Panel Report:
Making The Green In Canada
Moderator
Patti-Anne Tarlton Air Canada Centre
Jeff Apregan Venue Coalition
Shane Bourbonnais Live Nation Vancouver
Kevin Donnelly MTS Centre
Nick Farkas Gillett Entertainment Group
Paul Haagenson House of Blues Concerts Canada
Ralph James The Agency Group
Shaw Saltzberg S.L. Feldman & Associates

The concert industry in Canada is alive, well, and prosperous, but panelists from America's neighbor to the north offered a word of advice to those who plan to tackle touring the country on their own: Don't even think about it.

Canada is a different market than the U.S., and what constitutes a sellout show in Los Angeles doesn't necessarily translate to a city like Montreal. Also, Canadian media is different from American media and marketing plans should be approached with that in mind. And, as panelists noted with a laugh, Americans aren't known for having the firmest grasp of Canadian geography, causing many Canadian tours to be rerouted over the years.

That being said, Canada is also quite a deep market, Moderator Patti-Anne Tarlton of the Air Canada Centre explained.

"There are eight venues in the top 100 Pollstar rankings this year, and there's really only 10 venues that are more than 10,000 capacity in the country. It speaks of the strength of the music business in Canada," Tarlton said.

Canada is also great for artist de-velopment, Tarlton said. As developing artists step out of the club circuit, Canada offers many 5,000- to 6,000-seat arenas for tours.

Shaw Saltzberg of S.L. Feldman & Associates agreed.

Because the country has a small, spread-out population, the industry consists of a network of a few big promoters and many independents, which gives those looking to get into the market many "diverse ways to develop talent
below the big arenas," through clubs, casinos, theatres and the festival circuit.

The MTS Centre's Kevin Donnelly cautioned that while it is possible to sell plenty of tickets in markets like Winnipeg (where his venue is located), Americans should make sure the shows, guarantees and ticket prices will fit the areas they go into.

"We're in a smaller market. We have 600,000 people and last year we sold close to 300,000 concert tickets through a variety of programming," Donnelly said. "But the concept of the cookie-cutter guarantee for an act doesn't work for me like it would in many, many markets in America."

But with a little creativity, American acts can plan successful tours of Canada.

"A few people have been paying attention south of the border and noticing that there are more cities than just Tor-onto, Van-couver and Montreal," Ralph James from The Agency Group said. "I think those people have enjoyed some success just taking a look at how Canadian acts do it."

One way to make the tours of the vast country more feasible is by eliminating the border, and having acts come in and out of the country as routing dictates.

"You don't have to tour Canada in a straight line," James said. "You can head from Winnipeg south into lucrative markets like Wisconsin and connect the dots that way."

He did, however, point out that the temperature in Winnipeg was currently minus 40, "just in case you're in a big rush to get your artists up there today," getting a laugh out of the audience.

Still, there are lots of dots on the map between Toronto and Vancouver, and many opportunities for both major and independent promoters, Jeff Apregan of Venue Coalition added.

Panelists said that the most important thing for American promoters and artists who want to break into the market to remember is to speak to a Canadian in the industry.

"There's promoters out there and agents and managers that are guilty of not calling people in Canada and asking what the local markets can bear," Paul Haagenson of HoB Canada said. "If you're gonna try to make money in Canada, talk to somebody who's actually vested in Canada."

Gillett Entertainment Group's Nick Farkas agreed. Gillett is in a unique position because its market is 85 percent French, so the group has partnered on many tours in the province to assist in marketing concerts to the French-speaking population.

And it's the expertise that you acquire in your markets that really sets Canada apart, Farkas said.

"It's beneficial dealing with Canadian agents and we can make it more of a partnership," he continued. "It helps a lot to be working with people that are knowledgeable about our rooms."

Dana Parker-McClain