremely unfair as the venue profits from the sale of alcohol/door cover (regulation required). If this topic is up for discussion, the city should require venues to prove that they meet the minimum requirements of a "stage" to allow the sale(s) of tickets for performance. The audio systems should meet the requirements of the venue and should be vetted out to a third party service. Just like having a pass for health and safety on city restaurants, there should be a pass requirement for a stage. As a musician there is no regulation. If my band books a show at a venue and they have falsely advertised the "backline" (stage equipment) and I show up, the sound of our performance will be affected. This also relates to who is in the audiences, bloggers, record affiliates, media. I think just like everything else in the city, if you want to be a music destination, set the precedent that your venues are up to the gold standard/ FIRST: over regulation. No difference to City between noncommercial art space and sports bar - unacceptable. Then, a couple of noise complaints can kill a space or bar. AND, secondly. Lack of communication, cohesion between communities. market competition, inflexibility of sound bylaws, city policies I would like to see more support for resources that promote live music such as *. I would also like to see fewer obstacles for live music venues in neighbourhoods outside of the downtown core. Bylaws, condo development and NIMBYisms that are threatening the health of Toronto's music venues old and new There's a lot of regulation that makes it difficult for venue owners and events that prevent them from being lucrative, this often filters down to artists. I think many of our by-laws prevent us from hosting a full-scale SXSW-style music festival. By-laws, making it difficult to hold outdoor events in public spaces we need to revamp our bylaws to make them more friendly to music for example special permits that allow tour vehicles to not be ticketed durng load in or load out times. Our street poserting bylaws make it more difficult to adertverise shows. We havea wealth of talent and venues let's tell the world about them and include a musical component in our trade mission! bureaucracy with respect to permits, zoning, NIMBY-ism about allowing live performance and events regulations surrounding licensing and permits for festivals and site specific events Bylaws that make it difficult staging events during festivals such as NXNE and CMW Stiff noise bylaws and liquor laws (no drinking in parks, etc.). Makes it hard to offer "pop up" music venues. Issues at the border for international/US acts, no central music area/venues are widely dispersed, early bar closing times, It's difficult to stand out sometimes; noise curfews/regulations make it difficult for venues Regulations that limit the nature and scope of certain musical events we're losing venues to condos. Working on existing zoning regulations/by-laws to ensure that new venues are able to open and operate rent for venues, challenges for the venues being able to stay open because of rent and other red-tape regulations - would be great if there were more incentives for companies to sponsor music events in the city. I find a huge deterrent for music destination is Toronto's/Ontario's drinking laws. It really messes up the flow of music festivals, creates line ups and is overall a huge deterrent for myself and concert goers due to odd barriers that come as a response to paternalistic drinking policies.

Toronto needs more mid-sized venues to accommodate both local and touring artists; Diversity of musical styles and cultures in Toronto while it is abundant it is also segregated; Toronto needs to make it easier for the start ups, and grassroots community groups to apply and receive the neccessary permanent licenses they require to make art, run a small business, and engage the community, including building use permits and liquor licenses neighbour complaints about noise levels. It is very very easy for a live venue to be brought to its knees by a single disgruntled complainer--neverminding that someone has moved near (or often above) a bar knowing ahead of time that this was a live music venue. The city responds to these complaints often quite on the side of the complainer, and I have now seen multiple great community-enhancing music places/bars become stale music-less places (or music is forced into odd times in an effort to accomodate the complainer) and the overall neighborhood has lost in one swoop a chunk of its vibrancy, a part of what might have made it great prior. Lack of venues, early closing times, unfair enforcements by the police, Zoning laws for new venues. Bi-Laws or permits. providing easier access to spaces to play for toronto musicians. also affordable spaces for bands and promoters booking event, especially shows of a smaller scale. most of the spaces for these kinds of events are ristricted by bylaws mostly regarding noise Over regulation of music venues/ alternative spaces by zoning/bylaw/agco Over regulation and red tape of live music venues, both inside and out The last call is too early, too many clubs and venues becoming condos like most things in toronto, any public music event is mired in way too much bureaucracy. i think relaxing liquor laws in public parks that host events would make them more desirable for many to attend. The lack of mid sized venues, the tendency for Toronto's bureaucracy to vilify electronic music which is one of the musical genres that defines Toronto; the early bar hours; too many people who complain about noise and no city strategy that supports venues to make that noise (i.e. 100 people enjoying themselves at 3 in the morning should not be overridden by one grumpy person who would rather sleep and likes to complain) residents associations wanting the valuation of owning property in a destination neighbourhood but being deeply hostile to live music venues and nightclubs. Extremely restrictive event and alcohol bylaws Our restrictive liquor laws and the consequent early closing of our bars, clubs, and venues. Scarcity of mid-sized venues, noise complaints and NIMBYism, outdated venue capacity and liquor laws. Rapidly increasing rent, condo developments are threatening the few quality music venues this has. New residential neighbours who knowingly move next to a popular music venue and proceed to file noise complaints against the venue are a huge threat. New venues in less conventional spaces are often shut down due to rigid and illogical 45

Restrictive liquor licensing and too-strict requirements for events (i.e mandatory paid-duty officers) antiquated zoning and venue license laws that make it very difficult for venues to operate. The city is always saying it wants to be like Austin, but not reckoning with the fact that Austin has very different laws around venue capacity and alcohol. The city dhould be looking into this more.

Historic venues closing because of restrictions placed on them by neighbours There are not enough venues for mid-sized to large music shows. Noise by-laws are also inhibiting these venues (e.g. the Danforth Music Hall is not allowed to have music past 11 pm). Finding venues, the hoops promoters have to go through in securing venues, the NIMBY affect of people that move into the city but don't want want culture. lack of proper venues that do not clash with Nimby'ism I think that liquor laws should be changed in order to have venues to have the option to serve past 2am. Also there needs to be a liberalization of liquor laws in public spaces to allow for concerts to occur. A lack of easily accessible events, similar to Panamania. It would be great for Toronto to create a music series similar to Summerstage in New York. Also, there are way too many great venues that are pushed aside for development like condos. the bylaws surrounding the music industry that tend to hamper venues from opening or functioning at full capacity Red tape and bureaucracy. Loosen the restrictions on alternative spaces to be used as venues. Condos crushing our venues and desperate lack of all-ages venues. Also, our 2 AM last call is wildly out of pace with other world class destinations. Music venues are plentiful, but almost all are struggling. I have worked in venues that were repeatedly charged with sound violations. There seemed to be no standing for a long-time venue against a singular neighbour making complaints. The venues need to be regulated. By Laws affecting music venues (from Sound Limitations to Parking etc.) Noise by-laws for local venues. Lack of small venues, overzealous regulators, red tape s We keep allowing historic venues to be torn down and redeveloped for condos, and bury potential new venue owners in red tape when they try to build or open one. As mentioned above, we have thousands of amazing and varied musicians. We have some famous venues and a rich history. Bylaws and pandering politicians are the problem. I'll use the TURF Festival at Fort York as an example. You can't hear the music when the Go train goes by. The Gardiner is overhead. Condos shadow the place. And yet, politicians try to shut it down, condo dwellers complain of noise and bylaw enforcement shuts things down early. Musicians and fans are treated like crap in this town. What we really need are a couple of central music strips where clubs dedicated to live music line the streets. I have often felt that Victoria St. running south from Yonge-Dundas Square to Massey Hall would be excellent for this. There are theatres already. Back fill a couple of parking lots with clubs, reno other buildings and make it like Broadway in Nashville. You could have 2 or 3 hubs that will become destinations for tourists and local fans alike. Last call and noise laws restrict ability to plan events and maximize cash flow from said events Laws that make street festivals & public performances difficult. Noise by-laws and other such legal impairments hampering venues close to residential areas. Toronto's by-laws limiting the amount of venues able to operate Entitled condo owners or residents that move into music areas and then complain when they hear a bit of noise on the weekend. The nature of sound complaints need to change as many venues have had to shut down or change format away from music because of one person complaining. I think it is almost funny as though they are lonely and just mad that nobody invited them out for some fun. We won't ever be say Austin but we need to make the laws and permits easier to get for events Noise by laws preventing more stores from hiring musicians. Lack of advertisement opportunities for concerts. Perhaps adding more community billboards or allowing concerts to poster on phone polls again might help. Too much red tape and hoops to jump for music venues and bars in terms of licensing, noise complaints, zoning etc. We need more venues... Not more condos many venues closing due to condo development overbearing bureaucracy that makes it hard to throw shows (MANSION's struggles with venues, Great Heart fest almost being kicked out of Trinity-Bellwoods), last call being so early, 2 clashing annual music conferences that would do the city more good if they merged (CMW + NXNE),

Restrictions on venues due to city bylaws. draconian laws that prevent patrons, from smoking within meters of the venue... as well as too many liquor licences spreading the potential audience too thin by-laws that limit venue's full potential (eg. staying open later, expansion, etc) We could really use better and bigger music festivals to attract more outsiders, the citys curfew law could also be worked on Toronto needs to STOP closing venues in favour of condos and redevelopments. Noise bylaws and ocupancy capicity of venues really make it tough for venues to survive. We need better zoning and places like geary lane getting shut down makes no sense to me. Things are diverse to the point that the same venue will have a metal concert and then a folk show the next night. Everything becomes the worst restaurant you've ever been to. Every great music city has venues specific to genres, and this is up to the booking agents to filter through. The other challenge is the weakness of the educational system, and while it is not up to the system to actually teach, the information does exist and should be made more accessible. The final problem that I see is the noise by-laws. Venues are being bullied into having no noise emit from their doors. If the same laws existed in NYC or New Orleans, we would not have the culture that they have gifted to the world. The fact that the by-law states that it cannot even be audible for fines upwards of (paraphrasing) about $30,000 is ludicrous. These complaints can come from people getting kicked out of a bar for being a disturbance or a racist neighbour. These laws need to be expected to be further justified before fines take place. Another issue is condos and apartments above LIVE MUSIC VENUES. This seems to be just bad city planning. Of course there will be complaints that the best R&B event in Canada has to stop at 11:30pm instead of 2am now that they have moved to College Street where there are apartments upstairs from King Street that is slowly being knocked down for more condos.

The restrictions place on venues in certain locations; such as zoning and licences. Limited parking near venues where bands can unload gear, also general admission parking. The laws making it difficult for smaller international musicians to enter Canada Some of the best venues in this city have been torn down! The Kool Haus was a great venue and it was an icon for so many people. And just another cookie-cutter condo replaced it. Archaic liquor laws and difficulty getting public permits for festivals by law restrictions hurting small local venues 46

The threat to small and medium sized venues from the scourge of condo development Regulations, lack of available public space for music events. neighbourhoods close to venues that complain about noise, etc. Noise bi-laws. Laws preventing drinking in parks. Liquor bylaws in parks (Montreal as example), noise bylaws, difficulty permitting festivals Classic venues are shutting down due to condo development, like for example The Kool Haus/ The Government. The disappearance of venues....especially venues with long iconic histories. The zoning concerns brought by residents of new condos who while attracted to the diversity of our urban spaces, hypocritically become hostile to the inescapable "intrusion" of sound that live music venues and establishments that host live music on occasion represent. Venue availibility. Noise by laws. Liquor licences. Toronto needs to loosen up about alternative parties such as raves and electronic music festivals. The electronic music sector is enormous in every other part of the world, generates income and stimulates the economy. Morality based by-laws which clamp down on that particular culture is hindering Toronto from moving forward economically and culturally. The Unsound Festival in the summer of 2015 is a great example of how many people appreciate and would welcome alternative music sites and electronic music.

Lack and variety of venues available / bylaws restricting the experience The quality of venues. The great hall, and the burdock, are the only good places. The holy oak punches above its weight class, but many other venues are improperly aoind treated for what they offer. Many places in our neighbourhood could benefit from acoustic treatments and better speaker systems.

Noise by-laws, draconian security/wristband requirements for licensed outdoor venues. The rules are far more uptight than the city's residents and seem to assume anyone who drinks needs to be in a kennel. Lighten up, most people are well behaved! Let's not be coy, we all know the noise bylaws suck for musicians and venues. Toronto is at risk of becoming a stuffy, no-fun city. Hiring enough local bands for the various festivals. There could be an equivalent to a Canadian content regulation but on the city level. My neighbourhood has only one live music venue, The balance between disrupting residential neighbourhoods/noise issues and the proliferation of live music venues/festivals the number of live event venues seems to be shrinking, more condos means more people downtown and fewer venues The bigggest issue facing Toronto's music scene is the RIDICULOUS REGULATIONS ON HOW LATE A CONCERT CAN GO, but other issues include: lack of meaningful promoters who help promote shows, lack of care from the general populace in Toronto (even touring bands often find that they do not have a good crowd in Toronto compared to Montreal or Vancouver), lack of good venues neighbours complaining about the noise at certain venues close by. Condos and "Hot" businesses! They are becoming a huge problems. over the past few years too many of our cities fantastic venues have become targets of what is trending. Look at how INK Entertainment handled the Velvet underground and more recently Sound Academy. It is true that Sound Academy will still host shows but large entertainment complexes have been known to scare away many music fans who are looking for smaller venues that house more intimate shows. There is also a problem with lack of preservation of important venues and music related businesses. The El Mocambo just narrowly avoided becoming another computer store next to 3 other computer stores and Sam the Record man is now the SLC. The lack of vision by many venue owners to cultivate and boost the scene in the city. Also, the "Condofiaction" is forcing too many venues to close. At an institutional level, there is a real lack of appreciation for the value of music and the importance of a vibrant live music scene in Toronto -- which hopefully this Music Strategy can begin to address. Combine the lack of sufficient music venues (see above), the lack of appreciation/respect for the value of music in the political and corporate spheres, and the typically low renumeration that professional musicians receive for their work, and you have a situation where maintaining a career as a musician is an intense and draining struggle against the odds, day in and day out, and that is the greatest challenge facing Toronto as a music destination -- it's much harder than it should be to be a musician here! The systematic closing / pushing out of most of Toronto's live music clubs / venues from the downtown core to make room for condos has effectively gutted the core of viable venues for new artists or those working on becoming established. Liquor sales ending at 2 am. Difficulty obtaining licences to have dancing in a live venue Liquor licensing ending too early, public transit closing to early, difficulty for promoters to obtain licensing for one-off venues Noise - including music - is part of living in a city. There needs to be more spaces where people are allowed to make noise. Complaints from a single houselhold or a couple of condos can doom a venue, and ruin the business owners and the people they employ, as well as depriving the city of the music that would have been played there. We gotta stop this kind of NIMBYism. There aren't enough venues. They are slowly closing down or being turned into condos or other establishments. For example, The Guvernment nightclub was Toronto's top music club and was a music destination that was recognized worldwide until it was bought by land-developpers and it is now being turned into a condo. The benefits of that single entertainment place far outweigh that of the condo which could've been built anywhere else. Other examples would be the El Mocambo, but it was supposedly saved by Mr. Michael Wekerle and being renovated. It would've been converted into another type of commercial building had Mr. Wekerle not saved it last minute. There are multiple multiple other key and historic music venues that are just disappearing like that.

Liquor laws are a hindrance to live music festivals and performances being central to the night life here Venues being replaced by condos and a few large companies owning almost all the venues, too focused on being night clubs Bureaucracy associated with major music events- NXNE and CMW hinder as much as they help Poor promotion on a city-wide level to promote Toronto's musical pedigree, and the difficulty of promoting and maintaining a healthy musical scene within the City of Toronto's regulations (postering bylaws, volume limits poor bylaw information, etc.) City Politics Toronto needs to have a uniform and cross platform and cross entertainment policy and understanding for example the recent ruckus and issues of Postering to promote shows in toronto are a clear issues of saying one thing and doing another Restrictive noise and zoning by-laws, protestant morals NIMBYISM!!! Strict bylaws around noise and liquor control Restrictive by-laws The fact that this City continues to allow places to be torn down to build yet another condo Liquor laws, perceived lack of cooperation with the City to assist promoters, NIMBY attitudes 47

City regulations that hold back the music industry. I'm thinking particularly of those meant to shut down the Electronic Dance Music scene from the early 2000s. The music scene in Toronto was stronger then before the population boom whereas it should be stronger now. outdated noise bylaws, community-based alternative spaces, How frowned upon it is to make noise! Police breaking up drum circles in Trinity Bellwoods. How a music complaint and a noise complaint are the same thing, and how the law is always on the side of the complainer. There is no "music is a good thing, deal with it" clause. city bylaws against outdoor soundsystems Lack of existing performance spaces outside of bars/clubs. Aggressive bylaw enforcement that shuts down DIY spaces that are the lifeblood for many musicians. The noise bylaws and cerfews Red tape, antiquated liquor laws, uncultured condo people with no taste, rich people who don't support the arts, corporate greed, unfair business owners, not enough diversity, anti-women culture of the music industry, *, uneducated people Over regulation, early last-call, unreasonable noise restrictions 2am last call, noise regulations Politics with personal aganedas, privatized sponsorship and the demands they place on musicians Age old bureaucracy. Overly strict DUI laws (.05) City Bylaws about outdoor music, music in restaurants etc. Everything being turned into a condo. Regulations hold back and detriment musicians. We need more by-laws like band loading areas, as well better surveillance over promoters. As a musician I can't count the amount of times I have been offered certain guarantees over shows only for the promoter to turn around change the details last minute. Those issues need to be disputed in a fair place. Liquor licensing laws, NIMBYism. Bureaucratic Red Tape Wimpy sound laws NIMBYism Restrictive and unfair noise bylaws NIMBYism The lack of willingness of residents to put up with a single noisy day/night/evening to enrich cultural life in the city. Density and nimbyism don't mix well. zoning issues. unwillingness by some at city to see the need for culture in the city. assinine restrictions and red tap. liquor license restritctions. Poor transit and bar bylaws (early last call), blue night buses etc, make going out to see live music sometimes a chore. Liquor should be allowed to be consumed in parks where concerts happen. Noise bylaws, bad promoters, adveritising on the street is difficult Bureaucratic barriers, poorly designed rules affecting music industry. ridiculous bylaws and lack of help from the city of toronto The noise restriction laws are absurd. There have been lots of shows I've been to that get shut down due to complaints that could have really helped the bands performing. CD release parties that could further careers get shut down that could have created future historical sites for all anyone knows.

City bylaws. Noise bi-laws, other regulations that make innovation challenging. Red tape and bureaucracy. One, the subway closing at 1.45am. Two, you can't be a "music city" if you don't support informal fun. The City makes it hard for casual musical environments to flourish, by stifling patios with bearocratic policies, threatening people about drinking in parks. It's not only about professional musicians and their shows, it's about having music everywhere, and you can't have that if you don't support fun. A city council that has, through enacting by-laws, neglected/detracted from the city's nighttime activities due to the stereotypes of an unfortunate club district. Hostility of neighbours to "loud noise crap". Liquor laws and noise complaints. Rent prices, noise regulations Archaic laws that should be revisited... Parking for touring bands. Exemptions from city regulations and red tape. Many bands can't make it over the border due to strict border regulations. Toronto misses out on a lot of great shows and is starting to be skipped by more and more tours. restrictive policies, a municipal government who is only starting now to realize that a robust policy of supporting arts/culture/music in the city is incredibly beneficial to the city in a myriad of ways. Community support, an increasingly uninspiring landscape to draw inspiration from (condos everywhere). Bureaucratic red-tape freezing out an otherwise burgeoning independent scene. politics (administration, organization, *) and of course transportation--subways!! It is not known as a music town like Austin, New Orleans, Memphis etc because everything becomes so contrived and not "fun" It seems we drown in bylaws. Draconian noise and alcohol bylaws 48

Regulations and licences that restrict organizers City regulations, zoning, Adam VaughnA Right wing politicians unwilling to invest in arts. The clueless municipal and provincial politicians that we are plagued with Too many bylaws and regulations. Bylaws The city's red tape political motivations are often counter to the greater good of the industry's goals. The city often finds a way of mucking it up over individual politics vs. taking into consideration the greater good. Outdated zoning bylaws that don't reflect current neighbourhood realities Advertising. Getting the message out to people and maybe having a music neighbourhood. The city could do more to publicize Current laws Constrictive laws and regulations by-laws that are not friendly to noise and late night music options and late night cut offs noise by-laws, time of last call, traffic issues Price of rehearsal spaces, and inadequate apartment privacy/construction regulations. Inhibiting most musical creative work in ones own home. Too much red tape, noise violations, fair compensation, dad bands The constant "red tape" when trying to put on a musical venture. Red tape involving night-life Last Call @ 2:00 AM All of the red tape at city hall. getting through the city's red tape Red tape and fun-police. 2 am last call and not enough places to perform outside of the downtown core Early last call. Need more support for electronic scene 2am last call. It should definitely be extended Hostile neighbors Aligning the city with the music industry. Early last-call for alcohol not enough support, from government Limitations on busking (especially for traveling musicians), 2 AM Last-Call restrictions on where music can be played, how loud, etc. High rent, noise restrictions, too much Government interference Bars and clubs that close too early Liscencing for capacity City of Toronto - the corporation getting in the way Too much permits/paperwork/rules! You can't have an impromptu music concert without getting multiple permits and even then you still couldn't have alcohol. Loosen up Toronto, people want to have fun and they can do so responsibly without the nanny state. noise issues I am into the rave scene, and would like to see a licensing process for permitting warehouse use again, as per the 1990's. Gentrification is destroying our clubs, rent is far too high, and you won't let us flyer poles. As well, loading zones in front of clubs would be spiffy. Early closing hours for bars and clubs Difficulty of getting permits for outdoor performances, noise curfews, etc. the venus and protections for both employer and employee being properly looked out for. we need more after hours clubs and less sound restrictions noise issues city planning has been completed without these spaces in mind, its becoming overwhelmingly residential Embeddingsustainability strategies in the music city plan. Social and economic impact is being recognized, but not yet the environmental impact. Bars close too early (let owners decide when to close). There are lots of restrictions on noise. hostile neighbors The fact that bars have to stop serving alcohol at 2 AM. Critiquing unknown artists too harshly for busking employment. Restrictions Only grudging support from city hall. 49

City hall's seeming active work against live music, especially in public spaces Noise complaints 50

Tourism & International Perspective

What do you consider to be Toronto’s greatest challenges as a music destination?

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If the goal of promoting Toronto as a music “destination” is to attract tourist dollars by offering musical programming, it makes sense to invest in music programming that appeals to tourists who are likely to spend significant sums while in Toronto. I’m dismayed at how few classical music festivals and series are available to tourists outside of the downtown core neighbourhood where Roy Thomson Hall, the Four Seasons Centre and Koerner Hall are located. Walking about summer festivals, one has an impression that Toronto focuses on musical programming that consists of bar bands playing thunderingly amplified “music” to patrons who pay no more than the cost of a beer-tent beverage (if that) for the privilege of hearing the performance. regulatory issues, noise curfews, bylaws, international musician visa fees I think many of our by-laws prevent us from hosting a full-scale SXSW-style music festival. we need to revamp our bylaws to make them more friendly to music for example special permits that allow tour vehicles to not be ticketed durng load in or load out times. Our street poserting bylaws make it more difficult to adertverise shows. We havea wealth of talent and venues let's tell the world about them and include a musical component in our trade mission! regulations surrounding licensing and permits for festivals and site specific events Bylaws that make it difficult staging events during festivals such as NXNE and CMW Issues at the border for international/US acts, no central music area/venues are widely dispersed, early bar closing times, I find a huge deterrent for music destination is Toronto's/Ontario's drinking laws. It really messes up the flow of music festivals, creates line ups and is overall a huge deterrent for myself and concert goers due to odd barriers that come as a response to paternalistic drinking policies.

Toronto needs more mid-sized venues to accommodate both local and touring artists; Diversity of musical styles and cultures in Toronto while it is abundant it is also segregated; Toronto needs to make it easier for the start ups, and grassroots community groups to apply and receive the neccessary permanent licenses they require to make art, run a small business, and engage the community, including building use permits and liquor licenses As mentioned above, we have thousands of amazing and varied musicians. We have some famous venues and a rich history. Bylaws and pandering politicians are the problem. I'll use the TURF Festival at Fort York as an example. You can't hear the music when the Go train goes by. The Gardiner is overhead. Condos shadow the place. And yet, politicians try to shut it down, condo dwellers complain of noise and bylaw enforcement shuts things down early. Musicians and fans are treated like crap in this town. What we really need are a couple of central music strips where clubs dedicated to live music line the streets. I have often felt that Victoria St. running south from Yonge-Dundas Square to Massey Hall would be excellent for this. There are theatres already. Back fill a couple of parking lots with clubs, reno other buildings and make it like Broadway in Nashville. You could have 2 or 3 hubs that will become destinations for tourists and local fans alike. Laws that make street festivals & public performances difficult. We could really use better and bigger music festivals to attract more outsiders, the citys curfew law could also be worked on Limited parking near venues where bands can unload gear, also general admission parking. The laws making it difficult for smaller international musicians to enter Canada Archaic liquor laws and difficulty getting public permits for festivals Liquor bylaws in parks (Montreal as example), noise bylaws, difficulty permitting festivals Toronto needs to loosen up about alternative parties such as raves and electronic music festivals. The electronic music sector is enormous in every other part of the world, generates income and stimulates the economy. Morality based by-laws which clamp down on that particular culture is hindering Toronto from moving forward economically and culturally. The Unsound Festival in the summer of 2015 is a great example of how many people appreciate and would welcome alternative music sites and electronic music. Hiring enough local bands for the various festivals. There could be an equivalent to a Canadian content regulation but on the city level. The balance between disrupting residential neighbourhoods/noise issues and the proliferation of live music venues/festivals The bigggest issue facing Toronto's music scene is the RIDICULOUS REGULATIONS ON HOW LATE A CONCERT CAN GO, but other issues include: lack of meaningful promoters who help promote shows, lack of care from the general populace in Toronto (even touring bands often find that they do not have a good crowd in Toronto compared to Montreal or Vancouver), lack of good venues Liquor laws are a hindrance to live music festivals and performances being central to the night life here Parking for touring bands. Exemptions from city regulations and red tape. Many bands can't make it over the border due to strict border regulations. Toronto misses out on a lot of great shows and is starting to be skipped by more and more tours. 51

Fan awareness. Many small to mid level venues and artists don't have the resources to promote effectively. The grassroots / up-and-coming is where the richest activity is. But Toronto is an expensive and harsh place to be an artist. The majority of activity is on the lower rung of the class system, and on top of the already huge challenge of making and presenting music, people are just trying to survive. This is why so many Montreal artists break out internationally. Montreal is an affordable place to be, and become a great artist.

