Just the FACTs

With the demise of the Canada Council's Grants for Specialized Music Sound Recording, artists in the jazz and contemporary classical music genres (among others) are looking for new sources of funding in support of recording projects. With that in mind, I attended a session presented by FACTOR (the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings), to see if FACTOR might be a good alternative to the Canada Council's program.

The short answer, unfortunately, is no. When the Canada Council's program was cut, those funds did not go to FACTOR, nor was a program dedicated to specialized music established at FACTOR. In essence, jazz musicians are competing against pop, country, hip-hop, etc., when applying for FACTOR funding.

That said, the staff who presented the session were sympathetic to the new challenges facing certain musical genres and encourage anyone looking to create a new jazz album to contact them to chat about the possibilities, and find out how to submit the best possible application. Here are a few programs for which jazz musicians might be eligible:

Juried Sound Recording Program (deadlines May 31 and October 29)

There are two branches of this program: the FACTOR loan and the independent loan.

• Apply to the FACTOR loan if you've got a distribution deal in place with one of FACTOR's approved distributers (see their list) or if you can show previous sales of at least 2000 units (physical or digital). Under this program, you can apply for up to $25,000.
• Apply to the independent loan if you don't meet the distribution and sales criteria listed above. Under this program, you can apply for up to $15,000.

Direct Board Approval Sound Recordings (deadlines May 31, August 31, November 30)

To apply to this program, you must be signed to a Canadian owned and Canadian controlled record label that has a proven track record. You can apply for up to $25,000.

Emerging Artist Sound Recording Program (deadlines June 15, September 15, December 15)

The Emerging Artist Program has been created for those grassroots artists whose careers are emerging at the National & International levels. The purpose is to provide a strong financial commitment to each project by funding the sound recording and marketing and promotion respectively, to help artists take their careers to the next level. Funding is available up to $50,000; an emerging artist is defined as an artist who can show previous sales of at least 1500 units.

Marketing & Promotion for Non-FACTOR Supported Sound Recordings (deadlines May 31, October 29)

This program is to support the marketing and promotion of sound recordings for which FACTOR did not provide financial assistance towards the production costs. Applicants may use their marketing funds to cover basic marketing, touring, showcasing and video production expenses. Applicants must apply no later than 12 months following the domestic release date of the sound recording. Funding is available up to $20,000 and funds are limited in this program.

Marketing & Promotion for FACTOR Supported Sound Recordings (deadlines June 25, September 15, November 15)

This program provides marketing support to sound recordings which were approved under the Juried, Direct Board and Emerging Artist programs.

Domestic & International Tour Support (deadlines May 31, July 29, September 30, November 30)

The Tour Support Program's objective is to support domestic and foreign touring activities by Canadian artists and to contribute to the development of the Canadian music industry both domestically and internationally. The maximum amount of funding available is $15,000; the sound recording that this tour will support must have sold a minimum of 2,000 confirmed units.

For the complete list of programs, go to factor.ca. You can browse their site or try using their FACTOR Wizard, which will help direct you to the appropriate program.

A few more thoughts:

1. Sales numbers are important. If you're not yet hooked up with an independent distributor like CD Baby or Tunecore, do that now. They're probably the best and easiest way to track physical and digital sales. The one challenge is venue (i.e. offstage) sales. It seems the only current way to track venue sales is to submit them to Soundscan...but it costs $500 per year to register, which is prohibitive. FACTOR wants to make tracking venue sales easier; if you've got any ideas, let them know.

2. Make sure you do your research. I've listed here the programs that I think are most promising for jazz musicians, but I'm only passing on the information I was given - eligibility, deadline dates, and more might change so make sure you are getting the most accurate information directly from FACTOR.

3. APPLY! One of the best ways to show the government that jazz needs funding programs is to inundate programs like FACTOR with high-quality applications. Let's be sure to not let the government off the hook by becoming complacent - keep the applications coming!

For more information on FACTOR programs I encourage you to speak with Brent Bain in the FACTOR submissions department: (416) 696-2215, ext. 221 or brent.bain@factor.ca.

And finally, if you have other suggestions for funding sources, or other suggestions for how to draw attention to the lack of funding available for jazz recording projects, please add your comments...

Josh

P.S. - For an interesting night of jazz and East Indian fusion, check out the 3rd annual Indo-Jazz Festival, this Thursday, April 29, at Lula Lounge. Details are at lula.ca.

P.P.S. - Congratulations to all of the JUNO Award winners! Terry Clarke, whose album It's About Time won Traditional Jazz Album of the Year, will perform as part of the TD Toronto Jazz Festival on Friday, July 2, at the Trane Studio; a number of the other nominees (Darren Sigesmund, Jaffa Road, Hilario Duran) will also be performing as part of the festival this summer!

Keeping up with Miss Jones

Ever since my first year as a student in the University of Toronto's Jazz Performance Program I've understood that New York City is a hotbed of jazz activity. I've not spent a lot of time there, though, so last weekend I made the first of what I hope to be semi-regular jaunts south of the border. I think it will be helpful to keep track of certain emerging trends, meet new musicians, venue owners and presenters, and help to keep Toronto on everyone's jazz radar.

