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Spotify Launches ‘GLOW’ – New Equity Program Celebrating & Amplifying LGBTQIA+ Artists, Creators & Community

Eric Alper
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Spotify Launches ‘GLOW’ – New Equity Program Celebrating & Amplifying LGBTQIA+ Artists, Creators & Community

Music and culture have long been shaped by the LGBTQIA+ community: on stage, behind the scenes, and in culture overall.

Committed to using the power of Spotify’s platform to elevate, uplift and spotlight voices that have been historically marginalized, we’re launching GLOW – a new global music program developed to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community.

Supported by the Creator Equity Fund – Spotify’s commitment to fostering equity in the audio space – GLOW will join sister programs like EQUAL and Frequency. Their commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community will amplify voices and stories through:

  • The GLOW Hub, a dedicated space on Spotify to highlight audio offerings of LGBTQIA+ voices for queer and ally users.
  • Global Flagship Playlist, GLOW, which will be refreshed monthly and highlight tracks by LGBTQIA+ artists.
  • A 360 program providing editorial and partnership capabilities, marketing support, and charitable components.

To launch GLOW, they’re spotlighting LGBTQIA+ artists including: Arlo Parks, Bruses, Jean Seizure, Joesef, Leland, Liniker, Natalia Lacunza, Pabllo Vittar, Sam Smith, Tove Lo  and Villano Antillano.

Nominations and New Performers Revealed for The 2023 JUNO Awards

Eric Alper
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Nominations and New Performers Revealed for The 2023 JUNO Awards

The nominees for The 52nd Annual JUNO Awards were announced today by The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) at a press conference attended by media and industry notables inside the CBC’s Canadian Broadcasting Centre, in downtown Toronto. This year’s winners will be unveiled in Edmonton, Alberta at The JUNO Opening Night Awards Presented by Music Canada on Saturday, March 11 and The JUNO Awards Broadcast on Monday, March 13, broadcasting live on CBC and produced by Insight Productions (a Boat Rocker company).

CARAS also revealed today that three more of this year’s nominees will join the lineup of performers taking the stage at The JUNO Awards Broadcast – award-winning rock band Alexisonfire (Rock Album of the Year), multi-instrumentalist, producer and singer songwriter Aysanabee (Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year) and multi-platinum R&B powerhouse Jessie Reyez (Contemporary R&B Recording of the Year and Music Video of the Year).

Canada’s biggest night in music, hosted for the second year by global superstar Simu Liu, will broadcast and stream live across the country from Rogers Place in Edmonton at 8 p.m. ET/6 p.m. MT on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Listen, and globally at CBCMusic.ca/junos and CBC Music’s Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages.

Canada’s Starboy The Weeknd sweeps this year’s nominations with a total of six including: TikTok JUNO Fan Choice, Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Pop Album of The Year. Pop punk legend Avril Lavigne and Albertan singer-songwriter Tate McRae followed with five nominations each, showcasing the enormous talent that reinforces Canada’s global reach. Avril is nominated for TikTok JUNO Fan Choice, Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Artist of the Year and Pop Album of The Year; while Tate is up for TikTok JUNO Fan Choice, Single of the Year, Album of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Pop Album of The Year.

First-time nominees honoured with three nominations include acclaimed singer/songwriter Preston Pablo for TikTok JUNO Fan Choice, Single of the Year and Breakthrough Artist Of The Year; and dance-pop icon Rêve for TikTok JUNO Fan Choice, Breakthrough Artist Of The Year and Dance Recording Of The Year. Canadian rapper NAV also takes home three nominations for Album of the Year, Rap Album/EP of The Year and Rap Single of the Year; alongside internationally celebrated singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes for TikTok JUNO Fan Choice, Single of the Year and Artist of the Year; and country music duo The Reklaws for TikTok JUNO Fan Choice, Group of the Year and Country Album of the Year.