Wages. And that we only pay for acts that come through booking agents. Too many of our festivals are built on the premise that the musicians should be grateful for the exposure to the audience and they are afforded little or no compensation for having provided the entertainment that the organizer makes money from the public on. Yes it costs a lot to run a festival, but the insurance guy got paid, the sound guy got paid, the truck rental people got paid and city hall got paid for their permits. Why then, if it is a music festival, are we asking the musicians to do it for free? Or merch sales. There's money for the headlines but the rest if us are supposed to me grateful to be included. AFM tariff rates are very fair and reasonable. Large public events should be on AFM contracts to receive public funding, that way the rights of the artists can be protected, not just the headliner.

Toronto's festivals are not particularly good. Real music festivals are held in a central location and all within a reasonable time so that bigger bands can bring in revenue and allow smaller bands to be able to make money and get more local and international exposure. As it stands, getting a time slot at 2am for NXNE or CMW at a small bar does not help anyone in the actual music industry. The current festival system needs to be changed and the multi-venue 'festivals' need to be culled. Monopolies that control international talent when in Toronto (*, etc.); and thus, the lack of competition; * staff (promoters, managers, bar staff, bouncers, communications etc.); cost of a ticket to a show that is more in demand; The double-dipping * gets away with >> the fan has to pay more because of their third party sites - and others (e.g. *) the greatest challenge is marketing the power of the music as a city asset. In Chicago - the city charges every hotel room an extra dollar. That money is used throughout the year to produce FREE, LIVE concerts for citizens and tourists alike. Blues, jazz, country, big band, etc.

There is a lack of variety of venues and festivals, lack of unity between promoters. It's a costly city to live in as an artist. There is not enough support for local initiatives. Accessibility and lighter music discovery. Some festivals have a hefty price tag and venues are taking a beating and need more help getting back on their feet. Some music festivals should be not pay to play festivals. Artisits should benefit for their work. Artisits without agents should be included. We need more music venues. It is costly to bring an international artist over the border. Permits are expensive. We need more music venues and a bigger range for big artists and small ones too. Rents intorotonto are too high. It is impossible to find a venue for teenagers to play someplace

Parking for musicians. Out front of venues should be FREE for bands to park, bands I see are always ticketed. Toronto should work with the border to ensure smooth crossing for musicians. Bands find it impossible to cross without hassle. It also costs touring musicians an arm and a leg to get the permits and things necessary to cross the border and perform here. They end up losing money. There needs to be a way for the city to work with the Canadian government. Bands don't include Toronto as a tour stop for this reason. Small music festivals in parks can't run without expensive permits.

I am an internationally recognized musician who frequently plays my own music in a variety of venues in Toronto where one "passes the hat" for pay. Regardless of how good you are, it is next to impossible to make a living wage as a musician in this city. Getting venues to pay touring bands high enough fees. Lack of funding for events, concerts and music related festivals There are next to none mid sized venues, lack of infustrcture and funding support has made it difficult for international booking and mid sized venues to stay a float All the clubs are owned by the same people who have no interest in growing talent within the city and only pay foreigners large sums of money to perform. There is no venue for Toronto musicians to play and practice on a daily basis, including having a healthy competitive environment. The same people have been performing live for the last 20 years and closing the doors on new upcoming talent. Djs included. It's festivals. I feel as if not all music genres are represented when it comes to renown festivals taking place in Toronto. Our Jazz Fest is unheard of, we don't have an Early Music or New Music Festival... We have Bestival and on the island in the summertime, but we lack support in many traditional musical disciplines - which need to be supported by the government, as they have been for centuries, in order for the music and musicians to be succesful. The high costs for certain music festivals like NXNE and CMW and INDIE WEEK, where the bands playing are not making money off of it but the people coming to see the bands have to pay 100+ dollars for a wrist band Pertaining to my "Other" above, the costs of hotels, etc. in peak summer months - ie. when most of the festivals are happening here, or most bands tour - is really far too expensive. Perhaps some sort of initiative could be put in place to convince some chains to make some rooms more affordable rather than jacking up the rates. Similarly, perhaps an incentive on reducing parking rates in key areas for the same reasons could be introduced. noise restrictions, the entire SOP process, the fact that NXNE and other major festivals do not pay very much Support and funding for local festivals, especially where the goal is to attract international tourism CMW, NXNE and other festivals not paying musicians but still making money off of them is a real, true shame. The high cost of music festivals. The focus should be on how a Toronto musician can make a living. If the artist can survive and pay bills, eat and create the people will follow. If you focus on festivals with touring acts the money flows out once the act leaves and or the promoters, venues and restaurants all make the money and very little gets passed down. For attending festivals like NxNE or CMW, the greatest challenge for an audience member is that wristbands are priced as though a person may attend several venues in the same evening, yet the line-ups are so long to get in, that getting in at all anywhere is difficult. The second biggest challenge is around permits for musicians playing acoustic in the park. It is for community not for money, but the cost can be prohibitive, as can the risk of being fined for playing music without a permit. We have an abundance of festivals but many, with the obvious exceptions of TURF and the higher profile electronic festivals, do not compensate an artist enough, if at all. Most street festival offer a very slight honorarium, and are over saturated with singer/songwriters. Better, if necessary, to have fewer artists and pay them appropriately. Rather than a loose assortment of hobbyists in shabby pop up venues, lets ensure consistency, high quality festivals and high quality artists. Also the music scene tends to dry up in the winter, and for goodness sake we're Canadian we shouldn't be afraid of a little snow. We need to offer people incentive to ensure they keep going out and keeping our culture alive even when its thirty below. The opportunity for bands to play festival. Feel like a monopoly where it's always the same bands playing on rotation The biggest problem is easily the lack of affordable housing. Being a musician in infinitely more difficult with current rent prices in this city. It's the biggest contributor to the lack of rehearsal spaces as well as the musical brain drain. When you work 60+ hours a week to make ends meet, it gets hard to launch a business, record an album, plan a tour, coordinate a festival, negotiate license fees, the list goes on. Take a look at San Francisco and how it's creatives have all fled due to exorbitant living costs. Largest festivals NXNE and CMW mutual exclusivity (you can play one or the other) is completely unfair and hurts musicians. Grant program is massively inadequate- good, small bands who need the money lose out to very established acts for whom the need is not as great.

There are many expensive festivals all crammed together in a 3 month period over the summer, and then basically nothing after that 52

Canadians are fickle and cheap, American's actually go out to see live music and in Europe most people stay out and are social people. Canadians like to stay in, it's cold here. incentivizing the public to go out and experience live music would be good. More public free music events would be good. music is the parks and in public spaces needs to be ramped up big time. not crappy street festivals when they are all the same with the same vendors that close major streets. Close side streets and in parks and other public spaces. why is there no High Park Music festival or series ??? the Toronto Music office should partner with local musicians and arts professionals to program these events. I was offer to play the great heart festival in Trinity belwoods. what a cool little festival but not support from the city and they offered no pay for an 8 piece a band. with no power. We could not accept it with no PA, the no money sucks but it;s the DYI vibe that we respect and would participate but it would be nice to see them supported by the city and providing a PA for each park. this would ensure the sound would be controlled.

Minimal funding through Toronto Arts Council for select few -- need more funding support for musicians and creative projects. More city funding for live musical performance in city festivals It's great that there are so many options of festivals and venues to choose from, but it hits a saturation point and starts to have a negative effect because these events and venues start to loose money as the music consumer has infinitely more options on where to spend their money but still only has the same amount of money to spend. Also, there is nowhere central to check all of the events happening across the city at any given time. For tourists coming to the city, it can be an overwhelming task trying to find and access some of the shows/events/talents that Toronto is offering. Unless they know what the Horseshoe is, they don't know to look there for performance listings. City officials need to promote Toronto as a music destination and continue to fund music/cultural festivals. - the amount of students that are graduating and paying full tuition to get a higher learning degree of experience at the schools are available to perform but have very few choices of venues to do so - the pay structure and support from the municipailty and from the the province - the lack of education in the stream of music at the elemetary school and high school level - the lack of open mindedness in programing at festivals and events to not include all types of musical styles, genres and diversity across the spectrum(i.e. also including non-popular styles) - the lack of an internationally celebrated artist infrastructure for all types of musical styles Decent venues are too spread out. When tourists come, there is no real "district" or hub. It would be neat to designate certain parts of town as live music centres and support the bars so that they can pay musicians a base to play there on top of what the bar pays. Inclusion of artists outside mainstream access. Also I feel that is should be illegal for festivals like NXNE and CMW to demand payment from artists to play at their festivals for free. These festivals are also extremely exclusionary to many sects of the community and rarely include LGBTQ artists and focus mainly on cis male fronted acts. The diversity is lacking and beyond that, it's a kick in the teeth to artists to pay to play for a festival and then receive no compensation or barely any compensation for festivals that make hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue from sponsorships. They are not festivals for artists, they are festivals for industry. If Toronto worked closer with the local organicaly grown music industry, instead of catering to the needs of large international entertainment companies, there would be more diversity of events that showcase local talent. Our venue pool has also been shrinking drastically over the past few years due to increased downtown density, this has led to venue spread and no clear entertainment district. When people come downtown, you have to be 'in the know' to find the cool spots because there is no defined district with an 'acceptable use' and 'rental cost' level for the industry to focus its efforts. Its random bars/nightclubs that are pretending to be restaurants, here and there. Taxis are making lots of money. Weather affects outdoor festivals. Immigration costs to visiting bands to Canada. Lack of interest from general public. the city's cost of living, over-saturation of festivals during certain times of the year. Fees associated with having foreign smaller bands cross the border. Funding for musical initiatives, including tours for Toronto's musical companies Organic cross-pollination between disparate communities is hard to foster. Geographically, our fees for international artists are higher because of travel, which lessens the reach of interesting independent international artists and the ideas they bring. The key is fostering innovation, whereas right now the economics are too stacked in favour of big corporate players who conservatively stick to status quo practices instead of pushing for innovation. A richer community of mid-level independents may prove more fruitful. The cost of pursuing music professionally means musicians need to either stay on tour to survive or look for supplementary work, which takes away time from actually making music in toronto grant funding for recording, touring etc. there is still money in live gigging ONCE you are established. Getting 'established' is the tough part. mainly requires getting a good couple of songs recorded well, which is expensive. This isn't a problem that is unique to Toronto, but the lack of creativity in our gov music funding agendas is horrible. OMF has one of 3 or 4 boxes they will provide funding for. It doesn't matter how good of an idea you have, how much it would help the music scene in this city, or how economical it would be, if it doesn't fall under one of the "studio recording, music video, tour support" boxes everyones hands are tied. In a sector that is focused around creativity, there in an astonishing lack of creativity in the process. Bands making it across the border. The Canadian dollar. The degree of difficulty in allowing Canadian bands to tour in the U.S. (which would promote the Canadian music presence internationally) and how expensive it is for musicians to live in Toronto International respect, notoriety, initiative/programs, and funding. Toronto's greatest challenge is educating the community on the quality of local talent - people will pay high ticket prices for international artists but are reluctantly to pay a small cover for local artists, simply because they are not familiar with the artist. We have a lot of great festivals, music, etc, I think the challenge is in having other people in other music communities around the world know about what is going on here and why it is important for them to be a part of it too. Awareness outside of Toronto is the challenge. This is starting to change, slowly, but is taking a lot of time and more needs to be done. Awareness and branding of events to tourists I don't believe the options you've given as choices make sense. I think lack of awareness is the largest challenge. It's hard to let tourists know what is happening throughout the city, especially at smaller venues. Properly organized and marketed music festivals and events. A recent example: the Cavalcade of Lights downtown- there were add for it on the TTC, but didn't indicate all of the performers. Some of Toronto's greatest talents ended up performing, and had I known, I would have gone and brought friends! Musicians need to be able to monetize their talents. There are plenty of festivals and music clubs. What we need is marketing and the promotion of the part of the city to help fill the clubs and festivals. I think there are only certain types of venues and music that are properly promoted and awareness of the other options would be good, particularly for tourists NXNE and CMW are poor excuses for local music festivals. Local acts are shunned and pushed out for international acts, and the promised 'exposure' is an illusion. The City should partner up with Dan Burke! Dan may be a crazy guy, but he cares about supporting local talent. We need festivals that do the same. The frequency of festivals makes individual events less prominent. Successful product tends to become over-exposed. Working musicians frequently must have secondary careers. Great music listings and event calendars - print and onlineDoes the city advertise our music scene outside of Toronto? Is a portion of the Toronto tourism marketing budget focused on promoting the Toronto music scene? Toronto needs to better market itself to international performers, labels and talent managers as a must-play city. no cohesive marketing internationally that draws attention to Toronto as a 'music destination' I'm not aware of any challenges. This whole music city thing seems to be made up by City Hall to address a tourism issue that doesn't exist. Exposure levels. Canadian content rules seem to encourage radio play of a few artists on the stations I end up listening to. I have learned more about the Toronto music scene by listening to international stations than I seem to get from local stations. 53

support from grants, media, etc. is usually in favour or safe choices, especially same old "canadiana" stuff; instead, support should go to more avantgarde projects/musicians, especially if the objective is to make toronto internationally attractive as a music city. Avantgarde projects may not have a big enough local audience to be feasible without support/brants. They need it! You'll want to support the kind of things that you can't see in hundreds of other cities. That's the kind of stuff that'll draw an international audience in time. Go out on a limb - don't just support middle of the road stuff.

Making tourists aware of the options available The history isn't celebrated enough. There should be more effort in marketing the history, walking and bus tours around it, a music museum/hall of fame Toronto needs to create more of a musical presence internationally, perhaps more music related media? While the variety of live music/festivals is there, there is no major festival that people will necessarily go out of their way to travel to Toronto to attend. Toronto Tourism is not capitalizing off of our amazing artists and festivals and they really should. International promotion of Toronto based Musick events. The wrather in the winter remains unattractive to many foreigners from more temperate climates. An inadequate transit system to allow access to various areas of the city for events, especially outside of the downtown core it's cold, so outdoor festivals are difficult to have While the diversity of music and festivals is a strength, they often are competing for the same resources. Lack of festivals celebrating local/national talent as opposed to international artists during festivals it's very difficult to see lots of bands as all the venues are so spread out all over the city. It would work well if festivals used venues all in walking distance too many small festivals, not one central one. need more recognizable acts at nxne/cmw to push them to the next level it's the people who stays home and does nothing. There's already lots of people out in festivals and at certain live music venues. I think it's the challenge of people listening. I went to NYC and Montreal during their music festivals and at certain live music venues. People sit and listen. There's always many musicians out and about performing. I say not enough people appreciate and listen to the music. I hear horror stories about red tape for festivals, venues, etc with the city the lack of a live-venue "strip" makes festivals like NXNE pale in comparison to SXSW. We can't close down streets and have people walk up and down a strip to enjoy the multitude of venues because everything is too spread out. often times, it's impossible to even know that a festival is taking place.

Oversaturation of music festivals in souther Ontario our currency, we need to draw bigger festivals downtown There is an ongoing problem with a lack of medium-sized venues. As well, music from a wide diversity of cultural communities tends to be separated from many of the largest venues and festivals, kept to Harbourfront and a few other special occasions. affordability of concerts - more subsidy from the City would make more free festival concerts More jazz in the jazz festivals! Traffic and transit are big turnoffs for people travelling into the city. Invest in infastructure that would make our city more moveable! There are now more festivals, but more smaller/local festivals would be a big boost. The city needs to recognize the talent and venues/festivals that exist as opposed to trying to create something new. No appropriate festival venue locations in the downtown area. outdoor events often have to end at an early hour, could be more of a "camping" music festival here - people often head to mtl or BC for camp-out music festivals. as well, many music venues in the city don't seem to fill up on nights they should - fridays, saturdays - like they used to. music styles could be more diverse, or more diverse styles could be more visible. Tough to specify one individual thing, but I do think we're on a bit of festival overload, and there are not enough good small venues and art spaces for bands to play. Festivals are all right, but are dominated by "known" acts without much interest in supporting new talent. Similarly for venues - lots of variety, but difficult to get a first break. How uptight it is. Compare with Montreal's festivals. They bring the whole city out. In Toronto, our festivals are at venues too spread apart and the scene is too uptight and uncreative. The parking situation is a big drawback. Montreal closes down streets and people go on foot from act to act.

Too many small clubs in the downtown core. We need more mid-sized venues where acts can get booked as they are growing. We also need to ensure that talent buyers have budgets to afford high-value international touring acts and that the bookers themselves are paid well for the life-consuming job that they do. Getting big acts on tour to cross the border to make toronto a date for their event. Crossing the border can add a lot of headache for bands who tour outside the live nation umbrella. The city's support of certain smaller groups/areas/festivals LACK of venues. I'm not sure why festivals and venues would be put in the same answer when they are such different things. live venues and broadcast channels to make Toronto a greater tour/showcase destination Not enough all-ages venues for music youth are actually interested in. Popular music scenes depend on enthusiastic teenage fans and they're by and large excluded from the Toronto music scene (except for outdoor festivals and Yonge-Dundas square shows). If you want a city to be a music destination, make it easy to indulge in that idea. When you arrive in Nashville you hear music artists welcoming you to the city and their music! You see musical instruments the moment you arrive. Toronto is not like that. If I were a tourist, I wouldn't know where to start. How do you find out about toronto's music history? It's not all in one place. There aren't various ways to experience it. Is there a Toronto concert calendar of our major festivals in all music genres? Does Toronto tourism promote this? Could we have a music passport that allows tourists to access discounts relating to music in the city? The biggest challenge is there isn't a plan in place. Big city, things are very spread out. But when a big festival happens, the entire city crowds into one area I think that there is not enough mingling across musical cultures and that people don't know local history. The city needs more mid-size venues. There are a lot of festivals but there are few opportunities for artists to work with each other across genres or disciplines.

Affordability of practice space, dubious festivals like NXNE where artists are not fairly compensated, the need for better festival grounds The survival of live-music venues and music festivals for festivals the venues are limited to the island and downsview within the city Allow for more festivals/events and permanently extend last-call. Allow most forms of grass roots music scenes to flourish even if they dance around the edges or legality. Allow those who perform and attend to make decisions about the venue, the security, the 'rules', etc. 54

more city-wide music festivals, as well as festivals similar to TURF and RiotFest. the city and the province work against venues and festivals rather than with them. Toronto's own self-sabotaging - mostly due to major festivals and events - that don't actually cater to Toronto artists or the community that made them successful, and overall, resting on their laurels instead of being progressive like the industry in the US or in Europe or other festivals (i.e. Sled Island, HPX, etc.) The over-abundance of summer festivals have watered down all of them, and largely benefit international acts rather than locals. Needs more chances to be in the spotlight. A world-class festival that featured Canadian openers would help. need more concert venues, more space for bigger and better festivals The culture of the city. Not enough is done to promote the festivals or acts coming. There doesn't seem to be a lot of organization with music festivals like NXNE. It seems very scattered and random. It would be great to see more mid-sized venues and large venues, so that the ACC isn't the only place to see big acts outside of the summer festival series. In the last two years we've seen more outdoor festivals within the city and I think this is a great trend that needs to be expanded upon. accessibility to venues spread across the city (NXNE, CMW, RiotFest, TURF, etc should get free rides on the TTC with festival wristband), inability to promote through postering, There is no centralized hub for resources for musicians or fans (See: Metronome Canada).

More festivals opportunities for diverse acts are limited to certain venues and festivals. Also, there is a real lack of acessible venues. Lack of downtown green space for festivals (downs view is too far, Coronation Park/Ontario Place would be great) and we need more transit The ever decreasing amount of availble, unique event spaces for one-off music events and festivals Transit/parking at festival venues - Ontario Place, Fort York, Downsview, Toronto Island Toronto needs a wider variety of affordable music festivals. Cities like Montreal are often destinations for festivals like Osheaga. Toronto sadly doesn't have the same caliber of festivals. Parking - Particularly during larger festivals (NXNE/CMW), as it is difficult to load in and load out near some venues. I also don't believe there has been an adequate solution or balance found in regards to the situation for advertising shows by means of posturing. The notice boards are a good start, but not enough. very simply 1. the monopoly some big companies have on radio stations ,this stifles the diversity that's already in this city. 2.the acquisition of permits to have festivals in public places no matter what size (it is easier to get a permit in montreal ) . 3 there are only outlets for mainstream music to flourish ,which once again stifles the diversity of this city Loss of rock/metal festivals I'm seeing a lot of small-med venues close, which is best for many touring bands. Strict rules for festivals American bands often have a difficult time crossing the border to play. They often don't make it. Also, again, venues are important! lack of established, central music festivals like Osheaga or Lollapalooza Red tape for venues and festivals There is not enough tourism and population filling the venues on a regular More on the music festivals, there are many music venues in TO Not enough focus on Toronto-based artists. Many festivals hosted in the city make a bigger deal out of out-of-town acts while local acts are pushed aside. The ability to book international musicians for larger scale events is becoming more difficult. This is a necessary support system for local artists, as it allows them to play to a much wider audience. Also: 2 a.m. last call? Really?? I'd say one of our greatest challenges is that Montreal is getting all the action. The cold climate, it certainly doesn't stop people from going to venues, but it limits festivals and a degree of attendance to other music events where people would otherwise prefer to stay home I think Toront is successful as an arts and culture scene. The biggest platforms in the most high profile festivals go to imported talent, so anything our city can do to promote 'local' as worthy on a global-level is valuable. Medium-to-large sized venues in the downtown core. We have nothing between Sound Academy and Amphitheatre/ACC sized. Festivals at Downsview are a pain to attend due to transit, parking, organization. Sound quality at many venues is atrocious Post secondary specialty schools for music performance such as UofT and Humber bring in strong talent from around the world. Many international students tend to stay in canada after their schooling. Alot of canadians relocate here as well. With this influx of talent, we need support to continue fostering this amazing talent and bringing it to our fellow Canadians. All musicians are willing to put in long hours and work crazy runs. This profession has never been easy. But the interest for live music is dying as we cut it out of schools and do nothing to develop interest. We're left with EDM or Drake which have their perks.... but that doesnt represent the canadian music scene as a whole. Promoting the diversity of music that is performed here and getting our venues/festivals to focus more on local talent and having places for less commercial styles to have their voices heard. Like I said the venues and festivals exist but aren't interested in local up and coming acts Promotion of being a music destination, we have talent, history, many locations, genres, festivals; but Toronto is still under-rated Bigger festivals in better venues-downsview is not a good place Summer-heavy festival schedule due to cold, few 2000-5000 seat venues Toronto does not advertise itself as a music city, even though in the past few years, multiple music festivals have decided to start up in Toronto There is NOT enough diversity in programmings and within infrastructure support. The industry is very rock and roll and country. Even though some of the biggest international stares are urban and from Toronto. Some of the venues are awful, with sound, etc. But festivals have been great this year, the momentum needs to stay consistent. People do not come out to hear music except for summer festivals. We need them out in January and February. The mayor should be out in clubs every week. And all kinds of clubs. There needs to be more co-operation from city when the festivals are going on to help make it more accessible to more people. The public's knowledge of Toronto's music scenes beyond a select few venues, festivals or bands. often overshadowed by US and European festivals and musical attractions 55

The format---The TD Jazz Festival and the Beach Jazz Festival are sucesful and well organized. T he same is needed for Toronto to be classified as a music ddestination. Coordination and publicity. Compared to other major cities in Canada Toronto could be doing more to create exciting music festivals in the summer. Aside from TURF I can't think of any summer festivals here. Meanwhile in the rest of Canada we have: Vancouver Folk Fest, Winnipeg, Edmonton folk fest, Ottawa Blues fest,Ottawa chamber fest, festival of Sound in Parry sound... Displaying Toronto's talent. Live music usually centre's around a few festivals There is a lot going on--summer festivals, etc. But it's everyone doing his/her own thing, it's not everyone as part of the whole. There could be more Music Festivals with specific styles - like Blues. Etobicoke Jazz festival is a good start. "Old boy's club" of festival bookers and promoters... Promotion of music festivals and events by all levels of government as part of tourism promotion. The seemingly lack of support (radio/festivals) for music genres other than folk/rock/alternative. I think soul/r&b needs to be heard more. The lack of true large scale concert venues. we have the ACC and the Molson Amphitheater. need at least one more. right now foreign vompanies supply the toronto concert industry a lot, and we need more opportunity to promote a local company. Affordability of festivals and concerts for the general public; family inclusive / all-ages festivals. Music is not actively promoted internationally - making the city less of an attraction for international and national tourists. There are also a vast number of venues for music performance that it's difficult to know what's going on in the city. An online database of music venues and concerts where you could go to catch a show, updated daily, would be great in promoting the extreme variety of music in this city. More venues, less hassle for artists coming from across the border Alot of our festivals are simply the same handful of 'bigwigs' patting themselves on the back. It's also a big city, it's not like Nashville's Music Row. Queen west was for a while but several venue closures has killed that. Drinking on the streets during festivals. Lack of critical investment and leadership in the big festivals - we should put more effort in North by north East to make it the BIG festival the city as a whole is not on the map when it comes to big festivals compared to Montreal. Harbour front used to be huge thanks to Derek Andrews There is a need for more festivals with music and those festivals need to be more accessible People come from out of town to see festivals like O.V.O. and events like Caribana and the future "NBA All Stars Game" (2016), but there is not enough local talent presented in these big events for the city to be represented well and for emerging Canadian talent to break through.

Toronto plays a small role in the international music industry. In order for Toronto to be taken seriously as a major player in the global community Toronto has to invest more in the the variety of live music venues and music festivals because thousands of people from around the world attend these events. These cultural tourists will spread the word about their experiences in Toronto. Many festivals and venues cater to only certain genres of music. For example, Canadian Music Week and NXNE have completely dissolved any sort of metal showcases. There is so much talent in that genre in the city that would benefit from industry attention. Suitable grounds for a music festival in the city is a struggle. The best space we have is on Toronto Island, but 11pm curfew is a problem, as well as ample transportation back to mainland afterwards. Bestival proved that this problem is something that needs fixing. poor music festival planning The amount of music festivals in Toronto. We need more accessible live and local music. Toronto is known more for diversity than virtuosity right now - potentially focusing on the quality of music as opposed to the quantity might be a helpful thing to strengthen the scene overall. Festivals like Nxne and CMW aren't exactly known as illustrious and prestigious events in the same way that Sxsw and CMJ in the US are - trying to focus those events and make them about fewer, more high caliber shows as opposed to a "smearing" of acts playing in so many venues around the city would perhaps work to strengthen their appeal and status.

