Canada
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There was an unmistakable current of Canadian nationalism running through the 2025 Juno Awards, which aired live on CBC from Vancouver’s Rogers Arena on Sunday (March 30).
The awards gala – and its night-before invite-only gala where most of the awards are given out – is always a chance for the music industry to tout its successes. This year, those affirmations had a different flavour. Canada has a wave of national pride that tends to arise when the country is threatened, and with tariffs imposed by the United States among threats of annexation by U.S. President Donald Trump, it was ever-present at this year’s Junos.
Here is how it played out.
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“Canada Is Not for Sale”
“Canada Is Not for Sale” has become a defiant slogan of pride of late, opposing Trump’s repeated threats of turning the country into the “51st state.” Junos host Michael Bublé was the latest star to use the phrase recently sported on a t-shirt by Mike Myers on Saturday Night Live. In an opening monologue that echoed the famous “I Am Canadian” Molson ad of the early 2000s, Bublé asserted a number of vaguely political affirmations of what he called “the greatest nation on earth.” “When they go low, we go high,” he said. “We love this country, and when you love something, you show up for it,” he said.
Allan Reid, president and CEO of CARAS, the organization that administers the Junos, also asserted culture as a form of Canadian identity in his speech at the industry gala on Saturday. Canada is the third largest exporter of music to the world, he said, likely referring to Luminate’s recent year-end report, and that’s an important distinction. “It is our culture that defines who we are and it is the touchstone of what it means to be Canadian,” he said. The music crosses borders, and that strengthens Canada internationally.
Winning the Walt Greilis Award, which recognizes individuals who have strengthened the growth or development of Canadian music, Live Nation Canada chairman Riley O’Connor echoed that sentiment. “It’s a time not to retreat, but to show innovation and talent,” he said. He was recognized for playing a big part in building the national touring network in Canada and showing international acts that there are fans in the country who want to hear the world’s music on live stages. He quoted Rush‘s “The Spirit of Radio,” then said, “now it’s time to turn up our Canadian volume.”
Behind-the-Scenes Success Stories
There is a tendency for the Canadian music industry, and the Junos, to speak to itself. That can be a problem when some of the biggest international stars strive for international success but don’t always show up for Canadian recognition.
While the Junos were a building block of a self-sufficient Canadian music industry, along with Canadian Content regulations and a strong system of government arts funding through organizations like FACTOR, it now has an issue of star power. Tate McRae was this year’s biggest winner with four awards, but wasn’t there to accept, and stars like The Weeknd and Shawn Mendes were also missing.
Some of the country’s biggest recent success stories, however, are behind the scenes, and this year they got an important overdue gesture of recognition. The Junos introduced the inaugural songwriter of the year (non-performer) category, and the winner was Lowell. The same winner of the Billboard Canada Non-Performing Songwriter Award, which she also accepted at the Billboard Canada Power Players in 2024, Lowell has been pushing for the category for years. “I’ve been here [at the Junos] eight or nine times before and watched hits I wrote win,” she said on Saturday night. “But never moi.” She shouted out her Canadian co-writer Nate Ferraro and all the other artists who should have won the award before her.
Lowell co-wrote some big hits recently, including Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and that shows a major impact made by Canadian musicians behind the scenes. Jack Rochon won the producer of the year award for his work with major international artists like Beyoncé, Kehlani and local R&B favourite Charlotte Day Wilson. Serban Ghenea, meanwhile, won recording engineer of the year for work with two of the biggest charting artists of the last year, Sabrina Carpenter and Teddy Swims (Ghenea has been nominated for 50 Grammys and won 21). Producer Boi-1da, meanwhile, won the international achievement award for work on some huge songs by stars like Drake, Rihanna and Eminem.
Canada is a heavy hitter for its relatively small population, and its fingerprints are on some of music’s biggest hits. It’s a good time to bring those accolades into the open.
Diversity as a Strength
There’s no one distinct Canadian sound, but the country has a cultural fluidity that is well-suited to the increasingly globalized music industry. There is music being made in multiple languages, well beyond even English and French.
Canada has become a global hub for the ascent of Punjabi music – what Billboard Canada coined the Punjabi Wave – and that’s become a big part of the Junos over the last few years. This year, the awards introduced the South Asian recording of the year award, which AP Dhillon won for “The Brownprint.” Unfortunately, the category was not televised and Dhillon wasn’t there to accept, but there was still a Punjabi performance by Gminxr, Jazzy B, Inderpal Moga and Chani Nattan.
Elisapie, meanwhile, won alternative album of the year for Inuktitut, an album of covers of songs by artists like Blondie and Pink Floyd in the title language. Accepting, she said she was proud to be an Inuk woman, singing in her language. Winning rap album of the year for their album RED FUTURE, Snotty Nose Rez Kids talked about Indigenous excellence and creating a vision for Indigenous people to see themselves in the future. In a year when Buffy Sainte-Marie had her awards revoked amidst questions of her own Indigenous identity, the Junos also recognized new and present cultural voices.
“Elon Musk Is a Piece of Garbage”
While many of the criticisms of the U.S. were more subtle or centered around Canada – the name Trump was barely spoken – there were a couple of sharper criticisms. One came from bbno$ on Sunday’s televised broadcast. After saying his thank yous for winning the fan choice award, he had one last thing to say: “Also, Elon Musk is a piece of garbage.” The crowd cheered for the jab at Trump’s head of DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency]. Introducing the next segment with Max Kerman of Arkells, Bublé said he didn’t hear what was said but could tell the crowd loved it. “I heard it,” Kerman said. “And it was right.”
At Saturday’s gala, Montreal band NOBRO brought real punk energy to their performance while lead singer Kathryn McCaughey sported a tank top that said “Pussies Against Fascism.” They won rock album of the year for their album Set Your Pussy Free and advocated for equal representation of women and for abortion as health care. “No pussy is free until they all are,” they proclaimed.
Made in Canada
In recent weeks in response to tariffs, American products have been pulled off liquor store shelves and grocery stores have hung signs letting shoppers know which products are Canadian-made. The messaging of the Junos also touted Canadian success stories, but there was a criticism below the surface of overrepresentation of major label acts in both the nominations list and televised performances. Sony, Universal and Warner all have Canadian offices and are thriving Canadian operations, but are also adjuncts of American companies.
There were some notable exceptions, however. The Beaches, who won group of the year for the second year in a row, gained bigger success after splitting with their former label, Universal Music Canada.
Sum 41 have been a major-label band throughout the majority of their career, but remarked on the strangeness of getting industry recognition. “We’re not really an award show band,” Deryck Whibley said. Being honoured with an induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, they remembered sending their demo to every label and having it turned down by all of them. “One even told me it was the worst he had heard in a decade,” he said. “Maybe he’s here tonight.” They persisted, though, and became a major-label success story.
If resilience was a theme of the Junos, Nemahsis provided a different example. The Palestinian-Canadian artist told the story of being dropped from her major label shortly after Oct. 7 and releasing her breakout album Verbathim fully independently with the help of her manager Chass Bryan.
“So many labels are being thanked and mentioned,” she said on Saturday night accepting the alternative award, right in front of many major players of the Canadian music industry. “Labels have money. Money pays for albums. Artists need money to make art. I was cut off and left with nothing, and this album still came out because of Chass and my parents and the people of Palestine.”
The biggest winner at the 2025 Juno Awards wasn’t there to accept her awards.
Tate McRae won four awards – for artist, single, album and pop album of the year – but was not able to make it to the Vancouver, British Columbia awards ceremony on Sunday (March 30) or the untelevised gala the night before to accept. That’s an ongoing issue at the Junos, where the responsibilities of the biggest international superstars often keep them from their home country’s award show.
Stars like Drake, The Weeknd and Shawn Mendes were not at Rogers Arena for the show, but there was an ongoing theme of Canadian excellence. At a time when U.S. President Donald Trump imposes tariffs on Canada and threatens to annex it as the 51st state, many used the Junos as a chance to wave the cultural flag.
