Making Music Count

April 12th, 2016 | Mark Harrison, President & CEO, T1

Songwriters' Circle
Songwriter’s Circle, 2016 JUNO Awards

The JUNO Awards is many things to many people.

To the music industry, it is recognition, celebration, and inspiration. To corporate sponsors, it is an opportunity to tap into a deep vein of intense passion with consumers. To multiple levels of government and a myriad of NGOs, it is a key plank in the cultural development of our nation. To municipalities, it is a primetime opportunity to showcase themselves to the nation. To fans, it’s a rarefied moment to experience a collection of supreme talent ranging across many music genres. To me and my team, the 2016 JUNOS in Calgary this past weekend were an opportunity to learn, network, and plan ahead for the 2017 Canadian Sponsorship Forum Xperience, which will be hosted by the JUNOS in Ottawa next March.

But I learned something even more important than a refresher on music marketing this past weekend. I learned intimately of the powerful work the music industry and a few forward-thinking sponsors are spearheading. Working together, industry artists, sponsoring brands, Heritage Canada and CARAS (Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) are on a mission to ensure that music is a part of young Canadians’ schooling by raising funds to donate instruments to schools in need and supporting music teachers from coast to coast.

I suspect that many Canadians believe our schools are overrun with musical instruments. Who can forget their orchestral debut on a plastic or wooden recorder? Did it not seem like your middle school had more wind instruments than volleyballs? In the time it took you to determine if you’re a soprano or an alto, were you not off to high school, where entire rooms were filled with battered cases of every instrument imaginable? No doubt you were sharing the same mouthpiece your uncle had used a generation ago.

The reality is that it’s no longer the case. The reality is that there are many schools in this country that need equipment. That is why CARAS created MusiCounts 19 years ago. Over $9 million has been awarded to support music education in Canada.

The reality is that only one in four schools that apply to MusiCounts are able to get their request fulfilled. That means annually more than 15,000 schools are going without.

Throughout JUNO Week, the importance of music in the lives of our young people was a consistent theme. Learning music is one of those skills that enhances so many other capabilities. Problem solving, collaboration, critical thinking and languages all benefit when a young person learns and understands music (I have also been told that learning to play guitar is a tremendous asset for any young, single male).

Although I position myself as a sports nut and failed jock, I was also the only kid in my high school both in the senior band and on the senior football team. My talents were limited, but the discipline and self-improvement skills that being part of a band taught me were indispensable. It was also fun. My poor music teacher was the victim of far too many taunts and barbs. He would explode like a steam engine when we made too many mistakes. Performances were my favourite and I was fortunate one year to be part of the Simcoe County all-star band organized by the local RCMP detachment. We performed in a real concert hall in Barrie and I felt like a rock star.

Music was not something that I pursued, and I regret that. I wish I had listened to my mom and not quit piano. I wish I had stayed with the school band and not quit prior to Grade 13, when everyone else went to Vancouver on a music trip. I wish I could pick up a guitar and jump on stage this weekend.

Fortunately for me I had a choice. Fortunately for Canadian youth, MusiCounts is working hard to ensure that most kids do. They stock JUNO Week with great events to raise funds and awareness. The Songwriters’ Circle co-presented by SOCAN and Yamaha Music Canada and the JUNO Gala Dinner & Awards were two of which I got to attend. The Songwriters’ Circle is a unique experience where famous performers tell the back-story of select songs and then perform them. It’s an amazing event you need to attend once in your life. A neat moment at the Gala is when the Teacher of the Year, Don Bossé of Fredericton High School, was recognized. In a thrilling moment for him, he had received the award while being fitted for a tux at Holt Renfrew. The cool part was that Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush crashed the change room for the presentation.

There seems to be a tremendous whitespace for Canadian brands to get involved with music in schools. It’s uncluttered. It’s fresh. It’s timeless. It reaches different populations. It’s needed. It’s welcomed. TD is at the forefront right now as a significant supporter of MusiCounts, and just this past week increased their commitment by $1 million over the next two years.

When you start to compare the brand dollars funneled into sports, festivals, and charities, the amounts given to music are minuscule. Brands are endlessly trying to create content, reach influencers, and connect with Gen This and Gen That. Well imagine how authentic having Shawn Peter Raul Mendes as your influencer would be if you had put a trumpet in his hands when he was 14?

That opportunity exists for your brand today. There is a well-oiled machine awaiting your involvement. Integrate a powerful activation plan and you will have an idea that scales from a classroom in Chilliwack to the JUNOS stage in Ottawa. (Chilliwack…see what I did there?)

I’ve long wanted to partner with CARAS on CSFX, and the combination of being in Ottawa during Canada’s 150th birthday celebrations in 2017 and sharing the stage with Canada’s Music Awards is solid gold. Excitedly, the opportunity to help contribute to the development of the future of music in our country will make this opportunity even more meaningful.

Authors note: I must take this moment for a quick apology to our Honourable Mélanie Joly, our Minister of Canadian Heritage, who I met at a JUNOS event this past weekend. After exchanging our places of business I not so brilliantly asked her what she does at Heritage and where she is based…the next day when I saw her on stage I realized that my networking skills have gotten pretty rusty. Rule #1, recognize Cabinet Ministers in public

Mark Harrison
Mark Harrison