Lack of festivals in indoor months (winter). It seems music festivals all happen in the summer, leaving musicians scrambling for performances during January and February. Need more large-scale music festivals, perhaps done jointly with areas in the GTA. Although we have many festivals, there could be more festivals that promote only local Toronto musicians. The restrictions on doing anything different, eg. the barriers to putting on Great Heart Festival in Trinity Bellwoods American border, compensated fairly Education foreign artists about the City and how easy it is to get here. The greatest challenge locally is that even though all of us are grateful that amazing international artists grace our stages, there doesn't seem to be enough room for homegrown talent to thrive. On top of this, it seems the general audience is not interested in hearing new things coming from Canadian artists which can be accounted partly to taste and partly to lack of support for these things. Better advertising / PR outside its borders, incl. internationally Fair compensation is the biggest problem, 100%. In other major cities like Vancouver, Montreal, or even London (UK), it's expected that artists will be paid fairly for a night of performance. Everyone musician I know who has come to Toronto has been disgusted by how poorly artists are treated here. Literally zero percent of foreign musicians I know are happier with live compensation in Toronto versus their previous places of residence. Sadly, I'd say lack of reputation/international recognition (compared to, say, Detroit, Montreal, or New York). What makes a city an exciting music destination is a thriving creative counterculture introducing new ideas that exist nowhere else. This is happening in Toronto, but the general reputation from other cities is that music in Toronto is only high-production, radio-friendly mainstream/industry music. Ensuring talent gets across the border. Promotion - Most tourist (even Canadian tourist) have no idea there is a big music scene in this city I guess the visa that foreigner bands have to get to play in canada but it is a national problem. Barriers to entry. Toronto is more than just downtown. Many of the burgeoning international artists from Toronto, come from the GTA or other parts of Ontario. Attracting international acts across the border and ensuring Toronto is an essential stop on their tours. To be able to create a larger scene, where the musicain can support each other rather than compete with one another. This could lead to a new style or scene internationally based here in Toronto (Seattle, Liverpool, San Fran) Toronto's 'themes' seem to be cleanliness and great food. 'Music' needs to be part of the lexicon when describing why people like living here and why tourists should want to come here. Artists getting denied at the border who are trying to play here. 56

Not enough American/International acts are touring in Toronto Canadian Border patrol. Musicians getting across the border to perform in Toronto, since some musicians and bands are unable to make it pass the border Crossing the border Some bands from other countries have border crossing issues. Exchange rates, international borders, and price of shows Lack of international acts, I don't believe it is thought of and respected as a musical hub yet. Whatever the reason is that more and more small tours (ie; 500 capacity) are skipping Toronto Drawing in international talent while constantly supporting local artists. Create more opportunities for local artists to shine, grow, work fairly, and develop their craft so Toronto's reputation as a positive creative city. I personally think that the mind-set has to change before we're really ready for a music industry. Generally speaking we don't show any support to our aspiring local talents or, at the very least, not enough. When is the last time Toronto broke one of our own artists and put them on an international stage We often find our talents fleeing to south of the border or wherever else they can get the love they don't get at home. On the flip-side, who's to say that creating this opportunity at home won't make them want to stay? Similar issue to any other professional industry I guess, but I guess that would lead into the question of whether or not the city really takes musicians seriously as professionals. As a whole I guess we've contributed to any negative responses to that question......

Bringing in American musical tours or performers instead of creating more all-canadian productions like ONCE. Any major act that one could potentially see in Toronto, one could also see elsewhere globally. Toronto lacks an internationally defined musical style, which limits its overall draw. border crossing The insecurity of Torontonians (and Canadians to some degree) in supporting their own homegrown talent without "cosigns" from larger voices (bigger artists, international audiences, certain music publications/blogs); nepotism. our own identity as Toronto and also as a Canadian, AND international scene. potential but scattered. Ticket sellers such as Ticketmaster attempting to stranglehold the live music scene. Survival of local studios. Lack of appeal to international artists to come and record/play in Toronto. Publicity. People from around Canada and especially internationally need to know about the kind of talent that's here. A lack of quality smaller halls that touring jazz artists could book and fill with an audience. How come Pat Metheny has played twice in the past two years at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre but not in Toronto? That's crazy! The large challenge Canada faces around musicians being able to tour logistics withing the city for touring artists, more specifically parking, loading and unloading zones Toronto's music scene is more of a local draw, I think - music isn't a defining factor for Toronto's international reputation Some sort of central arts hub for information and tickets that is obvious for tourists. Or maybe three or four hubs that are all connected and visible. high rents. Musicians won't be able to live in Toronto so major touring acts will be the only game in town. Toronto will loose that x factor that makes Toronto an exciting music city. It is happening in NYC and it is starting happen here. Not enough work to support our freelance musicians who are not members of permanent organizations like the Toronto Symphony. Toronto musicians being replaced by entire travelling orchestras for stage shows and some operas for economic reasons. Perhaps the city could provide subsidies and insentives to international touring companies, something like our government does for the film industry. Our world class musicians need work in our world class city. A widespread downtown core, a less than perfect public transportation system, a lack of organized tourism advertiseing Toronto audiences have a reputation amongst touring musicians as being sterile and non-engaging. The culture of live music audiences here seems to be somewhat immature to professional touring acts. Attracting international artists to play here It's reputation does not precede it the way a city like NYC does - Toronto's international profile, musically speaking, could stand to be raised. Unlike music-oriented cities like Nashville, which has developed a significant music tourism focus, Toronto does not host a Canadian Music Hall of Fame which could attract as many visitors as the Experience Music Project in Seattle or thenRock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland or the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville Crossing the border. Lack of support for the arts in general - people don't visit other cities to see their banks. They go to see art galleries, concerts, museums. Music is integral to a tourism strategy. Making sure our musical talent can be appreciated and compensated and not be forced to move to the US or Europe to be appreciated. Having an oganized body to help promote Toronto as a music destination, to be able to work with the promotors on a global scope for the promotion of Toronto as a Music Destination. To put it simply we are NOT world class. That's the difference. We do not create the history like London or New York. We need to create our own legends. The history is lush and full of talent that has never broken out of the shell that is the GTA hub, and many talents that have gone on to worldwide success, however there is a strange middle ground that is isolated in its uncanny ability to alienate artists trying to bridge the gap between excelling in a larger arena versus residing as hometown heroes. Radio across the country needs a major overhaul. Despite having a vibrant hip-hop scene in Toronto there is no dedicated radio station for hip-hop and the closest thing we have rarely features Toronto rappers. The same issue extends into the rock world where Toronto bands will rarely receive airplay on The Edge or Indie88. Toronto needs to rep our artists in all respects and I truly believe new radio stations specifically focused on the entire Toronto scene would boost all other Toronto Music City efforts to a massive degree.

Lack of promotion of local artists to a wider global audience. Toronto has a thriving music scene of of the best in North America but it is despite the involvement of City Hall. Not on the same level of global recognition compared to New York City or Montreal Being a musician is not sustainable here and many talented players move to the U.S. or Europe It's in Canada, which likely puts off American artists from coming especially when cities like NYC and Chicago are so close by Fighting American cities for getting the audience attention. MAKING BIGGER WORLD CLASS EDM CLUBS LIKE OMNIA,PACHA,ETC ETC Toronto is cliquey; the stuff that is most popular here is (by and large) just ripping off what is popular everywhere else in the world. Toronto is a city of copycats with few original musical voices. 57

Supporting local musicians as well as world-travelling and famous ones. We are terrible at supporting our local and Canadian artists. Stop giving Nathan Phillips Square to large American performers and start showcasing our local talent more. Toronto musicians are often not worth listening to, are an analogue of an American musician that does the same thing better, or are merely lazy people whose egos are directly inverse to their work ethic. Not enough outdoor performances. This is what makes Europe great! Allow people to perform anywhere at anytime! Inability to retain talented artists and groups (most move away to Europe or LA) An iconic music centre and more publicity to attract worldwide attention. The musicians are doing their part, and it would be good if the city helped with more and better MusicCity. TO publicity. The role of the City of Toronto is to make sure to create a supportive environment pre-and post-performance efforts so that all the supports are in place to nurture then showcase and mature talent locally and globally. Not having the support to prove to the world what amazing artist's besides Drake, that Toronto has to offer Barriers to US bands. Challenges? Being in Canada. need more midtier US acts being in Canada It's relative isolation as a major city Toronto's most talented musician leave Toronto. It is extremely difficult to succeed as a musician in this city. The difficulty of independent musicians to make a living in Toronto in music, and their consequent exodus. hard to make it here, Drake, Bieber, weeknd all had to move out the city to make it When people say Toronto, they really mean Downtown Toronto. But when I hear Toronto, I think of the GTA... Mississauga, Brampton, and all other subrubs that make Toronto... Toronto. I think the biggest challenge is offering this across the entire spectrum. work visas being in Canada and making it harder for out of country artists to perform There are very few people in Toronto that can get local upcoming bands the publicity outside of Canada that they need Keeping music production and post-production here instead of having artists going to LA. The spin off jobs from this industry would be great to keep here, if possible. Restrictions and intervention by the city and government in general. Difficulty for artists who come from abroad to perform. not getting noticed unless it comes from the US first toronto is a city where the music fans will support any ac:t from outside of canada more th'en their own Take Magic! for example the band is comprised entirely of torontonians, but broke in LA. Sadly in order for Canadian artists to break big we still have to move to the states. Limited reach to united states where majority of buyers are, makes it hard to sustain making art. Musicians leave for the US to 'make it' 58

Representation & Accessibility

What do you consider to be Toronto’s greatest challenges as a music destination?

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If the goal of promoting Toronto as a music “destination” is to attract tourist dollars by offering musical programming, it makes sense to invest in music programming that appeals to tourists who are likely to spend significant sums while in Toronto. I’m dismayed at how few classical music festivals and series are available to tourists outside of the downtown core neighbourhood where Roy Thomson Hall, the Four Seasons Centre and Koerner Hall are located. Walking about summer festivals, one has an impression that Toronto focuses on musical programming that consists of bar bands playing thunderingly amplified “music” to patrons who pay no more than the cost of a beer-tent beverage (if that) for the privilege of hearing the performance. Toronto needs more mid-sized venues to accommodate both local and touring artists; Diversity of musical styles and cultures in Toronto while it is abundant it is also segregated; Toronto needs to make it easier for the start ups, and grassroots community groups to apply and receive the neccessary permanent licenses they require to make art, run a small business, and engage the community, including building use permits and liquor licenses Toronto needs to loosen up about alternative parties such as raves and electronic music festivals. The electronic music sector is enormous in every other part of the world, generates income and stimulates the economy. Morality based by-laws which clamp down on that particular culture is hindering Toronto from moving forward economically and culturally. The Unsound Festival in the summer of 2015 is a great example of how many people appreciate and would welcome alternative music sites and electronic music. Wages. And that we only pay for acts that come through booking agents. Too many of our festivals are built on the premise that the musicians should be grateful for the exposure to the audience and they are afforded little or no compensation for having provided the entertainment that the organizer makes money from the public on. Yes it costs a lot to run a festival, but the insurance guy got paid, the sound guy got paid, the truck rental people got paid and city hall got paid for their permits. Why then, if it is a music festival, are we asking the musicians to do it for free? Or merch sales. There's money for the headlines but the rest if us are supposed to me grateful to be included. AFM tariff rates are very fair and reasonable. Large public events should be on AFM contracts to receive public funding, that way the rights of the artists can be protected, not just the headliner.

Monopolies that control international talent when in Toronto (*, etc.); and thus, the lack of competition; * staff (promoters, managers, bar staff, bouncers, communications etc.); cost of a ticket to a show that is more in demand; The double-dipping * gets away with >> the fan has to pay more because of their third party sites - and others (e.g. *) Accessibility and lighter music discovery. Some festivals have a hefty price tag and venues are taking a beating and need more help getting back on their feet. Some music festivals should be not pay to play festivals. Artisits should benefit for their work. Artisits without agents should be included. We need more music venues. It is costly to bring an international artist over the border. Permits are expensive. We need more music venues and a bigger range for big artists and small ones too. Rents intorotonto are too high. It is impossible to find a venue for teenagers to play someplace

I am an internationally recognized musician who frequently plays my own music in a variety of venues in Toronto where one "passes the hat" for pay. Regardless of how good you are, it is next to impossible to make a living wage as a musician in this city. It's festivals. I feel as if not all music genres are represented when it comes to renown festivals taking place in Toronto. Our Jazz Fest is unheard of, we don't have an Early Music or New Music Festival... We have Bestival and on the island in the summertime, but we lack support in many traditional musical disciplines - which need to be supported by the government, as they have been for centuries, in order for the music and musicians to be succesful. For attending festivals like NxNE or CMW, the greatest challenge for an audience member is that wristbands are priced as though a person may attend several venues in the same evening, yet the line-ups are so long to get in, that getting in at all anywhere is difficult. The second biggest challenge is around permits for musicians playing acoustic in the park. It is for community not for money, but the cost can be prohibitive, as can the risk of being fined for playing music without a permit. We have an abundance of festivals but many, with the obvious exceptions of TURF and the higher profile electronic festivals, do not compensate an artist enough, if at all. Most street festival offer a very slight honorarium, and are over saturated with singer/songwriters. Better, if necessary, to have fewer artists and pay them appropriately. Rather than a loose assortment of hobbyists in shabby pop up venues, lets ensure consistency, high quality festivals and high quality artists. Also the music scene tends to dry up in the winter, and for goodness sake we're Canadian we shouldn't be afraid of a little snow. We need to offer people incentive to ensure they keep going out and keeping our culture alive even when its thirty below. City officials need to promote Toronto as a music destination and continue to fund music/cultural festivals. - the amount of students that are graduating and paying full tuition to get a higher learning degree of experience at the schools are available to perform but have very few choices of venues to do so - the pay structure and support from the municipailty and from the the province - the lack of education in the stream of music at the elemetary school and high school level - the lack of open mindedness in programing at festivals and events to not include all types of musical styles, genres and diversity across the spectrum(i.e. also including non-popular styles) - the lack of an internationally celebrated artist infrastructure for all types of musical styles Inclusion of artists outside mainstream access. Also I feel that is should be illegal for festivals like NXNE and CMW to demand payment from artists to play at their festivals for free. These festivals are also extremely exclusionary to many sects of the community and rarely include LGBTQ artists and focus mainly on cis male fronted acts. The diversity is lacking and beyond that, it's a kick in the teeth to artists to pay to play for a festival and then receive no compensation or barely any compensation for festivals that make hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue from sponsorships. They are not festivals for artists, they are festivals for industry. 59

If Toronto worked closer with the local organicaly grown music industry, instead of catering to the needs of large international entertainment companies, there would be more diversity of events that showcase local talent. Our venue pool has also been shrinking drastically over the past few years due to increased downtown density, this has led to venue spread and no clear entertainment district. When people come downtown, you have to be 'in the know' to find the cool spots because there is no defined district with an 'acceptable use' and 'rental cost' level for the industry to focus its efforts. Its random bars/nightclubs that are pretending to be restaurants, here and there. Taxis are making lots of money. Organic cross-pollination between disparate communities is hard to foster. Geographically, our fees for international artists are higher because of travel, which lessens the reach of interesting independent international artists and the ideas they bring. The key is fostering innovation, whereas right now the economics are too stacked in favour of big corporate players who conservatively stick to status quo practices instead of pushing for innovation. A richer community of mid-level independents may prove more fruitful. This isn't a problem that is unique to Toronto, but the lack of creativity in our gov music funding agendas is horrible. OMF has one of 3 or 4 boxes they will provide funding for. It doesn't matter how good of an idea you have, how much it would help the music scene in this city, or how economical it would be, if it doesn't fall under one of the "studio recording, music video, tour support" boxes everyones hands are tied. In a sector that is focused around creativity, there in an astonishing lack of creativity in the process. Toronto's greatest challenge is educating the community on the quality of local talent - people will pay high ticket prices for international artists but are reluctantly to pay a small cover for local artists, simply because they are not familiar with the artist. We have a lot of great festivals, music, etc, I think the challenge is in having other people in other music communities around the world know about what is going on here and why it is important for them to be a part of it too. Awareness outside of Toronto is the challenge. This is starting to change, slowly, but is taking a lot of time and more needs to be done. Toronto needs to better market itself to international performers, labels and talent managers as a must-play city. Exposure levels. Canadian content rules seem to encourage radio play of a few artists on the stations I end up listening to. I have learned more about the Toronto music scene by listening to international stations than I seem to get from local stations. While the diversity of music and festivals is a strength, they often are competing for the same resources. There is an ongoing problem with a lack of medium-sized venues. As well, music from a wide diversity of cultural communities tends to be separated from many of the largest venues and festivals, kept to Harbourfront and a few other special occasions. outdoor events often have to end at an early hour, could be more of a "camping" music festival here - people often head to mtl or BC for camp-out music festivals. as well, many music venues in the city don't seem to fill up on nights they should - fridays, saturdays - like they used to. music styles could be more diverse, or more diverse styles could be more visible. Not enough all-ages venues for music youth are actually interested in. Popular music scenes depend on enthusiastic teenage fans and they're by and large excluded from the Toronto music scene (except for outdoor festivals and Yonge-Dundas square shows). I think that there is not enough mingling across musical cultures and that people don't know local history. The city needs more mid-size venues. There are a lot of festivals but there are few opportunities for artists to work with each other across genres or disciplines.

Toronto's own self-sabotaging - mostly due to major festivals and events - that don't actually cater to Toronto artists or the community that made them successful, and overall, resting on their laurels instead of being progressive like the industry in the US or in Europe or other festivals (i.e. Sled Island, HPX, etc.) The culture of the city. Not enough is done to promote the festivals or acts coming. accessibility to venues spread across the city (NXNE, CMW, RiotFest, TURF, etc should get free rides on the TTC with festival wristband), inability to promote through postering, There is no centralized hub for resources for musicians or fans (See: Metronome Canada). opportunities for diverse acts are limited to certain venues and festivals. Also, there is a real lack of acessible venues. very simply 1. the monopoly some big companies have on radio stations ,this stifles the diversity that's already in this city. 2.the acquisition of permits to have festivals in public places no matter what size (it is easier to get a permit in montreal ) . 3 there are only outlets for mainstream music to flourish ,which once again stifles the diversity of this city I think Toront is successful as an arts and culture scene. The biggest platforms in the most high profile festivals go to imported talent, so anything our city can do to promote 'local' as worthy on a global-level is valuable. Post secondary specialty schools for music performance such as UofT and Humber bring in strong talent from around the world. Many international students tend to stay in canada after their schooling. Alot of canadians relocate here as well. With this influx of talent, we need support to continue fostering this amazing talent and bringing it to our fellow Canadians. All musicians are willing to put in long hours and work crazy runs. This profession has never been easy. But the interest for live music is dying as we cut it out of schools and do nothing to develop interest. We're left with EDM or Drake which have their perks.... but that doesnt represent the canadian music scene as a whole. Promoting the diversity of music that is performed here and getting our venues/festivals to focus more on local talent and having places for less commercial styles to have their voices heard. There is NOT enough diversity in programmings and within infrastructure support. The industry is very rock and roll and country. Even though some of the biggest international stares are urban and from Toronto. There needs to be more co-operation from city when the festivals are going on to help make it more accessible to more people. Affordability of festivals and concerts for the general public; family inclusive / all-ages festivals. There is a need for more festivals with music and those festivals need to be more accessible People come from out of town to see festivals like O.V.O. and events like Caribana and the future "NBA All Stars Game" (2016), but there is not enough local talent presented in these big events for the city to be represented well and for emerging Canadian talent to break through.

Toronto plays a small role in the international music industry. In order for Toronto to be taken seriously as a major player in the global community Toronto has to invest more in the the variety of live music venues and music festivals because thousands of people from around the world attend these events. These cultural tourists will spread the word about their experiences in Toronto. The amount of music festivals in Toronto. We need more accessible live and local music. Toronto is known more for diversity than virtuosity right now - potentially focusing on the quality of music as opposed to the quantity might be a helpful thing to strengthen the scene overall. Festivals like Nxne and CMW aren't exactly known as illustrious and prestigious events in the same way that Sxsw and CMJ in the US are - trying to focus those events and make them about fewer, more high caliber shows as opposed to a "smearing" of acts playing in so many venues around the city would perhaps work to strengthen their appeal and status.

The greatest challenge locally is that even though all of us are grateful that amazing international artists grace our stages, there doesn't seem to be enough room for homegrown talent to thrive. On top of this, it seems the general audience is not interested in hearing new things coming from Canadian artists which can be accounted partly to taste and partly to lack of support for these things. Sadly, I'd say lack of reputation/international recognition (compared to, say, Detroit, Montreal, or New York). What makes a city an exciting music destination is a thriving creative counterculture introducing new ideas that exist nowhere else. This is happening in Toronto, but the general reputation from other cities is that music in Toronto is only high-production, radio-friendly mainstream/industry music. I personally think that the mind-set has to change before we're really ready for a music industry. Generally speaking we don't show any support to our aspiring local talents or, at the very least, not enough. When is the last time Toronto broke one of our own artists and put them on an international stage We often find our talents fleeing to south of the border or wherever else they can get the love they don't get at home. On the flip-side, who's to say that creating this opportunity at home won't make them want to stay? Similar issue to any other professional industry I guess, but I guess that would lead into the question of whether or not the city really takes musicians seriously as professionals. As a whole I guess we've contributed to any negative responses to that question...... 60

Not enough work to support our freelance musicians who are not members of permanent organizations like the Toronto Symphony. Toronto musicians being replaced by entire travelling orchestras for stage shows and some operas for economic reasons. Perhaps the city could provide subsidies and insentives to international touring companies, something like our government does for the film industry. Our world class musicians need work in our world class city. Toronto audiences have a reputation amongst touring musicians as being sterile and non-engaging. The culture of live music audiences here seems to be somewhat immature to professional touring acts. It's very hard to find a decent , modestly sized venue to put on a show in the downtown/central west area. Many rock bands can't fill up places like horseshoe or lees palace, and ultimately we are stuck with very few choices. Silver dollar, smiling Buddha , the garrison to name a few. But as gentrification wears down these established areas, the venues keep getting pushed further to the outskirts of the downtown sector. And even as places open up (example the Mercury and SHIBIGBs on Geary lane) , they are shut down because of residential stipulations. I understand there needs to be a balance between venues and the residential area, but that situation is a perfect example of stark black and white policies that keep our city from having a variety of venues- as to location and size. The more venues we have, the more dedicated they can each become to certain facets of the music scene. The product of that would be amazing, a place where you could always go and know the type of music you would be finding. It would be a training ground for many toronto bands, and the community that would be born out of niche venues would undoubtedly excel the growth the scene, and produce bands that would have an influence farther than toronto. Bars need to take their percentages - indie bands need to pay to play. Bylaws make it difficult to busk, to have pop up events, and to have multidisciplinary events that also include art, movies, car shows etc. I feel like the city is against music that goes into the night and try their best to shut down late night music events. there is also too much NIMBY mind set that go against venues that are building culture because people in condominums complain about the vibrant city they moved in to.

I feel that the city of Toronto needs to protect it's live music venues that act as character and landmarks from being sold to condo development and the like, by giving the owners special dispensation and tax breaks, as not to be temped by big money to give them up (think The El Mocambo). We need to protect them in a similar way as we do Heritage sites. 1. Bylaws that make it incredibly difficult to advertise shows. 2. Lack of All-Ages venues and/or the cost of booking an all-ages show. 3. Centralized "scenes", trying to do a show outside of the Queen W. area can be difficult. 4. Noise violation bylaws - venues have to be SO careful about noise, even if the neighbours that are complaining built after the venue was established. Music education. The government and school boards provincially are cutting funding to amazing schools, and making it impossible for small programs to continue, even if they are strong. I came from a program that was thriving as a high school, but since I left, regulations became harder to manage for staff to maintain small class sizes and has totally distroyed the ability to have cultured and well executed music programs. This small classroom to larger classroom demand has also effected the creative arts and sports programs at many high schools. This is a disgrace to Canadians who say they want to be cultured. If more funding in the GTA was re-alocated to extra curriculars instead of board of education scoundrels we would have a more vibrant music and sports community in skill and understanding.

The challenges are in the cost and strictness of liquor and smoking laws and related insurance. Also the expenses of a 'sin tax' related environment, partly in getting home safely after TTC Subway closures especially for women and all ages events in winter. (pardon the run on)

There are very few venues in Toronto that consistently pay a livable wage, so as a result, the venues that professionals can play in and feel like they will earn enough to cover their expenses are very few (which is a big part of the variety of venues issue). Toronto's bylaw enforcement is consistently at war with its street performers because they always side with private interests over the needs of buskers. Noise by-laws, funding and accessible resources ridiculous postering laws, 2am last call, expensive rent for musicians who are usually broke, HORRIBLE MUSIC PRESS, condo culture wiping out underground musician culture, NO GOOD MUSIC WRITERS IN PRESS Funding programs for diverse and contemporary genres of music; public performance laws/ stret performance and busking As a musician, a lot of the venues are dark/dank out of date. The sound engineers aren't really sound engineers in some places. They could be described as "hacks". The stage equipment (i.e. mic's/amps/drums/cables/lighting) is out of date. Lack of advertising of the venue which relates to the amount at times that artists get paid. They "get a cut of the door sales" which is extremely unfair as the venue profits from the sale of alcohol/door cover (regulation required). If this topic is up for discussion, the city should require venues to prove that they meet the minimum requirements of a "stage" to allow the sale(s) of tickets for performance. The audio systems should meet the requirements of the venue and should be vetted out to a third party service. Just like having a pass for health and safety on city restaurants, there should be a pass requirement for a stage. As a musician there is no regulation. If my band books a show at a venue and they have falsely advertised the "backline" (stage equipment) and I show up, the sound of our performance will be affected. This also relates to who is in the audiences, bloggers, record affiliates, media. I think just like everything else in the city, if you want to be a music destination, set the precedent that your venues are up to the gold standard/ FIRST: over regulation. No difference to City between noncommercial art space and sports bar - unacceptable. Then, a couple of noise complaints can kill a space or bar. AND, secondly. Lack of communication, cohesion between communities. neighbour complaints about noise levels. It is very very easy for a live venue to be brought to its knees by a single disgruntled complainer--neverminding that someone has moved near (or often above) a bar knowing ahead of time that this was a live music venue. The city responds to these complaints often quite on the side of the complainer, and I have now seen multiple great community-enhancing music places/bars become stale music-less places (or music is forced into odd times in an effort to accomodate the complainer) and the overall neighborhood has lost in one swoop a chunk of its vibrancy, a part of what might have made it great prior. Finding venues, the hoops promoters have to go through in securing venues, the NIMBY affect of people that move into the city but don't want want culture. A lack of easily accessible events, similar to Panamania. It would be great for Toronto to create a music series similar to Summerstage in New York. Also, there are way too many great venues that are pushed aside for development like condos. Condos crushing our venues and desperate lack of all-ages venues. Also, our 2 AM last call is wildly out of pace with other world class destinations. Noise by laws preventing more stores from hiring musicians. Lack of advertisement opportunities for concerts. Perhaps adding more community billboards or allowing concerts to poster on phone polls again might help. Things are diverse to the point that the same venue will have a metal concert and then a folk show the next night. Everything becomes the worst restaurant you've ever been to. Every great music city has venues specific to genres, and this is up to the booking agents to filter through. The other challenge is the weakness of the educational system, and while it is not up to the system to actually teach, the information does exist and should be made more accessible. The final problem that I see is the noise by-laws. Venues are being bullied into having no noise emit from their doors. If the same laws existed in NYC or New Orleans, we would not have the culture that they have gifted to the world. The fact that the by-law states that it cannot even be audible for fines upwards of (paraphrasing) about $30,000 is ludicrous. These complaints can come from people getting kicked out of a bar for being a disturbance or a racist neighbour. These laws need to be expected to be further justified before fines take place. Another issue is condos and apartments above LIVE MUSIC VENUES. This seems to be just bad city planning. Of course there will be complaints that the best R&B event in Canada has to stop at 11:30pm instead of 2am now that they have moved to College Street where there are apartments upstairs from King Street that is slowly being knocked down for more condos.