McRae won four out of five of her nominations, taking artist of the year for the second year in a row, single of the the year for the second year in a row (with “Exes” taking the award won last year by “Greedy”) and album of the year and pop album of the year for the first time (with Think Later). She missed out only on the fan choice award. That was won by the perpetually viral rapper bbno$, a hit on TikTok, which sponsored the award. He used the acceptance speech to create another viral moment, using his time to call billionaire and top Trump advisor Elon Musk a “piece of garbage.”
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That was a more direct criticism of the American administration than what ran through most of the show, where a more nationalistic “Canada is not for sale” message rang through. Accepting the award for country album of the year, breakout Ontario singer Josh Ross thanked his label Universal Music both in Canada and south of the border, reminding them that “friends are better than enemies.”
Host Michael Bublé began the show with a medley of his hits in four different languages, duetting with Canadian artists including Elisapie, Jonita Gandhi, Roxane Bruneau and Maestro Fresh Wes. That recognized the diversity of sounds and genres, while his opening monologue recalled the famous “I Am Canadian” ad with Canadian pride and an affirmation that Canada is “the greatest nation on earth.”
Other than special awards, only four awards were presented on CBC’s Sunday broadcast, with the vast majority given out at the industry gala the night before. One of those was for group of the year. While Sum 41 seemed like a safe prediction given that they also were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame on the show and closed it with a medley of their pop-punk classics, it was instead awarded for the second year in a row to The Beaches. That continued a hot few years for the Toronto band, who broke out with their hit “Blame Brett” in 2023 and haven’t looked back since.
The other big award of the night was for breakthrough artist of the year. That accolade went to Nemahsis, the Palestinian-Canadian artist who was reportedly dropped from her major label for her refusal to silence her pro-Palestinian advocacy after Oct. 7. The singer, who also won alternative album of the year and performed on the broadcast, dedicated the award to her fellow hijabis and said all she ever wanted was to turn on Canadian TV and see someone who looked like her. “I didn’t think it would take this long or that I would be the one to do it,” she said. She thanked OVO Sound producer Noah “40” Shebib and artist Jad El Khoury for helping her finish her album Verbathim when she was suddenly fully independent and didn’t have the money to do so on her own.
Anne Murray was given the lifetime achievement award, marking only the second time in Junos history the award has been given (the other was to the architect of Canadian Content regulations and the namesake of the Junos, Pierre Juneau). Wearing a bedazzled Canada hockey jersey, the singer – who holds the record for most-ever Junos ahead of The Weeknd – talked about the importance of Canada to her multi-decade career and called the country her “safety blanket.” Producer Boi-1da won the international achievement award, recognizing his huge hits on the global stage – including four No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 – for artists like Rihanna, Drake and Eminem.
Other performances on the show included Haida Nation rap album of the year winners Snotty Nose Rez Kids with Tia Wood, Sunday night winners bbno$ and Josh Ross and an all-star Punjabi performance that featured Gminxr, Jazzy B, Inderpal Moga and Chani Nattan. Karan Aujla winning the fan choice award in 2024 showed the institution’s recognition of the Punjabi Wave, and the Junos implemented the new South Asian recording of the year award this year. AP Dhillon won for The Brownprint; however, the award was unfortunately not televised.
Find a full list of 2025 Juno Award winners below:
TikTok Juno Fan Choice
WINNER: bbno$ (Independent*Stem)
Dean Brody (Starseed)
Jade Eagleson (Starseed)
Josh Ross (Universal)
Karan Aujl (Independent)
Les Cowboys Fringants (Les Disques de La Tribu*Propagande)
Preston Pablo (Universal)
Shawn Mendes (Universal)
Tate McRae (RCA*Sony)
The Weeknd (XO*Universal)
Artist of the Year
Josh Ross (Universal)
Kaytranada (RCA*Sony)
Shawn Mendes (Island*Universal)
WINNER: Tate McRae (RCA*Sony)
The Weeknd (XO*Universal)
Single of the Year
“Single Again,” Josh Ross (Universal)
“Winning Speech,” Karan Aujla (Independent)
“Why Why Why,” Shawn Mendes (Island*Universal)
WINNER: “exes,” Tate McRae (RCA*Sony)
“Timeless,” The Weeknd & Playboi Carti (XO*Universal)
Album of the Year
Inuktitut, Elisapie (Bonsound*Sony)
Complicated, Josh Ross (Universal)
Submergé, Roxane Bruneau (Disques Artic*Sony)
UNDISPUTED, Sukha (GK*Universal)
WINNER: THINK LATER, Tate McRae (RCA*Sony)
Group of the Year
Crash Adams (Warner)
Mother Mother (Warner)
Spiritbox (BMG*Universal)
Sum 41 (Rise/BMG*Universal)
WINNER: The Beaches (Independent*AWAL)
Breakthrough Artist or Group of the Year
Alexander Stewart (FAE*The Orchard)
AP Dhillon (Republic*Universal)
AR Paisley (Warner)
Chris Grey (Rebellion Records)
EKKSTACY (Dine Alone*The Orchard)
WINNER: Nemahsis (Independent)
Owen Riegling (Universal)
Sukha (GK*Universal)
Tony Ann (Decca*Universal)
Zeina (Artist Partner Group)
Jack Richardson Producer of the Year
Aaron Paris — “intro (end of the world)” (Ariana Grande), “Bought the Earth” (Yeat), “Let it Breathe” (Ski Mask the Slump God), “Tiger Eye” (Loony), “Dishonored” (Sean Leon and Jessie Reyez, “R e a l W o m a n” (PartyNextDoor)
Akeel Henry — “Spin” (Megan Thee Stallion), “Smoke” (Ari Lennox), “Shake” (Chlöe), “Oh, Wait…” (Shae Universe), “I Choose You” (Melanie Fiona), “Love Ain’t Guaranteed” (Mist)
Evan Blair — “Pretty Slowly” (Benson Boone), “Beautiful Things” (Benson Boone), “club heaven” (Nessa Barrett), “No High” (David Kushner), “this is how a woman leaves” (Maren Morris), “i hope i never fall in love” (Maren Morris)
WINNER: Jack Rochon — “II Hands II Heaven” (Beyoncé), “Protector” (Beyoncé), “Jolene” (Beyoncé), “My Way” (Charlotte Day Wilson), “Crash” (Kehlani), “Tears” (Kehlani)
Shawn Everett — “II Most Wanted” (Beyoncé), “Found Heaven” (Conan Gray), “Bright Lights” (The Killers), “I Don’t” (Brittany Howard), “Eye of the Night” (Conan Gray), “Prove It to You” (Brittany Howard)
Recording Engineer of the Year
George Seara — “Soft Spot” (Keshi), “Dream” (Keshi)
Hill Kourkoutis — “Ghost” (Sebastian Gaskin), “Should We” (Emi Jeen)