While I was down there I caught two great acts - the Bad Plus at the Blue Note, and Darcy James Argue's Secret Society at the Galapagos Art Space. They were both excellent shows and well worth the price of admission (and airfare and transit fare and bar tab). I also met up with a few movers and shakers on the scene and was able to pick their brains a bit about jazz venues, where jazz is headed and what makes the New York scene so important.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about how to invigourate Toronto's jazz scene. I know comparing it to New York is hardly fair, but what exactly is the difference between the two scenes? They have world-class musicians; we have world-class musicians. They have excellent post-secondary jazz programs; we have excellent post-secondary jazz programs. They have a vibrant cultural scene overall; we have a vibrant cultural scene overall.

And so, in what could be one of the most hyperbolic oversimplifications in history, I'd like to suggest two main reasons why we're different: population and tourism. New York City has a population of over 8 million and in 2008 they had an estimated 47 million tourists visit; Toronto has a population of 2.5 million and in 2007 we had 10.5 million tourists visit. With four times the population and tourist visits, New York City is dealing with much higher demands for culture, transit (i.e. a way to get to culture), restaurants, etc. (According to everyone I spoke with in New York, for example, the Blue Note depends almost entirely on tourists - that's two shows a night, 200 people per show, every day of the year...)

However, these statistics don't tell the whole story. If we were really operating on a 1:4 ratio, we'd have at least 6 full-time jazz clubs in Toronto. And, as I talk to more and more people on the local jazz community, it's the number of jazz venues that seems to be the major challenge to this city's jazz scene.

The question is, can Toronto sustain more full-time jazz clubs? Two spaces that I saw in New York particularly intrigued me: the Galapagos Art Space and Le Poisson Rouge. Neither space is dedicated to any one art form. The Galapagos presents music, film, theatre, dance, acrobatics and more, and concentrates on presenting emerging and mid-career artists. Le Poisson Rouge primarily presents music, but that includes classical, contemporary, jazz, folk, electronica...and on Friday and Saturday nights the space is converted into happening dance parties. These models allow the space to be booked every day of the week, every week of the year, often times for two shows each day (especially at Le Poisson Rouge), without sacrificing the overall artistic integrity of the acts they present.

It's not clear to me if these models would work in Toronto, though the more I speak to people in a variety of arts organizations the more I think this is exactly the model that this city needs. What is clear is that we need more places for our outstanding jazz musicians to play. And, if that means creating a shared space, where great art of all kinds can be presented, then I think we should give it some thought.

What do you think - how can we give the local community the year-round support it needs?

Josh

P.S. - I had the pleasure of taking in Caitlin Smith's Tiny Alligator Large Band at the Music Gallery last night. It was an excellent night of creative writing and outstanding performing, featuring a great mix of established and emerging local musicians. Keep your eyes and ears open for this band...

P.P.S. - The Rex Hotel continues to program a great mix of the best in local and international jazz talent. Next week is their Power Jazz Guitar Trio Festival featuring Wayne Krantz with Tim Lefebvre & Keith Carlock (April 21 & 22) then Oz Noy with Will Lee & Anton Fig (April 23 & 24). Then, on Monday night April 26, catch John MacLeod's Rex Hotel Orchestra, which features twenty of this city's best jazz musicians.

Showtime...

Three months (since I started, anyway), hundreds of emails and dozens of phone calls later, we're ready for our close-up. This Tuesday, April 13, we'll be live-to-air on JAZZ.FM91 to announce the highlights from the 2010 TD Toronto Jazz Festival lineup. Things get underway around 2 pm; make sure you tune in!

Putting together the lineup is perhaps one of the most exciting parts of festival planning. We get to create - and sometimes even fulfill! - wish lists, listen to a ton of great music, make new connections, and meet new artists and managers. At the same time, it can be challenging, contentious, frustrating...it is, after all, a big puzzle: the right balance of genre, local and international artists, venues and, of course, fees, needs to be struck...and sometimes the pieces just don't fit together. Inevitably, we're going to let some people down, have disagreements and need to come at certain challenges from a variety of angles. But what we come out with is a fantastic mix of music and artists.

(And it's still ongoing...I just now confirmed one of the artists for our Next Wave series after several weeks of negotiations...)

We'll be talking on Tuesday about the performers, but you can look forward to several interesting series of music: we'll have the main stage at Nathan Phillips Square; the Next Wave series at the Music Gallery; three concerts at the Enwave Theatre; three shows upstairs at the Hard Rock Cafe; two shows at Church of the Holy Trinity; the already-announced Koerner Hall series; five shows at Trane Studio; ten shows at Shops at Don Mills; and a variety of shows at other venues across the city. Plus our workshops, talkbacks and a new series of educational programming.

So - it's a full plate of jazz and jazz-related activity. Tune in to JAZZ.FM91, 2 pm on Tuesday for complete the details. And in the meantime, well, jazz-hands...

Josh