The disappearance of venues....especially venues with long iconic histories. The zoning concerns brought by residents of new condos who while attracted to the diversity of our urban spaces, hypocritically become hostile to the inescapable "intrusion" of sound that live music venues and establishments that host live music on occasion represent. outdated noise bylaws, community-based alternative spaces, Red tape, antiquated liquor laws, uncultured condo people with no taste, rich people who don't support the arts, corporate greed, unfair business owners, not enough diversity, anti-women culture of the music industry, *, uneducated people Age old bureaucracy. The lack of willingness of residents to put up with a single noisy day/night/evening to enrich cultural life in the city. Density and nimbyism don't mix well. zoning issues. unwillingness by some at city to see the need for culture in the city. 61

restrictive policies, a municipal government who is only starting now to realize that a robust policy of supporting arts/culture/music in the city is incredibly beneficial to the city in a myriad of ways. Community support, an increasingly uninspiring landscape to draw inspiration from (condos everywhere). Advertising. Getting the message out to people and maybe having a music neighbourhood. The city could do more to publicize A lack of support from government, challenges locating funding to support live music, a lack of strategy to market Toronto as a city with a rich music culture. Not enough compensation for musicians, lack of cohesion within music community, lack of awareness of music venues, lack of support/government funding For every great Toronto band you see playing live, you will see just as many if not more bands that empty rooms by playing poorly, or overly loudly. Show promoters are constantly trying to fill rooms to make bar sales and get paid more money. Yes this is important, but it seems to come at the cost of having a solid lineup of musicians for am entire night. This has led to a culture where people show up to see just one band and then immediately leave the venue, making it hard for bands to grow their fan base. There is a lack of public infrastructure to guide and promote music in general. There should be a public talent agency/ artist management department. The private sector is profit motivated, and extremely exclusive - this could be very a very simple solution whereby artists who can perform at a certain level would be provided marketing/graphics/PR/booking support by new graduates/interns/co-op students and in return would have to pay this department a percentage of their earnings (just like a private agent/manager). The Canadian music industry is still very much "pay to play" in a lot of ways, and a government body such as this would provide 1) a pool of talent with proper marketing materials from which all aspects of the industry can draw 2) a guaranteed way for talented musicians to get their footing 3) an equalization of opportunity for musicians that do not have a rich family (the sad fact is that being a musician doesnt pay until you generate buzz, buzz can only be generated through visibility, and without a * TON of luck & talent - visibility is very expensive)

More venues, awareness, and funding is needed. Raise the profile of the music community with a public awareness campaign? There is a lot of talent, but also a lot of people getting their sea legs. There isn't really a structure for or system for fostering the various stages of development in a way that will appeal to potential consumers and having so many venues disperses talent even more. It's hard for people to know where to go to hear, consistently, the level or type of music they want to hear. So many venues are melting pots, just hoping to bring bodies in, that they'll put any artist of any genre and any level of skill on stage. That makes it hard to develop regulars, from a music perspective. That being said, many venues /small businesses don't have a marketing person who understands branding, music, or target markets. The city (perhaps through Enterprise Toronto and/or Canada's Music Incubator) could help train bar/venue managers and develop community and city wide based strategies for improved synchronicity in music programming across the city, to develop more consistent and high quality user experiences. This might, in turn, help consumers be able to make a decision to go out and pay money to explore the musical landscape of the city.

City is too expensive for professional musicians, and for the experimentation and development of music cultures that aren't immediately profitable or appealing to license-givers (for busking, for example, or proposed city subsidies). Many music genres presently well-known here could not have developed under these economic conditions. lack of understanding of the importance of community music performance; too much support for the music intermediaries at the cost of the musicians It is challenging to find performance spaces that are wheelchair accessible. It is challenging for good music venues to be able to provide low-cost performance spaces to musicians, while keeping up their own rent payments (AKA - rent prices are a barrier for Toronto's music scene) and this is a key difference between Toronto and Montreal's arts and music scenes. The amount of lives shows a night can be overwhelming to live show goers, but also the rates in which venues pay musicians if at all. There needs to be support in getting more musicians paid fair wages a real lack of adequate performances spaces. aside from a few standard bars/clubs, that can be hard for less established bands to break into, there aren't enough places to play. not enough all ages venues. not enough alternative/funded spaces. not clear path from the genesis on an idea or a project, to live performance and/or career High cost of operation makes the music industry more competitive, which creates less opportunity to creating thriving, long-lasting communities. The focus of the industry tends to rely too much on popular acts, as venues and promoters need to rely on selling high levels of tickets just to rent a venue at cost. Lack of venues where new band's can inexpensively stage shows, similar problem with live theatre There seem to be no all ages venues that can be booked with out an insane amount of money. The variety of live-music venues is there, but the quality isn't across the board. there are so many bad bands performing around town because the venues won't/can't pay for decent musicians. Also, promotors offering a show with 5 bands throughout the evening doesn't help. It's become a free-for-all race to the bottom, where neither the promotors not venue owners appreciate QUALITY bands. Shortage of quality venues with good sound reinforcement and fair pay for performers, the crowds venues in recent years tend have live music as an after thought. lack of Proper Stage, Sound and Lights as well as poorly acousticly treated rooms leave audiences flat ....give them a show and they will come ..and pay!...or just set the band up on a pub floor and nobody gives a damn or makes any money. choice seems pretty clear Cost of attendance (added up through parking/TTC use, food/beverages at venues, etc.) Also the fact that artist don't support other Toronto artist. That could change tho just with a little help from the city, going towards the talented, but outshined artist, due to money situations that prevent them from taking their CAREER to the next level. Other Torontonias do not see those other artist as talented if their IGs don't look a certain way. Some artist don't do music with other artist based on the shows they've performed. It really has to do with ego. But if it is EASIER for a TALENTED artist to come up & at least SEEM like they could be on the level as other local artist that are doing well in the community, I think that would kill a lot of egos, that DONT need to be there Too many musicians are forced into doing terribly low paying bar gigs since owners are too cheap to invest in quality and have no enforcement to pay reasonable (union sanctioned) wages. If there was a place musicians could report unfair and intolerable conditions to keep venue owners from profiteering, that would probably be useful. Getting the message out in such a large population. Many venues have shifted philosophy/business models requiring artists to pay to perform, rather than paying the artists. The onus has shifted to the artists to bring their own audiences rather than venues playing a stronger curatorial role.

The lack of venues that pay well (or even something) , the lack of commitment of venues to provide professional space and equipment. Example there are few well maintained acoustic pianos in venues. Even our highest rated cultural institutions (ex.AGO) that used to think this was important have abandoned their prior commitment to provide a decent piano for their own events. (These to have 2 pianos)This is shameful coming from from an arts organization. Toronto / GTA is too large and dispersed. Toronto needs to create a Music Row which will attract producers, songwriters and performers and put them in close proximity to incubate the industry. A few streets / blocks with many inexpensive (free?) spaces for co-writing, incentives for producers to work in that physical area. A reason for songwriters, performers, producers, etc. to congregate and rub shoulders with each other and to create. Nashville is small enough to support a Music Row, Austin is small enough to concentrate talent. Toronto needs to work at it - create a place, accessible by subway, bicycles and automobiles that promotes song creation and performance. Bring Pat Pattison up from Berklee College, Boston (one of the top songwriting professors on the planet, he used to visit Toronto regularly until SAC's budget was cut) and subsidize his seminars (esp. for young songwriters), get him space at RCM. Bring up other songwriting greats (Jason Blume, etc) and make Toronto a destination for songwriting education. Lure TAXI to have their Road Rally in Toronto in the spring / early summer (TAXI runs a Road Rally in L.A. in November). The TAXI Road Rally attracts 2,000 songwriters for 3 days in November in a horrible concrete location (3 miles from the airport). 14 consecutive tracks for instruction, open mics. The music district needs to be on the subway line - musicians won’t slog through winter slush carrying their expensive instruments, or make multiple TTC transfers (bringing just a guitar on a street car or bus is already a problem). Make Toronto's Music District a Destination - right now, the talent is just too spread out and not centralized. 62

Lack of All ages venues, same artists keep getting same grants/funding, lack of affordable rehearsal spaces and difficult for musicians/artists to make a living with music full time or travel to the United States The venues and programs need to pay a reasonable wage to musicians. The lack of affordable (non church) concert venues, particularly in the west end of TO. The difficulty in obtaining funding for community music organizations. The balance between free and paid (affordable) musical events.ie. Culture Days, Nuit Blanche and Free Concerts often allow people to attend musical events in lieu of paying for them. racism and sexism in the industry, not enough innovative spaces to put on shows, lack of all age venues, music lessons/instruments are expensive For many people the cost of admission to professional performances of music, opera and ballet/dance is a hardship. To take a family to a concert, etc. could be a huge expense. When I was young I had to save up for performances and make hard choices about what I could attend. Free will offerings at more 'casual' events can help. These give performers a chance to try new things and develop their skills. We should encourage public schools to invite performers or to budget for certain grades to attend professional music. TSO has 'almost open' rehearsals several times through the year. This would introduce a new audience to classical music. The Royal Conservatory and the UofT could advertise their free sessions more widely. Musicians need places to live/rehearse which are reasonably priced. Toronto is our capital city and that makes it expensive. Could older industrial buildings be re-purposed for musicians? Sound-proofing is vital but they would be part of an instant community.If I thought longer, no doubt I could envision a great deal more. there is a lack of opportunity for young classical and jazz musicians to get their names/groups out into the public conciousness, due in large part to the significant cost of hall/venue rentals and then on top of that having to do all of the additional promotion Musicians aren't generally compensated properly when playing at live music venues. Therefore, we end up playing weddings and corporate events that pay a decent wage. It becomes harder for the average person to see Toronto's best at a live venue. lack of guidelines and also lack of easy accessible funding. Overcoming the mindset and culture that you can't make a living in music unless you're riding grants or private investors. Cost of living is high and when people move to Toronto to build a career, they get wrecked just trying to make their monthly overhead. Lots of talent, near vertical learning curve.

The race to the bottom to avoid paying musicians for their services. developing a true culture of appreciation of the arts, generally; matching funding levels of Montreal for example. the cost of accommodation relative to smaller and rural communities for visitors and residents the abundance of musicians and lack of any enforcement of 'standards of trade' (payment) the scene has become the wild west with too musicians desperate enough to play for free (or pay to play) and too many clubs willing to take advantage of their desperation Lack of support from the city itself to help cultivate a community of musicians that are provided with enough funding to support their own lifestyles. Toronto's lack of real support for home grown artist and making it appealing VS a gov't pushed thing that makes it then "Uncool" and young toronto citizens then don't want to participate or come to the show. MAKE IT COOL. Hire a YOUNG P.R person to help with roll out if you choose to support an artist or fund a project or promote a show.It's not just about the support BUT ALSO the appearance. You want people to support? MAKE IT COOL. Although Toronto is a place for musicians to connect and play, it's economically hostile to actually nurturing that talent. Cost of living and low-wage, poor quality jobs make it hard for creative people to engage in creative work. A cost of living subsidy (or promotion of higher quality part time jobs) for musicians meeting some criteria (e.g. having won a competition) would go a long way to making it possible for talent to actually be expressed in a form that's commercially viable and yields returns for the city. The huge number of clubs unwilling to pay a decent wage let alone a guarantee for musicians. types of music are generally siloed/segregated, only certain types of music seem to be supported, city/industry's clinging to old models of music-making and its dissemination, funding (with accessible application processes) for musicians and smaller organizations to activate their ideas

The cost of living in the city. Musicians and producers/engineers etc as well as the culture surrounding and supporting musicians can no longer afford to live here. How spread out everything is compared to other music cities like Austin. The transit system is in many ways archaic and poorly designed for outsiders to figure out and use. Multiple-day passes being the worst offender as they start only on Mondays, so if you buy it on Thursday you pay the same price but only get 4 days. It makes it difficult to enjoy the spread-out diversity when there are basic accessibility issues in the city. Cost. Spending $100 to see a band you idolize as they've only come to a stadium is tough. Also, some genres don't have representation and not everyone has the skills to coordinate internal talent just to see them play. Many people don't want to pay for music because we've created a culture where people get music for free online and now in bars. Because everything is privately funded and corporate sponsored, it makes it difficult for young musicians to break out into the Toronto scene. We often have to leave the city in order to build reputation in order to return, and I feel that isn't right! Toronto, in many cases, is among the strongest arts destinations in North American, if you are an established professional. Young artist support is severely lacking. Lack of parking to be honest. There are also a number of promoters active in the city who take advantage of younger musicians, refusing to compensate them for their work, and instead claiming all of the profits of a given show as their own. (I'm not sure if they're still active in the city but Supernova was a big culprit of this. They would over book shows packed with different bands, forced the bands to sell overpriced ticjets, chose the set times based on ticket sales of each band (which would lead to a lot of tension between bands fighting over timeslots, and the bands would never see any of the money by the end of it) Opportunities for young or new musicians to meet others like them and have resources to actually record and create a record, studio are expensive especially for students NO ONE PAYS. GET VENSUS TO PAY US MUSICIANS A LIVING WAGE. Lack of payment for musicians and musicians encouraged to do free shows for publicity, when they need to (get paid to ) eat. Our amazing talent has to leave the city and play in the suburbs or out of town to earn a living wage, so if the talent goes to those cities, those people won't visit Toronto. Why would they? They pay more to bring the talent to them and avoid the trip and other expenses associated with visiting Toronto.

Accessibility to services that aid a musician in producing their products and rehearsing. Most production is out of pocket. When it comes to vinyl, this is costly due to the lack of lattes. Provide a public lathe, generate more Toronto music. It's simple. Bar owners not paying a fair wage like they do their other "employees" (ie bartenders, cooks, wait staff) but instead make the artist have to pass a hat or charge a cover which is harmful to the new artist trying to make a living and develop a fan base. Bar owners/clubs should be building their business' reputation as a place where there's always great live music and then people will naturally flock their to hear whoever is playing and then the cover charge/pass the hat might make sense...but not every bar is like the * where that works... but plenty try to employ the same shamefull cheap tactics... thats a big challenge facing musicians wanting to survive the toronto music industry. It really isnt encouraged here. It's more profitable in terms of buzz and money for a band to go to the states and perform. there are many more talented musicians than there is work. As a result, many unbelievably talented musicians are forced to work minimum-wage jobs that do not make use of their expertise in order to pay rent/bills/etc. High cost of living, intolerant "Toronto the Good" attitude toward music culture (esp. surrounding noise) There is too much emphasis on support of ethnic groups at the cost of support for our general Canadian culture. Lets invest in things we can all enjoy as a nation, rather than our ethnicities. Musicians aren't valued here and are paid such awful wages and receive such awful funding that it makes it impossible for them to survive. The culture of pay to play and the anti-union atmosphere 63

clubs refusing to pay musicians good wages; people who move into music areas because they love the music then when they move in they call the police and make noise complaints. Sustainability in the music community...having consistent funding from year to year from all levels of government. It would also help if there were more incentives for the private sector to contribute to the arts community. Paying the musicians living wages. Accessibility to music. Most olaces charge a heavy fee not everyone can afford. Torontos greatst challenge is to make music and live performance a part of the cultural thinking to the extent tht people would be willing to pay the appropriate fee to hear any number of styles of music For a musician - high cost of living, low pay, generally dismissive white-collar culture. Often great music in Toronto is only consumed by others who make it - there needs to be a cultural shift where the regular downtown Toronto white-collar employee would more regularly go out and engage with the artistic community. A big challenge is transit - the TTC stops running too early. Extending by even an hour would bolster activity - music culture is a *nightlife*. I find it challenging to make a full time living in Toronto as a musician because of how expensive it is to live here. I also am challenged by how often I am asked to provide my services for free or at a discount. Even as a member of the AFM, I am often asked to do things for free as a musician. I have studied diligently, gone to school, won scholarships, performed at the Grand Ole Opry, the Olympics, the ACC, practiced for thousands of hours and have performed with such notable legends as Barbra Streisand and yet it is still very hard for musicians like me to gain the respect of the general public (and especially financially) that one would assume would be given to someone who had spent equal the amount of hours to obtain such highly specific skills. It is very challenging and it would be wonderful if Toronto was able to celebrate musicians the way other great cities (like Nashville) do. Fair, living wages for all is the first challenge. lack of paying engagements While Toronto is certainly the centre of the industry, there is a massive consolidation of power due to the FACTOR program being chaired by the labels who receive the funding. This has lead to a rather homogenous group of artists taking advantage of the entire industry and the government programs that support it. It would be great for the City to actively promote more artists from a great plurality of genres to participate. Broad minded listeners, or even listeners with discerning taste. Again, I think this is a bigger cultural problem that is the problem of all people and isn't just about money for gigs or album sales. The culture of having to pay to play or clubs offering only pwyc renumeration for musicians. Aborignal muscians and musical genres could be woven more into the fabric of our society. Not just special occasions. Musicals are very expensive, west end has more than the east , cultural music could be even more visible The competition for the entertainment dollar. Toronto needs an organized and systematic approach to redeveloping the music culture. In large part music operated totally independently without any city support. affordability - tickets are very expensive for most live concerts for the average family. I think one of the biggest challenges is getting people to go out to shows. I think one issue is admission. Bands generally have to make their money at the door, which means people have to generally pay an average of $20 just to get in. Then they need to pay for drinks as well. Many times bars make good money because of the crowds bands bring in, but the band doesn't often see a return. Cheaper admission I would think would get more people out. lack of venues, lack of communication between public/ private/ govt, lack of proper soundsystem usage, inappropriate urban planning (not considering noise) No central hub that encourages the mixing of musical cultures. Radio is playing top 40 american music, not an avenue to expose local music. Lack of all ages venues, over-saturation of musicians, not enough media support for niche genres Transit - no seriously, moving around this city makes it hard to enjoy things outside one's immediate area. ALSO - awareness of the cultural sub-cultures and events ALREADY occurring in town - cross-cultural marketing/awareness at a City level would be cool. There are no venues anymore with consistant quality and genre, everything's a free market mixed bag, which is fine, but nobody just goes out to see live music anymore, everyone just goes out to see their friends bands, What you guys can do is somehow encourage venues to have a business model based on walk-in music listeners rather than pressuring bands to do their own marketing. This would help both musicians and the reputation of Toronto as a 'music city'. The talent, variety of venues, diversity, and history of Toronto's music are not challenges but advantages! The challenge is getting everyone to see that music is a profession worthy of proper compensation, even if the group is getting great 'exposure'. Resources, media relations and venues that offer a stage for underground and up and coming artists to hone their craft. Every artist starts small and we are lacking this in Toronto! There is no identity or brand unifying the message that Toronto is a Music City. proper coverage by media outlets. While diversity is amazing, it could potentially dilute the branding of Toronto as a music destination compared to say... Nashville or Chicago. Only a challenge to solve though! Go Diversity! 19+ shows are slightly ridiculous and extremely restricting in exposing the young residents of the city to up and coming talent, 18+ would make more sense. Not enough branding - how to celebrate diversity of Toronto's music scene while also carving out a public and aesthetic identity a la Austin, Nashville, etc. where there is already an expectation or excitement around what the place and/or scene is/represents. Because of Toronto's role as the biggest cultural hub in Canada, musicians come from across the country and to a lesser degree the world to try to build careers in music here. Unfortunately this influx of talent leads to a saturated market of musicians, with virtually zero protections available for people working in the industry. The ECONOMY, THERE IS NO FOCUS or CENTRALIZED, MEDIA PROMOTED AREAS where consistently high quality musicians play regularly. Membership in the TMA does not necessarily mean the members are raising the bar of creative music that will lead to develop a market based village of financially successful content creators. Making local arts part of the media narrative, which is so often driven by American pop culture advertising accessible awareness Lack of promotion & exposure in mainstream Toronto culture diminished exposure of young people to the arts in general, in schools we need more venues for emerging and diverse artists Lack of all-ages venues. venues available to younger up and coming musicians in a variety of styles and genres, city should have public performance opportunities for up and coming acts Cooperation between venue owners, promoters, bookers and musicians. S community driven approach would be ideal. Most existing venues need a lot of repair, accessible prices (especially for soft seaters) - and there is a HUGE capacity gap around 150 SRO and 1000+ SRO some venues require a large deposit from the bands/promoters and/or require a percentage of cover collected at the door Lack of accessible venues -- there are far too many rehearsal, performance, and event spaces in Toronto that are not wheelchair accessible, do not have properly accessible bathrooms, etc. This severely limits both audiences and musicians. Not enough of a concentrated campaign by the city to encourage more citizens explore new artists at local venues 64

Lack of compensated opportunities. The amount of time that goes into preparing for gigs/concerts/shows, nobody seems to really understand. We lack venues for where larger groups can perform. Toronto has a rich community of concert bands....just as an example and they have anywhere from 30- 45/50 members.....I think also that for example, the TSO/CoC/National Ballet and show pit orchestras should be urged to hire more Canadian musicians. We have a great deal of phenomenally talented musicians here...... nobody seems to give Canadian musicians the time of day which is complete nonsense! From what I hear, there is a serious problem with access to live music by racialized musicians. It seems like the predominantly White rock and jazz based communities have built up an infrastructure for live performance and it is hard for other genres of music to find the opportunity to showcase their music in an appropriate venue. People who move into an area filled with venues and then complain about the noise. The culture landscape of some areas are being sterilized by people who some how think that living off of a major cultural artery should be a quiet at all times experience. good and more accessible venues for music culture. Lack of accessibility re: live music venues, getting 'in' to the scene Diversity of cultures, styles and genres is a double edged sword. The variation is amazing and can create wonderful art when mixed together. The sheer amount of choices mean people will be spread out across the venues throughout the city. There used to be more live music venues than there are now. And venue owners don't compensate musicians enough or at all for their services, and they rarely promote the musicians and instead rely on the musicians to do it themselves. Basically the club owners / managers don't do enough to help.

