Canadian Musicians celebrate diversity and equality at the 2018 JUNO awards: pledging to be united for the future of music
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This past weekend, Vancouver city played host to the 2018 JUNO awards. EDM Canada was pleased to be part of the JUNOS weekend, bring you live coverage via twitter and instagram. The list of Canadian artists that were nominated, set to take stage and present at the two night event filled us with anticipation for months and not surprisingly - it delivered!
Just how awesome was the show? It was the first time that the event was broadcasted live in all of Canada as well as worldwide, on CBC and cbc.ca, breaking records as the most-watched primetime program in Canada. The Gala dinner, as well as the awards show, were full of great music, great humour and collective proclamations of unity.
We had the opportunity to witness beautiful performances by Arcade Fire, Arkells, Daniel Caesar, Diana Krall, Felix Cartal, Jessie Reyez, Lights, Shawn Hook, The Jerry Cans, Barenaked Ladies ft. Steven Page, the Rascalz, City and Colour and Sarah Harmer, James Barker Band, Clairmont The Second, Terra Lightfoot, Iskwe and Caveboy.
The artists, stages and performances, however, were not the only things that impressed us at this year’s awards week. A big topic that many artists and industry leaders wanted to talk about was equality for all in the music industry. With the rise in the #metoo movement all around the world, Canadian artists took centre stage to stress the importance of creating a safe space for all, regardless of gender or race. Stories were shared on and backstage discussing how this needs to be a collaborative effort and just how important it is to achieve this goal in the long run. Canadians are known for embracing our multiculturalism and fight for equality. The feeling that this ongoing fight is heading in a very positive direction was certainly clear this weekend. It was amazing to hear and see artists and industry leaders come together, celebrating each other's accomplishments and vowing to each other to take a stand and make sure that the future is different.
A few empowering and encouraging examples of this movement in action were:
When Denise Donlon said while accepting her Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award at the JUNOS awards gala: “We are world leaders in artistic talent. Let’s be leaders in gender equality, respect and inclusivity too. … and by the way, the idea that there are no “qualified” women candidates, is just wrong. There are hundreds.” She then followed by asking the men in the room to stand up and pledge to champion women, support women and mentor women. She ended by saying ”Let us all wholeheartedly embrace diversity, respect and inclusion in our hearts and in our deeds and not only will Canadians continue to win, but we will thrive.”
When Buffy Sainte-Marie said while introducing Lights on the Awards stage on Sunday: “It’s time for change. It’s time for women to be recognized for our accomplishments and our value to this industry. It's time for a far greater awareness for what women have done, and what we are capable of doing. We need to build a foundation upon which we can support an environment that actually encourages success for women as engineers, as producers, as artists and writers, as inventors and providers of new music because it’s not here yet.
We need to be at the forefront and advocate and be the catalyst for change and now’s the time to do it!
From the bottom to the top of the industry we need to create a safer world for the next generation of women.”
A part of this discussion specifically with regards to gender equality in the industry was with regards to the few number of Canadian women who take on the role of producers and recording engineers. Alan Reid, president and CEO of CARAS shared with us that this year the percentage of women submitted into the engineering and producer categories were only 4% and 8% respectively. He believes that there should be more support for women in these categories and stated that there is a lot of room for improvement here. Diana Krall, who was the only woman nominated for the Jack Richardson Producer of the year award took home the award saying that she is very happy to represent women in this category and is wanting to produce for and collaborate with other women and artists in the future.
A similar discussion was had at the JUNO nominee producer and engineer panel in support of Musicounts attended by Electronic music producer Felix Cartal. The panel discussed the importance of having women involved in all aspects of the industry but especially talked about the presence of women involved in the writing and recording process. The panelists all exchanged nods as they discussed the wonderful dynamics of having diverse groups of people together in the recording process. Whether it be different genders or musical styles, they all agreed that diversity helps create better art and should be encouraged.
We would say that the JUNOS were not only a fantastic and successful celebration of Canadian music, but also a great display of how we are moving forward as music lovers in this country.
If you missed it, you can watch the broadcast here: https://youtu.be/NYVVaH_IU-4
and the Gala awards dinner here: