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Our Purpose
“Closing the Gap: Impact and Representation of Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour Live Music Workers in Canada” is a research study led by the Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA) with support from its project partners and funders. The CLMA engaged Alanna Stuart and Dr. Kim de Laat to undertake the research.
The study is designed to examine the challenges and barriers that impede the participation of Indigenous, Black, and people of colour live music workers of colour within the live music industry. The project consists of a qualitative study that will interview 40 live music workers across Canada, spanning various roles (live performers, festival directors, show promoters, etc), regions, genres, and levels of experience. It also includes a quantitative survey that will provide demographic information about the live music economy, and inequality across multiple lines of difference.
The project’s ultimate goal is to provide a more detailed picture of the barriers to and opportunities for addressing racism and discrimination in the live music industry, and to advocate for racialized individuals working in the sector.
Meet Our Team
Alanna Stuart - Project Lead
Alanna Stuart is a Caribbean-Canadian music artist, researcher, curator, and documentarian. As one-half of the Polaris Prize-nominated duo Bonjay, Alanna creates and performs a bass heavy, soul-driven hybrid sound that the New York Times dubbed ‘Canadian Dancehall’. She is also a vocalist and proud member of the Queer Songbook Orchestra. Outside of the studio, Alanna conducts research interrogating accepted understandings of the terms ‘diversity’ and ‘innovation’, and explores how these concepts impact marginalized tastemakers around the world. Alanna is a Toronto Arts Council Leaders Lab Fellow, and Radio Starmaker Fund and Pop Montreal board member.
Kim de Laat - Project Lead
Kim de Laat is a sociologist of media and culture, gender and racial inequality, and work and labour markets. Her current research is concerned with understanding how best laid plans for fostering equality in organizations can go awry. She lives with her family on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples, in St. Catharines, Ontario.
Sianna Bulman - Interviewer
Sianna Bulman is Metis from the Metis Nation of Alberta. She is currently a graduate student whose major research focus is on decolonizing and Indigenizing Canada.
Freddy Monasterio - Interviewer
Freddy Monasterio is a Cuban-Canadian independent scholar and arts consultant based in Toronto, Ontario. He currently assists with the management of the creative agency Made With Pencil Crayons, collaborates with the Vulnerable Media Lab, and produces, co-hosts and co-writes Cuban Serenade, a podcast series exploring the history of Cuban music in Canada. Freddy has produced and curated multiple concerts, showcases, DJ sets, festivals and arts events such as the Electric Circuits Festival of Electronic Music, Performance and Digital Arts (2018, Kingston, Ontario) and the Canada Spotlight initiative at Circulart 2020 (Medellin, Colombia).
Zina Mustafa - Interviewer
Zina Mustafa is a community organizer, novelist, and critical race scholar. Her research explores Canadian racial identity making, and the tools that marginalized communities use to circumvent their subjugation. She lives on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabe, in what is known as Toronto.
Madison Trusolino - Interviewer
Madison Trusolino is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto in the Faculty of Information. Madison researches in the areas of political economy, gender and sexuality, and the cultural industries. She is currently completing her SSHRC-funded dissertation on the experiences of women and LGBTQ+ comedians in the North American comedy industry. She has published work on sexual violence on Canadian university campuses, and feminist comedians use of social media.
Annalise Huynh - Project Manager
Annalise Huynh is a designer and policy analyst interested in how careful research and design approaches can reach people who would not otherwise be a part of decision-making processes. She is passionate about working across a range of user experiences, from processes and digital services to paper forms. She enjoys learning to skateboard and building tiny mechanical keyboards.
Marek Tyler - Collaborator
Marek Tyler (nêhiyaw/Scottish) lives and works in amiskwacîy (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory. Marek is an educator, entrepreneur, project liaison, manager, facilitator, and touring musician.
Marek earned a Masters of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University (MBA). He is a sessional instructor at Grant MacEwan University (Edmonton). He is known for his work with cultural, education, and entrepreneurial initiatives including, performing with nêhiyawak, The Witness Blanket – A National Monument to Residential School Survivors; project managing The Spirit Pole – North American Indigenous Games; and conducting Community-based research for the Indigenous non-profit sector. Currently, Marek is documenting his family’s cultural protocols in contemporary art.
Nicole Auger - Project Consultant
Canadian Live Music Association
Nicole Auger is Métis from BC, with Haudenosaunee and Nisga'a ancestry. She is a Toronto-based performing musician, educator, and consultant, and currently works as a Project Consultant with the Canadian Live Music Association. Nicole holds a Master of Arts in Music (MA) and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) with a specialization in arts, media, and entertainment management.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are we trying to learn?
Research demonstrates that symbolic boundaries and colourblind racism operate in ways that make entry into certain communities more difficult for racialized members than it might otherwise appear. To date, we know little about how creative personnel in Canada's live music sector conceive of racism, and how racism affects the experiences of racialized artists and creative workers.
The results of this study will help the Canadian Live Music Association and its partners better understand the barriers to, and opportunities for, addressing racism and discrimination within the live music industry.
How will information be collected?
Information will be collected through telephone interviews as well as an online survey open to anyone who is part of the Canadian live music community.
Will the results of this study be shared?
A report (available in both English and French) outlining the study’s findings and recommendations will be posted online at: www.canadianlivemusic.ca.
THANK YOU TO OUR FUNDERS
Funding Partners
Study Advocates
Study Supporters
Study Buddies
Study Friends
Most importantly, thank you to all of the artists, organizations and members of the live music community who have shared their stories and experiences with us, and helped to provide a more detailed picture of the opportunities for, and barriers to, addressing racism and discrimination in the sector.
About Canadian Live Music Association
The Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA) is the voice of Canada’s live music industry. Established in response to an identified need in the music industry, the CLMA represents the full spectrum of the live music sector, including concert promoters, festivals, talent agencies, venues, clubs, arenas, performing arts centres, ticketing companies, industry associations and networks, as well as suppliers to the sector. Its mission is to entrench the economic, social and cultural value of live music – creating the conditions for concerts to thrive, from coast to coast to coast.