The host province of Alberta is also well represented with first time nominations going to Altameda for Adult Alternative Album of the Year; Anthony Tan for Classical Composition of the Year; The Bearhead Sisters and Cikwes for Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year; Devon Cole for Breakthrough Artist of the Year; The Ostara Project for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year, Tehillah Worship for Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year; Rare Americans for Breakthrough Group of the Year and WAKE for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year.

MusiCounts, Canada’s music education charity associated with CARAS and The JUNO Awards, will recognize one Canadian music educator’s impact not only on students, but also their community and the music education field, through the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award, presented by CST Foundation. The 2023 nominees are Jewel Casselman (Winnipeg, MB, Lakewood School), Susan Evoy (St. John’s, NL, St. Teresa’s Elementary & Waterford Valley High School), Stephen Richardson (Yellowknife, NWT, École St. Joseph School), Kelly Stronach (Guelph, ON, Mitchell Woods Public School) and Heidi Wood (Calgary, AB, Joane Cardinal-Schubert High School).

Lighting up the stage is Alexisonfire, who will stun crowds with their amped up show for the second time since their inaugural JUNO performance in 2007. The band recently released their long-anticipated and first full-length album in over 13 years, Otherness, described as their most cohesive and self-actualized record to date. Otherness debuted at #2 on the Top 20 Music Canada album chart and the band’s single “Sans Soleil” hit #2 on Rock Radio in Canada. The post-hardcore luminaries have sold over one million records and released five hugely successful studio albums, with four achieving Platinum-certification.

Allan Slaight JUNO Master Class alumni, Aysanabee, will make his JUNO Awards debut with a performance showcasing his striking sound and powerful voice. Since releasing his deeply moving debut album Watin in 2022, Aysanabee has been named a CBC Music Breakthrough Artist of the Year. His acclaimed single “Nomads” hit #1 on CBC Music’s Top 20 and continues to climb, entering the Top 10 on Mediabase Canada’s Alternative radio chart. His soulful track “We Were Here,” charted on the Indigenous Music Countdown and was featured on the hit ABC series Station 19.

The four-time JUNO Award winning superstar, Jessie Reyez will help celebrate this year’s nominees as she returns to share a soulful live performance with audiences in Edmonton. This past September, Reyez released her sophomore album, YESSIE, which chronicles the journey and range of emotions from love and loss to healing, closure and happiness. The GRAMMY Award-nominated artist’s recent success includes her debut album reaching Top 5 on Billboard’s R&B Album Chart and amassing over 1.2 billion global streams. Reyez also earned the title of Top Female Debut Album and Top R&B Album of 2020 for Before Love Came To Kill Us, and made a cameo in Beyonce’s Black is King visual album.

These artists join previously announced acts AP Dhillon, Banx & Ranx, Preston Pablo and Rêve together in a collaborative performance, Nickelback, Tate McRae and Tenille Townes.

The 52nd Annual JUNO Awards and JUNO Week 2023 will take place in Edmonton, AB from Thursday, March 9 through Monday, March 13, 2023, culminating with The JUNO Awards Broadcast. Media accreditation for the 2023 JUNO Awards is now open at junoawards.ca/media-accreditation. Media have until February 7, 2023 at 5 p.m. ET to apply.

John Lennon’s Isolated Vocals For “Instant Karma”

Eric Alper
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John Lennon’s Isolated Vocals For “Instant Karma”

“Instant Karma” was credited to Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band, apart from in the US, where the credit was John Ono Lennon. Huh.

Harry Styles’ Isolated Vocals For “As It Was”

Eric Alper
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Harry Styles’ Isolated Vocals For “As It Was”

Harry Styles’ “As It Was” spent ten weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart, becoming the longest-running number-one and best-selling single of 2022 in his home country. It also became his second number one single in the US, the song spent 15 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the longest-running US number one by a UK act and the fourth-longest-running number one in the chart’s history.

National Music Centre Launches Showcase: Guitars Exhibition on Get Out Your Guitar Day, February 11

Eric Alper
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The National Music Centre is pleased to launch a new exhibition at Studio Bell dedicated to the almighty guitar. Showcase: Guitars will open on February 11 to coincide with Get Out Your Guitar Day, a day in celebration of one of the most popular and versatile instruments.

