May Run Music Festival 2016
Press Release
March 3rd, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May Run Music Festival hosted by Music PEI to return in 2016
Music PEI is happy to announce the return of the May Run Music Festival taking place in Charlottetown, PE from May 17-22.
Last year, Music PEI rebranded the annual PEI Music Week to the new May Run Music Festival and Canadian Song Conference, taking place the week of the Victoria Day long weekend, sometimes known as the “May Run” weekend. The festival took over as the premier celebration of the year of Island musical talent and diversity with Music PEI Awards being handed out during various shows.
In the festival’s inaugural year, local and national artists entertained audiences at showcases in various locations over the weekend across PEI from Hunter River to Summerside and Charlottetown. The festival brought in artists from around the province and across the country, with local acts including Tim Chaisson, Meaghan Blanchard, and Paper Lions, as well as nationally recognized acts such as Dan Mangan, Murray McLauchlan, and Stars.
Submissions for Music PEI awards closed on February 19th and voting opens on March 22nd when nominees are announced. Several new awards have been added to this year’s festival, including Cover Band of the Year, Presenter of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year. Other changes include the transition of the award for Francophone Recording of the Year to Acadian/Francophone Artist of the Year, as well as the reintroduction of the Studio of the Year award. In addition, several awards have changed from membership voting to a full jury selection process in an effort to provide transparency and create a more industry driven awards process.
Also returning this year is the Bell Aliant Canadian Song Conference, which was first held last year. The conference brings panelists and industry insiders together to impart their knowledge of topics including building a sustainable career through creating multiple revenue streams (licensing for film and TV, publishing, royalties etc) from songs as well as dissecting the songwriting process, from writing to collaborating, producing and recording. The conference features a keynote speaker on the final day; the first conference featured New York industry professional Joe D’Ambrosio, who shared his experiences working with and managing his clients including producers like Tony Visconti, Quincy Jones, Phil Ramone and Joe Zook who have worked with such giants as Michael Jackson and Jay-Z, from Beyoncé to Norah Jones, One Direction to OneRepublic, Paul McCartney to Bob Dylan, David Bowie to Ziggy Marley, Kanye West to Morrissey, Eric Clapton to The Eagles and many more.
Another major event making its return this year is the Canadian Song Challenge. In its first year, five Island artists were connected with five artists from across the country. Each pair was given two days to collaborate and record demos of brand new songs. The songs were then presented to a panel of publishers, music supervisors, labels, as well as other industry professionals from Canada, the United States, Australia and the UK.
For more information on the festival and song conference, please visit the Music PEI website, the May Run Music Festival website, or contact the Music PEI office at (902) 894-6734. Tickets for the May Run Music Festival will be on sale April 1st.
Our marketing coordinator Angus McPhail is also available at angus@musicpei.com, as well as by phone (902) 628-9983.
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Rob Oakie
Music PEI Executive Director
roboakie@musicpei.com
(902)894-6734
Angus McPhail
Music PEI Marketing Coordinator
angus@musicpei.com
(902)628-9983
External Links http://musicpei.com/music-pei-week/