July 2004

Jeff Salem Ties The Knot

Congratulations to Jeff Salem, a regular contributor to Canadian Musician, who recently got married on June 30th to his sweetheart, Helen. The couple enjoyed a Mediterranean cruise for their honeymoon.

Jeff is a freelance artist who performs with various bands and conducts drum clinics at schools in the greater Toronto area that are sponsored by Yamaha, SABIAN, Vic Firth, Latin Percussion, Mountain Rythym, Evans Drum Heads, Reel Feel Pads and the music store Drummer’s Choice.

He also runs his own teaching school, TIPS (Total Integrated Percussion Studies), which you can find online at www.salemdrum.com.

Diana Krall DVD Goes 6 Times Platinum

Diana Krall, famed vocalist and pianist, has achieved sextuple platinum sales of her live DVD, Live In Paris, which was released on EMI Music Canada.

Diana Krall's official website is located at www.dianakrall.com.

Some other recent Canadian certifications that the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) awarded include Avril Lavigne’s Under My Skin (2x platinum), Great Big Sea’s Play (3x platinum) and Something Beautiful (gold), and Michael Bublé’s Come Fly With Me (gold).

CRIA is a non-profit trade association representing the interests of Canadian companies that create, manufacture and market sound recordings. Visit CRIA online at www.cria.ca.

CMRRA to Protect The Rights Of Songwriters

The Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA), which has taken a strong stand in support of the entry of online music services into Canada, recently announced that it is now setting its sights on protecting the rights of songwriters. In conjunction with the Quebec-based Société du droit de reproduction des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs au Canada (SODRAC), CMRRA has flied a joint tariff application with the Copyright Board of Canada to set a fair royalty rate for songwriters and music publishers for online music sales. "To speed the arrival of these services, we took the unprecedented step of issuing online licenses before establishing the royalty rate," says David Basskin, president of CMRRA. "It is in everybody's best interest to get the licensed commercial services in this country struggle to make a living from their work, so getting fair rates for songwriters in the online domain is absolutely critical. That's what the tariff application is all about."

CMRRA has entered into an Online Licensing Agreement (OLA) with two Canada-based online companies, Puretracks and Archambault, and Napster and MusicNet in the States. Under these agreements, CMRRA has cleared tens of thousands of songs for use by the online services. The agreements, which cover the period from October 2003 to December 2004, call for negotiation on the royalty rate or, failing that, arbitration. To date, a rate has yet to be negotiated, and the issue recently went into arbitration. "While we remain open to continued negotiations with the online companies, we must ensure that a fair rate is set for writers and publishers within a reasonable amount of time," says Basskin.

For more information, please visit www.cmrra.ca

Roland And BOSS Present Jack Semple

Roland And BOSS are pleased to present the award-winning Jack Semple, renowned Canadian guitarist, in a unique guitar master class that will be hosted at the well-known Yale Hotel, Vancouver’s mecca for rhythm & blues.

This special event will be taking place on Sunday, August 8 from 1-3 p.m. Semple is making this atypical appearance in Vancouver following his headlining show at the Maple Ridge Jazz and Blues Festival taking place on Saturday, August 7. Roland will be offering Cube Amplifiers as door prizes for some lucky attendees in order to celebrate two full years of success with their reintroduced Cube line. “We have had the pleasure of working with Jack many times in the past. We are pleased that he has chosen some of our products to create part of his incredible sound,” says Steve Alexander, Roland Canada Guitar Product Specialist. “Jack is in woodshed pre-production mode for his new solo guitar project and his playing is hotter than ever. He shares his wealth of guitar knowledge in a way that is easily understood; all attendees of our past events expressed amazement and gratitude for getting to see ‘how it is done’ up close.”

For more information, contact: Roland Canada Music, 5480 Parkwood Way, Richmond, BC V6V 2M4 (604) 270-6626, FAX (604) 270-6552, [email protected], www.roland.ca.

Long & McQuade Drum Clinic And Private Lessons With OLP’s Jeremy Taggart

Jeremy Taggart, drummer for Canadian band Our Lady Peace, has taken time off of his busy “rockstar schedule” to help kick off the new Master Class Series at Long & McQuade’s Brampton location.

A one-on-one 40-minute lesson with Taggart can be yours between July 14-16 for a sum of $50, including free admission to the clinic, courtesy of Long & McQuade and Zildjian. Taggart’s drum clinic will be on July 15th and anyone can attend for a $10 fee, resulting in also receiving an in-store credit of $5 (redeemable at the Brampton location only) and a special thanks for helping out in kicking off the Master Classes with some of the music industry’s most renowned names. Be sure to sign up today – spots are filling up quickly!

For more information, contact: Long & McQuade, 370 Main St. N., Brampton, ON L6V 4A4 (905) 450-4334, FAX (905) 450-6935, [email protected], www.long-mcquade.com.

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