Manifesto Submission Deadline Coming Up

This information just ended up in my inbox, so I thought I should pass it along.

The deadline for artist and dance submissions for this year’s Manifesto Festival is this Sunday, July 15th. If you’re an artist and you haven’t sent in a submission to perform yet, do it right away. The festival is entering it’s sixth year and is a great event and a great way to get your name recognized.

Also, the application deadline for Visual Arts and the Freshest Goods market has been extended to Friday, July 27th.

Go to the Manifesto website for more information and application forms.

Applications Now Open for Canadian Music Fest 2013 Showcase Spots

I received an email about this and thought I would pass along the info for anyone who might be interested.

Canadian Music Fest 2013 is now open for business.

If you are an artist or band ready, willing, and able to play March 19-24, 2013 in Toronto during Canada’s largest new music festival, now is your chance to submit. Head over to sonicbids.com/canadianmusicfest2013 and give us your best.

Submit by June 27th and pay only $20. That’s HALF THE PRICE!

In return we’ll give you…
– the opportunity to get in front of 3000+ industry insiders from Canada and all over the world
the chance to connect with international talent buyers, music supervisors and publishers, booking agents, – promoters, festival directors, A&R reps and more all in one place

Last Night’s NXNE Hip Hop Showcase Canceled Over Security Concerns

I never had a chance to make it out to the showcase last night, but it sounds like I would have been disappointed had I gone. Apparently, the Toronto Police Services’ Guns and Gangs Unit requested that the event be shut down. The following message appeared on SmashMouth Entertainment’s Facebook page.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, and at the request of the Toronto Police and the Toronto Gang Unit, we regret to announce that our NXNE “SmashMouth Mentality” showcase scheduled for June 13 at Rivoli has been cancelled. For any inquiries regarding this matter please direct all messages to Brenden Hewko of SmashMouth Entertainment – Brenden@SmashMouthEnt.com

For more information read the article on Torontoist.com.

MMVA Nominees Announced

Much Music recently announced the nominees for the 2012 MMVAs. The awards show will take place on June 17th.

MuchVibe Hip Hop Video of the Year
A-Game – Cool Boyz (directed by Cazhmere)
Classified ft. Kato & Jim Cuddy – The Hangover (directed by The Hansen-MacDonald Brothers)
Drake ft. Lil Wayne & Tyga – The Motto (directed by Lamar Taylor & Hyghly Alleyne)
Harvey Stripes ft. Lloyd – Come On (directed by Cazhmere)
K’Naan ft. Nelly Furtado – Is Anybody Out There? (directed by Chris Robinson)

Other hip-hop-related nominees are below.

Video of the Year
Drake – Headlines
Hedley ft. P. Reign – Invincible

Post Production of the Year
Shaun Boothe – Let Me Go

Cinematographer of the Year
Hedley ft. P. Reign – Invincible

Director of the Year
RT! (Aleesia ft. Big Sean – Kiss It Bye Bye)
Marc André Debruyne (Danny Fernandes ft. Josh Ramsay & Belly – Hit Me Up)

Pop Video of the Year
Hedley ft. P. Reign – Invincible

MuchFACT Indie Video of the Year
Danny Fernandes ft. Josh Ramsay & Belly – Hit Me Up

International Video of the Year – Artist
David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj – “Turn Me On”
Flo Rida – “Good Feeling”
Nicki Minaj – “Starships”
Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo , Afrojack & Nayer – “Give Me Everything”

International Video of the Year – Group
Bad Meets Evil ft. Bruno Mars – “Lighters”

International Video of the Year by a Canadian
Drake ft. Rihanna – Take Care

Most Streamed Video of the Year
Aleesia ft. Big Sean – “Kiss It Bye, Bye”
Cobra Starship ft. Mac Miller – “Middle Finger”
Danny Fernandes ft. Josh Ramsay & Belly – “Hit Me Up”
Hedley ft. P. Reign – “Invincible”
Jay-Z & Kanye West – “Otis”

UR Fave: Video
Drake – “Headlines”
Hedley ft. P. Reign – “Invincible”

UR Fave: Artist
Drake

Click here for a full list of the nominees.

2012 Stylus Award Nominations Announced

The nominations for the 7th annual Stylus Awards presented by Pioneer DJ have been announced. The event will take place on May 26th and will be hosted by comedian TRIXX. Tickets for the event can be purchased at ticketmaster.ca beginning on Monday. A few of the award nominations are listed below. Click here for full listing.