Access to venues via public transit after hours for those outside the downtown core, promotion from the city, and access for youth. Connecting with the right supports, from agents, venues, publicists, promoters, other musicians can be difficult if you don't already have connections. Access to out bigger venues isn't great. Not as many genres are represented. The lack of concentration of venues and community By shutting down venues and art spaces drives artist out of the city. Once everyone is gone Toronto is no longer going to be a "Music Destination" focus your attention on supporting the artist community creating the content Both the lack of live venues & lack of musical diversity Restrictions on alcohol. Lack of all ages events There are not enough affordable all ages venues, which makes it hard to attract younger folks to fringe bands/styles, which often have more substance than, say, a huge radio pop star. Large, but inaccessible, music venues (ie: Sound Academy), as well as a lack of medium sized venues. Lack of all ages venues, lack of D.I.Y. venues/ spaces (as opposed to Montreal) Getting Toronto on the map - having more opportunities for live music and encouraging venues to bring in popular musicians and help launch their careers. So many great locations that are not always taken advantage of the accessibility of certain venues to particular kinds of genres, artists, scenes, etc. Venues that do not provide all ages shows venues for underage acts, venues for lower level bands to start out at The lack of a bar culture like London, England means Toronto should look at alternative venues like parks for other opportunities in association with traditional music venues. All Ages venues and opportunities Not diverse in their support of variety of genres. Most venues are geared for rock, country, etc... Toronto doesn't have enough venues that fairly compensate their musicians which discourages live music and devalues the fine arts studied and practiced by these musicians. There are very few all ages venues in Toronto for youth to attend shows at. Also very few venues will let underage musicians perform. Lack of rehearsal space, lack of all ages live music venues All of these issues are gigantically important. Toronto fails in every single one of these respects. The only training for Toronto musicians comes from Humber. Humber is not nearly good enough to educate Toronto. There is a serious lack of diversity as all venues exploit the 'indie' scene. The history is buried and forgotten. The venues are awful. I think it's the ability to connect the divers musical cultures, it's always the same bands playing at the same place. I think it's important to have culturally divers music play in public venues. The culture of music shows being late night events. They have their place, but I think we could enrich the variety of patrons by being more like England and having music performances in the hours of 6-9, making it a social destination after work for many people who can't be bothered to leave the house once they're there There are fewer and fewer venues that can help young musicians start out The talent, venues and diversity of musicians, musical cultures, styles and genres are already here. The biggest challenge is that the musicians have very few resources to promote themselves or have access to playing in the venues. There are huge financial barriers to being a musician in Toronto and the music scene is less a culture of support and more a culture of "survival of the fittest." Changing that culture within the music scene is key. Lack of all ages shows and venues to encourage youth to be involved in music Lack of all-ages venues, non bar venues, diy venues being shut down Toronto often loves to say that they're on the forefront of creating the best in entertainment, but often it becomes overshadowed by the hollow rhetoric that we as a city keep hearing. Make it believable, don't just bring in NXNE and assume the acts are enough - strive for more diversity, push every angle of the event. We need to get the public more engaged in coming out and supporting live music! There are many venues to hear music, more jazz options would be nice, however, we need audiences to make this viable. lack of all ages/affordable venue spaces, too much policing on postering There are little to no venues for music outside of the downtown area. Places like Scarborough and Etobicoke only have a few small stages but its not enough to get kids and people out to shows. We need more concert halls. It's one thing to attract musicians to a venue, but you need to attract fans and average listeners too. Lack of integration/balkanization of cultural events accessibility and transport - this speaks to a wider issue in Toronto - but if the city wishes to open up more areas such as the island or the beaches for music venues and encourage people from outside of Toronto to attend then accessibility (for the physically handicapped) and transport need to be improved. Age restrictions in venues. Not being able to find decent spaces to play or affordable spaces to rehearse. Not getting booked at venues because of age 65

central all ages venues The engagement of Toronto crowds. At a multi-band event, groups will come to see the band they know and not stick around for any other acts on at the same show. The lack of accessible and available music venues for different crowd sizes We need more venues and forums to perform. Clubs are closing. Exploratory musical arts like jazz & world music are being continually marginalized. If the city is interested in deepening it's cultural footprint it first needs to acknowledge where that depth is going to come from. It will not come from more Drake concerts. But it will come from more Brownman concerts (just to name one artist I admire in the city who pushes the envelope and deeps the city's culture just by doing what he does) There is a lot of talented musicians that cannot make even a minimum wage when they work. It is a crisis and eventually the live music talent pool will dry up through attrition. lack of all-ages shows and venues, lack of mainstream promotion The outrageous prices venues, events and stadium charge for beverages is something that should be changed. $7.15 + tax for a cup of domestic draught beer at the Air Canada center for example is in my opinion thievery (other venues are also charging high prices for their alcohol). Make the prices affordable and more people will want to spend more and go out more often. Seriously give this one some thought. please. Many small venues (reileys, the big bop, seiesta neveaux etc) have been closed to make room for gentrifying their surrounding neighborhoods and I believe we are losing our authentic local music communities. not enough venues simply and the way they are managed is not effective. Also, just managing the various diversity of musical cultures better. Maybe some the institutional structures of the City of Toronto itself need to be redeveloped or new agencies need to be created to manage this. accessibility to venues and parking/traffic Ensuring live-music venues, historical or otherwise, aren't priced out of/gentrified out of culturally thriving areas. There is too much red tape. Too many rules at events, too hard to get live concerts in the community Not enough financial support for live music venues means it is nearly Impossible to survive, let alone profit, from this as a business; culture that does not adequately value or understand live music; lack of venues presenting/providing live music. those who do are usually ill equipped to do so (ie inadequate stage, sound sytems , sightlines) Many live music venues are not surviving due to a number of reasons, and those who are thriving are highly commercialized winners of popularity contests where creativity and diversity are not at the forefront. There seems to always be a dominant voice of "the white male" in the Toronto music scene because that is the demographic that is the most affluent and privileged in established positions of authority and leadership. Getting young people into venues with live music. accessible shows for people outside of but close to toronto eg. shuttles from venue to go train would be hella' helpful More venues need to be made available and for all ages The lack of all ages venues in the music scene not showcasing as many minority musicians and less mainstream genres in accessible venues We have a glut of talented musicians. The culture in smaller venues with live music is often "pass the hat". We need more venues that realize the vale of live music. Overall in society, there is less appreciation towards music; anecdotally, I have found younger people to be a less appreciative audience, or outright ignore the bands at venues. The ability to embrace itself as a music city such as Nashville or Austin. Musician parking, more outdoor venues etc A lot of the venues/bands that attract the under 19 crowd, cannot afford (the risk and financials) to put on all ages shows. The organisation "Johnnyland" is clad in scandal. A number of music venues have closed down over the last few years. Would like to see that trend stopped, or older venues revamped. Music culture is very important to citizens and visitors of Toronto and to the artists that wish to perform. There are not enough all-ages events and opportunities for youth to get involved in music culture in the city. It is driven too much by bar sales. Education. New York is known as a music city because of it's music scene but also because of it's educational prospects. Julliard, the Manhattan School of Music and others are all located in the city which draws talented, young students from around the world to study there and hopefully stay and perform. Toronto doesn't really have a large music education draw, with the exception of the Glenn Gould Studio, which means a lot of talented young musicians aren't coming or staying Toronto but are going south. Smaller bars and clubs which are vital to young bands are quickly disappearing due to greed over rent rates of the venues. There needs to be more community support and appreciation for live music in small local venues in order to develop the industry Not enough small venues to play gigs that are not bars. More all ages venues and events. We have a diversity of musical cultures but it is not on display as much as it could be. The city does not have a clear identity outside of words like diverse and multicultural. To this end it appears there is no clear plan of support or growth areas. A real strategy around music that extends its cultural and economic impact - like Austin, Texas or Paris or London. Disproportionate investment in white, guitar-led musicians versus people making music in racialized communities. The profliteration of electronic music and "DJ" culture Toronto doesn't compare well to cities like New York, San Francisco (and Bay Area), Paris, Berlin or even Montréal with regards to the amount, depth and talent in new music (i.e., concert music, experimental classical, whatever one wishes to call it) and jazz. The former tends to be insular while the latter seems to be largely manned by fine musicians who probably make most of their income from other sorts of commercial work. Going to jazz clubs in 2015 and listening to people play over the same standards as if it were 1955 is not terribly interesting, or terribly relevant, even if the level of musicianship his high. Toronto, in general, is risk averse and nothing shows that more than how dull and derivative the jazz and experimental music scenes are. The problems with the experimental music scene can, to a large degree, be chalked up to the dismal situation with the city’s universities and how poorly their composition programs have become over the past few decades. Comparing with what goes in Montréal with the quality of the programs at McGill, for example, let alone NYC which is being fed by alums from Juilliard, Columbia, Princeton, Yale and the Manhattan School of Music show just how lousy a job a place like the UofT is doing. I am often disappointed when I hear the works of younger composers in Toronto in that it is often both technically unsound but also short on imagination and understanding of what is going on in the world in which they’re supposedly operating (poorly educated and woefully insular). I am equally disappointed by the crony networks that inform the programming of many of the new music ensembles in the city. It was tiresome decades ago before it went on to help kill send and entire scene into irrelevance.

The people who can afford to be musicians in Toronto do not reflect Toronto's diversity (typically white, cis, men with guitars) exporting toronto culture central information source that enables cross-pollination and interaction across cultures and genres Not a strong enough community that can support everyone fully. The culture of music education eroding since the 70's 66

lack of diversity, lack of a support structure for new/young artists, lack of do-it-yourself resources Lack of support for the talented Toronto musicians, cultures, styles and genres that are not already deemed profitable and safe - i.e. that already fit into Toronto's definition of "Canadian music." balancing what is necessary for the music community and what works for the public. Availability of affordable rehearsal space; employment opportunities at fair rates/wages. I think the industry doesn't match the talent. Toronto artists are some of the biggest in the world, Justin Bieber, Drake, Shawn Mendes, The Weeknd, etc. But all those people had to go to the states to get their business in order. I think the talent is here, but we need a stronger music businesses to package and sell it. We are a city with some very wealthy residents. They should be given every encouragement to support our important cultural institutions more fully. The music scene needs to be more visibly diverse like the people that live in it, and not just present mainstream white acts Age restrictions on concerts due to proximity of alcohol. Noise curfews. Need to help promote jazz and younger jazz musicians more Toronto is too big and diverse to be known for any one thing. This is a strength and a weakness. We will never be Nashville, but we can have many simultaneous music scenes within our city. Red tape, lack of accessible, alternative spaces, systemic racism promotion. it takes a lot of work to figure out where to go and who to see unless they are already famous and your budget is over $50. CBC music, CBC metro morning, , indie 88, Show Gopher and various facebook pages try to organize it but it still takes a big effort. finding the independent artists and helping them deliver their message publicly too much talk of the past. Who cares. This is 2016. Decision makers & focus on those who keep saying whats not there. Need to start promoting the diversity of talent already available. Start champion the greatness we have. lack of affordable living spaces for low to average income artists The lack of overall culture in the day to day life of a Torontonian, or North American for that matter Opportunities and a culture built on growth for up-and-coming artists. I think we need to foster Toronto as a world-player in the Western music industry Needs better support for current music. Urban music (e.g., rap) is under-represented. Creating functional space for dynamic cross-cultural interaction of our diverse popular music scenes. There is a great diversity in the music genres but with out a radio station platform to promote it, no one cares, music magazines are cliques and only promote a very narrow concept of the music scene in Toronto and it's usually as favours to their friends Radio is not a true reflection of the talent & diversity of Toronto, talented artists are provided limited air time (outside of the excepted genres). There is definitive gap that could be filled. Sense of community is lacking Accessibility, the implied requirement to purchase alcohol to participate in the culture, Transit, the city focusing on sports as "key" culture while treating music as "auxiliary" The divisive nature of the community, a program that brings musicians and orgs/opportunities together would benefit all. The snobbish attitudes of local musicians and music supporters. Don't encourage this decadent and spoiled culture. Despite our diversity of musical cultures, these cultures rarely encounter one another; they remain segregated, with some relegated to the outskirts of the city while others are clustered in the more accessible downtown. The greatest challenge is creating an environment that will encourage the more talented musicians to stay in Toronto, rather than to move to other cities in other countries. Thus creating greater quality, and quality control for live music. The city's ability to manage crowds not enough music in public places– we need to take a page from Montreal The potential to earn a living wage as a performer/writer maintaining old heritage. The culture doesn't seem to support music very much, if Toronto wants to be a music city, they should find more music and art projects, and ingrain it more into the TO lifestyle Apathy towards the average musicians who don't have a record deal. No one cares about them. All ages music scene availability The challenge of commuting from outer parts of the city. Its hard for youth to transit effectively at night when a lot of concerts happen, and I think it actively discourages people from attending smaller shows or lesser known artists. It is difficult for aspiring (and especially underage) artists to book their first shows. And most schools provide little to no support for any musical endeavours outside of their own music programs. All-ages shows are scarce and underage fans are often unable to see their favourite musicians How difficult it is for an artist to survive in the city because of its high real estate prices. Since you can't really change the price of property and rent at least there should be some control over compensation or encourage musicians to not give up or move to Hamilton where it is more affordable

A profound lack of all ages shows. Toronto lacks in accessible studio spaces open to public. A web of anti-fun legislation drafted by old puritans and forced upon youth Support and encouragement for local artists it's difficult for musicians to play at all ages shows because they are usually unpaid The lack of acceptable grants and easy access to knowlage bases on how to apply for grants for shows, recording and publishing There is a culture of exclusivity -- most musicians form cliques that only include the "cool people". If you don't fit in, they just use you. not celebrating our demographic diversity The negativity of the industry gatekeepers. Promoters, agents club owners and press It is over saturated. There needs to be more viable options and performance opportunities afforded and affordable rehearsal space made accessible. The suppression of musician's wages in the city. Many top tier musicians are struggling to make a living or leaving the profession or the city all together. 67

While Toronto has a thriving music community, the city doesn't do enough to support artists and the industry. Financial/tax breaks, city-owned rehersal spaces, and community spaces (think Artscape) would help. Affordable space to put on small shows (outside a bar), affordable space to rehearse - organizations like Artscaoe ideally should be a terrific option but they really aren't affordable nor open to musicians (or frankly, ground level emerging artists). We also have an IMMENSE NEED for all-ages (bar and non- bar) music spaces in all areas of the city, especially the core and low-income areas.. to rehearse, Mostly the amount of people who are all wanting to take advantage of the same opportunities. the accessibility to shows since they get sold out extremely fast Musicians need to make better wages Getting across that there is something for everyone and it represents the amazing diversity of our great city. Bringing Toronto's musical diversity to the fore. I don't think enough people, even in Toronto, realize the breadth of musical styles available. Having access to performance and rehearsal spaces, especially for new, young and/or up and coming Toronto musicians. Making it known as a music destination; Toronto is currently billing itself as a destination across multiple fronts; incorporating music into all of this so there is a cohesive message does not seem to be happening- but could. A little bit to much culture is present ideally. Toronto should focus more on artists a d talent within the city. There's so much talent that should be on a world stage, that's not getting a chance to be heard. Some of these independent programs like R.I.S.E., are giving a platform but it still doesn't get the attention it deserves. Over saturation of talent, which leads to lower wages for all musicians in the city. how we promote, we have never encouraged the general public to become fans. TO has a rep as a very hard audience. The accessibility to these artists - hearing about them, their shows, etc.. we need more affordable all ages spaces. Not enough advertising and promotion of music culture in the city. Ensuring that not just performance is promoted but also and even more so the business of music (managements, technical support, promotion, stage and lighting, engineering...) The ability to make a fair living wage as a musician. The abundance of 19+ concerts clearly hinders Toronto's ability to become a music city. As artists play shows, having them with an age of majority is clearly ageist towards younger age groups, and doesn't allow for a large demographic to see their favourite bands perform, and as a result cannot enjoy Toronto as a music city. I would also add the volume and accessibility of shows. a culture that largely does not embrace live music Encourage more brave and daring musical styles. Fair wages, and affordable housing to allow musicians to develop their art The development of other areas of the music business, change is happening and producers, writers, amanagers are moving to the burbs, but they still say Tdot. Making high quality music more present and accessible in public spaces, especially outdoors in good weather. It is difficult to compel people to leave the downtown area and support what is happening in the various communities and cultural groups. The top agencies in Toronto have a strong hold on all the work... that has to change. Musical diversity, opportunity and talent isn't lacking, if anything the city is completely over saturated by musicians; many great but most not so great. The culture here does not encourage musicians to pursue their art, rather it encourages complacency and sterility. More should be done to educate people on the challenges that artists face, the amount of hard work and dedication it takes to produce high level music, and the importance of music in people's lives. The question should be asked, how can we make our culture more like the US or Europe where musicians are respected and held in high regard. Although I have marked this as a strengh in the previous question, it is also our weakness as there is not enough promotion in the category of rock/hard rock music. It is very unfortunate that rock/hard rock is too often referred to ''American music''. Frankly although I love CBC radio, they almost always seem to only play folk music, it isn't fair, esp since adult language can always be edited out. Diversity is such a strength but the need to support all musicians from all cultures and communities equitably is challenging Wages!!!!! can't be good at something if you work 8 hrs a day on something else to make a living! The lack of a true creative economy for music outside of popular styles and institutional culture. Supply exceeds demand - too many talented players for them all to be working. Also demand keeps dropping, especially among the younger generation who prefer computer-generated music to music made by actual players of instruments. The quality of live musicians playing. I believe the quality of live bands and artists would improve if a member of the music community (producer, A&R, or promoter) who is currently in the scene, to advise and assist whatever city efforts are currently underway. This would serve to keep the music scene current. overflow of young talented musicians. All the schools are here so... Making sure that Toronto musicians are fairly compensated so that their contribution to Toronto both culturally and economically is recognized and so that they can continue to perform and help grow its culture and economy. Liveable wages for those who are in the industry accessibilty to music (eg. all ages performances, access to studios and instruments) many Torontonians don't have the luxury of going out. We have to either show them how art & culture can make the quality of life better and find a way - if we cannot entice them out - to bring it to them? almost all establishments are too white, only letting people of color into the space for the sake of tokenism. lots of racialized peoples create great music that is not the typical cookie cutter music this whitewashed city is accustomed to, but aren't given much chances because they're restricted to their social circles and preference is given to the same lame white rock outfit over and over again. outreach, research, and community building bridges that. Howeasy it is to expect that artists will create and survive despite the lack of patronage and support. Check out the Renaissance if you need some empirical evidence. Dispersed across city and GTA it is hard to strengthen the community as a whole rather than pockets/genres -- both between musicians and also between audiences. The community is not defined or united enough. There are pockets but good music cities have more support and it is part of the mentality. The youth, and up-and-coming/ indipendant music scene It's too segregated through genres and race. There needs to be more unity. 68

Music in Toronto is almost exclusively 19+. I think our scene would produce greater music overall if younger people could become more involved and encouraged to play and support bands. affordable for the average person, better restraints on scalping Toronto is challenged by the lack of coordination of the music sector. Popular music has emerged as a major cultural force of a generation but was never included in the cultural planning by the fine arts and performing arts organizers because it was consdered too "commercial" or common. This elitist perspective has changed or needs to change to embace all music practice and correct "historical inequities". Financial health of community orchestras Accessibility Lack of good music programs that are available to those who can't afford private tutorage. I see one of the challenges to be shifting the attitudes of local audiences away from self-criticism--Toronto audiences are often the last to actually embrace/support what is going down in their own city! The booking agents are incompetent and biased. They are an inhibitor and some are unethical. Same for some of the bars who book either directly or through agents. Fostering a strong artistic community as a city, with the emphasis on community rather than the end product. Accessibility for young people as far as ticket pricing is concerned. We have never developed a music fan or audience culture Indifference to music and musicians. With the age downloading free music, most people have settled into an attitude of expecting music for free. Educating the public is key has settl Accessibility of music to all The support from individuals outside the music community The lack of encouragement to appreciate the arts from a young age. The music scene is generally not appreciated enough and that's become the culture now. exploitation of young musicians Lack of promotion of local artists to a wider global audience. Fair and equal access to rehearsal and performance spaces for all artists, including low-income and disabled artists Lack of promotion of local artists. Should have City sponsored talent shows. Live music for emerging artists is tied directly to bars. Which is great but also limits the artists visibility. Not sure what the solution is but the majority of music fans can't see a band perform because they have jobs and families and can't stay out til 1 often. :) It's always folky/alternative and lacking other genres and have less support/enthusiasm for emerging artist Getting away from the 'super star music' and celebrating local artists We don't celebrate our local artists until after they leave. there is not enough fan support for local artists as advertisings via flyers and posters is banned on many areas typically blasé audience response to local artists' live performances lack of support for local artists only performances grants for emerging artists The ability to support local musicians as they are emerging, early on in their careers. support and opportunities available for local artists to showcase their art More access to live music for those under 19. lack of mental health resources available to musicians in Toronto Exclusion of persons/groups like VOICES OF NATIONS from Dundas Square. Exclduing and harrasing a group based on a person's decision is discriminatory and should be stopped many artists from Toronto are incredibly successful, but they are all men, Drake, The Weeknd, Majid Jordan, Allan Rayman, all come to mind but I cant think of any women bands travelling here often play weeknights vs weekends There is a lack of morning or daytime performances Music is coupled with drinking. Nobody goes out to drink before 11. I can't sleep enough as a musician. inability to play late night shows. Most music is consumed late nights in bars. Such an outdated way of thinking. The challange is to develop the street level talent. Just ask gordon lightfoot, bare naked ladies. drake Singling out specific genres of music based on perceived associations with drug use equal reflection of everything in the spectrum More options for independent musicians. Stop booking just big names. Give indies a chance. More access to mainstream outlets for independent artists opportunities to showcase local talent the lack of mainstream opportunities for independant artists Unwillingness of presenters to book less-known a ts Local Support- Recognition of Toronto musicians by the city Access to facilitate for budding musicians the booker's perception as to what is important when booking bands. People don't support live music unless it is a know famous artist If there is no support for talented local and indie artist who are not given the resources to succeed. Especially in regards to Urban Music. 69

there is not enough belief, and support for new artists without a major cosign to "tag on" to the shows that come out here. We are excluded People need to look more at what Artists in Toronto are doing It is hard to get a start as a musician in Toronto, often having to go in the U.S to start a career lack of sufficient opportunities hence most often go off to seek opportunities in the US Drake. The lack of support for indie/underground artists, specifically in the city's Hip Hop scene. There is plenty available for popular artists, but the up and coming music scene is given very little. More support for local musicians would be outstanding. Too much of a clique attitude can develop, and a lot of people seem unwilling to let outsiders come in. I don't think there are many challenges, but I do think that the clique aspect of things comes into play and that can be challenging for people trying to get off the ground. Toronto's rave/electronic scene can and should be bigger... Just look at the UK's scene... Dance music producers are always at the forefront of new sounds and heavily influence pop artists of today... We need a stronger dance/rave scene. Need more jazz , country, and other music styles Musical mainstream in Toronto is generally very conservative in nature. Not enough variety of music is presented on a professional level. Our current music scene has tunnel vision with respect to what is presented. No support for independent urban rap hip hop artist Breaking in as a new act All the really creative, non-pop artists need to go elsewhere to become recognized Lack of musical innovation. There is innovation, but not a lot of it. Does not use local talent enough, access to ressources for independant musicians Access new local talent A lack of easily accessible events, similar to Panamania. It would be great for Toronto to create a music series similar to Summerstage in New York. Also, there are way too many great venues that are pushed aside for development like condos. We have an abundance of festivals but many, with the obvious exceptions of TURF and the higher profile electronic festivals, do not compensate an artist enough, if at all. Most street festival offer a very slight honorarium, and are over saturated with singer/songwriters. Better, if necessary, to have fewer artists and pay them appropriately. Rather than a loose assortment of hobbyists in shabby pop up venues, lets ensure consistency, high quality festivals and high quality artists. Also the music scene tends to dry up in the winter, and for goodness sake we're Canadian we shouldn't be afraid of a little snow. We need to offer people incentive to ensure they keep going out and keeping our culture alive even when its thirty below. Toronto is bursting with musical venues and events, which means there is lots of competition and many music venues seem to be struggling to attract a crowd. Too much selection isn't always good. Going out to see live music is also very expensive. Many of my friends are musicians and I try to attend as many shows as possible, but I'm 28 and work a part time job and can't afford to go out, no matter how much I want to. Even if I only drink tea, the TTC cost alone adds up with each show I go to. Too many things happening at once, traffic congestion is a barrier for getting around to events Oversaturation. Like YouTube, when you have to many people in the game, the public loses interest especially when there aren't enough channels to keep up with the saturation. Toronto can't handle the traffic these musical streets can funnel. Lack of accessible venues -- there are far too many rehearsal, performance, and event spaces in Toronto that are not wheelchair accessible, do not have properly accessible bathrooms, etc. This severely limits both audiences and musicians. It is over saturated. There needs to be more viable options and performance opportunities afforded and affordable rehearsal space made accessible. Wages. And that we only pay for acts that come through booking agents. Too many of our festivals are built on the premise that the musicians should be grateful for the exposure to the audience and they are afforded little or no compensation for having provided the entertainment that the organizer makes money from the public on. Yes it costs a lot to run a festival, but the insurance guy got paid, the sound guy got paid, the truck rental people got paid and city hall got paid for their permits. Why then, if it is a music festival, are we asking the musicians to do it for free? Or merch sales. There's money for the headlines but the rest if us are supposed to me grateful to be included. AFM tariff rates are very fair and reasonable. Large public events should be on AFM contracts to receive public funding, that way the rights of the artists can be protected, not just the headliner.

Monopolies that control international talent when in Toronto (*, etc.); and thus, the lack of competition; * staff (promoters, managers, bar staff, bouncers, communications etc.); cost of a ticket to a show that is more in demand; The double-dipping * gets away with >> the fan has to pay more because of their third party sites - and others (e.g. *) Too many musicians are forced into doing terribly low paying bar gigs since owners are too cheap to invest in quality and have no enforcement to pay reasonable (union sanctioned) wages. If there was a place musicians could report unfair and intolerable conditions to keep venue owners from profiteering, that would probably be useful. the abundance of musicians and lack of any enforcement of 'standards of trade' (payment) the scene has become the wild west with too musicians desperate enough to play for free (or pay to play) and too many clubs willing to take advantage of their desperation Although Toronto is a place for musicians to connect and play, it's economically hostile to actually nurturing that talent. Cost of living and low-wage, poor quality jobs make it hard for creative people to engage in creative work. A cost of living subsidy (or promotion of higher quality part time jobs) for musicians meeting some criteria (e.g. having won a competition) would go a long way to making it possible for talent to actually be expressed in a form that's commercially viable and yields returns for the city. The competition for the entertainment dollar. Toronto needs an organized and systematic approach to redeveloping the music culture. In large part music operated totally independently without any city support. Lack of all ages venues, over-saturation of musicians, not enough media support for niche genres Because of Toronto's role as the biggest cultural hub in Canada, musicians come from across the country and to a lesser degree the world to try to build careers in music here. Unfortunately this influx of talent leads to a saturated market of musicians, with virtually zero protections available for people working in the industry. There is too much red tape. Too many rules at events, too hard to get live concerts in the community Over saturation of talent, which leads to lower wages for all musicians in the city. Musical diversity, opportunity and talent isn't lacking, if anything the city is completely over saturated by musicians; many great but most not so great. Supply exceeds demand - too many talented players for them all to be working. Also demand keeps dropping, especially among the younger generation who prefer computer-generated music to music made by actual players of instruments. The booking agents are incompetent and biased. They are an inhibitor and some are unethical. Same for some of the bars who book either directly or through agents. It's great that there are so many options of festivals and venues to choose from, but it hits a saturation point and starts to have a negative effect because these events and venues start to loose money as the music consumer has infinitely more options on where to spend their money but still only has the same amount of money to spend. Also, there is nowhere central to check all of the events happening across the city at any given time. For tourists coming to the city, it can be an overwhelming task trying to find and access some of the shows/events/talents that Toronto is offering. Unless they know what the Horseshoe is, they don't know to look there for performance listings. 70

the city's cost of living, over-saturation of festivals during certain times of the year. too many small festivals, not one central one. need more recognizable acts at nxne/cmw to push them to the next level Oversaturation of music festivals in souther Ontario Too many small clubs in the downtown core. We need more mid-sized venues where acts can get booked as they are growing. We also need to ensure that talent buyers have budgets to afford high-value international touring acts and that the bookers themselves are paid well for the life-consuming job that they do. To be able to create a larger scene, where the musicain can support each other rather than compete with one another. This could lead to a new style or scene internationally based here in Toronto (Seattle, Liverpool, San Fran) market competition, inflexibility of sound bylaws, city policies The last call is too early, too many clubs and venues becoming condos The lack of mid sized venues, the tendency for Toronto's bureaucracy to vilify electronic music which is one of the musical genres that defines Toronto; the early bar hours; too many people who complain about noise and no city strategy that supports venues to make that noise (i.e. 100 people enjoying themselves at 3 in the morning should not be overridden by one grumpy person who would rather sleep and likes to complain) draconian laws that prevent patrons, from smoking within meters of the venue... as well as too many liquor licences spreading the potential audience too thin Condos and "Hot" businesses! They are becoming a huge problems. over the past few years too many of our cities fantastic venues have become targets of what is trending. Look at how INK Entertainment handled the Velvet underground and more recently Sound Academy. It is true that Sound Academy will still host shows but large entertainment complexes have been known to scare away many music fans who are looking for smaller venues that house more intimate shows. There is also a problem with lack of preservation of important venues and music related businesses. The El Mocambo just narrowly avoided becoming another computer store next to 3 other computer stores and Sam the Record man is now the SLC. The lack of vision by many venue owners to cultivate and boost the scene in the city. Also, the "Condofiaction" is forcing too many venues to close. Too many bylaws and regulations. Too many venues/promoters not paying equitable rates and too many musicians willing to play for free or at under-market rates Getting funding for musicians to create. Oversaturation of so many musicians. Lack of professionalism and awareness of business practices when trying to "make it." market saturation, cost of living, lack of resorces So much competition, hard to make a living, and bars paying with exposure. Too many venues that don't pay artists, or actually CHARGE artists to play either through fees or ticket sales. This has to stop. Being a musician is expensive yet musicians aren't paid nearly enough and always get ripped off by venues. There is also too much competition with so many attractions in the city that it is hard to get people to attend shows. There aren't enough incentives to play live shows.

