Live music was the largest single driver of the music industry. In the fall of 2019, global revenues were projected to reach $29 billion US dollars by 2023 1 . Today, the story is a very different one. In Canada, this vibrant industry contributed upwards of $3b to Canada’s GDP and supported 72,000 jobs – the lifeblood for many of our artists… for whom touring and live performance was their primary source of revenue. Live music workers, companies and organizations will be among the last to recover, with still no end in sight.

As we look back on 2020, many things come to mind. But what stands above for me is the way we have come together as a community - to fight together, to help each other, to find our way...to not just survive, but determined to thrive, despite the crushing reality live music is facing.

The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to identify a contractor to conduct a national research project on the impact and representation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) live music workers in Canada. The contractor will be required to work in collaboration with the CLMA and its partners, advisory council, and additional consultants retained by the association (see Section 3) to provide a high level of service in a cost-effective manner.

Canada’s live music community has received an early holiday gift thanks to the generosity of Ottawa-based supply chain software company, Kinaxis® Inc. (TSX:KXS).