Canadian Music Week, perhaps the ‘SXSW for responsible expense accounts’, has just announced another pair of serious executive keynotes. Steve Barnett, head of the fast-revitalizing Capitol Records, and John Meglan, co-CEO and President of AEG Live unit Concerts West, have both confirmed keynote interviews at the Toronto throwdown in early May.
On the major label side, Barnett will be an interesting interview to watch, especially given his successes as chairman and CEO of Capitol Music Group. Barnett was tapped by Universal Music Group in late 2012 to steer the storied Capitol after UMG acquired EMI, which counted Capitol as a sub-label. Since that point, the longtime Columbia Records co-chairman has racked up a trophy-shelf of Grammy Awards for roster artists, with stars like Sam Smith and 5 Seconds of Summer emerging by 2014.
Barnett’s keynote chat happens May 5th (more details here).
On the live side, CMW has always been a strong forum. Fittingly, top AEG Live executive John Meglan will also be on hand, hopefully with some touring pro-tips. Meglan started Concerts West in 1998, now part of concert megalith AEG where Meglan continues to oversee tours from the likes of Bieber, the Stones, McCartney, and Enrique Iglesias, just to name a few. But Meglan has also played a pioneering role in Vegas, notably by sparking a five-year Celine Dion residency at Caesars Palace that ultimately crossed 3 million attendees and over 700+ performances.
Meglan’s keynote conversation happens the following day, on Friday, May 6th (more details here).
And of course, DMN will be covering the broader CMW action in Toronto starting May 2nd, part of a stepped-up partnership between the companies. This is a big, big conference; we’ll have more pre-event coverage ahead, including a track focused on music cities (or cities that want to be music cities).
Stay tuned.
More of the same from more of the same. No wonder this industry is in decline.