Music

Toronto now has someone who's paid to develop its music scene

by Mark Teo

For better or for worse, Toronto’s long been portrayed as the centre of Canada’s musical universe. Some, like the ever-critical Slagging Off blog, claim that the city’s industry takes a disproportionate amount of the nation’s funding—according the blog’s writer, Paul Lawton, a huge chunk of FACTOR-funded acts reside 20 km from the agency’s offices. But on the flip side, there are reasons why Toronto’s a vital music city: For touring bands, it’s close to a cluster of smaller Ontario cities, as well as striking distance from Montreal, New York, Detroit and Chicago. It’s where a large cluster of labels, like-minded musicians, and venues are located. It’s Canada’s most populous city. We’d expect—hope, really—that its cultural scenes would be thriving.

But now, Hogtown has employed someone to ensure that its music scene thrives: The City of Toronto has announced that Mike Tanner, pictured in the photo above to the right of NXNE president Michael Hollett and soon-to-be ex-mayor Rob Ford, is the city’s music sector development officer.

In an interview with the Toronto Star‘s Ben Rayner, Tanner—who’s been with NXNE for seven years—detailed what he’s doing on the job, which starts next Tuesday. He hopes to align its music industry with its other entertainment industries, build an office that serves as a customer-service centre for venues looking for permits, and expand the music scene to under-served parts of the city.

It’s a rosy outlook, to be sure, but one we can get behind.

“Queen St. W. and Kensington Market and College and Spadina are pretty rife with opportunities right now,” he told the Star, “but I think it would be interesting to take some of that energy and that buzz and see if we can move some of it up to Eglinton West or create some opportunities for that to happen on Danforth Ave. out by Kingston Rd., or up on Lawrence in Scarborough.”

As Rayner notes, Tanner has the experience to back it up—he possesses business writing skills, helped align the city—and NXNE—with Austin, Tex., and, of course, has played in bands. At NXNE, according to The Scene, he managed government and industry relations—skills that’ll surely help him in his new position with the city. That, at least, is what his former colleagues believe.

“I believe the creation of this new position is a huge step forward in achieving many of the goals I have personally held in backing the Music City Alliance with Austin, Tex.,” NXNE president Hollett told The Scene. “And I think that having a music sector development officer is essential in helping Toronto’s vibrant live music community grow their important work. Congratulations to Mike and the city for hiring him.”

Hopefully it’s a union that’ll produce good things for the city. As for Tanner, he’ll start his job by taking the temperature of Toronto’s music scene, determining how he could better serve promoters. “Some of the people who could potentially be the most vociferous critics of a music sector development officer are actually guys I know quite well,” he told The Star.

So, for critics and champions of Toronto’s music scene, here’s your chance to sound off. [H/T Toronto Star]