SaskMusic participated as a member of a Canadian contingency attending the Upstream Music Festival, along with a number of Canadian provinces and companies and major sponsors including Creative BC and FACTOR (Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings). It was our first time participating in this event. Samurai Champs were invited to showcase at Canada House, which was curated by do604 and Do560 and sponsored in small part by SaskMusic, and performed to a capacity crowd.
Upstream is a unique event in that its business and conference component is focused on the Pacific Northwest. Given our close proximity to the area and how essential of a market it is for Sask. artists touring the US, we saw great value in the event. The conference was presented by Amazon Web Services and programmed by the Recording Academy. The event boasts a dynamic delegation including staff from Sub Pop Records, Red Light Management, Amazon Music and KEXP. We attended discussions on Music Cities, digital data, and artist management to name a few, and made several new connections including music publishers, artist managers and festival programmers. We also had the opportunity for discussions with staff from the Canadian Consulate who work in the PNW.