Mitch McCarthy — “Good Luck, Babe!” (Chappell Roan), “Make You Mine” (Madison Beer)
WINNER: Serban Ghenea — “Please Please Please” (Sabrina Carpenter), “Lose Control” (Teddy Swims)
Shawn Everett — “Don’t Forget Me” (Maggie Rogers), “Deeper Well” (Kacey Musgraves)
Songwriter of the Year
Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) — “Dancing in the Flames,” “Timeless,” “São Paulo”
AP Dhillon — “Old Money,” “Losing Myself,” “Bora Bora”
Jessie Reyez — “Child of Fire,” “Ridin,” “Shut Up”
WINNER: Mustafa Mustafa — “Name of God,” “Leaving Toronto,” “I’ll Go Anywhere”
Nemah Hasan (Nemahsis) — “stick of gum,” “you wore it better,” “coloured concrete”
Songwriter of the Year (Non-Performer)
Evan Blair – “Beautiful Things” (Benson Boone), “Pretty Slowly” (Benson Boone), “i hope i never fall in love” (Maren Morris)
WINNER: Lowell – “Texas Hold ‘Em” (Beyoncé), “Bodyguard” (Beyoncé), “Takes One to Know One” (The Beaches)
Nathan Ferraro— “Texas Hold ‘Em” (Beyoncé), “Smoke” (Ari Lennox), “Who Do I Call Now? (Hellbent)” (Sofia Camara)
Shaun Frank – “Love Somebody” (Morgan Wallen), “Training Season” (Dua Lipa), “Sideways” (Gordo)
Tobias Jesso Jr.”Houdini” (Dua Lipa), “push me over” (Maren Morris), “Come Show Me” (Camilla Cabello)
Music Video of the Year
“Human,” Adrian Villagomez, Apashe & Wasiu (Kannibalen*Create)
“Nasty,” Jonah Haber, Tinashe (Independent)
“GRAVITY,” Jorden Lee, Sean Leon (Independent)
WINNER: “Name of God,” Mustafa, Mustafa (Arts & Crafts*Universal)
“Jump Cut,” Winston Hacking, Corridor (Bonsound*Sony/The Orchard)
Album Artwork of the Year
Erik M. Grice (Art Director), Vanessa Elizabeth Heins (Photographer); Chandler – Wyatt C. Louis (Independent*Universal)
Gabriel Noel Altrows (Art Director, Illustrator); Good Kid 4 – Good Kid (Independent/The Orchard)
Kee Avil, Jacqueline Beaumont (Art Director), Fatine-Violette Sabiri (Photographer); Spine – Kee Avil (Constellation*Secretly Canadian)
WINNER: Keenan Gregory (Art Director); Altruistic – Royal Tusk (MNRK)
Kevin Hearn, Lauchlan Reid (Art Director), Antoine Jean Moonen (Designer), Lauchlan Reid (Illustrator); Basement Days – The Glacials (Celery*IDLA)
Country Album of the Year
The Compass Project – West Album, Brett Kissel (Independent*Universal)
Dallas Smith, Dallas Smith (Big Loud*Universal)
WINNER: Complicated, Josh Ross (Universal)
Nobody’s Born With a Broken Heart, MacKenzie Porter (Big Loud*Universal)
Going Home, Tyler Joe Miller (Independent*The Orchard)
South Asian Music Recording of the Year
WINNER: “The Brownprint,” AP Dhillon (Republic *Universal)
“COOLIN,” Chani Nattan, Inderpal Moga & Jazzy B (Warner)
“Love Like That,” Jonita Gandhi (Warner)
“Tauba Tauba” (From Bad Newz), Karan Aujla (T-Series)
“Arul,” Yanchan, Produced & Sandeep Narayan (Independent)
Classical Album of the Year (Solo Artist)
Signature Philip Glass, Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà (Analekta*Naxos/The Orchard)
Messiaen, Barbara Hannigan (Alpha Classics*Naxos)
WINNER: freezing, Emily D’Angelo (Deutsche Grammophon*Universal)
Butterfly Lightning Shakes the Earth, India Gailey (Red Shift*Believe)
Williams Violin Concerto No. 1; Bernstein Serenade, James Ehnes (Pentatone*Naxos/The Orchard)
Classical Album of the Year (Small Ensemble)
Known To Dreamers: Black Voices in Canadian Art Song, Canadian Art Song Project (Centrediscs*Canadian Music Centre/Naxos)
Rituæls, collectif9 (Analekta*Naxos/The Orchard)
East is East, Infusion Baroque (Leaf*Naxos)
Marie Hubert: Fille du Roy, Karina Gauvin (ATMA*Universal)
Kevin Lau: Under a Veil of Stars, St. John–Mercer–Park Trio (Leaf*Naxos)
Classical Album of the Year (Large Ensemble)
Ispiciwin, Luminous Voices (Leaf*Naxos)
Alikeness, Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra Sinfonia, conducted by/dirigé par Mark Fewer featuring Aiyun Huang, Deantha Edmunds and Mark Fewer (Leaf*Naxos)
Sibelius 2 & 5, Orchestre Métropolitain, conducted by/dirigé par Yannick Nézet-Séguin (ATMA*Universal)
Schoenberg: Pelleas und Melisande & Verklärte Nacht, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, conducted by/dirigé par Rafael Payare (Pentatone*Naxos/PIAS)
WINNER: Messiaen: Turangalîla-Symphonie, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conducted by/dirigé par Gustavo Gimeno featuring Marc-André Hamelin and Nathalie Forget (Harmonia Mundi)
Jazz Album of the Year (Solo)
WINNER:Montreal Jazz Series 1 (Échanges Synaptiques), André Leroux (Disques BG*Believe)
The Head of a Mouse, Audrey Ochoa (Chronograph*Fontana North)
Portrait of Right Now, Jocelyn Gould (Independent)
Slice of Life, Larnell Lewis (Independent)
The Antrim Coast, Mark Kelso (Modica)
Jazz Album of the Year (Group)
Time Will Tell, Andy Milne and Unison (Sunnyside*AMPED)
Reverence, Carn Davidson 9 (Independent)
Harbour, Christine Jensen Jazz Orchestra (Justin Time*F.A.B./Nettwerk)
WINNER: Gravity, Jeremy Ledbetter Trio (Independent)
Jaya, Raagaverse (Independent)
Vocal Jazz Album of the Year
Oh Mother, Andrea Superstein (Cellar*La Reserve)
WINNER: Hello! How Are You?, Caity Gyorgy (La Reserve*The Orchard)
Winter Song, Kellylee Evans (Independent)
Wintersongs, Laila Biali (Independent/Believe)
Magpie, Sarah Jerrom (TPR*Outside In)
Instrumental Album of the Year
Disaster Pony, Disaster Pony (Independent*The Orchard)
Distant Places, Eric Bearclaw (Independent)
Ginger Beef, Ginger Beef (Independent)
WINNER: memory palace, Intervals (Independent*Believe)
Confluencias, Melón Jimenez & Lara Wong (Independent)
Blues Album of the Year
WINNER: This Old Life, Big Dave McLean (Cordova Bay*Fontana North)
New Orleans Sessions, Blue Moon Marquee (Independent)
YEAH!, David Gogo (Cordova Bay*Fontana North)
Samantha King and the Midnight Outfit, Samantha King & The Midnight Outfit (Independent)
One Guitar Woman, Sue Foley (Stony Plain*Fontana North)
Traditional Roots Album of the Year
Hemispheres, Inn Echo (Independent)
WINNER: Retro Man … More and More (Expanded Edition), Jake Vaadeland, Jayward*The Orchard Domino!, La Bottine Souriante (LABE*Sony/The Orchard)
The Road Back Home (Live), Loreena McKennitt (Independent*Universal)
At The End of the Day, Sylvia Tyson (Stony Plain*Fontana North)
Contemporary Roots Album of the Year
Anniversary, Abigail Lapell (Outside)
For Eden, Boy Golden (Six Shooter*The Orchard)
Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now, Donovan Woods *End Times*The Orchard)
Pathways, Julian Taylor (Howling Turtle*ADA)
WINNER: Strange Medicine, Kaia Kater (acronym*The Orchard)
Adult Alternative Album of the Year
WINNER: Inuktitut, Elisapie (Bonsound*Sony/The Orchard)
Revelation, Leif Vollebekk (Secret City*F.A.B.)
