In Canada: Departure Festival Faces New Legal Claims From Former CMW Owner Neill Dixon

New details have emerged in the legal case between Departure and Canadian Music Week’s former owner Neill Dixon.

In an updated statement of claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on March 25, Dixon expands on his initial lawsuit. In addition to the approximately $485,000 in damages in that earlier March 18 filing, the new statement also seeks the removal of Dixon’s non-compete and non-solicitation clauses.

Those clauses – referred to in the statement as the Restrictive Covenants Agreement – were part of the sale agreement in June 2024, when Dixon sold the company to Oak View Group and Loft Entertainment for $2 million. Now, he claims the new owners of Departure (who changed the festival’s name from Canadian Music Week after buying it last year) have not lived up to their end of the agreement.

“Announcing my retirement was predicated on getting the full sale price,” Dixon tells Billboard Canada. “Retirement in this economy is not cheap. Not getting paid the final payment threw me for a loop. I now realized I couldn’t even work in the industry I love because of a non-compete clause.”

A spokesperson for Departure says they have not yet seen the new statement of claim and can’t comment on it.

After Billboard Canada broke the news of the lawsuit last week, The Canadian Press reported that Loft Entertainment co-founder Randy Lennox (a former head of Bell Media and Universal Music Canada) sent an email to his staff referring to Dixon’s legal action.

“We see things very differently,” he wrote in the memo, according to CP. “We stand firm in our position of integrity, beliefs and values.”

Dixon’s new legal filing claims that in the sale of Canadian Music Week, he agreed to a three-year non-competition and non-solicitation clause, which would be effective until June 1, 2027. That would effectively prevent him from working in the music industry in the province of Ontario during that time.

“The plaintiff [Dixon] states that the defendants [the owners of Departure] were opportunistic and took advantage of the plaintiffs’ goodwill and trust when they unilaterally decided to avoid their legitimate payment obligations…” Dixon’s lawyers write in the statement. “Specifically, the defendants knew or ought to have known that the plaintiff was retiring, after having spent his career building the brand and goodwill of CMW.”

The claim further states that the new owners “deliberately prevent[ed]” Dixon from earning income during his retirement.

There are also new details on the financials of the deal and the outstanding payment Dixon claims is allegedly still owed.

In 2024, it says, CMW incurred a loss of $121,072. An earlier draft of CMW’s 2024 financials showed a smaller loss of $14,640, the claim states, and the first $500,000 installment was paid on November 7, 2024.

The agreement requires Dixon to cover any losses, it continues, and the updated amount has been deducted from the remaining $500,000. The statement says no notice or objection was claimed within 30 days, as per the terms of the agreement. Dixon is also claiming unpaid consulting fees and damages, which contributes to Dixon’s $485,428 claim.

Read more here. – Richard Trapunski

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The Indigenous Music Office Brings Inaugural Cultural Cadence Mentorship Participants to 2025 Juno Awards

The Indigenous Music Office (IMO) is introducing the 10 participants in its inaugural Cultural Cadence Mentorship.

The cohort of First Nation, Inuit and Métis musicians and entrepreneurs includes singer-songwriter Cassidy Mann, funk artist Curtis Clearsky and poet and sound artist January Rogers. 

The group is set to head to Vancouver this weekend, as the mentorship culminates at the 2025 Juno Awards on March 30, marking the conclusion of a four-month professional development program launched in 2024.

The Indigenous Music Office is a new organization in the national music landscape, with the Cultural Cadence Mentorship serving as its flagship initiative. The program was designed with the goal of bolstering Indigenous expertise in the music industry, where Indigenous professionals are especially under-represented behind the scenes.

“The majority of Indigenous artists in Canada don’t have managers or teams,” says Alan Greyeyes, IMO chairperson. “I’m excited about this project because it supports the development of managers and administrative talent who know just how daunting the road travelled by Indigenous artists is because they’ve had to walk it too.”

Mentors and presenters from the program will be joining the cohort in Vancouver, including Margaret McGuffin of Music Publishers Canada, multi-disciplinary artist Tessa Balaz, folk musician Jason Burnstick and founder of the International Indigenous Music Summit and Ishkōdé Records, ShoShona Kish, among others.

Find the full list of participants here. –Rosie Long Decter

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Universal Music Canada Names Amanda Kingsland and Shawn Marino Co-Heads of A&R

Universal Music Canada is bolstering its talent development team, announcing Amanda Kingsland and Shawn Marino as co-heads of A&R.

Kingsland moves up within the company to a new role as vp of A&R, and will work alongside Marino — VP of A&R operations — to lead the team.

The announcement follows Julie Adam’s recent ascent to president & CEO of UMC, succeeding Jeffrey Remedios.

Kingsland and Marino will have a renewed mandate for signing and developing talent, UMC says. Kingsland has already led the rebuilding of UMC’s country roster — which includes major breakouts Josh Ross (who co-leads nominations for this weekend’s Juno Awards) and Owen Riegling — and now she’ll focus on big picture strategy for UMC’s full roster.

Marino will continue to oversee UMC’s recording facility 80A Studios as well as performance space The Academy and working with artists like The Tragically Hip and Anne Murray who are seeking to revitalize their catalogues.

They will report directly to Adam and are actively seeking new signings.

In addition to Ross and Riegling, UMC breakouts include pop singer Preston Pablo, rock band Valley, and comedian-turned-singer-songwriter Mae Martin, all of whom are currently charting on Canadian radio. UMC also recently signed prominent Punjabi Wave artist AP Dhillon in partnership with Republic Records.

The UMC A&R team is rounded out by Kwaku Agyemang, Widney Bonfils, Natassha Cuachon-Cruz, Ivan Evidente, Morgan “MJ” James, Shirley Ichkhanian, and Shannen Serrano, and supported by UMC’s venue and studio team Don Kitchen, Lisa Lorenz, and sound engineer Phil Hotz. –RLD

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