Canadian Music Week 2020 will ‘Focus on The Netherlands’

Canadian Music Week is highlighting the Netherlands at CMW in Toronto from May 20-22, 2020. The CMW ‘Focus on the Netherlands’ supports the 75th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands by Canada. The activity is designed to build new bridges for bilateral music trade relations between Canada and the Netherlands.

Neill Dixon, president of Canadian Music Week states, “We are proud to welcome the first official music mission to Canada from the Netherlands and look forward to opening new trade routes for both Dutch and Canadians to do business together.”

“We are excited about the extensive program we have prepared together with the Canadian Music Week team for Dutch artists and music professionals. Thorough preparations of this mission fit perfectly with the current professionalization of Dutch Music Export. Giving more attention to the Canadian music industry has been on the wish list of many Dutch artists for years and we are proud of this collaboration,” says Marcel Albers, ‘Chef de Mission’ Dutch Music Export.

Canadian Music Week is working with Global Affairs Canada, Ontario Creates, the Embassy of Canada to the Netherlands in The Hague, along with Dutch Music Export (DME) who have been instrumental in adding to the magnitude of the mission. DME is promoting the event to the Dutch music industry and will showcase the best in emerging Dutch talent to Canadian audiences and industry professionals during CMW.

To advance this initiative, the European Music Exporters Exchange (EMEE) has, for the first time, allowed a Canadian panel at ESNS (Eurosonic Noorderslag), which takes place in Groningen, the Netherlands from January 15 to 18, 2020.

Nuno Saraiva, the Portuguese-Canadian Executive Director of WHY Portugal who leads the panel, notes: “The session will explore the peculiarities of the Canadian music market. On one hand, Canada is a multi-cultural land of music lovers, open to European music, while on the other hand, its strong national support systems for music seems like it is a difficult country to export to. Or is it?” Panelists will include Neill Dixon (CMW), Brian Hetherman (Cerberus Management) and Marcel Louwman (Embassy of Canada in the Netherlands).

The Focus on the Netherlands is a joint effort between Canadian Music Week (CMW) and The Canadian Association for the Advancement of Music and the Arts (CAAMA.)

Now in its 38th year, Canadian Music Week is Canada’s leading annual entertainment event dedicated to the expression and growth of the country’s music, media and entertainment industries. Combining multifaceted information-intensive conferences; a trade exposition; awards shows and the nation’s largest new music festival which spans five nights of performances (May 19 – 23, 2020) by hundreds of bands at more than 40 live music venues in downtown Toronto. All CMW conference functions take place at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen Street W. Toronto from May 20 – 22.