Healing Power, Terra Lightfoot (Sonic Unyon*Universal)
We were born here, what’s your excuse?, The Secret Beach (Victory Pool*The Orchard)
Never Better, Wild Rivers (Nettwerk*F.A.B./Nettwerk)
Alternative Album of the Year
When a Thought Grows Wings, Luna Li (In Real Life*AWAL)
WINNER: Verbathim, Nemahsis (Independent)
Magpie, Peach Pit (Columbia*Sony)
What’s The Point, Ruby Waters (Independent*Dine Alone)
Water The Flowers, Pray for a Garden, Valley (Universal)
Rock Album of the Year
Pages, Big Wreck (Sonic Unyon*Universal)
Vices, JJ Wilde (Black Box)
Grief Chapter, Mother Mothe (Warner)
WINNER: Set Your Pussy Free, NOBRO (Dine Alone*The Orchard)
Heaven :x: Hell, Sum 41 (Rise/BMG*Universal)
Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year
WINNER: Beyond the Reach of the Sun, Anciients (Season of Mist*The Orchard)
PowerNerd, Devin Townsend (InsideOutMusic*Sony)
Fire, Kittie (Sumerian*Virgin)
The Fear of Fear, Spiritbox (BMG*Universal)
ULTRAPOWER, Striker (Independent)
Adult Contemporary Album of the Year
Roses, Aphrose (Independent)
Boundless Possibilities (Celeigh Cardinal, Independent)
Transitions, Kellie Loder (Independent*Warner)
Songs of Love & Death, Maddee Ritter (Independent*Universal)
WINNER: Lovers’ Gothic, Maïa Davies (acronym)
Pop Album of the Year
bleeding heart, Alexander Stewart (FAE*The Orchard)
if this is it…, Jamie Fine, Universal)
Anywhere But Here, Preston Pablo (31 East*Universal)
Shawn, Shawn Mendes (Island*Universal)
WINNER: THINK LATER, Tate McRae (RCA*Sony)
Dance Recording of the Year
“UH HUH,” DijahSB (Never Worry*The Orchard)
WINNER: “No Time,” Interplanetary Criminal & SadBoi (Room Two*Columbia)
Give in to you, REZZ, Virtual Riot & One True God (Monstercat)
“Call Me When,” So Sus (Independent)
“FOUL TASTE,” WAWA (Independent)
Underground Dance Single of the Year
WINNER: “Bamboo,” Ciel (Independent)
“Keepsake,” Destrata (Independent)
“Distant Memories,” Hernan Cattaneo, Hicky & Kalo (Independent)
“La Vérité,” Jesse Mac Cormack, Charlie Houston & Brö (Secret City*F.A.B)
“WTP,” Suray Sertin (Altered States*Universal)
Electronic Album of the Year
Honey, Caribou (Merge*F.A.B)
Union, ÈBONY (Independent*ADA)
Love, Care, Kindness & Hope, Fred Everything (Lazy Days*Prime Direct)
Timeless, Kaytranada (RCA*Sony)
WINNER: This But More, Priori (NAFF*One Eye Witness)
Rap Single of the Year
“People,” Classified (Independent)
“Double The Fun,” Haviah Mighty (Independent)
WINNER: “SHUT UP,” Jessie Reyez (FMLY/Island*Universal)
“BBE,” Snotty Nose Rez Kids (Sony)
Hier encore, Souldia & Lost (Disques 7ième Ciel)
Rap Album/EP of the Year
96 Miles From Bethlehem, Belly (SALXCO*Universal)
Luke’s View, Classified (Independent)
The Flower That Knew, DijahSB (Lowly)
See You When I See You…, Dom Vallie (Awesome*The Orchard)
WINNER: RED FUTURE, Snotty Nose Rez Kids (Sony)
Traditional R&B/Soul Recording of the Year
Limbo, Aqyila (Sony)
The Worst, Benita (Independent*Believe)
Cyan Blue, Charlotte Day Wilson (Independent*The Orchard)
Halfway Broken, Luna Elle (Hot Freestyle*Independent)
WINNER: VELVET SOUL, THEHONESTGUY (Independent*Believe)
Contemporary R&B Recording of the Year
WINNER: Bloom, Aqyila (Sony)
Noire, Avenoir (Independent*LISTEN TO THE KIDS)
FOR THE BOY IN ME, Dylan Sinclair (Five Stone*The Orchard)
LOONY, LOONY (Independent*AWAL)
Eastend Confessions, Zeina (Artist Partner Group)
Reggae Recording of the Year
WINNER: Born to Be Free, Exco Levi (Independent)
FALLBACK, King Cruff & Runkus (Tuff Gong*Universal)
Destiny, Lee “Scratch” Perry & Bob Riddim (Independent)
Sky’s The Limit, Skystar (Independent)
Rise, Tonya P (Independent)
Children’s Album of the Year
Shun Beh Nats’ujeh: We Are Healing Through Songs, Kym Gouchie (Independent)
WINNER: Penny Penguin, Raffi & Good Lovelies (Independent*Universal)
Riley Rocket: Songs From Season One, Riley Rocket and Megablast (Independent)
Buon Appetito, Walk off the Earth & Romeo Eats (Golden Carrot*The Orchard)
Maestro Fresh Wes Presents: Young Maestro “Rhyme Travellers”, Young Maestro (Independent)
Comedy Album of the Year
Wonder Woman, Courtney Gilmour (Comedy Records*Downtown)
WINNER: Honourable Intentions, Debra DiGiovanni (Independent)
Popcorn, Ivan Decker (Independent)
Sad Witch, Jess Salomon (Independent)
Down With Tech, Nathan Macintosh (Comedy Records*Downtown)
Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year
WINNER: New Comings, Black Bear Singers (Independent)
Winston & I, Brianna Lizotte (Independent)
Travelling Home, Cree Confederation (Independent)
REZilience, Northern Cree (Independent)
Ostesihtowin-“Brotherhood”, Young Spirit (Independent)
Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year
Precious Diamonds, Adrian Sutherland (Independent)
Boundless Possibilities, Celeigh Cardinal (Independent)
WINNER: Brown Man, Sebastian Gaskin (Ishkōdé*Universal)
RED FUTURE, Snotty Nose Rez Kids (Sony)
Pretty Red Bird, Tia Wood (Sony)
Francophone Album of the Year
Aliocha Schneider, Aliocha Schneider (Les Disques Audiogramme*Sony/The Orchard)
Demain il fera beau, Fredz (La Taniere*Believe)
Toutes les rues sont silencieuses, Jay Scøtt (Disques 7ième Ciel*Believe)
Abracadabra, Klô Pelgag (Secret City*F.A.B.)
Pub Royal, Les Cowboys Fringants (Les Disques de La Tribu*Propagande/Believe)
Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year
elenee., Elenee (Independent)
My Foundation, Jordan St. Cyr (Independent*The Orchard)
WINNER: Restore, Ryan Ofei (Independent*Platoon/Believe)
Miracle in the Making, Tehillah Worship (Independent)
Hymns Alive (Live), Toronto Mass Choir (Independent*Believe)
Global Music Album of the Year
Aarambh, Abby V (Sufiscore)
Kanzafula, Ahmed Moneka (Lulaworld*Independent)
Malak, Didon (Electrofone*Independent)
WINNER: Dankoroba, Djely Tapa (Independent*Believe)
Niebla, Ramon Chicharron (Independent*Believe)
Classical Composition of the Year
WINNER: Angmalukisaa, Deantha Edmunds (Independent*Leaf/Naxos)
the fog in our poise, Gabriel Dharmoo (Centrediscs*Canadian Music Centre/Naxos)
L’écoute du perdu : III. « Voix jetées », Keiko Devaux (ATMA*Universal)
Dark Flowe, Linda Catlin Smith (Redshift*Independent)
String Quartet No. 4 “Insects and Machines”, Vivian Fung, (Independent)
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.”
Trending on Billboard
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
The owners of Departure — the conference and festival formerly known as Canadian Music Week (CMW) — are being sued by its former founder/president for breach of contract and unpaid sale fees.
In a notice of action filed with the Ontario Court of Justice this week (March 17), Neill Dixon has commenced a legal proceeding against the owners of Departure, including Loft Entertainment and Oak View Group (OVG) Canada.
Dixon accuses the companies of breach of contract, unjust enrichment and quantum meruit (a reasonable fee for work done) and seeks damages of $435,428 plus $50,000 in punitive and aggravated damages. The claim states that the new owners have not paid the full sale price of $2,000,000 agreed to in June 2024.
