Canadian Musician contributor David McPherson took in parts of the 20th edition of North by Northeast (NXNE) during its run last week and offered up a brief review of what we saw. I can only imagine how great that Outlaws & Gunslingers show would have been…

The little music fest that grew and grew turned 20 this year. Leading up to the festival, some critiqued NXNE for “selling out” to major sponsors and branding entire venues such as The Budweiser House at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern.

Despite the proliferation of corporate money, for this music lover, NXNE – two decades on – remains all about the songs. It’s about discovering new bands and songwriters; it’s about rediscovering some of your favourites; And, it’s about letting the music seep into your soul and sweating out all the small stuff that clouds our brains daily.
Here are a few of my highlights:

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Now available from Music Books Plus is the Music Law Handbook for Canada by Toronto-based lawyer Paul Sanderson.

Understanding rights and obligations is fundamental in today’s music industry. The Music Law Handbook for Canada covers key legal aspects including: copyright, protecting intellectual property, trademarks, business entities, contracts, and music publishing.

This short, information-packed booklet is written by Toronto-based lawyer Paul Sanderson, who has practiced entertainment and arts law exclusively since 1983. He is co-founder of ALAS (Artist Legal Advice Services), Canada’s first summary advice legal service which offers free legal advice for artists of all disciplines, and is an instructor at Metalworks Institute of Sound and Music Production. Sanderson is also a founding member, guitarist, and songwriter for Blue Room.

For more information, go HERE.

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Submissions are now being accepted for Breaking Bands, an Ontario-wide band search dedicated to finding and breaking the best emerging talent in the province. The winning band’s prize will culminate in a performance at Big Music Fest 2015 in Kitchener, ON, but there is much more than that in the year prior to the festival.

Mark Higgins, president and owner of Big Music Fest (whose headliners this year include Aerosmith, Bryan Adams, Slash, Moist, Styx, Big Wreck, and more), says he knew that the opportunity to perform with the biggest recording acts in the world could be the vehicle to break a bands career. Higgins wanted something different for the winning band, so along with mentorship, touring opportunities, and other prizes, the winning band will be filmed for a year leading up to their main stage performance at Big Music Fest 2015. The filming will cover rehearsals, studio time, and live performances with a lot of “life in a band” thrown in. The finished documentary will be used as a promotional tool for the band to shop to industry professionals.

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