Whether you enjoy classical, jazz, folk, rock, or something in between, the guitar has taken centre stage in the world of music for well over a century, leading to countless augmentations and innovations on the instrument. Showcase: Guitars features 25 guitars curated from NMC’s collection, as well as items on loan from other collectors and musicians. With a selection of acoustic and electric instruments included, visitors will see a wide variety of bodies and styles on display, with an emphasis on instruments that were created, or collected in Canada, or played by prominent Canadian musicians.

Of those guitars, axe aficionados will see an acoustic guitar from k.d. lang that was custom-made by renowned Canadian luthier William “Grit” Laskin for her 1989 Absolute Torch and Twang tour, a rare 1970 electric guitar that belonged to Bill Henderson, lead singer and guitarist of the Canadian rock band Chilliwack, which was made by Mosrite, whose guitars are now coveted by collectors due to their high build quality and sound. Not to mention, guitars that belonged to Canadian legends, including Randy Bachman, Terri Clark, Anne Murray, Jimmy Rankin, and more.

Two Canadian guitar makers, Charles Brasher and Frank Gay, will also be highlighted, along with their respective guitars: a 1930 Hawaiian-style resonator and 1967 flamenco-style flat top acoustic. Both helped to form the very fabric of Canada’s music history yet never gained substantial international recognition.

“How Brasher and Gay are relative unknowns is inconceivable to me,” said David Glass, a guitar player and collector who donated his Brasher and Gay collection to NMC. “After learning about these formidable guitar-makers, collecting their guitars became important to me as a way to preserve their stories and give them a legacy. I have been absolutely pleased to donate these guitars to the National Music Centre.”

“While we’re primarily known for our keyboard collection, we’ve acquired an impressive list of guitars in recent years,” said Jesse Moffatt, NMC’s Senior Director of Collections and Exhibitions. “We’re excited to finally put the spotlight on many of our favourite fretted instruments and the makers and players behind them.”

Located on the fourth floor of Studio Bell, which is all about making music and honouring the tools of the trade, Showcase: Guitars is accessible with paid admission and will run from February 11-December 31, 2023.

Regular admission to Studio Bell is $21.50 for adults, $16.50 for students/seniors (65+), $13.50 for children (3-12 years of age), and free for children under 3 years of age. Admission for NMC Members is free. To become an NMC Member, visit studiobell.ca/become-a-member. Studio Bell is now open five days a week: Wednesday and Thursday, from 12:00 pm to 7:00 pm, and Friday to Sunday, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

My Next Read: “Here I’m Alive: The Spirit of Music in Psychoanalysis” by Adam Blum, Peter Goldberg, and Michael Levin

Eric Alper
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My Next Read: “Here I’m Alive: The Spirit of Music in Psychoanalysis” by Adam Blum, Peter Goldberg, and Michael Levin

Here I’m Alive explores the musical foundation of being human from a psychoanalytic perspective.

Writing in collaboration, three psychoanalytic clinicians develop a fresh vision of the essential role of music in psychical life. Through an interdisciplinary exploration, Here I’m Alive shows how music is fundamental to becoming human, establishing our embodied sense of membership and participation in a shared world through the fabric of culture. With one authorial voice, these pages resonate with the musical forms of living that make possible any individual style of conduct or shape of desire and without which we are forever lost in the noise.

Video: A Pre-Monkees Davy Jones on Merv Griffin’s ‘Talent Scouts’ In 1963

Eric Alper
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Video: A Pre-Monkees Davy Jones on Merv Griffin’s ‘Talent Scouts’ In 1963

Here’s Davy Jones’ full first U.S. TV appearance on Merv Griffin’s Talent Scouts show in 1963. In less than 3 years, he’d be part of one the world’s biggest rock bands in The Monkees.

