Music
Music is a vital part of Toronto’s identity. Our city is the largest centre of music in Canada and one of the most varied and vibrant music cities in the world.
Toronto’s music scene draws in people across the city, attracts visitors and artists, and engages with film, television, fashion, food, and interactive media. Music is a significant industry and a major cultural asset within the city of Toronto.
Supporting the Music Industry
The City of Toronto provides support to the local music community through its Film and Entertainment Industries team. This dedicated team can:
- facilitate links to other City departments (e.g., Transportation and Street Events, Parks Forestry & Recreation, Municipal Licensing & Standards, Event Support)
- provide business-to-business connections
- advise and provide consultation on business development, including help with related City processes and regulations
In addition, the City is creating a comprehensive music plan to guide the music sector’s growth and development. This strategy is being developed in close collaboration with the Toronto Music Advisory Council and will strive to:
- help create more live music opportunities
- review and revise licensing, noise regulations, and event permitting
- build music tourism
Music 311 and Live from City Hall
The City of Toronto is highlighting the talents of local musicians through two programs that feature live and recorded music.
Music 311
We’re assembling a playlist of original music written and recorded by Toronto-based artists for call-hold playback on the City’s 311 customer service line.
Live from City Hall
We’re looking to book performers for a showcase series in the rotunda at City Hall, and for occasional opportunities at other City-managed venues. (Applications for the City Hall performance series may be submitted at any time, but the actual showcases are not scheduled to begin until fall 2015.)
If you are a Toronto-based musician and are interested in participating in one or both of these opportunities we encourage you to get involved.
Quick Facts about Toronto's Music Sector
- The Canadian music industry is clustered primarily around Toronto and the Toronto region, making it one of the most concentrated music sectors in North America.
- An economic impact study commissioned by Music Canada determined that the Canadian recording industry (including both foreign-owned and independent, Canadian-owned companies) had a total economic impact output of $400 million in 2010. About 80% of recording industry expenditure in Canada is in the Toronto region.
- The live music sector generates an estimated $455 million in revenues and contributes $252 million to the Canadian economy. Overall, the Canadian live music market has grown at an annual average rate of 6.4 per cent since 2010. Ontario's live music sector generates 80 per cent of total national revenues, up from 65 per cent in 2005.
- The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) reports that the independent, Canadian-owned music industry sector generated approximately $292 million in revenues in 2011 and contributed more than $300 million in GDP to the Canadian economy. The report found that more than 13,400 people are employed by the independent music industry in Canada.
- According to The Great Musical North (2009), a report done by the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, the Toronto music industry has a larger share of the region's employment than New York City and Austin, Texas.
Toronto's strength in the music industry comes from having high quality talent in all areas that make up the sector, including:
- venues
- festivals
- studios
- recording and distribution
- artist associations
- business management (e.g. legal, financial) unions and guilds
- talent development firms
- publishers
- marketing and promotion firms
- communications media (e.g. broadcasting, telecom, internet)
- software developers
- educational and training institutions
- suppliers
- financiers and funders.
Toronto is home to major record labels and festival promoters, many smaller independent record labels, numerous recording studios and live music venues, and a Toronto Music Sector, thriving music community with a balance of commercial and non-profit music initiatives; and most importantly a wealth of tremendously talented performers. The diversity of age, cultural background, life experience and music genre within this talent is also a critical driving force in Toronto's success in the music industry.
As the fourth largest city in North American, Toronto (population ~2.8 million) within a region of about 6 million (GTA) to 9 million (GGH), this diversity benefits Toronto by ensuring that there is a sizeable local market for every type of music and providing a unique platform for creativity and innovation through the fusion of different genres, styles and instruments.
Making Toronto's Music Industry Even Bigger and Better
City Council adopted a new economic strategy, Collaborating for Competitiveness: A Strategic Plan to Accelerate Economic Growth and Job Creation in Toronto, and a new culture strategy Creative Capital Gains: An Action Plan for Toronto. Both strategic plans support initiatives to advance the music industry.
As is the case with a number of other sectors, one of the most significant barriers to success is the fragmented voice and activities of the music industry. Toronto is home to many talented individuals and firms in the various sub-sectors within the music industry, however, it lacks the connective tissue necessary to make the separate parts into a whole and realize its full potential.
In late 2013, work was initiated by City staff to develop the Toronto Music Industry Advisory Council and to formalize the Austin-Toronto Music City Alliance.