London Music Week carries on as organizers recognize community grieving

London, Ont. -

The organizers of London Music Week say this has been a tough time to promote local talent while still trying to remain respectful of the community’s grieving.

The annual week-long event celebrating local music achievements and promoting the arts comes as London deals with the aftermath of Sunday’s attack on a Muslim family.

On Thursday night London Music Week played host to Iain Taylor, the president of Cadence Music Group- one of North America’s largest record labels.

In a virtual appearance, Taylor talked to local artists and music fans about how the music business has changed.

“There is more responsibility than ever on the artist to not only manage their art but to also manage their business,” he said.

He pointed out that an artist would have to have one million online streams to make $4,500- the equivalent to what that artist would make by selling 275 vinyl records.

Music Week continues throughout the weekend with various events hosted by the Forest City London Music Awards.

Spokesman Scott Bollert said it’s for both musicians and music lovers.

“There’s been a lot of happenings to the music industry both on the artist side and for the venue side, and I think in general across the world. The virtual things that are happening right now that we’re able to put together for this awards week, for this music week I think brought a lot of smiles to a lot of artists faces. And it’s not just about the artists, it’s also about the music lovers. So if you’re a music lover make sure you tune in.”

Bollert says it takes a full year to put London Music Week together, and organizers have had to adapt their plans over the course of the pandemic.