Too many venues do not pay a livable rate or require the musicians to pass the hat. way too many artists and venues, scenes tend to be small and enclosed, unwillingness of people to pay for music Too many musicians working for little money. So many venues will "hire" act that work for next-to-nothing, and so the quality control, professionalism, and consistency of the music scene is all over the map. Ultimately, this degrades the overall value of the city as a music destination.

Oversaturation: many people complain they feel overwhelmed by all of the choices. Cost of living, cost of doing business, over-saturation, the over-valued perception that Toronto is the music-hub of Canada. The quality of gigs, there are too many people, most with little musical talent. So gigs that actually pay real money are few and far between. Technology has created lower barriers to entry in an already saturated market, labels have downsized staff, lack of affordable studio space, musicians relocating to different cities The market is extremely saturated. Every night of the week theres 2-4 major concerts and 20 local shows. The over-saturation of the market. Too many bands want to play here and not enough people go to the shows. Not enough alternative venues. There's almost too many options, and too many false-venues where music is an after-thought to the establishment. Too many restaurants trying to be music clubs. Some people wanna see music, some people just wanna eat. It's disheartening on either side. Music shouldn't be forced on an unwilling audience, it creates tension for the musicians and indifference to music to the potential audience. It's Location, Toronto needs to give further incentives to music lovers in order to compete with music cities like NY and Austin Too many small licensed establishments to support profitable live music venues as in the past. Violence in Toronto keeps 905 people away. Too many places, too many venues that "hire" musicians for free or near-free, makes it so difficult to create an industry in which people can distinguish and promote the very fine. too many irreverent events There might be a bit of over saturation in terms of the number of artists competing for the same, relatively few events There are not that many live venues out there, given the size/population of the city. And there are too many rules/restrictions on noise, advertising, and promotion/sponsorship (this may be a provincial govt issue). A lot of competition and not enough venues that appreciate what value musicians bring competition in other centres Possibly too many musicians...? not too many people in business care abbout music as a form of entertainment. competition of other cities It can be an exensive city to visit or work and for what it offers globally, New York or Montreal might be superior competition in many instances. Too many Government impediants Oversaturation at times. Over saturation too many older men have gate keeper keys, more women need to be gate keepers. 71

over saturation Toronto's ability to compete as a music destination with cities like Los Angeles, NYC, Nashville, Austin, etc. Over saturation Too many people doing the same sort of thing; nowhere to play if you don't fit neatly into a genre. Support, but especially the capacity to discern between good, mediocre, and bad work; Toronto is SATURATED with mediocre artists who need to be supported and taught to be better. Over saturation of bands and short attention spans of concert goers. I would argue that a musician trying to find visibility in a music destination with LOTS of competition is tough! oversaturation and fan indifference Lack of competition in high calibre music performances getting paid properly for gigs. too many presenters take too big of a cut. the musicians are the last people to be paid. Toronto`s strengths as I listed above are also it`s biggest weakness in a lot of ways--because there are SO MANY musicians and SO MANY different styles available any night of the week, the scene has become somewhat oversaturated, which has been adding to the `lack of respect` for live music in Toronto I mentioned earlier Too many amateurs compete with real talent, and some of the real talent never gets heard. it is disorganized with too many competing information sources Perhaps the competition for everything else available in Toronto? Also, I've always thought slightly earlier set times during weekdays would go a long way to getting more people out that aren't necessarily regular gig goers. The amount of musicians Many bands undercutting one another for work. There isn't enough demand compared to the amount of talent in the city Seems to be alot of talent yet not often alot of opportunities. Hard for musicians to stand out, also hard for them to make music their career The amount of shows going on every night can make the scene competitive but this could also be a could thing. The large number of musicians with immense talent. This can often increase supply of musicians and unless the demand goes up our rate for services decrease. Extensive cronyism in the music scene. Hand picked acts (not sumissions)*. Awards shows are laughable. Make it about merit, not who you know, 72

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Keyword Searches: traffic, distance, transport*, parking, mobil*, accessib*, proximity, transit*, TTC, buses, streetcar*, subway*, cars, bike*, bicycle* accessibility to venues spread across the city (NXNE, CMW, RiotFest, TURF, etc should get free rides on the TTC with festival wristband), inability to promote through postering, There is no centralized hub for resources for musicians or fans (See: Metronome Canada).

The challenges are in the cost and strictness of liquor and smoking laws and related insurance. Also the expenses of a 'sin tax' related environment, partly in getting home safely after TTC Subway closures especially for women and all ages events in winter. (pardon the run on)

Cost of attendance (added up through parking/TTC use, food/beverages at venues, etc.) Toronto / GTA is too large and dispersed. Toronto needs to create a Music Row which will attract producers, songwriters and performers and put them in close proximity to incubate the industry. A few streets / blocks with many inexpensive (free?) spaces for co-writing, incentives for producers to work in that physical area. A reason for songwriters, performers, producers, etc. to congregate and rub shoulders with each other and to create. Nashville is small enough to support a Music Row, Austin is small enough to concentrate talent. Toronto needs to work at it - create a place, accessible by subway, bicycles and automobiles that promotes song creation and performance. Bring Pat Pattison up from Berklee College, Boston (one of the top songwriting professors on the planet, he used to visit Toronto regularly until SAC's budget was cut) and subsidize his seminars (esp. for young songwriters), get him space at RCM. Bring up other songwriting greats (Jason Blume, etc) and make Toronto a destination for songwriting education. Lure TAXI to have their Road Rally in Toronto in the spring / early summer (TAXI runs a Road Rally in L.A. in November). The TAXI Road Rally attracts 2,000 songwriters for 3 days in November in a horrible concrete location (3 miles from the airport). 14 consecutive tracks for instruction, open mics. The music district needs to be on the subway line - musicians won’t slog through winter slush carrying their expensive instruments, or make multiple TTC transfers (bringing just a guitar on a street car or bus is already a problem). Make Toronto's Music District a Destination - right now, the talent is just too spread out and not centralized.

How spread out everything is compared to other music cities like Austin. The transit system is in many ways archaic and poorly designed for outsiders to figure out and use. Multiple-day passes being the worst offender as they start only on Mondays, so if you buy it on Thursday you pay the same price but only get 4 days. It makes it difficult to enjoy the spread-out diversity when there are basic accessibility issues in the city. Lack of parking to be honest. There are also a number of promoters active in the city who take advantage of younger musicians, refusing to compensate them for their work, and instead claiming all of the profits of a given show as their own. (I'm not sure if they're still active in the city but Supernova was a big culprit of this. They would over book shows packed with different bands, forced the bands to sell overpriced ticjets, chose the set times based on ticket sales of each band (which would lead to a lot of tension between bands fighting over timeslots, and the bands would never see any of the money by the end of it) For a musician - high cost of living, low pay, generally dismissive white-collar culture. Often great music in Toronto is only consumed by others who make it - there needs to be a cultural shift where the regular downtown Toronto white-collar employee would more regularly go out and engage with the artistic community. A big challenge is transit - the TTC stops running too early. Extending by even an hour would bolster activity - music culture is a *nightlife*. Transit - no seriously, moving around this city makes it hard to enjoy things outside one's immediate area. ALSO - awareness of the cultural sub-cultures and events ALREADY occurring in town - cross-cultural marketing/awareness at a City level would be cool. Access to venues via public transit after hours for those outside the downtown core, promotion from the city, and access for youth. accessibility and transport - this speaks to a wider issue in Toronto - but if the city wishes to open up more areas such as the island or the beaches for music venues and encourage people from outside of Toronto to attend then accessibility (for the physically handicapped) and transport need to be improved. accessibility to venues and parking/traffic The ability to embrace itself as a music city such as Nashville or Austin. Musician parking, more outdoor venues etc Age restrictions on concerts due to proximity of alcohol. Noise curfews. Accessibility, the implied requirement to purchase alcohol to participate in the culture, Transit, the city focusing on sports as "key" culture while treating music as "auxiliary" The challenge of commuting from outer parts of the city. Its hard for youth to transit effectively at night when a lot of concerts happen, and I think it actively discourages people from attending smaller shows or lesser known artists. As mentioned above, we have thousands of amazing and varied musicians. We have some famous venues and a rich history. Bylaws and pandering politicians are the problem. I'll use the TURF Festival at Fort York as an example. You can't hear the music when the Go train goes by. The Gardiner is overhead. Condos shadow the place. And yet, politicians try to shut it down, condo dwellers complain of noise and bylaw enforcement shuts things down early. Musicians and fans are treated like crap in this town. What we really need are a couple of central music strips where clubs dedicated to live music line the streets. I have often felt that Victoria St. running south from Yonge-Dundas Square to Massey Hall would be excellent for this. There are theatres already. Back fill a couple of parking lots with clubs, reno other buildings and make it like Broadway in Nashville. You could have 2 or 3 hubs that will become destinations for tourists and local fans alike. Limited parking near venues where bands can unload gear, also general admission parking. The laws making it difficult for smaller international musicians to enter Canada Parking for touring bands. Exemptions from city regulations and red tape. 73

Parking for musicians. Out front of venues should be FREE for bands to park, bands I see are always ticketed. Toronto should work with the border to ensure smooth crossing for musicians. Bands find it impossible to cross without hassle. It also costs touring musicians an arm and a leg to get the permits and things necessary to cross the border and perform here. They end up losing money. There needs to be a way for the city to work with the Canadian government. Bands don't include Toronto as a tour stop for this reason. Small music festivals in parks can't run without expensive permits.

Pertaining to my "Other" above, the costs of hotels, etc. in peak summer months - ie. when most of the festivals are happening here, or most bands tour - is really far too expensive. Perhaps some sort of initiative could be put in place to convince some chains to make some rooms more affordable rather than jacking up the rates. Similarly, perhaps an incentive on reducing parking rates in key areas for the same reasons could be introduced. Properly organized and marketed music festivals and events. A recent example: the Cavalcade of Lights downtown- there were add for it on the TTC, but didn't indicate all of the performers. Some of Toronto's greatest talents ended up performing, and had I known, I would have gone and brought friends! International promotion of Toronto based Musick events. The wrather in the winter remains unattractive to many foreigners from more temperate climates. An inadequate transit system to allow access to various areas of the city for events, especially outside of the downtown core during festivals it's very difficult to see lots of bands as all the venues are so spread out all over the city. It would work well if festivals used venues all in walking distance More jazz in the jazz festivals! Traffic and transit are big turnoffs for people travelling into the city. Invest in infastructure that would make our city more moveable! How uptight it is. Compare with Montreal's festivals. They bring the whole city out. In Toronto, our festivals are at venues too spread apart and the scene is too uptight and uncreative. The parking situation is a big drawback. Montreal closes down streets and people go on foot from act to act.

Lack of downtown green space for festivals (downs view is too far, Coronation Park/Ontario Place would be great) and we need more transit Transit/parking at festival venues - Ontario Place, Fort York, Downsview, Toronto Island Parking - Particularly during larger festivals (NXNE/CMW), as it is difficult to load in and load out near some venues. I also don't believe there has been an adequate solution or balance found in regards to the situation for advertising shows by means of posturing. The notice boards are a good start, but not enough. Medium-to-large sized venues in the downtown core. We have nothing between Sound Academy and Amphitheatre/ACC sized. Festivals at Downsview are a pain to attend due to transit, parking, organization. Sound quality at many venues is atrocious Suitable grounds for a music festival in the city is a struggle. The best space we have is on Toronto Island, but 11pm curfew is a problem, as well as ample transportation back to mainland afterwards. Bestival proved that this problem is something that needs fixing. logistics withing the city for touring artists, more specifically parking, loading and unloading zones A widespread downtown core, a less than perfect public transportation system, a lack of organized tourism advertiseing By Laws affecting music venues (from Sound Limitations to Parking etc.) Liquor licensing ending too early, public transit closing to early, difficulty for promoters to obtain licensing for one-off venues Poor transit and bar bylaws (early last call), blue night buses etc, make going out to see live music sometimes a chore. One, the subway closing at 1.45am. Two, you can't be a "music city" if you don't support informal fun. The City makes it hard for casual musical environments to flourish, by stifling patios with bearocratic policies, threatening people about drinking in parks. It's not only about professional musicians and their shows, it's about having music everywhere, and you can't have that if you don't support fun. politics (administration, organization, *) and of course transportation--subways!! noise by-laws, time of last call, traffic issues The provided answers don't make a lot of sense to me... Why would the talent of Toronto's musicians be a challenge to the city being a music destination? I think the cost of coming here is probably an issue. Parking in the city can cost an arm and a leg, especially downtown. Largely I also think that we haven't been 100% effective in marketing ourselves as a music destination to other cities. The major advertising dollars spent on theatre and lack of advertising dollars spent on music. It's not complicated: that's really what's going on. I'm not sure the best way around that but there need to be billboard and TTC ads for live music at local venues. Actually, that seems like a simple solution. You guys fund it? Give me credit for the idea. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. The same worked for theatre (thanks Ed) so why not for music? expenses out of pocket for performers - either for venue or rehearsals, or limited parking Proximity of music venues during CMW, and NXNE. There needs to be more in the way of street performances, and pop up venues close to the main music venues. Traveling across town is far too time consuming, expensive, and is not to the benefit of artists being lost in the mix as a result.

Inattentive audience; cost of venue rental in general; cost of parking/transportation to bring people in. Incredibly Low pay for most club venues. Traffic. Toronto is bursting with musical venues and events, which means there is lots of competition and many music venues seem to be struggling to attract a crowd. Too much selection isn't always good. Going out to see live music is also very expensive. Many of my friends are musicians and I try to attend as many shows as possible, but I'm 28 and work a part time job and can't afford to go out, no matter how much I want to. Even if I only drink tea, the TTC cost alone adds up with each show I go to. The cost of parking in some areas around the venues, especially The Sound Academy, and the tendency of certain taxi companies, most notably Beck, to either gouge patrons or refuse to transport them if their destination isn't far enough to obtain the level of profit that they want. Longer hours for subway service would also be helpful. The main two issues are the low standard pay for most venues as well as parking and load-in difficulty. In these regards we often don't feel supported by the city and the result is a wide range of the musician population in the city struggling to make ends meet. If a venue chooses to host live music there must be designated load-in areas for them so we can load in without the fear of getting a ticket or being towed. While I support Toronto's crack down on parking violations I think there needs to be a structure in place that makes this easier and less stressful for musicians so we can do our work properly. The current standard pay for live acts is between $100-150 per musician at most venues for 3 45min-1hr sets worth of music. Once we pay for parking ($10-20) and eat ($10-20) that amount takes a huge hit and seems unfair. There must be a way for musician's parking to either be covered by the venue or city. And the standard minimum pay per musican should be closer to $200 each. The quality that this city provides certainly warrants the amount and when venues are paying more they will expect a high quality, which we can provide, and prevent weekend bar bands from taking work from us. accessing the music I like in a comfortabel and safe manner. My favourite music is opera and musical and I simply can't afford it. If I go to live free concerts, I don't feel safe and I am mobility challenges and have a yound child. I would like to sit down somehwere and take it in. I feel very limited to youtube. Cost, nighttime public transportation, promotion transit is too expensive for visitors the weather and the cost of transportaion/ accommodation 74

Lack of proper transit and payment for musicians Music has declined because of drinking and diviving, no smoking in the clubs, expense and lack of parking,elimination or restrictive tax breaks for companies to hire entertainers. Costs (tickets, parking, etc) Lack of parking at many venues, Horrible Scalpers and post-market ticket systems. parking, marketing, compensation for musicians Lack of promotion and marketing, transit issues - we don't tell our story Marketing to those outside of the city, parking for musicians. The fact that traffic and a broken transit system make it difficult to access venues. Noise complaints, transportation to and from venues, entertainment district not a "Music" district Parking, promotion (much of which is up to the artists themselves, and many venues don't even promote their own shows). transportation issues getting to music venues, especially venues in the lower east side. The distances between all the music venues. (aka Sound Academy is in the worst location in Toronto and defers people from buying tickets to shows their because of its location) ensuring venues have acceptable loading/unloading areas and parking that isn't far from the venue for bands and artists. It's a legitimate logistical aspect that gets overlooked, that sometimes lead to various parking violation. There is no venue at that Sound Academy size - and Sound Academy was one of the worst venues in North America. It will be worse now it's becoming an EDM club. Shoving the entertainment District into venue with no transport there or back is not a solution to anything.

Transportation to various venues. Maybe set up an exclusive deal with the Cab Companies for events such as CMW or even smaller events! Ha! I will say some of the famous venues are disappearing. I also don't think everyone in the city is familiar with historic places - it's the current scene that knows. If you've been to The Horseshoe... you've been more than once. transportation to venues Distance from other music hubs, 2am curfew on serving alcohol, realistic impossibility of obtaining and adhering to SOPs for unique venues Too many things happening at once, traffic congestion is a barrier for getting around to events The biggest issue is the quality of, and number of venues. Many of the best bands play at the Molson amphitheater or the Air Canada Center with horrible acoustics. Both are very poor facilities for patrons and performers. Most other cities have quality venues that are weather proof, accessable to public transportation or have parking, and have reserved seating that can be obtained at reasonable prices without having to buy from a scalper. In Toronto, the prices are obscene, and everything is sold out 30 minutes after tickets go on sale. If the City wants to influence anything, it will be to spread the venues around the city, and civilize the experience. parking at venues? traffic congestion affordable accommodations, parking, loading zones Public transit to and from the GTA Oversaturation. Like YouTube, when you have to many people in the game, the public loses interest especially when there aren't enough channels to keep up with the saturation. Toronto can't handle the traffic these musical streets can funnel. The city should bring in something where if you are a performing artist, band, or anything like that, street parking should be free. Bands have a hard enough time finding parking in the city. Lack of late night transit & parking; prices * traffic traffic and parking Public transit, and car parking availability transit is terrible Nightlife is killed by a non-24 subway. This is the BIGGEST hurdle in the city's path to becoming a true music city/entertainment capital. Transportation or lack thereof makes moving throught the GTA hard for both musicians and fans. Transit..... Parking Affordability for musicians re: housing, transportation, rehearsing traffic getting into town for outsiders Transportation in and out of the city... Parking parking Parking for musicians to load and unload. Parking. Finding adequate space for equipment loading & affordable parking spaces for musicians without risk of being ticketed. Transit is has become the biggest challenge for life and business in Toronto. Access. Transit is a big one. Also pride, Toronto should be proud of homegrown talent and take opportunities to toot its own horn beyond only Drake (he does deserve it though) Commuting to/from shows (TTC), especially in areas of town that are not on main subway or streetcar lines. The traffic Difficulty in financing live performance, and in the logistics of presenting shows (sound equipment, parking, etc.) Headliner bands tend to start after midnight. Anyone dependent on the subway has to leave near the start of that performance. Parking Transit, transit, transit. People in the GTA cant even stay till the latest set or the will miss a train home. 75

parking, traffic, transit Air transport direct to downtown (expand city airport capacity) The red tape. The parking enforcement officers that are like rabid dogs. I saw a van with blearly musicians unloading gear in front of the lula lounge getting a ticket. Is this friendly or necessary? Parking/load in load out. Always brutal getting in and out of the gig Transport from outside the city. Trying to get in for a concert is a nightmare. Work with the province and get some rail links to rest of GTA ASAP! getting to and from shows safely Downsview Park is the worst to get to and from 76

Weather & Seasonal Business

What do you consider to be Toronto’s greatest challenges as a music destination?

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Contravene the City's policies or applicable laws related to anti-discrimination, human rights or privacy; Include information that identifies an individual other than one acting in an official capacity, nor any comments that are personal attacks on someone's character, personal or business affairs, etc.; Address an issue before the courts or outside of the City's jurisdiction, or comments on another organization or private company; Contain unsubstantiated rumours or potentially libellous statements; Contain obscenities, derogatory, insulting, offensive, violent or hateful language; Include any email addresses, attachments, or web links.

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Keyword Searches: weather, cold*, winter, season*, summer, fall, spring, autumn, rain, snow*,

The challenges are in the cost and strictness of liquor and smoking laws and related insurance. Also the expenses of a 'sin tax' related environment, partly in getting home safely after TTC Subway closures especially for women and all ages events in winter. (pardon the run on)

Toronto / GTA is too large and dispersed. Toronto needs to create a Music Row which will attract producers, songwriters and performers and put them in close proximity to incubate the industry. A few streets / blocks with many inexpensive (free?) spaces for co-writing, incentives for producers to work in that physical area. A reason for songwriters, performers, producers, etc. to congregate and rub shoulders with each other and to create. Nashville is small enough to support a Music Row, Austin is small enough to concentrate talent. Toronto needs to work at it - create a place, accessible by subway, bicycles and automobiles that promotes song creation and performance. Bring Pat Pattison up from Berklee College, Boston (one of the top songwriting professors on the planet, he used to visit Toronto regularly until SAC's budget was cut) and subsidize his seminars (esp. for young songwriters), get him space at RCM. Bring up other songwriting greats (Jason Blume, etc) and make Toronto a destination for songwriting education. Lure TAXI to have their Road Rally in Toronto in the spring / early summer (TAXI runs a Road Rally in L.A. in November). The TAXI Road Rally attracts 2,000 songwriters for 3 days in November in a horrible concrete location (3 miles from the airport). 14 consecutive tracks for instruction, open mics. The music district needs to be on the subway line - musicians won’t slog through winter slush carrying their expensive instruments, or make multiple TTC transfers (bringing just a guitar on a street car or bus is already a problem). Make Toronto's Music District a Destination - right now, the talent is just too spread out and not centralized.

As mentioned above, we have thousands of amazing and varied musicians. We have some famous venues and a rich history. Bylaws and pandering politicians are the problem. I'll use the TURF Festival at Fort York as an example. You can't hear the music when the Go train goes by. The Gardiner is overhead. Condos shadow the place. And yet, politicians try to shut it down, condo dwellers complain of noise and bylaw enforcement shuts things down early. Musicians and fans are treated like crap in this town. What we really need are a couple of central music strips where clubs dedicated to live music line the streets. I have often felt that Victoria St. running south from Yonge-Dundas Square to Massey Hall would be excellent for this. There are theatres already. Back fill a couple of parking lots with clubs, reno other buildings and make it like Broadway in Nashville. You could have 2 or 3 hubs that will become destinations for tourists and local fans alike. Pertaining to my "Other" above, the costs of hotels, etc. in peak summer months - ie. when most of the festivals are happening here, or most bands tour - is really far too expensive. Perhaps some sort of initiative could be put in place to convince some chains to make some rooms more affordable rather than jacking up the rates. Similarly, perhaps an incentive on reducing parking rates in key areas for the same reasons could be introduced. International promotion of Toronto based Musick events. The wrather in the winter remains unattractive to many foreigners from more temperate climates. An inadequate transit system to allow access to various areas of the city for events, especially outside of the downtown core the weather and the cost of transportaion/ accommodation The biggest issue is the quality of, and number of venues. Many of the best bands play at the Molson amphitheater or the Air Canada Center with horrible acoustics. Both are very poor facilities for patrons and performers. Most other cities have quality venues that are weather proof, accessable to public transportation or have parking, and have reserved seating that can be obtained at reasonable prices without having to buy from a scalper. In Toronto, the prices are obscene, and everything is sold out 30 minutes after tickets go on sale. If the City wants to influence anything, it will be to spread the venues around the city, and civilize the experience. Transit, transit, transit. People in the GTA cant even stay till the latest set or the will miss a train home. A lack of easily accessible events, similar to Panamania. It would be great for Toronto to create a music series similar to Summerstage in New York. Also, there are way too many great venues that are pushed aside for development like condos. accessible shows for people outside of but close to toronto eg. shuttles from venue to go train would be hella' helpful Making high quality music more present and accessible in public spaces, especially outdoors in good weather. If the goal of promoting Toronto as a music “destination” is to attract tourist dollars by offering musical programming, it makes sense to invest in music programming that appeals to tourists who are likely to spend significant sums while in Toronto. I’m dismayed at how few classical music festivals and series are available to tourists outside of the downtown core neighbourhood where Roy Thomson Hall, the Four Seasons Centre and Koerner Hall are located. Walking about summer festivals, one has an impression that Toronto focuses on musical programming that consists of bar bands playing thunderingly amplified “music” to patrons who pay no more than the cost of a beer-tent beverage (if that) for the privilege of hearing the performance. Toronto needs to loosen up about alternative parties such as raves and electronic music festivals. The electronic music sector is enormous in every other part of the world, generates income and stimulates the economy. Morality based by-laws which clamp down on that particular culture is hindering Toronto from moving forward economically and culturally. The Unsound Festival in the summer of 2015 is a great example of how many people appreciate and would welcome alternative music sites and electronic music. It's festivals. I feel as if not all music genres are represented when it comes to renown festivals taking place in Toronto. Our Jazz Fest is unheard of, we don't have an Early Music or New Music Festival... We have Bestival and on the island in the summertime, but we lack support in many traditional musical disciplines - which need to be supported by the government, as they have been for centuries, in order for the music and musicians to be succesful. 77

We have an abundance of festivals but many, with the obvious exceptions of TURF and the higher profile electronic festivals, do not compensate an artist enough, if at all. Most street festival offer a very slight honorarium, and are over saturated with singer/songwriters. Better, if necessary, to have fewer artists and pay them appropriately. Rather than a loose assortment of hobbyists in shabby pop up venues, lets ensure consistency, high quality festivals and high quality artists. Also the music scene tends to dry up in the winter, and for goodness sake we're Canadian we shouldn't be afraid of a little snow. We need to offer people incentive to ensure they keep going out and keeping our culture alive even when its thirty below. It's very hard to find a decent , modestly sized venue to put on a show in the downtown/central west area. Many rock bands can't fill up places like horseshoe or lees palace, and ultimately we are stuck with very few choices. Silver dollar, smiling Buddha , the garrison to name a few. But as gentrification wears down these established areas, the venues keep getting pushed further to the outskirts of the downtown sector. And even as places open up (example the Mercury and SHIBIGBs on Geary lane) , they are shut down because of residential stipulations. I understand there needs to be a balance between venues and the residential area, but that situation is a perfect example of stark black and white policies that keep our city from having a variety of venues- as to location and size. The more venues we have, the more dedicated they can each become to certain facets of the music scene. The product of that would be amazing, a place where you could always go and know the type of music you would be finding. It would be a training ground for many toronto bands, and the community that would be born out of niche venues would undoubtedly excel the growth the scene, and produce bands that would have an influence farther than toronto. There is a lot of talent, but also a lot of people getting their sea legs. There isn't really a structure for or system for fostering the various stages of development in a way that will appeal to potential consumers and having so many venues disperses talent even more. It's hard for people to know where to go to hear, consistently, the level or type of music they want to hear. So many venues are melting pots, just hoping to bring bodies in, that they'll put any artist of any genre and any level of skill on stage. That makes it hard to develop regulars, from a music perspective. That being said, many venues /small businesses don't have a marketing person who understands branding, music, or target markets. The city (perhaps through Enterprise Toronto and/or Canada's Music Incubator) could help train bar/venue managers and develop community and city wide based strategies for improved synchronicity in music programming across the city, to develop more consistent and high quality user experiences. This might, in turn, help consumers be able to make a decision to go out and pay money to explore the musical landscape of the city.