Fan Choice Club DJ of the Year presented by Pioneer DJ
4 Korners (Toronto)
Charlie Brown (Toronto)
Hedspin (Vancouver)
Lissa Monet (Toronto)
Wristpect (Toronto)
Keith Dean (Montreal)

Fan Choice Artist of the Year presented by Pioneer DJ
Anjulie
Drake
Kardinal Offishall
Karl Wolf
Melanie Fiona
The Weeknd

Canadian Hip Hop Single of the Year
A-Game – Oh My!
Classified – That Ain’t Classy
Drake ft. Tyga, Lil’ Wayne – The Motto
JD Era ft. Lokz – Change
Kardinal Offishall – Ignorant
P Reign – I Need It All
Reema Major – I’m The One
Rock Da House – For My City Remix

Canadian Producer of the Year
Arthur McArthur (Tyga – “Kings & Queens”)
Boi-1da (Drake – “Headlines”)
Cirkut (Rihanna – “You The One”)
Illangelo (Drake – “Crew Love”)
Noah “40” Shebib (DJ Khaled ft. Drake, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne – “I’m The One”)
T-Minus (Lil Wayne ft. Drake – “She Will”)

Toronto DJ of the Year
4 Korners
Charlie Brown
Jester
Lissa Monet
Ritz
Wristpect

Artist Mixtape of the Year
Ayah & DJ Jazzy Jeff – Back For More
Belly – The Greatest Dream I Never Had
Magnum – I’m G.O.O.D
Raz Fresco – MCMXCV
Reema Major – I Am Legend
Rich Kidd – We On Some Rich Kidd Sh*t Vol 5: Born To Win
Shaun Boothe – Waiting Room
Son Real – Where’s Waldo?
The Airplane Boys – Where’ve You Been
The Weeknd – House of Balloons

Underground Hip Hop DJ of the Year
Big Jacks (Toronto)
Dames Nellas (Toronto)
DJ Fase (Toronto)
DJ Law (Toronto)
DJ Sage (Vancouver)
Marvel (Vancouver)

Hall of Fame Inductees
Michie Mee (Artist)
DJ Bunny (Calgary) (DJ)

Young Jeezy Concerts Shut Down After Shootings


Two shootings within 24 hours have shut down Young Jeezy concerts in Toronto and London and canceled a third, which was to take place tonight in Montreal. On Wednesday night (April 4th), Young Jeezy was scheduled to perform at Sound Academy in Toronto, but shots rang out at around 12:30 AM after the opening acts had finished performing, but before Young Jeezy took the stage. The shooting sent a 26-year-old man to hospital after he took three bullets to the torso.

Then last night in London a similar event took place with shots fired at about 11:30 PM even with a reported increase in security and police presence due to the previous nights events in Toronto. Three people have been treated for wounds from the London shooting, with one in serious, but stable, condition.

Young Jeezy was scheduled to perform tonight at Montreal’s L’Olympia as part of the inaugural Festival Hip Hop de Montreal, but the show has been canceled due to the organizer’s concern of further violence.

The Toronto show has since been rescheduled for Sunday, April 8th, but no word yet on whether the London show will move to another date.

(Information from CTV and CBC)

Rock-U Live Auditions

Thought I would share this info for anyone who might be interested. More information can be found on their website.

Uni-Community is a unique Music Industry high school assembly designed to educate students on working towards a career within the music/entertainment industry. Uni-Community brings music industry professionals and domestic Universal Music Canada artists to high school assemblies, encouraging the importance of education and inspiring students to pursue their dreams, no matter how unattainable they may seem. Uni-Community promotes ‘Make Education Make Sense For You,’ teaching students to customize their schooling into the perfect outlet to obtain their ultimate career goal. After launching last year Uni-Community has visited over 50 schools throughout Ontario offering free assemblies to eager students.

Now, Uni-Community, alongside our proud sponsors Hard Rock Cafe, would like to give aspiring artists a platform to be heard through our Rock-U talent search! On April 4th from 5:00pm—9:00pm and April 7th from 11:00am—6:00pm we will be holding auditions at the Hard Rock Cafe, open exclusively to high school students who have registered through www.uni-community.com/rocku. 5 lucky acts will then be chosen to perform at the famous Hard Rock Café in the heart of downtown Toronto to showcase their talents to their peers, a panel of music industry professionals and Universal Music Canada artists.

Voting for 2012 Stylus Awards now open

Voting for the 2012 Stylus Awards presented by Pioneer DJ has begun. The voting period kicked off at noon today and continues until March 21st at 11:59 pm.

The 2012 Spinfest and Stylus Awards presented by Pioneer DJ will begin in Toronto on Saturday, May 26th followed by a complete weekend of festivities leading up to the red carpet awards show on Monday, May 28th. Spinfest is a conference showcasing leading industry talents, speakers and education for tomorrow’s next big artists. Tickets for the Stylus Awards will be available via Ticketmaster in April for $40 CND+HST. Be sure to purchase your tickets early to avoid disappointment, the show has sold out every year! The awards show will take place at a new venue this year, the Danforth Music Hall located at 147 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON, M4K 1N2. For a complete list of rules and regulations visit the Stylus Group website.

Nominees for the 2012 SiriusXM Indie Awards

The 12th Annual Independent Music Awards will be presented on Saturday, March 24th in the Canadian Ballroom at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. The nominees for the awards were released a couple days ago and while there isn’t a lot of hip hop representation, there is one local rapper who found himself nominated as D-Sisive was listed in the Urban Artist/Group or Duo of the Year category. He is up against Swollen Members and singers Danny Fernandes, JRDN and The Weeknd.

Tickets to the awards are $39.50 and can be purchased via the Canadian Music Fest website.