“After 42 years of building an internationally respected Canadian music business, I made the difficult decision to sell and retire, trusting the purchasers to honour their commitments under the Agreement we had between us,” Dixon tells Billboard Canada in a statement. “I have been forced to start a lawsuit to hold them to their end of the Agreement we had between us. It’s disheartening to have decades of dedication and hard work met with such an approach by them.”
Trending on Billboard
In a statement to Billboard Canada, Loft and OVG confirm they have received the statement of claim and write that they have been negotiating with Dixon over the terms.
“LOFT Entertainment and Oak View Group have received a formal statement of claim from Neill Dixon,” they write. “We have been negotiating with Neill and his counsel for an extended period to finalize our agreed upon terms. If we are unable to reach an agreement, we will explore alternative options.”
Dixon announced his retirement and sale of CMW to Loft and the U.S.-based OVG (which has opened an office in Canada) on the opening day of the conference last summer. In a surprise move before the end of 2024, the new owners announced they would be changing the event’s name to Departure. The festival had been known as Canadian Music Week since 1982, which included Dixon’s entire term as president. During that time, it became known as one of the most important music industry conferences in Canada.
The new owners announced the rebranding at a launch event in November at the conference’s new headquarters, Hotel X in Toronto. The new Departure team — including Loft co-founder Randy Lennox, CEO Jackie Dean and executive producer Kevin Barton as well as OVG Canada president Tom Pistore — outlined a new vision for the festival, expanding the music event to also include comedy, tech, food and more. Some of the confirmed speakers for this year include Matty Matheson, Bryan Adams and Dallas Green.
Dixon was at the launch event, where Lennox and Barton announced they would honour the former CMW co-founder with a lifetime achievement award at this year’s festival, which takes place from May 6-11, 2025.
Now, however, Dixon claims the new owners have not honoured their monetary commitments to him.
Full story here. – Richard Trapunski
IFPI Global Music Report 2025 Touts Canadian Revenue Growth, International Punjabi Music Push
Canada’s music market is staying strong, with revenues growing to $660.3 million USD in 2024.
That’s according to the IFPI, which represents the global recording industry. IFPI’s 2025 State of the Industry report again lists Canada as the 8th largest music market in the world.
Canada’s 2024 revenues saw relatively small growth of just 1.5%, but the report notes that the 2024 figures are in comparison to an unusually high 2023, which saw a large one-off performance rights revenue payment.
Meanwhile, Canada’s most popular musician, Drake, saw his global standing rise. During a tough year for the superstar’s reputation, his worldwide popularity increased, rising from No. 4 to No. 2 in the IFPI’s artist rankings, behind only Taylor Swift.
The report highlights Warner Canada and Warner India’s joint venture, 91 North, which has been successfully growing the profile of South Asian music in Canada and abroad. In the report, Warner India’s Jay Mehta and Warner Canada’s Kristen Burke discussed how the collaborative label came to be. Mehta says the idea came to him during lockdown when he noticed the explosion in Punjabi talent coming out of Canada.
“While it was already a big consumption market, Canada was newly becoming a big creator market, which was consistently making great Indian sounds,” Mehta said. He connected with Burke on the idea of a label that could support South Asian artists in Canada who have huge followings in India.
“Jay and I quickly got together and recognized that there was a real opportunity here to be the first label to come together to really support these artists,” Burke added.
Read more on the Canadian insights in the IFPI Global Music Report here. – Rosie Long Decter
Canadian Country Music Association Adds Francophone Artist of the Year Category for 2025
The Canadian Country Music Association is adding a new category for Francophone Artist of the Year.
The inaugural award will be presented during Country Music Week in Kelowna, B.C., this September. It marks a milestone addition for the CCMA Awards, recognizing both the increasing impact of Francophone artists in Canadian country and the popularity of country music in Quebec.
“The addition of the Francophone Artist of the Year category is a significant step forward in celebrating the diversity within Canadian country music,” said Amy Jeninga, CCMA President, in a statement. “We are thrilled to provide a dedicated platform that recognizes and supports Francophone country artists, ensuring their contributions receive the attention they deserve.”
The eligibility period runs from March 1, 2024, through April 30, 2025. Seventy percent of the act’s released repertoire during that period must be in French.
The new award, which joins the 15 established artist awards at the CCMAs, will shine a light on Francophone artists who might not be getting a national spotlight.
Quebec has a robust Francophone country scene. The province’s ADISQ Gala presents an annual award for Country Album, with recent winners and nominees including Acadian group Salebarbes, singer-songwriter Alex Burger and multi-instrumentalist duo Hauterive.
Francophone country artists are also spread across the country beyond Quebec. The Ontario equivalent of the CCMAs, the Country Music Association of Ontario, already features a similar award dedicated to Francophone artists. Reney Ray of Kapuskasing, Ontario, took home the 2024 CMA Ontario Award for Francophone artist of the year.
The new award at the CCMAs is the latest example of major Canadian music associations adapting to account for the country’s musical and cultural diversity.
Read more here. – RLD
After more than 50 years, Saskatchewan’s Regina Folk Festival is saying goodbye.
The festival’s board of directors released a statement announcing the cancellation of a planned 53rd edition for this summer. The board is instead winding down the festival’s operations, explaining that “economic challenges have become insurmountable.”
The longstanding festival had cancelled its 2024 edition in order to take a regrouping year. Last fall, the festival announced a 2025 edition would go ahead. In the months since, however, the board says it has become clear that it’s not financially possible to hold another event.
“Ongoing financial pressures from the pandemic, including stagnant or reduced funding, rising costs, and declining ticket sales, have created obstacles we can no longer overcome,” says the statement.
The festival is the latest Canadian live arts event to shutter, as the industry faces serious challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Montreal’s Just For Laughs comedy festival filed for creditor protection last year, while the Vancouver Folk Festival announced it was shutting down in 2023, before the community — and an injection of funding — saved it.
Trending on Billboard
The Canada Live Music Association’s Hear and Now report, which measures the value of Canada’s live music industry, highlighted that globally, live music didn’t live up to projected performances in 2024.
“The live music sector in Canada has suffered greatly over the last five years and we are not immune,” the Regina Folk Festival (RFF) board states. “According to Festivals and Major Events Canada, it now costs 30% to 40% more than it did in 2019 to organize a comparable event.”
Like many folk festivals, the RFF is a non-profit. The festival has programmed some of Canada’s best-loved and most acclaimed artists, like Joel Plaskett, Alan Doyle and The Halluci Nation.
Emerging artists often get their first gigs at local folk festivals, and the folk festival circuit is a crucial space for like-minded artists to prioritize community and share best practices. But their grassroots nature also means those festivals aren’t necessarily able to withstand financial shocks.
“For 55 years, the Regina Folk Festival has been more than just a celebration of live music; it’s been a highly-anticipated weekend of community building where lasting memories were made,” the Board message concludes. “We look forward to discovering all the beautiful new events that will sprout in its absence. We encourage everyone to support the arts however they can.”
Read more here.
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As Festival Sponsorships Dwindle, Toronto’s Beaches Jazz Festival Calls On Brands To Support Canadian Arts
One of Toronto’s biggest summer music events, Beaches Jazz Festival, is calling on brands to support Canadian arts.
The free music festival draws 800,000 people a year, programming plenty of local and international musicians.
But as big brands increasingly drop their sponsorship of music events, Beaches Jazz Festival is issuing a direct appeal to Canadian businesses: amidst a wave of Canadian cultural nationalism, champion homegrown talent.
“This call goes beyond just Beaches Jazz,” festival founder Lido Chilelli tells Billboard Canada. “It’s a larger conversation about ensuring that Canada’s cultural events remain strong and independent.”
Even with government funding, festivals often rely on corporate sponsors to operate at a large scale. As the Globe and Mail reports, TD has recently pulled out of sponsoring some of the country’s biggest jazz festivals, including Toronto Jazz Fest and Calgary’s JazzYYC Summer Festival. In January, Vancouver International Jazz Festival, which also recently lost its title sponsor, put out a concerned call for donations.
Chilelli says that Beaches Jazz Festival typically sees strong interest from sponsors early in the year, but conversations have been slower this time around.
“We want companies to recognize that the Beaches Jazz Festival is more than just music — it’s a cultural event that brings communities together, drives tourism and significantly boosts the local economy,” Chilelli explains. “It’s an investment in community and culture.”
Chilelli points out that in a crowded digital landscape, it should be valuable to sponsor events that still provide in-person connection. Without brand sponsorship, though, festivals like Beaches Jazz aren’t able to program as many artists, leading to reduced opportunity for local arts.
Beaches Jazz Festival returns July 4-27, 2025.
Read more here.
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Artists Boycott East Coast Music Awards Following Departure of CEO
At the end of February, the East Coast Music Association announced the nominees for the 2025 ECMA Awards, but it almost immediately faced controversy.
Many prominent nominees have declared that they are withdrawing their nominations following controversy over the recent replacement of former CEO Blanche Israël.
That list includes acclaimed singer-songwriter Mo Kenney, nominated for rock/alternative release of the year, for “Evening Dreams.”
Explaining the move on Instagram, Kenney stated “I was nominated for an ECMA, but I am withdrawing and I will not be attending the conference. I do not agree with the lack of transparency around the sudden firing of former CEO [Blanche Israël], and what I would call essentially online bullying leading up to the firing. Much love and please do better @ecmaofficial.”
Others declining their nominations and boycotting the ECMAs include Indigenous rapper Wolf Castle, New Brunswick rapper Stephen Hero and Outside Music head Evan Newman.
Along with Classified, Juno and Polaris Prize winner Jeremy Dutcher had earned the most ECMA nominations, but he has withdrawn all eight nominations from the East Coast Music Awards in solidarity with other musicians who are boycotting the event.
“We need more than an award show on the East Coast,” Dutcher told CBC. “I hope this is a message to all other arts organizations that when we take on consultation with communities of artists, the artists might actually start to care about what happens … and they might start to get invested.”
A statement from the East Coast Music Association reads, in part: “We recognize that some have chosen to decline their nominations, and we respect their personal decisions. We also acknowledge the concerns that have been shared and remain committed to listening, learning, and fostering open conversations.”
The ECMAs will take place in St. John, Newfoundland, on May 8.
Read more here.
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President Donald Trump is facing questions after walking back threatened tariffs on Mexico & Canada for the second time.
On Thursday (March 6), President Donald Trump reversed course and postponed tariffs of 25% of goods that he levied against Mexico and Canada on Tuesday (March 4) for the second time, leading many to question his process. He stated that they would be postponed until April 2. Trump had bragged about the tariffs at his State of The Union address then, claiming they would lead the U.S. to success. “Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it’s happening, and it will happen rather quickly. There’ll be a little disturbance. We’re okay with that. It won’t be much,” he said at the time.
Canada, Mexico, and China immediately responded with their retaliatory tariffs, which sent the stock market tumbling on Wednesday (March 5)with the Dow falling 1,300 points in response to consumer concerns stateside about rising prices. On Thursday, Trump spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who said afterward in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that they “had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results.” Hours later, Trump signed an executive order granting the same postponement to Canada.
Commerce Secretary Harold Lutnick mentioned the possibility of tariff postponements in a CNBC interview, stating that it would cover all goods. “ I think it’s likely that it will cover all USMCA-compliant goods and services,” he said. The USMCA refers to the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that was signed in 2018, and enforced beginning in 2020. Initially, Trump was seeking to relieve tariffs on automakers, no doubt in response to a Fox News segment where an auto dealer explained that the immediate effect of the tariffs would add $20,000 to the price of a car on the lot.
Trump’s backpedaling didn’t come without criticism. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blasted him in a press conference on Tuesday. “Today the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they are talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense,” he said. China was more direct, expressing that they would “resolutely counter” all tariffs placed on their goods.
In a first, the Polaris Music Prize is rescinding Buffy Sainte-Marie‘s wins. The Juno Awards have also revoked the singer-songwriter’s awards and her induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), the organization that administers the Junos, released a statement, writing that the singer-songwriter does not meet eligibility requirements following her confirmation that she is not Canadian — similar criteria that the Polaris Prize cited. It was a “not a reflection of Ms. Sainte-Marie’s artistic contributions,” CARAS writes.
CARAS says it made the decision following a thorough review and consultations with the CARAS Indigenous Music Advisory Committee.
Trending on Billboard
Sainte-Marie has faced criticism and scrutiny following a 2023 CBC investigation that cast serious doubt on her claims of Indigenous identity.
In January of this year, Sainte-Marie’s Order of Canada was terminated. On March 4, The Canadian Press reported Sainte-Marie issued a statement about the termination, saying that she returned the Order “with a good heart” and affirming that she is a U.S. citizen. “My Cree family adopted me forever and this will never change,” she added.
Sainte-Marie won the Polaris Prize — which is awarded annually by a jury of music critics to one Canadian album based on merit — in 2015 for Power In The Blood. She was also awarded a Polaris Heritage Prize, which honours albums released before the Prize’s founding in 2006, in 2020 for her debut solo album It’s My Way!
Now, those two awards will no longer be hers.
“Based on Sainte-Marie’s statement, Buffy does not meet Polaris Music Prize’s rules and regulations,” wrote the Polaris Prize. “Given Buffy’s statement regarding her citizenship, Polaris Music Prize will be rescinding all awards including her 2015 Polaris Music Prize and 2020 Heritage Prize,” the Prize states.
The PMP statement also acknowledges that not all Indigenous artists have access to government-issued paperwork, with the Prize asserting that this should not impact eligibility for the award.
The Prize’s eligibility criteria requires that nominees “be Canadian citizens or permanent residents, with proof of status provided through government-issued documentation, including passports, birth certificates, permanent resident cards, and/or Secure Certificates of Indian Status.”
Read the Polaris Prize and Juno Awards’ full statements on Billboard Canada .
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Canadian Vinyl Pressing Plant Promises to Absorb Tariff Costs for American Customers
An Ontario-based vinyl company has announced it will absorb tariff costs for American customers, receiving a mixed response.
As America imposes 25% tariffs on some Canadian imports (with others delayed until April 2), Precision Record Precision is committing to keeping prices stable for U.S. clients.
“We understand that recent tariff announcements may raise concerns, and we want to assure our US-based customers that any tariffs imposed by the US government on Canadian exports will be paid by and fully absorbed by PRP,” says a statement from CEO Shawn Johnson.
With manufacturing based in Burlington, Ontario, the company bills itself as one of the largest pressing plants in North America. The company was established in 2016 as a partnership between the massive Czech-owned vinyl manufacturer GZ Media and Canadian music distributor Isotope Music.
Some customers welcomed the decision, but the top comment on Instagram disagrees with the company.
“But the American clients SHOULD be paying the tariffs. Not the Canadian company. I understand the desire to not lose business but this is disappointing from a Canadian company and makes me question if I want to use Precision Pressing again thin [sic] the future,” the comment reads.
The trade battle between the U.S. and Canada, as well as persistent threats by the American President to annex Canada, have prompted uncertainty in the Canadian cultural industries as well as a wave of nationalism.
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Canadian Artists Hold the Top Two Spots on Billboard Albums Charts
Tate McRae is so close to superstardom.
The Calgary pop singer has notched her first No. 1 album with So Close To What, topping the Billboard Canadian Albums chart on the chart dated March 8. She bumps Drake and PartyNextDoor’s $ome $exy $ongs 4 U to no. 2, on that Canadian chart and on the Billboard 200 — a rare occasion where Canadians have the top 2 albums in both Canada and the U.S.
It marks a major ascension for the Canadian star, who has been building her profile since her breakthrough with 2020’s “You Broke Me First.” In the five years since, McRae has evolved into one of Gen Z’s biggest singers and performers.