SiriusXM And The CCMAs Call On Canada’s Next Country Music Stars In Annual Talent Search

Eric Alper
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SiriusXM And The CCMAs Call On Canada’s Next Country Music Stars In Annual Talent Search

SiriusXM Canada announced its fifth annual SiriusXM Top of the Country competition, brought to life through an ongoing partnership with the Canadian Country Music Association. Emerging Canadian country artists are being invited to submit for the chance to be crowned the Nation’s next big star with this prestigious title. Registration is now open to solo artists and groups until February 13 at topcountry.siriusxm.ca.

In addition to the $25,000 grand prize, SiriusXM is furthering its commitment to elevating Canadian talent by awarding $10,000 prizes to the competition’s two runners-up. New this year, all three finalists will also head to Nashville for performance spots at the 2023 CMA Fest, plus showcase and mentorship opportunities with key industry members. They will also receive stage performances at Lasso Montréal this August, and later participate in a Nashville SOCAN song writing camp.

Last year’s winner, SACHA, reached a pinnacle in her career following her victory, when her single What The Truck (with The Reklaws), becoming the fastest-ever Canadian country song to go gold.

“Getting the chance to be surrounded by such gifted country artists, while honing my own performance and song writing skills, is an experience I will never forget,” says SACHA, 2022 SiriusXM Top of the Country champion. “SiriusXM and the CCMA have built a program that honours Canadian country music and gives artists like me the chance to have career defining opportunities. I want to wish everyone setting out on their journey with this competition love and success and can’t wait to see what everyone achieves!”

The competition is broken down into three important stages with invaluable mentorship milestones. Once registration is complete, eight semi-finalists are chosen by a panel of experts in the industry. These eight artists will record their original tracks in-studio and Canadians will be invited to vote for their favourite. Once votes have been cast, three finalists will be selected and then embark on a summer of showcase opportunities before heading to Country Music Week this September, where the winner of the competition will be announced live on-stage.

“Every year, we are astounded by the caliber of artists who participate in the SiriusXM Top of the Country competition and love discovering new talent in partnership with the CCMA,” said Michelle Mearns, VP, Programming & Operations, SiriusXM Canada. “SiriusXM is dedicated to supporting homegrown talent by giving them the platform and resources they need through programs like this and many others.”  

“We are thrilled and know that the fifth annual Top of the Country competition will be paved with incredibly talented Canadians who will share their stories and talent with us,” shares Amy Jeninga, President, CCMA. “Partnering with an organization like SiriusXM continues to provide us with the opportunity to collaborate, educate, elevate, and celebrate Canadian talent both here at home and beyond and we can’t wait to hear what that this year’s participants will bring forward.”
 
SiriusXM Top of the Country in partnership with the CCMA is part of SiriusXM’s ongoing tradition of promoting and elevating the best emerging Canadian music. SiriusXM continues to offer a leading platform for Canadian artists through its significant financial contributions and North American-wide reach.

Canada’s Teen Jam, A Prelude to Kitchener’s Wayback Festival, Will Showcase the Best of Musical Talent July 22

Eric Alper
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Canada’s Teen Jam, A Prelude to Kitchener’s Wayback Festival, Will Showcase the Best of Musical Talent July 22

Some of the best, most innovative musical acts ever started out when they were merely teens – The Runaways, The Strokes, The Arctic Monkeys, to name just a few – and Canada’s Teen Jam, a first-of-its-kind performance showcase, is well aware of the immense talent and creativity that can be developed during that wonderful time of life.

Canada’s Teen Jam will allow finalists to perform on a massive concert stage as an opener to this year’s Wayback Festival in Kitchener, Ontario, on July 22.  The performance will allow teen artists to explore their natural musical talents in front of both their peers and industry heavyweights, and counts Kitchener Councillor Bill Ioannidis as a supporter.

Teen Jam was created by Mark Higgins, producer, and founder of Big Music Fests, which has featured A-listers including Aerosmith, Bryan Adams, Soundgarden, The Tragically Hip, Slash, ZZ Top and many more legendary acts.

“When you support musical teens, you empower the entire teen community,” Higgins said. “Musical growth is absolutely essential for the future of our music industry. Without our up-and-coming next generation of artists being supported, the creative wall will crumble.”

