By Julie Fish
Indie Week Canada music festival kicks off in Toronto on Wednesday.
The festival starts Oct. 10 and ends on Oct. 14. This year it includes over 175 artists playing in 19 different venues over five nights throughout the city.
The eighth annual festival prides itself on being artist-friendly and an alternative music festival, according to their website.
“I think people who attend Indie Week are already interested in music,” musician Patrick Grant told Humber News. “You won’t get people off the street buying tickets.”
Indie Week follows the recent announcement of a brand new FM radio station premiering in Toronto that will focus on Canadian indie musicians. Rock95 takes over the spot at 88.1 on the dial.
“I think people would appreciate having a real indie station in Toronto,” Grant told Humber News.
“Even in the age of digital media, Canadian artists who do not have major-label support face a tough road to success. Rock95’s station will give much-needed radio exposure to those artists and listeners will have an opportunity to discover new talent,” Leonard Katz, the CRTC’s vice-chairman of telecommunications and chair of the hearing panels, said in a press release.
There will also be digital and industry panels throughout the week that focus on everything indie from social media to insurance.
The Drake Underground will be one of 19 venues participating in this year’s Canada Indie Week. PHOTO BY WIKIPEDIA USER SIMONP.
Lack of awareness for Indie Week – especially compared to other music festivals like North by Northeast and Canadian Music Week – doesn’t deter record labels and artists from participating, however.
“Any opportunity [for our artists] to play in front of new people is good in our view,” Geoff Kulawick, president of True North Records, told Humber News.