McRae expressed her excitement at the No. 1 debut on Instagram. “????????? Are you kidding meeeeeeee Thank you Thank you Thank you 😭’” she wrote.
McRae also has 15 songs in total on the Canadian Hot 100 this week. Her highest placement is the sultry “Sports Car,” which she performed on Saturday Night Live this past weekend. That track sits at No. 11 on the Canadian Hot 100 and No. 16 in the U.S.
Drake and PartyNextDoor, meanwhile, have 16 tracks on the Canadian Hot 100 this week, though they are not as high as in the first week. The top placed song, “Nokia” drops 5-10, and “Gimme a Hug” moves down 10-39.
Overall, it’s a big week for Canadian artists on the charts.
Last Week In Canada: Billboard Live Stage Coming to NXNE
Canadian music producer Bob Ezrin is coming home.
Ezrin plans to renounce his U.S. citizenship. He’s made a full return to Canada from his most recent U.S. base, Nashville.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail‘s Brad Wheeler, Ezrin explains that the current polarized state of American politics and society is the driving force behind this move.
“In the last few years, it seems as if America is split in half,” Ezrin says. “The voices of a radical right have become so much louder. Conspiracy theories abound, people are armed to the teeth, and it’s just a different place than the place I went to.”
Already a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Ezrin was recently named as a recipient of the lifetime artistic achievement award by The Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation, honoured for a legendary discography that includes milestone albums by such international stars as Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, U2, Deep Purple, Rod Stewart, Andrea Bocelli, Taylor Swift, Alice Cooper, Nine Inch Nails, Kiss, Lou Reed and many more.
Ezrin and his family moved to Los Angeles from Toronto in 1985, and he became heavily involved in the community of that area. The following decade, he became a U.S. citizen in order to vote.
“I was very engaged, very committed,” he tells Wheeler. “I believed in the country and I believed in the American people, in spite of things like the Iraq War and the income inequality I saw growing, and in spite of the racism that was knitted into the fabric of American life. I still believed the goodness of the majority of Americans would prevail.”
His decision to move back to Canada predated Donald Trump’s inflammatory remarks about annexing this country and his decision to impose excessive trade tariffs, but Ezrin states, “All that underscored the rightness of what I’d decided to do,” he says. “If I’m going to spend time fighting the good fight anywhere, I should do it here.”
Even while spending much of his time in the U.S., Ezrin retained close ties to the Canadian music community. In addition to producing records by Canadian artists, he has contributed immensely to the cause of music education in Canada.
After his induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2004, he became involved with the MusiCounts charity, and he helped initiate the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award at the Junos. He and his wife Jan are also founding donors of the MusiCounts Leadership Circle.
In the U.S., Bob Ezrin teamed up with The Edge from U2 to co-found Music Rising, an initiative to replace musical instruments lost in natural disasters. He is also a board member of the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a national initiative that supports music in U.S. schools by donating musical instruments to under-funded music programs.
It is symbolically fitting that one of the blockbuster albums produced by Ezrin was Pink Floyd’s The Wall. With this decision to give up his American citizenship, he has now made it crystal clear which side of the symbolic Canada/U.S. wall he has chosen.
Even while spending much of his time in the U.S., Ezrin retained close ties to the Canadian music community. In addition to producing records by Canadian artists, he has contributed immensely to the cause of music education in Canada.
After his induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2004, he became involved with the MusiCounts charity, and he helped initiate the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award at the Junos. He and his wife Jan are also founding donors of the MusiCounts Leadership Circle.
In the U.S., Bob Ezrin teamed up with the Edge from U2 to co-found Music Rising, an initiative to replace musical instruments lost in natural disasters. He is also a board member of the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a national initiative that supports music in U.S. schools by donating musical instruments to under-funded music programs.
It is symbolically fitting that one of the blockbuster albums produced by Ezrin was Pink Floyd’s The Wall. With this decision to give up his American citizenship, he has now made it crystal clear which side of the symbolic Canada/U.S. wall he has chosen.
This article was originally published by Billboard Canada.
The Billboard Live Stage is coming to Canada, and it will happen at the site of NXNE’s most beloved performances.
On June 12, 2025, Billboard Canada will present a performance of major chart-topping artists, culminating in a highly anticipated headlining performance by a global music icon. The show will take place at Sankofa Square (formerly Yonge-Dundas Square), the bustling public square at the heart of downtown Toronto.
It’s a fitting return to the place where NXNE presented some of its biggest shows on the festival’s 30th anniversary, and it marks the festival’s first show in partnership with Billboard Canada and its parent company, ArtsHouse Media Group.
“For 30 years, NXNE has been a defining force in Canada’s music landscape, championing talent and shaping the future of live performance,” said Amanda Dorenberg, CEO of ArtsHouse Media Group and Billboard Canada, in a statement. “As Billboard Canada and ArtsHouse Media Group continue to support music’s evolution, we’re proud to celebrate NXNE’s 30th anniversary with the Billboard Live Stage at Sankofa Square, further extending its legacy by giving artists a platform to reach new audiences and make a global impact.”
NXNE is no stranger to the square. It’s been the site of performances by massive acts including The National, The Flaming Lips, Sloan, multiple members of Wu-Tang Clan, Devo, Ludacris and many more, including a legendary blowout free public performance by Iggy Pop & The Stooges in 2010. The festival’s history goes way back to the opening of the public square, remembers co-founding NXNE president/CEO Michael Hollett.
“We were honoured to present the first ever concert in the Square when Gord Downie [of the Tragically Hip] played NXNE in 2003 and we had the biggest crowd ever for Iggy and the Stooges in 2010,” he says. “With Flaming Lips, St. Vincent, Raekwon and so many great shows, we have a great history at Yonge and Dundas, and we are thrilled to return on our 30th anniversary to the freshly named Sankofa Square to again bring incredible, free live music to the city and the world.”
The show will take place on Thursday (June 12). As previously announced, NXNE will also be home to this year’s Billboard Canada Power Players event.
NXNE has already unveiled its first wave of showcasing artists, which includes more than 100 emerging acts from Canada and across the globe. The festival will take over 23 venues throughout Toronto. – Richard Trapunski
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Drake & PARTYNEXTDOOR Debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Albums Chart with ‘$ome $exy $ongs 4 U’
Drake is back on top of the world — or, at least, the CN Tower.
The Toronto superstar and his collaborator PARTYNEXTDOOR have the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart dated March 1 with their new R&B album, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U.
It’s Drake’s first full-length release since his reputation took a beating during his beef with Kendrick Lamar in 2024. The latter went on to win record and song of the year at the 2025 Grammys for his Drake diss track “Not Like Us,” which went to No. 1 in Canada when he performed it at the Super Bowl halftime show.
The joint album has flooded the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 this week, with every single one of the album’s 21 songs charting on the tally, as they did on the U.S. Hot 100.
The upbeat flip phone nostalgia track “Nokia” is charting highest at No. 5, followed by the high energy (and disconcertingly titled) “Gimme A Hug” at No. 10.
While Drake is leading the albums chart, Kendrick has fallen off the top of the Billboard Canadian Hot 100, where his song “Not Like Us” rose to No. 1 for the first time last week. On the Hot 100 in the U.S., Kendrick Lamar’s SZA collab “Luther” has the top spot, but on the Canadian Hot 100 for the week dated March 1, No. 1 belongs to Bruno Mars and ROSÉ’s “APT” — a new peak for the song in its 18th week on the chart.
Read more on the Canadian charts here. – Rosie Long Decter
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Allison Russell Affirms the Power of Community at Montreal’s Folk Alliance International
For Allison Russell, the 37th Folk Alliance International conference was a homecoming.
The annual gathering, which takes place in a different city each year, took over Montreal’s downtown Sheraton Centre from Feb. 19 to 23.
The Nashville-based singer-songwriter gave the conference’s keynote presentation in conversation with NPR’s Ann Powers — which, for the Grammy-winning singer, meant returning to her hometown of Montreal. At a conference themed around the idea of illumination, Russell was a beacon of light.