Teens ages 13 to 19 can submit video performances here, along with a $10 submission fee. Cash prizes will be awarded for the best performances – $1,000 in the band category, and $500 for the solo-artist category. All sounds and musical styles are encouraged, as well as both original songs and covers. More information can also be found on Canada’s Teen Jam’s Instagram and TikTok.

Alicia Toner Releases Haunting “Time Travel”

Eric Alper
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Alicia Toner Releases Haunting “Time Travel”

There’s a certain irony to the chorus of Alicia Toner’s new single, the haunting “Time Travel”: “Only one thing left for you to do / travel back in time and tell the truth.” The lyric is directed toward an ex that the Charlottetown singer-songwriter is struggling to forgive. But there’s another truth lurking beneath.

The song was released on her 2021 album Joan, which garnered seven Music PEI nominations, and took home the prize for Solo Recording of the Year, two ECMA nominations, including the Rising Star award and took home Solo Artist of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. But only now is the acclaimed actor and musician telling the truth about what the album is really about. It’s an uncomfortable truth, a painful personal story that Toner is ready to tell only now.

“It’s about the after-effects of an abusive marriage,” she says. “When I first released this album in 2021, I still wasn’t ready to speak to the level of trauma I had been through. It still felt much too private. Like it was just mine. Domestic abuse isn’t an easy topic, and I hid behind veiled references, so I didn’t have to face my own reality. Now I find the full scope of it to be important. What I went through is present in my daily life. It effects how I raise my daughter, how I interact with people, how I react to the world. But I’m lucky enough to have gone through this from a very privileged position and I have a small platform to be able to share my story. If that reaches one person going through something similar and inspires change, that’s important.”

Toner started writing the album a few months after escaping the relationship in question. It took her three years and a journey of self-rediscovery to channel the experience into 10 songs that illustrate her clear, honest approach to lyrics, and matching them to melodies that put her in the same league as Brandi Carlile or one of Toner’s childhood heroes, Jann Arden. Those songs are then delivered by a veteran of the musical stage, one who can quite easily communicate emotional depth to the back rows of a theatre. “It started as therapy, as a way to let traumatic events come to the surface without having to discuss them,” she says of the writing process for Joan. “Topics range from dealing with anxiety in ‘Try Again,’ to the inability to forgive in ‘Time Travel’ to the grief of saying goodbye to what should have been in ‘Easier Today.’ There is even a song about cautiously falling in love again in ‘Tonight.’ What I ended with was a reclamation of myself. Releasing this album, making the videos, and playing these songs live has been a sort of rebirth and a stepping into a power I’ve always had but was too scared to claim as my own.”

Knowing this backstory, “Time Travel” carries even more emotional weight as Toner sings in between heaving pedal-steel swells: “I want to say I’m sorry / for all the strength I lack / for failing to forgive you / because you can’t take it back.”

Alicia Toner was raised in Fredericton, where she spent years playing classical violin with the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra, which took her to Carnegie Hall. She then spent a decade on the Toronto theatre scene, including stints with Soulpepper (Chasse Galerie) and Mirvish Productions (Once). Relocating to Charlottetown, she sold out the Confederation Centre of the Arts in 2021. Joan was recorded with her trusted recording team of Stuart Cameron (Crash Test Dummies) and Peter Fusco (Matthew Good Band). “That was important to me because there was a level of trust that already existed,” she says, of a creative partnership that dates back to her 2016 debut. “They are incredibly talented at what they do but they always make room for my voice and my opinion. “I knew they would let me tell my story but elevate it beyond my ability.”

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That Eric Alper

Eric Alper is a 6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week and has overseen the publicity campaigns for over 183 JUNO Award-nominated albums (and 16 in 2025), 45 Grammy-nominated albums, including 47 JUNO Award, 58 Canadian Folk Music Award, 126 Maple Blues Award-winning albums and is also truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

Contact me: eric@thatericalper.com

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