All of these issues are gigantically important. Toronto fails in every single one of these respects. The only training for Toronto musicians comes from Humber. Humber is not nearly good enough to educate Toronto. There is a serious lack of diversity as all venues exploit the 'indie' scene. The history is buried and forgotten. The venues are awful. The culture doesn't seem to support music very much, if Toronto wants to be a music city, they should find more music and art projects, and ingrain it more into the TO lifestyle affordable for the average person, better restraints on scalping The biggest problem is easily the lack of affordable housing. Being a musician in infinitely more difficult with current rent prices in this city. It's the biggest contributor to the lack of rehearsal spaces as well as the musical brain drain. When you work 60+ hours a week to make ends meet, it gets hard to launch a business, record an album, plan a tour, coordinate a festival, negotiate license fees, the list goes on. Take a look at San Francisco and how it's creatives have all fled due to exorbitant living costs. There are many expensive festivals all crammed together in a 3 month period over the summer, and then basically nothing after that Canadians are fickle and cheap, American's actually go out to see live music and in Europe most people stay out and are social people. Canadians like to stay in, it's cold here. incentivizing the public to go out and experience live music would be good. More public free music events would be good. music is the parks and in public spaces needs to be ramped up big time. not crappy street festivals when they are all the same with the same vendors that close major streets. Close side streets and in parks and other public spaces. why is there no High Park Music festival or series ??? the Toronto Music office should partner with local musicians and arts professionals to program these events. I was offer to play the great heart festival in Trinity belwoods. what a cool little festival but not support from the city and they offered no pay for an 8 piece a band. with no power. We could not accept it with no PA, the no money sucks but it;s the DYI vibe that we respect and would participate but it would be nice to see them supported by the city and providing a PA for each park. this would ensure the sound would be controlled.

Weather affects outdoor festivals. Immigration costs to visiting bands to Canada. Lack of interest from general public. it's cold, so outdoor festivals are difficult to have The over-abundance of summer festivals have watered down all of them, and largely benefit international acts rather than locals. It would be great to see more mid-sized venues and large venues, so that the ACC isn't the only place to see big acts outside of the summer festival series. In the last two years we've seen more outdoor festivals within the city and I think this is a great trend that needs to be expanded upon.

The cold climate, it certainly doesn't stop people from going to venues, but it limits festivals and a degree of attendance to other music events where people would otherwise prefer to stay home Summer-heavy festival schedule due to cold, few 2000-5000 seat venues People do not come out to hear music except for summer festivals. We need them out in January and February. The mayor should be out in clubs every week. And all kinds of clubs. Compared to other major cities in Canada Toronto could be doing more to create exciting music festivals in the summer. Aside from TURF I can't think of any summer festivals here. Meanwhile in the rest of Canada we have: Vancouver Folk Fest, Winnipeg, Edmonton folk fest, Ottawa Blues fest,Ottawa chamber fest, festival of Sound in Parry sound... There is a lot going on--summer festivals, etc. But it's everyone doing his/her own thing, it's not everyone as part of the whole. Lack of festivals in indoor months (winter). It seems music festivals all happen in the summer, leaving musicians scrambling for performances during January and February. At an institutional level, there is a real lack of appreciation for the value of music and the importance of a vibrant live music scene in Toronto -- which hopefully this Music Strategy can begin to address. Combine the lack of sufficient music venues (see above), the lack of appreciation/respect for the value of music in the political and corporate spheres, and the typically low renumeration that professional musicians receive for their work, and you have a situation where maintaining a career as a musician is an intense and draining struggle against the odds, day in and day out, and that is the greatest challenge facing Toronto as a music destination -- it's much harder than it should be to be a musician here! Toronto feels "eventful" when it comes to music in the summer, in part due to NXNE, jazz fest, pam-am this year, etc. but it just goes dead in the winter. Support for burgeoning organizations could be stronger, so that they can move past the initial burst of underpaid work that gets them off the ground. Enthusiasm can get you started, but money and good training keeps organizations alive. venues, weather yearly events - not just summer. Lack of good outdoor venues in the summer, licensing restrictions Not enough variety in music events. The city should allow for more creative/alternative spaces to be used. What happened to the Foundry music event this summer was not right. Overly seasonal offerings. There should be more places to catch free performances once winter arrives. Seasonal limitations Summer weather for outdoor concerts. Our inclement weather. Forces things inside and make people reluctant to venture out. Answer - More inside! and more in the summer weather If i'm expected to sit, then I usually refrain from attending. Let's get back to the roots of all music as communal celebration. For example, * and all the traditional dance promoted at dancing.org by my friend Peter. 78

The fact that there are very few music concerts going on in the Summer. Winter weather for half the year Censorship. Which we saw a bit of last summer. Thats a slippery slope. the weather How do we get people to come to shows in sub-zero January? 79

Music Education & Appreciation

What do you consider to be Toronto’s greatest challenges as a music destination?

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Keyword Searches: educat*, school, college, universit*, appreciation, teach*,

Toronto / GTA is too large and dispersed. Toronto needs to create a Music Row which will attract producers, songwriters and performers and put them in close proximity to incubate the industry. A few streets / blocks with many inexpensive (free?) spaces for co-writing, incentives for producers to work in that physical area. A reason for songwriters, performers, producers, etc. to congregate and rub shoulders with each other and to create. Nashville is small enough to support a Music Row, Austin is small enough to concentrate talent. Toronto needs to work at it - create a place, accessible by subway, bicycles and automobiles that promotes song creation and performance. Bring Pat Pattison up from Berklee College, Boston (one of the top songwriting professors on the planet, he used to visit Toronto regularly until SAC's budget was cut) and subsidize his seminars (esp. for young songwriters), get him space at RCM. Bring up other songwriting greats (Jason Blume, etc) and make Toronto a destination for songwriting education. Lure TAXI to have their Road Rally in Toronto in the spring / early summer (TAXI runs a Road Rally in L.A. in November). The TAXI Road Rally attracts 2,000 songwriters for 3 days in November in a horrible concrete location (3 miles from the airport). 14 consecutive tracks for instruction, open mics. The music district needs to be on the subway line - musicians won’t slog through winter slush carrying their expensive instruments, or make multiple TTC transfers (bringing just a guitar on a street car or bus is already a problem). Make Toronto's Music District a Destination - right now, the talent is just too spread out and not centralized.

All of these issues are gigantically important. Toronto fails in every single one of these respects. The only training for Toronto musicians comes from Humber. Humber is not nearly good enough to educate Toronto. There is a serious lack of diversity as all venues exploit the 'indie' scene. The history is buried and forgotten. The venues are awful. At an institutional level, there is a real lack of appreciation for the value of music and the importance of a vibrant live music scene in Toronto -- which hopefully this Music Strategy can begin to address. Combine the lack of sufficient music venues (see above), the lack of appreciation/respect for the value of music in the political and corporate spheres, and the typically low renumeration that professional musicians receive for their work, and you have a situation where maintaining a career as a musician is an intense and draining struggle against the odds, day in and day out, and that is the greatest challenge facing Toronto as a music destination -- it's much harder than it should be to be a musician here! The real question is whether Toronto merely wants to support the creation of cheap commercially successful music, or whether Toronto wants to become truly serious about supporting all aspects of music. The outdated view is that "talent" is somehow a natural gift. The reality is that talent is grown, and to grow talent resources needed to be dedicated to music training, education and nurturing of new musicians. That requires serious investment in music education. Things are diverse to the point that the same venue will have a metal concert and then a folk show the next night. Everything becomes the worst restaurant you've ever been to. Every great music city has venues specific to genres, and this is up to the booking agents to filter through. The other challenge is the weakness of the educational system, and while it is not up to the system to actually teach, the information does exist and should be made more accessible. The final problem that I see is the noise by-laws. Venues are being bullied into having no noise emit from their doors. If the same laws existed in NYC or New Orleans, we would not have the culture that they have gifted to the world. The fact that the by-law states that it cannot even be audible for fines upwards of (paraphrasing) about $30,000 is ludicrous. These complaints can come from people getting kicked out of a bar for being a disturbance or a racist neighbour. These laws need to be expected to be further justified before fines take place. Another issue is condos and apartments above LIVE MUSIC VENUES. This seems to be just bad city planning. Of course there will be complaints that the best R&B event in Canada has to stop at 11:30pm instead of 2am now that they have moved to College Street where there are apartments upstairs from King Street that is slowly being knocked down for more condos.

- the amount of students that are graduating and paying full tuition to get a higher learning degree of experience at the schools are available to perform but have very few choices of venues to do so - the pay structure and support from the municipailty and from the the province - the lack of education in the stream of music at the elemetary school and high school level - the lack of open mindedness in programing at festivals and events to not include all types of musical styles, genres and diversity across the spectrum(i.e. also including non-popular styles) - the lack of an internationally celebrated artist infrastructure for all types of musical styles Toronto's greatest challenge is educating the community on the quality of local talent - people will pay high ticket prices for international artists but are reluctantly to pay a small cover for local artists, simply because they are not familiar with the artist. Post secondary specialty schools for music performance such as UofT and Humber bring in strong talent from around the world. Many international students tend to stay in canada after their schooling. Alot of canadians relocate here as well. With this influx of talent, we need support to continue fostering this amazing talent and bringing it to our fellow Canadians. All musicians are willing to put in long hours and work crazy runs. This profession has never been easy. But the interest for live music is dying as we cut it out of schools and do nothing to develop interest. We're left with EDM or Drake which have their perks.... but that doesnt represent the canadian music scene as a whole. Music education. The government and school boards provincially are cutting funding to amazing schools, and making it impossible for small programs to continue, even if they are strong. I came from a program that was thriving as a high school, but since I left, regulations became harder to manage for staff to maintain small class sizes and has totally distroyed the ability to have cultured and well executed music programs. This small classroom to larger classroom demand has also effected the creative arts and sports programs at many high schools. This is a disgrace to Canadians who say they want to be cultured. If more funding in the GTA was re-alocated to extra curriculars instead of board of education scoundrels we would have a more vibrant music and sports community in skill and understanding.

Red tape, antiquated liquor laws, uncultured condo people with no taste, rich people who don't support the arts, corporate greed, unfair business owners, not enough diversity, anti-women culture of the music industry, *, uneducated people 80

For many people the cost of admission to professional performances of music, opera and ballet/dance is a hardship. To take a family to a concert, etc. could be a huge expense. When I was young I had to save up for performances and make hard choices about what I could attend. Free will offerings at more 'casual' events can help. These give performers a chance to try new things and develop their skills. We should encourage public schools to invite performers or to budget for certain grades to attend professional music. TSO has 'almost open' rehearsals several times through the year. This would introduce a new audience to classical music. The Royal Conservatory and the UofT could advertise their free sessions more widely. Musicians need places to live/rehearse which are reasonably priced. Toronto is our capital city and that makes it expensive. Could older industrial buildings be re-purposed for musicians? Sound-proofing is vital but they would be part of an instant community.If I thought longer, no doubt I could envision a great deal more. developing a true culture of appreciation of the arts, generally; matching funding levels of Montreal for example. I find it challenging to make a full time living in Toronto as a musician because of how expensive it is to live here. I also am challenged by how often I am asked to provide my services for free or at a discount. Even as a member of the AFM, I am often asked to do things for free as a musician. I have studied diligently, gone to school, won scholarships, performed at the Grand Ole Opry, the Olympics, the ACC, practiced for thousands of hours and have performed with such notable legends as Barbra Streisand and yet it is still very hard for musicians like me to gain the respect of the general public (and especially financially) that one would assume would be given to someone who had spent equal the amount of hours to obtain such highly specific skills. It is very challenging and it would be wonderful if Toronto was able to celebrate musicians the way other great cities (like Nashville) do. Fair, living wages for all is the first challenge. diminished exposure of young people to the arts in general, in schools Overall in society, there is less appreciation towards music; anecdotally, I have found younger people to be a less appreciative audience, or outright ignore the bands at venues. Education. New York is known as a music city because of it's music scene but also because of it's educational prospects. Julliard, the Manhattan School of Music and others are all located in the city which draws talented, young students from around the world to study there and hopefully stay and perform. Toronto doesn't really have a large music education draw, with the exception of the Glenn Gould Studio, which means a lot of talented young musicians aren't coming or staying Toronto but are going south. There needs to be more community support and appreciation for live music in small local venues in order to develop the industry Toronto doesn't compare well to cities like New York, San Francisco (and Bay Area), Paris, Berlin or even Montréal with regards to the amount, depth and talent in new music (i.e., concert music, experimental classical, whatever one wishes to call it) and jazz. The former tends to be insular while the latter seems to be largely manned by fine musicians who probably make most of their income from other sorts of commercial work. Going to jazz clubs in 2015 and listening to people play over the same standards as if it were 1955 is not terribly interesting, or terribly relevant, even if the level of musicianship his high. Toronto, in general, is risk averse and nothing shows that more than how dull and derivative the jazz and experimental music scenes are. The problems with the experimental music scene can, to a large degree, be chalked up to the dismal situation with the city’s universities and how poorly their composition programs have become over the past few decades. Comparing with what goes in Montréal with the quality of the programs at McGill, for example, let alone NYC which is being fed by alums from Juilliard, Columbia, Princeton, Yale and the Manhattan School of Music show just how lousy a job a place like the UofT is doing. I am often disappointed when I hear the works of younger composers in Toronto in that it is often both technically unsound but also short on imagination and understanding of what is going on in the world in which they’re supposedly operating (poorly educated and woefully insular). I am equally disappointed by the crony networks that inform the programming of many of the new music ensembles in the city. It was tiresome decades ago before it went on to help kill send and entire scene into irrelevance.

The culture of music education eroding since the 70's It is difficult for aspiring (and especially underage) artists to book their first shows. And most schools provide little to no support for any musical endeavours outside of their own music programs. The culture here does not encourage musicians to pursue their art, rather it encourages complacency and sterility. More should be done to educate people on the challenges that artists face, the amount of hard work and dedication it takes to produce high level music, and the importance of music in people's lives. The question should be asked, how can we make our culture more like the US or Europe where musicians are respected and held in high regard. overflow of young talented musicians. All the schools are here so... Indifference to music and musicians. With the age downloading free music, most people have settled into an attitude of expecting music for free. Educating the public is key has settl Education foreign artists about the City and how easy it is to get here. Not enough LIVE venues for musicians to play. Also, music needs to better funded in public school. More music teachers and instrument lending t We need better funding and support for music education in schools and outside of schools. No money to support musical endeavours. Little education to continue musical growth. Non-musicians have been educated to not support live music, and pay very little for music themselves compared to previous generations Audiences. Many don't want to go out to see shows. I feel that is from a lack of music education. Collaborative and inclusive environment in addition to funding are huge issues - there is not enough support from the City or funding institutions for individual artists, and programs that exist, dictate heavily what projects musicians/artists can and cannot do. The music scene is difficult to break into, I am a classical musician with extensive post secondary education both within Canada and the US, I have traveled to perform across the world and have found it still difficult to perform and make a career in Toronto after over 4 years of living here.

I feel Toronto is already quite musical, but compensation has not kept up with the times. I also feel that quality instrumental programmes in our schools are essential, and that many schools are actively phasing them out, which is a shame. Instrumental programmes should be mandatory.

Lack of funding for school programs, overpriced concert tickets, many groups are snubbed because general public does not "like" a kind of music. Inadequate exposure of music to children in schools. Media only mainly promotes popular music and since music education is not a priority in our schools, people are no longer interested in the more complex art form of music. They gravitate toward simpler music, such as pop music. It is wonderful, but there is so much more out there.

The level of respect and appreciation not given to the talent by the venues. broader public appreciation of or support for local musicians/music venues So many venues closed in 2015, especially ones that have been essential to the Toronto music scene (Kool Haus, Velvet Undergound, Rancho Relaxo). There doesn't seem to be much appreciation for our history, or preservation of landmarks. need more active investment in musical education, appreciation music education We need to connect education to music and vise versa financial support from corporate and government to ensure live music has its place, education to ensure future of excellence in musicians the lack of support from radio, and the city to have bands promote their shows. The Now magazine the music hub... is no more than a cliquey highschool team. it ignores many genres and sub genres. Someone needs to create one that is sustainable. the grid tried. Lack of education 81

The lack of opportunities and education surrounding music in schools. How can we grow as a music destination if the education system is stifling creativity in that regard. Music education in the schools. Opportunities for musicians to perform/teach and showcase Low resources in music education, low opportunities for amateur musicians, low employment Public education & appreciation. these are all strengths of the Toronto scene. The challenges are more related to economic challenges that artists face, the decline in music education, etc. Declining music programs in our schools People in general need to know more about the value of a musical experience, be it in the form of a concert, or a musical education. Poor music schools As indicated in the music strategy: rehearsal spaces, musical education and compensation for musicians more music education and equal opportunities for different music groups to reach a wider audience affordability, access, education of audiences Effective artist development and education related to electronic music development and access to software. Trying to develop talent on par with the current roster of Toronto musicians the biggest challenge is usually to get people out to gigs The audiences! Torontonians not knowing how to dance or interact with live music. Getting people out to the clubs Toronto's music scene is NOT very accepting at ALL. Most people stand around looking bored at shows and if you have a good time people give you awful looks. If you aren't hot, tattooed or have piercings you are also judged. Hamilton has an extremely accepting music scene and talented artists that work together not against. crowds are rude sometimes still. no one dances! Apathy from consumers. Actually getting people out to support artists Not enough public demand or desire to explore new music (new acts) the nonchalance of the general public. Unenthousiastic populace our audiences are notoriously lame. not nearly as hyped as US audiences busy lifestyles, hard to get people to commit to attend…. The lack of support from Toronto crowds Getting ppl to appreciate it all General public's diminishing interest choosing live music to satisfy entertainment, as opposed to DJ/dance clubs, Netflix at home, etc... Access to appropriate niche audiences getting an audience 82

Place Making

What do you consider to be Toronto’s greatest challenges as a music destination?

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Keyword Searches: core, centralize*, decentralize*, hub, place, district*, area, centre

Toronto / GTA is too large and dispersed. Toronto needs to create a Music Row which will attract producers, songwriters and performers and put them in close proximity to incubate the industry. A few streets / blocks with many inexpensive (free?) spaces for co-writing, incentives for producers to work in that physical area. A reason for songwriters, performers, producers, etc. to congregate and rub shoulders with each other and to create. Nashville is small enough to support a Music Row, Austin is small enough to concentrate talent. Toronto needs to work at it - create a place, accessible by subway, bicycles and automobiles that promotes song creation and performance. Bring Pat Pattison up from Berklee College, Boston (one of the top songwriting professors on the planet, he used to visit Toronto regularly until SAC's budget was cut) and subsidize his seminars (esp. for young songwriters), get him space at RCM. Bring up other songwriting greats (Jason Blume, etc) and make Toronto a destination for songwriting education. Lure TAXI to have their Road Rally in Toronto in the spring / early summer (TAXI runs a Road Rally in L.A. in November). The TAXI Road Rally attracts 2,000 songwriters for 3 days in November in a horrible concrete location (3 miles from the airport). 14 consecutive tracks for instruction, open mics. The music district needs to be on the subway line - musicians won’t slog through winter slush carrying their expensive instruments, or make multiple TTC transfers (bringing just a guitar on a street car or bus is already a problem). Make Toronto's Music District a Destination - right now, the talent is just too spread out and not centralized.

Things are diverse to the point that the same venue will have a metal concert and then a folk show the next night. Everything becomes the worst restaurant you've ever been to. Every great music city has venues specific to genres, and this is up to the booking agents to filter through. The other challenge is the weakness of the educational system, and while it is not up to the system to actually teach, the information does exist and should be made more accessible. The final problem that I see is the noise by-laws. Venues are being bullied into having no noise emit from their doors. If the same laws existed in NYC or New Orleans, we would not have the culture that they have gifted to the world. The fact that the by-law states that it cannot even be audible for fines upwards of (paraphrasing) about $30,000 is ludicrous. These complaints can come from people getting kicked out of a bar for being a disturbance or a racist neighbour. These laws need to be expected to be further justified before fines take place. Another issue is condos and apartments above LIVE MUSIC VENUES. This seems to be just bad city planning. Of course there will be complaints that the best R&B event in Canada has to stop at 11:30pm instead of 2am now that they have moved to College Street where there are apartments upstairs from King Street that is slowly being knocked down for more condos.

For many people the cost of admission to professional performances of music, opera and ballet/dance is a hardship. To take a family to a concert, etc. could be a huge expense. When I was young I had to save up for performances and make hard choices about what I could attend. Free will offerings at more 'casual' events can help. These give performers a chance to try new things and develop their skills. We should encourage public schools to invite performers or to budget for certain grades to attend professional music. TSO has 'almost open' rehearsals several times through the year. This would introduce a new audience to classical music. The Royal Conservatory and the UofT could advertise their free sessions more widely. Musicians need places to live/rehearse which are reasonably priced. Toronto is our capital city and that makes it expensive. Could older industrial buildings be re-purposed for musicians? Sound-proofing is vital but they would be part of an instant community.If I thought longer, no doubt I could envision a great deal more.

Toronto doesn't compare well to cities like New York, San Francisco (and Bay Area), Paris, Berlin or even Montréal with regards to the amount, depth and talent in new music (i.e., concert music, experimental classical, whatever one wishes to call it) and jazz. The former tends to be insular while the latter seems to be largely manned by fine musicians who probably make most of their income from other sorts of commercial work. Going to jazz clubs in 2015 and listening to people play over the same standards as if it were 1955 is not terribly interesting, or terribly relevant, even if the level of musicianship his high. Toronto, in general, is risk averse and nothing shows that more than how dull and derivative the jazz and experimental music scenes are. The problems with the experimental music scene can, to a large degree, be chalked up to the dismal situation with the city’s universities and how poorly their composition programs have become over the past few decades. Comparing with what goes in Montréal with the quality of the programs at McGill, for example, let alone NYC which is being fed by alums from Juilliard, Columbia, Princeton, Yale and the Manhattan School of Music show just how lousy a job a place like the UofT is doing. I am often disappointed when I hear the works of younger composers in Toronto in that it is often both technically unsound but also short on imagination and understanding of what is going on in the world in which they’re supposedly operating (poorly educated and woefully insular). I am equally disappointed by the crony networks that inform the programming of many of the new music ensembles in the city. It was tiresome decades ago before it went on to help kill send and entire scene into irrelevance.

The culture here does not encourage musicians to pursue their art, rather it encourages complacency and sterility. More should be done to educate people on the challenges that artists face, the amount of hard work and dedication it takes to produce high level music, and the importance of music in people's lives. The question should be asked, how can we make our culture more like the US or Europe where musicians are respected and held in high regard. financial support from corporate and government to ensure live music has its place, education to ensure future of excellence in musicians the lack of support from radio, and the city to have bands promote their shows. The Now magazine the music hub... is no more than a cliquey highschool team. it ignores many genres and sub genres. Someone needs to create one that is sustainable. the grid tried. Too many musicians are forced into doing terribly low paying bar gigs since owners are too cheap to invest in quality and have no enforcement to pay reasonable (union sanctioned) wages. If there was a place musicians could report unfair and intolerable conditions to keep venue owners from profiteering, that would probably be useful. Although Toronto is a place for musicians to connect and play, it's economically hostile to actually nurturing that talent. Cost of living and low-wage, poor quality jobs make it hard for creative people to engage in creative work. A cost of living subsidy (or promotion of higher quality part time jobs) for musicians meeting some criteria (e.g. having won a competition) would go a long way to making it possible for talent to actually be expressed in a form that's commercially viable and yields returns for the city. 83

Because of Toronto's role as the biggest cultural hub in Canada, musicians come from across the country and to a lesser degree the world to try to build careers in music here. Unfortunately this influx of talent leads to a saturated market of musicians, with virtually zero protections available for people working in the industry. Too many small clubs in the downtown core. We need more mid-sized venues where acts can get booked as they are growing. We also need to ensure that talent buyers have budgets to afford high-value international touring acts and that the bookers themselves are paid well for the life-consuming job that they do. Cost of living, cost of doing business, over-saturation, the over-valued perception that Toronto is the music-hub of Canada. Too many places, too many venues that "hire" musicians for free or near-free, makes it so difficult to create an industry in which people can distinguish and promote the very fine. competition in other centres As mentioned above, we have thousands of amazing and varied musicians. We have some famous venues and a rich history. Bylaws and pandering politicians are the problem. I'll use the TURF Festival at Fort York as an example. You can't hear the music when the Go train goes by. The Gardiner is overhead. Condos shadow the place. And yet, politicians try to shut it down, condo dwellers complain of noise and bylaw enforcement shuts things down early. Musicians and fans are treated like crap in this town. What we really need are a couple of central music strips where clubs dedicated to live music line the streets. I have often felt that Victoria St. running south from Yonge-Dundas Square to Massey Hall would be excellent for this. There are theatres already. Back fill a couple of parking lots with clubs, reno other buildings and make it like Broadway in Nashville. You could have 2 or 3 hubs that will become destinations for tourists and local fans alike. Pertaining to my "Other" above, the costs of hotels, etc. in peak summer months - ie. when most of the festivals are happening here, or most bands tour - is really far too expensive. Perhaps some sort of initiative could be put in place to convince some chains to make some rooms more affordable rather than jacking up the rates. Similarly, perhaps an incentive on reducing parking rates in key areas for the same reasons could be introduced. International promotion of Toronto based Musick events. The wrather in the winter remains unattractive to many foreigners from more temperate climates. An inadequate transit system to allow access to various areas of the city for events, especially outside of the downtown core

If the goal of promoting Toronto as a music “destination” is to attract tourist dollars by offering musical programming, it makes sense to invest in music programming that appeals to tourists who are likely to spend significant sums while in Toronto. I’m dismayed at how few classical music festivals and series are available to tourists outside of the downtown core neighbourhood where Roy Thomson Hall, the Four Seasons Centre and Koerner Hall are located. Walking about summer festivals, one has an impression that Toronto focuses on musical programming that consists of bar bands playing thunderingly amplified “music” to patrons who pay no more than the cost of a beer-tent beverage (if that) for the privilege of hearing the performance. It's festivals. I feel as if not all music genres are represented when it comes to renown festivals taking place in Toronto. Our Jazz Fest is unheard of, we don't have an Early Music or New Music Festival... We have Bestival and on the island in the summertime, but we lack support in many traditional musical disciplines - which need to be supported by the government, as they have been for centuries, in order for the music and musicians to be succesful. It's very hard to find a decent , modestly sized venue to put on a show in the downtown/central west area. Many rock bands can't fill up places like horseshoe or lees palace, and ultimately we are stuck with very few choices. Silver dollar, smiling Buddha , the garrison to name a few. But as gentrification wears down these established areas, the venues keep getting pushed further to the outskirts of the downtown sector. And even as places open up (example the Mercury and SHIBIGBs on Geary lane) , they are shut down because of residential stipulations. I understand there needs to be a balance between venues and the residential area, but that situation is a perfect example of stark black and white policies that keep our city from having a variety of venues- as to location and size. The more venues we have, the more dedicated they can each become to certain facets of the music scene. The product of that would be amazing, a place where you could always go and know the type of music you would be finding. It would be a training ground for many toronto bands, and the community that would be born out of niche venues would undoubtedly excel the growth the scene, and produce bands that would have an influence farther than toronto. It would be great to see more mid-sized venues and large venues, so that the ACC isn't the only place to see big acts outside of the summer festival series. In the last two years we've seen more outdoor festivals within the city and I think this is a great trend that needs to be expanded upon.