Russell opened the keynote by sharing that as a teen, she would sleep in the pews of a cathedral less than a kilometre away from the conference centre where the gathering was held. Her high school was just down the road, too.
“We bring with us every version of ourselves,” Russell said. “All the ages of myself are so present in this town.”
But Montreal wasn’t the only home Russell returned to, as the conference has also been a constant for the singer-songwriter across more than two decades of her professional music career.
Speaking with Billboard Canada after the keynote, Russell recalls that her first Folk International Alliance conference was the 2001 edition in Vancouver. At the time, she was a roadie for Canadian folk group The Be Good Tanyas, who were having a breakout year.
“I was still in the closet as a songwriter,” she remembers.
That conference was where Russell would meet JT Nero — her partner in life, child-rearing and music-making. And now, 24 years later, she’s one of Canada’s most celebrated contemporary songwriters.
Russell was still coming down from Hadestown, the musical she’s been starring in on Broadway — 15 weeks, 8 shows a week, without missing a day — when she landed in Montreal. At the conference, she spoke about the danger that comes from living in denial of trauma and hardship on a micro and macro level.
“We are going through a phase of unfortunately a fascist resurfacing, rooted in fear, rooted in denialism, rooted in trying to hide the past or re-write it instead of simply facing it,” she said in her keynote. “Nothing can be changed unless it’s faced.”
She linked the current American administration to her performance in Hadestown, a musical about an authoritarian leader who builds a wall to keep newcomers out.
“These fearful demagogues who root their hoarding of power in fear, in othering, in scapegoating,” she said, “they are not originals. They are following a very, very boring and terrible playbook.”
Russell currently has a third solo album in the works, with singles coming soon. Titled In The Hour of Chaos, Russell says it’s an album for her community, inspired by mutual aid during tough times. In the studio with Nero and her Returner collaborators, she says she’s having a blast working on new material.
“It’s my community that has been uplifting and upholding me,” she says. “I hopefully do the same for them.”
Read more from Russell’s Folk Alliance International keynote and interview with Billboard Canada here. – RLD
Billboard Canada Power Players is returning in 2025, and it’s moving to Toronto’s NXNE.
The authoritative ranking of the music business’s most powerful executives — an official extension of Billboard’s Power 100 list — expanded to Canada in 2024. The event brought a who’s-who of industry leaders to a packed celebration at Toronto’s tallest building, the CN Tower. This year, the event will grow even bigger at its new home at NXNE, the beloved music festival celebrating its 30th anniversary amidst a new strategic partnership with Billboard Canada.
Nominations officially opened this week and will close on March 7, 2025.
“We’re thrilled to bring Power Players to the country’s most vibrant music conference and festival,” says Mo Ghoneim, president of Billboard Canada. “Power Players is a crucial spotlight of the executives leading the charge in Canada on a global scale, and we can’t wait to bring it to new heights in 2025.”
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Canada is home to some of the most impactful people in music, both at home and internationally. In 2024, Billboard Canada celebrated Arthur Fogel, Live Nation’s CEO of global touring, at No. 1. The Canadian industry icon who shaped the modern global touring market attended the event and spoke about the impact Canada’s live music scene had on his career.
As Canada’s market for stadium concerts and festivals continues to expand and Canadian Content regulations continue to be debated, there are many factors and stories that could play a role in this year’s Power Players list.
Billboard Canada Power Players celebrates people across the industry, including record labels, publishing, legal, streaming and radio, creative media, and more. The extremely competitive honour reflects market share, industry impact, achievements and other metrics.
The Power Players list is peer-nominated and selected by the Billboard Canada team.
Find the submissions form here. It’s also available in French here. – Richard Trapunski
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Canadian Independent Music Association Pulls Out of SXSW Amidst ‘Instability’ In the United States
One of the top showcase opportunities for Canadian musicians at SXSW will not take place this year.
The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) has canceled its Canada House event at the upcoming Austin music festival amidst rising political and economic tensions between Canada and the United States.
Andrew Cash, CIMA’s president and CEO, describes the decision as a confluence of various factors, mostly related to the relationship between the two countries since Donald Trump began his second term as U.S. President.
That includes the 25% tariffs placed on goods from Canada set to kick in on March 12, which falls during the dates of this year’s SXSW (which runs from March 7-15), as well as Trump’s repeated threats to annex the country.
“The growing instability of everything in the United States right now, plus the high cost [of putting on events in the United States] and the low [Canadian] dollar — all of these things combined made it so we couldn’t feel confident or good about what we were getting ourselves into at this particular moment,” Cash tells Billboard Canada.
“The timing is not great,” he continues. “We would be going down there just after the 30-day tariff pause has expired. We’re going to have a new Prime Minister [in Canada, following the resignation of Justin Trudeau]. I just didn’t feel comfortable putting CIMA out there in that context of instability.”
For more than a decade, Canada House has been a pivotal exporting opportunity for Canadian bands and artists at the influential American music festival. Taking over the Swan Dive music venue, it offers opportunities for Canadian musicians and entrepreneurs to network and showcase at an event well-attended by members of the local and international music industry. CIMA had planned to host a one-day daytime music showcase on March 12.
CIMA made the decision to pull out of SXSW on Feb. 13, sending emails to partners and invited artists informing them that they would not be producing the event this year.
Applications opened last fall, and four Canadian and Indigenous acts had been sent offers to play CIMA’s Canada House showcase. They learned of the cancellation last week.
“We don’t know what the climate is going to be,” Cash says. “It felt potentially dissonant to be going down to Texas and hosting an event called Canada House while the President of that country is essentially stating his intent to annex our country…We made the decision based on what we could control, because there’s so much about this situation that we can’t.”
CIMA is still offering Canadian bands spots at networking events with other international music offices and export partners from Australia, England, New Zealand and other markets. And though the Canada House showcase is on pause for 2025, they could still bring it back in future years depending on the geopolitical situation.
In the meantime, Cash says CIMA will focus its resources and investments on other international markets and opportunities within Canada. This will not affect the organization’s other Canada House activations at the German festival Reeperbahn, British festival The Great Escape or SXSW Australia.
Cash says he hopes the situation in the U.S. is resolved soon, as the country is Canada’s biggest export market — not just for music but many sectors of the economy.
“I think everyone understands that we’re in unprecedented times,” says Cash. “And I think everyone is unsure exactly how to react.”
For more on the cancellation, and how it affected artists who were invited to play, head here. – Richard Trapunski
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Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ Hits No. 1 In Canada for The First Time After Super Bowl Performance
Kendrick Lamar‘s “Not Like Us” is the No. 1 song in Canada this week — for the first time.
The diss track never managed to claim the top spot on the charts in Drake‘s home country like it did in the U.S. last year during the height of the stars’ heated rap beef. But after a Super Bowl halftime performance that saw record viewership, Canadians have pushed the controversial single to a new peak on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 for the chart dated Feb. 22, 2025.
Going into the Super Bowl, it wasn’t clear if Lamar was even legally allowed to perform the track, as Drake is suing Universal Music Group, the label that released it. But after teasing it throughout the night, Lamar not only played the song, he included the lines that name-drop Drake and accuse him of predatory behaviour. Serena Williams, Drake’s ex, danced alongside Lamar on the field.
Following the success of “Not Like Us” last year, Lamar dropped a surprise album, GNX, which is at No. 2 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart this week. Lamar is also all over the Canadian Hot 100, with 11 of his tracks charting there.
He performed his SZA collab from that album, “Luther,” at the halftime show as well, with the R&B star joining for the duet. That track also got a post-show boost, rising 18-2 on the Canadian Hot 100, as did SZA’s 2017 album Ctrl, which re-enters the Canadian Albums chart at No. 91. SZA’s SOS, meanwhile, drops from 2-3 behind GNX.
The two will perform together on the Grand National tour this summer, which stops in Toronto on June 12 and 13. – Rosie Long Decter