It was announced last week that Creative BC, the independent agency tasked with promoting the development of BC’s creative industries, received $1.2 million in funding from Western Development Diversification Canada (Government of Canada).
The funding is destined to help Creative BC raise international awareness of the province’s creative industries, and attracting foreign investment. From the release:
“With the WD funding, Creative BC will deliver a comprehensive and targeted trade and investment strategy. The strategy will increase the penetration of BC’s creative industries into domestic and international markets, improve awareness of BC’s investment opportunities and production capabilities, and increase the global significance and relevance of industry-related trade events.”
This is an excellent development for BC’s music industry: it’s the third largest centre for music production in Canada, and has a large, diverse pool of artists.
Music BC’s Executive Director, Bob D’Eith, published the full-text of his speech on his website, which you can view here. Here are the highlights:
“Now with Western Diversification partnering with CreativeBC with this $1.2 million investment, Music BC and the BC music industry will be able to expand its footprint internationally, creating more opportunity for our artists and their teams. This new funding will allow us to get to the UK (The Great Escape) and Japan (CIMA trade mission) this year in addition to the existing repeat markets.
Another key aspect of this funding is export preparedness. Canada is 3% of the world market. Getting out to the globe is essential, but the competition if fierce. We will now be able to take time before each market to prepare our companies and artists, maximizing their success. In addition, WD funding will allow us to continue to deliver programs designed to the get artists and their teams ready for world markets. We are now going to be able to expand on programs like the Peak Performance Project that has resulted in 29 international tours and many deals around the world. Alumni, We Are the City just signed US deal; Dear Rouge is releasing their new album with Universal Music. Current Swell, Said the Whale, The Gay 90s, The Belle Game, The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer and many other PPP artists are building strong international stories. We need to help build the next generation of artists like Bryan Adams, Sarah McLachlan, Nickelback, Dan Mangan. Hedley, Diana Krall and others.”
For more information:
http://bobdeith.tumblr.com/post/108934071758/speech-given-at-western-diversification-press