Overly seasonal offerings. There should be more places to catch free performances once winter arrives. accessibility to venues spread across the city (NXNE, CMW, RiotFest, TURF, etc should get free rides on the TTC with festival wristband), inability to promote through postering, There is no centralized hub for resources for musicians or fans (See: Metronome Canada).

Transit - no seriously, moving around this city makes it hard to enjoy things outside one's immediate area. ALSO - awareness of the cultural sub-cultures and events ALREADY occurring in town - cross-cultural marketing/awareness at a City level would be cool. Access to venues via public transit after hours for those outside the downtown core, promotion from the city, and access for youth. accessibility and transport - this speaks to a wider issue in Toronto - but if the city wishes to open up more areas such as the island or the beaches for music venues and encourage people from outside of Toronto to attend then accessibility (for the physically handicapped) and transport need to be improved. Lack of downtown green space for festivals (downs view is too far, Coronation Park/Ontario Place would be great) and we need more transit Transit/parking at festival venues - Ontario Place, Fort York, Downsview, Toronto Island Medium-to-large sized venues in the downtown core. We have nothing between Sound Academy and Amphitheatre/ACC sized. Festivals at Downsview are a pain to attend due to transit, parking, organization. Sound quality at many venues is atrocious A widespread downtown core, a less than perfect public transportation system, a lack of organized tourism advertiseing The cost of parking in some areas around the venues, especially The Sound Academy, and the tendency of certain taxi companies, most notably Beck, to either gouge patrons or refuse to transport them if their destination isn't far enough to obtain the level of profit that they want. Longer hours for subway service would also be helpful. The main two issues are the low standard pay for most venues as well as parking and load-in difficulty. In these regards we often don't feel supported by the city and the result is a wide range of the musician population in the city struggling to make ends meet. If a venue chooses to host live music there must be designated load-in areas for them so we can load in without the fear of getting a ticket or being towed. While I support Toronto's crack down on parking violations I think there needs to be a structure in place that makes this easier and less stressful for musicians so we can do our work properly. The current standard pay for live acts is between $100-150 per musician at most venues for 3 45min-1hr sets worth of music. Once we pay for parking ($10-20) and eat ($10-20) that amount takes a huge hit and seems unfair. There must be a way for musician's parking to either be covered by the venue or city. And the standard minimum pay per musican should be closer to $200 each. The quality that this city provides certainly warrants the amount and when venues are paying more they will expect a high quality, which we can provide, and prevent weekend bar bands from taking work from us.

Noise complaints, transportation to and from venues, entertainment district not a "Music" district ensuring venues have acceptable loading/unloading areas and parking that isn't far from the venue for bands and artists. It's a legitimate logistical aspect that gets overlooked, that sometimes lead to various parking violation. There is no venue at that Sound Academy size - and Sound Academy was one of the worst venues in North America. It will be worse now it's becoming an EDM club. Shoving the entertainment District into venue with no transport there or back is not a solution to anything.

Transportation to various venues. Maybe set up an exclusive deal with the Cab Companies for events such as CMW or even smaller events! Ha! I will say some of the famous venues are disappearing. I also don't think everyone in the city is familiar with historic places - it's the current scene that knows. If you've been to The Horseshoe... you've been more than once. Distance from other music hubs, 2am curfew on serving alcohol, realistic impossibility of obtaining and adhering to SOPs for unique venues 84

Commuting to/from shows (TTC), especially in areas of town that are not on main subway or streetcar lines. We need more music venues. It is costly to bring an international artist over the border. Permits are expensive. We need more music venues and a bigger range for big artists and small ones too. Rents intorotonto are too high. It is impossible to find a venue for teenagers to play someplace

If Toronto worked closer with the local organicaly grown music industry, instead of catering to the needs of large international entertainment companies, there would be more diversity of events that showcase local talent. Our venue pool has also been shrinking drastically over the past few years due to increased downtown density, this has led to venue spread and no clear entertainment district. When people come downtown, you have to be 'in the know' to find the cool spots because there is no defined district with an 'acceptable use' and 'rental cost' level for the industry to focus its efforts. Its random bars/nightclubs that are pretending to be restaurants, here and there. Taxis are making lots of money. very simply 1. the monopoly some big companies have on radio stations ,this stifles the diversity that's already in this city. 2.the acquisition of permits to have festivals in public places no matter what size (it is easier to get a permit in montreal ) . 3 there are only outlets for mainstream music to flourish ,which once again stifles the diversity of this city Promoting the diversity of music that is performed here and getting our venues/festivals to focus more on local talent and having places for less commercial styles to have their voices heard. Not enough work to support our freelance musicians who are not members of permanent organizations like the Toronto Symphony. Toronto musicians being replaced by entire travelling orchestras for stage shows and some operas for economic reasons. Perhaps the city could provide subsidies and insentives to international touring companies, something like our government does for the film industry. Our world class musicians need work in our world class city. 1. Bylaws that make it incredibly difficult to advertise shows. 2. Lack of All-Ages venues and/or the cost of booking an all-ages show. 3. Centralized "scenes", trying to do a show outside of the Queen W. area can be difficult. 4. Noise violation bylaws - venues have to be SO careful about noise, even if the neighbours that are complaining built after the venue was established. As a musician, a lot of the venues are dark/dank out of date. The sound engineers aren't really sound engineers in some places. They could be described as "hacks". The stage equipment (i.e. mic's/amps/drums/cables/lighting) is out of date. Lack of advertising of the venue which relates to the amount at times that artists get paid. They "get a cut of the door sales" which is extremely unfair as the venue profits from the sale of alcohol/door cover (regulation required). If this topic is up for discussion, the city should require venues to prove that they meet the minimum requirements of a "stage" to allow the sale(s) of tickets for performance. The audio systems should meet the requirements of the venue and should be vetted out to a third party service. Just like having a pass for health and safety on city restaurants, there should be a pass requirement for a stage. As a musician there is no regulation. If my band books a show at a venue and they have falsely advertised the "backline" (stage equipment) and I show up, the sound of our performance will be affected. This also relates to who is in the audiences, bloggers, record affiliates, media. I think just like everything else in the city, if you want to be a music destination, set the precedent that your venues are up to the gold standard/ neighbour complaints about noise levels. It is very very easy for a live venue to be brought to its knees by a single disgruntled complainer--neverminding that someone has moved near (or often above) a bar knowing ahead of time that this was a live music venue. The city responds to these complaints often quite on the side of the complainer, and I have now seen multiple great community-enhancing music places/bars become stale music-less places (or music is forced into odd times in an effort to accomodate the complainer) and the overall neighborhood has lost in one swoop a chunk of its vibrancy, a part of what might have made it great prior. a real lack of adequate performances spaces. aside from a few standard bars/clubs, that can be hard for less established bands to break into, there aren't enough places to play. not enough all ages venues. not enough alternative/funded spaces. not clear path from the genesis on an idea or a project, to live performance and/or career Bar owners not paying a fair wage like they do their other "employees" (ie bartenders, cooks, wait staff) but instead make the artist have to pass a hat or charge a cover which is harmful to the new artist trying to make a living and develop a fan base. Bar owners/clubs should be building their business' reputation as a place where there's always great live music and then people will naturally flock their to hear whoever is playing and then the cover charge/pass the hat might make sense...but not every bar is like the * where that works... but plenty try to employ the same shamefull cheap tactics... thats a big challenge facing musicians wanting to survive the toronto music industry. clubs refusing to pay musicians good wages; people who move into music areas because they love the music then when they move in they call the police and make noise complaints. While Toronto is certainly the centre of the industry, there is a massive consolidation of power due to the FACTOR program being chaired by the labels who receive the funding. This has lead to a rather homogenous group of artists taking advantage of the entire industry and the government programs that support it. It would be great for the City to actively promote more artists from a great plurality of genres to participate. No central hub that encourages the mixing of musical cultures. Radio is playing top 40 american music, not an avenue to expose local music. Not enough branding - how to celebrate diversity of Toronto's music scene while also carving out a public and aesthetic identity a la Austin, Nashville, etc. where there is already an expectation or excitement around what the place and/or scene is/represents. The ECONOMY, THERE IS NO FOCUS or CENTRALIZED, MEDIA PROMOTED AREAS where consistently high quality musicians play regularly. Membership in the TMA does not necessarily mean the members are raising the bar of creative music that will lead to develop a market based village of financially successful content creators. People who move into an area filled with venues and then complain about the noise. The culture landscape of some areas are being sterilized by people who some how think that living off of a major cultural artery should be a quiet at all times experience. I think it's the ability to connect the divers musical cultures, it's always the same bands playing at the same place. I think it's important to have culturally divers music play in public venues. The culture of music shows being late night events. They have their place, but I think we could enrich the variety of patrons by being more like England and having music performances in the hours of 6-9, making it a social destination after work for many people who can't be bothered to leave the house once they're there There are little to no venues for music outside of the downtown area. Places like Scarborough and Etobicoke only have a few small stages but its not enough to get kids and people out to shows. We need more concert halls. It's one thing to attract musicians to a venue, but you need to attract fans and average listeners too. Ensuring live-music venues, historical or otherwise, aren't priced out of/gentrified out of culturally thriving areas. The city does not have a clear identity outside of words like diverse and multicultural. To this end it appears there is no clear plan of support or growth areas. not enough music in public places– we need to take a page from Montreal Affordable space to put on small shows (outside a bar), affordable space to rehearse - organizations like Artscaoe ideally should be a terrific option but they really aren't affordable nor open to musicians (or frankly, ground level emerging artists). We also have an IMMENSE NEED for all-ages (bar and non- bar) music spaces in all areas of the city, especially the core and low-income areas.. to rehearse, The development of other areas of the music business, change is happening and producers, writers, amanagers are moving to the burbs, but they still say Tdot. It is difficult to compel people to leave the downtown area and support what is happening in the various communities and cultural groups. Issues at the border for international/US acts, no central music area/venues are widely dispersed, early bar closing times, Fan awareness. Many small to mid level venues and artists don't have the resources to promote effectively. The grassroots / up-and-coming is where the richest activity is. But Toronto is an expensive and harsh place to be an artist. The majority of activity is on the lower rung of the class system, and on top of the already huge challenge of making and presenting music, people are just trying to survive. This is why so many Montreal artists break out internationally. Montreal is an affordable place to be, and become a great artist.

Decent venues are too spread out. When tourists come, there is no real "district" or hub. It would be neat to designate certain parts of town as live music centres and support the bars so that they can pay musicians a base to play there on top of what the bar pays. 85

the lack of a live-venue "strip" makes festivals like NXNE pale in comparison to SXSW. We can't close down streets and have people walk up and down a strip to enjoy the multitude of venues because everything is too spread out. often times, it's impossible to even know that a festival is taking place.

No appropriate festival venue locations in the downtown area. The city's support of certain smaller groups/areas/festivals If you want a city to be a music destination, make it easy to indulge in that idea. When you arrive in Nashville you hear music artists welcoming you to the city and their music! You see musical instruments the moment you arrive. Toronto is not like that. If I were a tourist, I wouldn't know where to start. How do you find out about toronto's music history? It's not all in one place. There aren't various ways to experience it. Is there a Toronto concert calendar of our major festivals in all music genres? Does Toronto tourism promote this? Could we have a music passport that allows tourists to access discounts relating to music in the city? The biggest challenge is there isn't a plan in place. Big city, things are very spread out. But when a big festival happens, the entire city crowds into one area Bigger festivals in better venues-downsview is not a good place Displaying Toronto's talent. Live music usually centre's around a few festivals Need more large-scale music festivals, perhaps done jointly with areas in the GTA. Fair compensation is the biggest problem, 100%. In other major cities like Vancouver, Montreal, or even London (UK), it's expected that artists will be paid fairly for a night of performance. Everyone musician I know who has come to Toronto has been disgusted by how poorly artists are treated here. Literally zero percent of foreign musicians I know are happier with live compensation in Toronto versus their previous places of residence. Lack of international acts, I don't believe it is thought of and respected as a musical hub yet. A lack of quality smaller halls that touring jazz artists could book and fill with an audience. How come Pat Metheny has played twice in the past two years at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre but not in Toronto? That's crazy! Some sort of central arts hub for information and tickets that is obvious for tourists. Or maybe three or four hubs that are all connected and visible. Venues do not pay musicians enough to make a living. The pay is the same, or less than it was in the 70s-80s. Is there any by-laws that could be written to make sure musicians get paid fairly? The Rex is a place that at least let's you collect a door fee and 20% of the Bar. Could something like that be enforced? Plus a minimum? I would like to see more support for resources that promote live music such as *. I would also like to see fewer obstacles for live music venues in neighbourhoods outside of the downtown core. Historic venues closing because of restrictions placed on them by neighbours Noise by-laws and other such legal impairments hampering venues close to residential areas. Entitled condo owners or residents that move into music areas and then complain when they hear a bit of noise on the weekend. The nature of sound complaints need to change as many venues have had to shut down or change format away from music because of one person complaining. I think it is almost funny as though they are lonely and just mad that nobody invited them out for some fun. Noise bylaws and ocupancy capicity of venues really make it tough for venues to survive. We need better zoning and places like geary lane getting shut down makes no sense to me. The restrictions place on venues in certain locations; such as zoning and licences. Some of the best venues in this city have been torn down! The Kool Haus was a great venue and it was an icon for so many people. And just another cookie-cutter condo replaced it. The quality of venues. The great hall, and the burdock, are the only good places. The holy oak punches above its weight class, but many other venues are improperly aoind treated for what they offer. Many places in our neighbourhood could benefit from acoustic treatments and better speaker systems.

The systematic closing / pushing out of most of Toronto's live music clubs / venues from the downtown core to make room for condos has effectively gutted the core of viable venues for new artists or those working on becoming established. There aren't enough venues. They are slowly closing down or being turned into condos or other establishments. For example, The Guvernment nightclub was Toronto's top music club and was a music destination that was recognized worldwide until it was bought by land-developpers and it is now being turned into a condo. The benefits of that single entertainment place far outweigh that of the condo which could've been built anywhere else. Other examples would be the El Mocambo, but it was supposedly saved by Mr. Michael Wekerle and being renovated. It would've been converted into another type of commercial building had Mr. Wekerle not saved it last minute. There are multiple multiple other key and historic music venues that are just disappearing like that. Venues being replaced by condos and a few large companies owning almost all the venues, too focused on being night clubs The fact that this City continues to allow places to be torn down to build yet another condo Politics with personal aganedas, privatized sponsorship and the demands they place on musicians Regulations hold back and detriment musicians. We need more by-laws like band loading areas, as well better surveillance over promoters. As a musician I can't count the amount of times I have been offered certain guarantees over shows only for the promoter to turn around change the details last minute. Those issues need to be disputed in a fair place. A city council that has, through enacting by-laws, neglected/detracted from the city's nighttime activities due to the stereotypes of an unfortunate club district. Toronto is expensive. There should be more cheap events with better music. Xmas markets should all across the downtown core. Or one big one with many places to go. The high cost of living, the high cost of rent for venues in high volume areas, and the stigma associated with anywhere that isn't Downtown-West End Toronto. cost of venues in areas with lots of people, being properly paid, cost of renting space for music rehearsals Getting people to pay for entertainment. NYC and most other places in the states have much higher cover prices (look at the jazz venues) how can we get the public to not mind PAYING for music? Funding. City produced events with Corporate support would help place Toronto on the map Cost of living for new, not yet established musicians and bands. Housing costs are pushing to places like Hamilton. We have to keep these people here. Toronto is an expensive city, which makes it a tough place to travel to for anything Most musicians are relatively poor and Toronto's cost of living in the most relevant areas for them to be is very high. Financial support for musicians, theft protection of their equipment. It is rare the authorities will even take part in trying to track down stolen gear, and one theft can bankrupt an entire group of musicians in what it would cost to replace the stolen equipment. I feel as though there is more of an emphasis placed on bringing in large acts as opposed to supporting and creating opportunities for local artists. lack of core funding, lack of public and government understanding and general support. Like I said before... It's a very expensive place to exist period! So we need to have incentives and proper compensation put in place. It's an expensive place to visit Getting out of country artists here seems too difficult and expensive...like a deterrent. If there could be some programs in place to help bring other world talent here to work WITH our local talent, everyone wins. 86

There are not enough places to perform that offer equitable compensation. It makes it difficult to make music a career for most; people need to pay bills. Quality music/art takes time and energy. Creativity is by far our greatest challenge. Works of art take a great deal of time and thought, but a just little bit of money. Most musicians are forced to work full-time, low paying jobs to sustain themselves. If we had more time to worry less about money and more about our art Toronto would be a much more creative place. not enough places to play and not enough places pay well enough Toronto has no distinct centre where the majority of music venues and musicians can live side by side. The population is very spread out and so it is very difficult to have a independent music scene in the way that a city like Montreal has. The challenge in Toronto is communication between musicians and between musicians and venues. Bands don't know other bands and there is nowhere for them to meet. So many of Toronto's musicians are under the radar. They need much more exposure. We also need venues in areas like ours near North York Centre that support open mics, folk, blues, roots and jazz. From a marketing perspective we don't stand for one thing when it comes to music. And just being the place that offers the most going on is a tough sell when music is so personal to those who care about it and are driven often by a love of a certain genre. Just being a music city still doesn't say alot about us other than we have music here and alot of it. What is special about our music scene is what is missing. Marketing TO as a music destination and creating an indie music hub in the city that draws new talent and fosters existing talent Not enough public spaces to host music events. More easy access to sugar beach or Sherbourne common area please. The lack of a centralized theatre district/live music district. A trip to hear music often means travelling to a specific venue. If spaces were more centralized, more options would be available, and people might be more likely to take a chance. The location of venues. Most are in high density areas like the downtown core. Toronto used to be a music destination but City Council has destroyed the music scene in Toronto with its 'war on fun.' Toronto needs more live venues and clubs in the downtown core. Venue availability, in general, is very poor. Especially in the city centre. Constant noise complaint issues when performing even in appropriate venues. Nearly half of our decent music venues have closed, and it's really messed with the music industry in this city. I mean, the only place you hear about regularly now-a-days in Muzik and that place is the only venue that should have actually been shut down because if how awful it is.

While there are quite a number of music venues, that number has consistently dwindled in recent years. Hard to foster innovation or just a music scene in general when there are a limited number of places to play/perform. Making bands go theough an arm and a leg to enter the country, not allowing certain musicians into the country, not enough venues in the downtown core, shows sell out too fast, the best venues are spread out over a very large geographic area Apathy of the clients, patrons and the general public. The Music industry has downgraded to a small venue performance areas and has relied on the miserly venue owners... I think we need more venues to open up, big or small. Also have them in area's where there might not be any venue's, like in the east end for example. Small to medium venues for live music. Would be nice to have a music district like Austin Texas has. maybe most venues are in the core and not spread throughout the GTA The music venues are concentrated in the downtown while other areas of the city are ignored There are few decent mid sized venues for bands to book, especially since Kool House closed. ACC is too large for many bands, but a place like Sound Academy has terrible acoustics and setup of space. More venues like the Danforth Music Hall - perhaps one central and one west - would be wonderful.

Licensing of venues for alcohol and places ability to serve / play at the hours they choose. Clubs are too spread out. We need a music district! The music scene is quite spread out and decentralized, can be difficult to access if you're not already in the know. making it an affordable place to live for the talent that resides here. It's a city. It works like just about any other urban centre. There is nothing special about it. I travel all the time on several continents. It's like saying everything is "unique". size of the city and suburbs means that a specific area should be designated to develop as a destination Cities are great places for art, but horrible places for artists Lack of a central core music district. Yonge st was it for years but isn't now. Government shutting down places such as Geary Ave. where live music was suppose to flourish there is not enough fan support for local artists as advertisings via flyers and posters is banned on many areas finding places to play Lack of opportunity for artists who have yet to develop a core audience in the city, with that being their primary goal. Lack of a public grand stand area like the one in downtown Montreal. 2 am last call and not enough places to perform outside of the downtown core Music needs to be promoted more in many areas of the city Live music needs to play a bigger role in bars and restaurants as it does in areas like Nashville and Austin. The history is lush and full of talent that has never broken out of the shell that is the GTA hub, and many talents that have gone on to worldwide success, however there is a strange middle ground that is isolated in its uncanny ability to alienate artists trying to bridge the gap between excelling in a larger arena versus residing as hometown heroes. Finding places to live and rehearse. Battles over noise levels in residential areas publicity of who is where, and also perhaps the density of being able to find enough variety in a given area. Anyone with a pulse is hired so long as they fill the place! Talent is no longer a consideration. An iconic music centre and more publicity to attract worldwide attention. The musicians are doing their part, and it would be good if the city helped with more and better MusicCity. TO publicity. The role of the City of Toronto is to make sure to create a supportive environment pre-and post-performance efforts so that all the supports are in place to nurture then showcase and mature talent locally and globally. 87

Lack of compensation for musicians . It is virtually impossible to make a living as a musician in this city . That is going to effect the quality of the music I offered . Lack of affordable housing for musicians is also a huge problem . Some have given up and are moving to places like Hamilton

The lack of affordable housing/rehearsal space in the downtown core lack of central hub for learning about musical options of all genres in the city One has to dig to find a good music experience in Toronto. Other than a select few places like the horseshoe tavern, other good concerts are often under publicized, hard to get to, or simply rare to come by. One should be able to think of multiple places where they can simply show up and have a good experience. There is no true music scene anymore in Toronto. Gone are the days of the Yorkville scene the Yonge St sceen and the Queen St scene. live music is almost exclusively a city-center thing. Scarborough, Etobicoke, etc. have virtually no live music. A clear and consider grouping of "music strips" like Broadway st. In Nashville... Or what Queen west used to be in the 90's or what Yorkville was in the 60's Toronto needs a Music Hall of Fame. It is unbelievable the current number of Billboard chart-toppers from the GTA (now and in the past) and we don't have a HOF. On a Saturday night people want to go out for good food and good live music. These are scarce and rare. A good example is when Ronnire Hawkins used to play on Yonge Street on Satrurday nights. It was amazing and great fun. We just need more! We should be able to walk down any major street, any day of the week, and find live music somewhere. size of the city 88

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What do you consider to be Toronto’s greatest challenges as a music destination?

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The City being open and receptive to making it happen. see above Visible support from all sectors of the city is needed. Not really in agreement with the music "destination" concept. The more music the merrier Music needs to be curated This question is poorly phrased. To be better known as a music destination. Investment from the city and the people as a whole to support and find value in music. Lack of support for music, in the past. lack of support No one really cares. rate of commercial success Not sure i understand the question These are truths, not challenges Local support Toronto needs to inhabit innovation and right now that is not truthfully happening. It's waiting for what's next. The respect towards musicians supporting artists All the strengths we have are the artists that haven't been heard. not sure City support. support of the scene "Toronto The Good" stands in the way of "Toronto The Great." Helping musicians. It's a legitmate career choice that is impossible to do alone Toronto isn't known as a music destination. Drake. The lack of government-sponsored music-preview listings Unsure Nothings old enough yet :) Not sure what this means Finding I think Toronto has a lot to offer, but in the process of moving forward we require innovation, opportunity for exploration, and support, to really make an impact The. Infrasructure of the current music industry. It is aet up in a way thatkeeps us all struggling to find success As well as the ambition of musicians We've got the resources. 89

obstacles to getting to out to see music Lack of support for the arts lack of cooperation betweem music stakeholders. support from different levels of government Not all of Toronto's musicians are talented available resources maybe i dont understand the question? but.... all of the above The people who hold a significant amount of influence over the people. A potential overbearing corporate influence Not enough opportunities for musicians. lack of support. More live concerts The lack of unity and support between other musicians and talent. Simply, the will to make it happen. Please see my long answer to the question regarding what the city's involvement should be. The lack of support for professional musicians. don't know support from locals It's already a great music destination. Every popular act ever plays shows here. The opportunity to succeed in this city. all of the above except "none of the above". The extreme conservatism of Torontonians. The music industry in Toronto and Canada is not sufficiently mature to make Toronto a music destination in the way that Nashville, Austin, or other cities are. we are not Nashville I can only comment on the value of music as a strength to Toronto, but cannot speak to any challenges that may be present. Tax breaks for people that that use local talent See previous question as my answer for that ties into this one. There is no major challenge that cannot be combat. The challenge is the support from the sectir itself. Toronto is a music destination in spite of the City, not because of it. the lack of support from the city itself Again, the wording in this survey is short sighted. People don't think of Toronto (yet) like they think of Austin. how can the strengths also be challenges? insufficient allotment of corporate and govt resources into local music The fact that DJs are treated as rockstars and musicians are treated as a novelty. Certain people's attitude in Toronto towards the music scene in Toronto. availability of non commercialized music All of the above lack of industry coordinating all types of music activities in the sub sectors of music to make it stronger. Lack of vision going forward It's not really a defined music destination. a lot of demand a low offer. The lack of opportunity The inconsistency of talent Long overdue development of above No challenges, just huge opportunities Distribution: spreading the music around We have a tendency to under appreciate the value of live music. this is more of an explanation than another choice, but the vast number of musicians in toronto make it difficult to cultivate coherent scenes. Hundreds of musicians do not get to truly participate in the music scene due to lack of connections. This is related to talent, but also personality and opportunity. I'm not sure if this can or should be addressed. Look what happened to the historic Matador!