CIMA welcomes new partnerships with SOCAN and AVLA
Working together to bring Canadian music to the world

TORONTO, ON (January 20, 2012): The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) welcomes SOCAN and AVLA as partners in CIMA’s music exporting services, aimed at creating exposure, excitement and business opportunities for Canadian independent music businesses and their artists around the world.

As Canada’s defacto music export office, CIMA engages in collective, industry-wide initiatives that benefit the independent sector by providing opportunities for Canadian music companies and artists on the world stage, emphasizing business “wins” in North America and Europe and expanding Canada’s relationship-building missions in South Asian and South American markets.

CIMA focuses on these international markets in order to enhance the Canadian music industry’s business presence, as well as provide opportunities for our musicians and singers/songwriters to showcase their exceptional talents, worldwide.  CIMA’s exporting initiatives are enabled by the generous support of both public and private sector partners such as SOCAN and AVLA.

“Having the generous support of SOCAN and AVLA enables CIMA to provide business opportunities to the independent music sector around the world,” says CIMA President, Stuart Johnston. “In essence, our collective focus is to deliver great Canadian music to fans and consumers across the globe, while at the same time strengthening the independent music sector domestically.”

Other export partners include Radio Starmaker Fund, Slacker Canadian Music Week, Harvard Broadcasting, Astral Media as well as the governments of Ontario and Canada.

“CIMA’s export support is critical, not just in helping artists and music labels succeed in markets they might not otherwise have been able to access, but also in reinforcing Canada’s international brand and reputation as a nation that produces some of the world’s greatest music, ” says Graham Henderson, President of AVLA and Music Canada.  “Every time another Canadian artist breaks overseas we all win.”

CIMA is able to facilitate Canadian independent labels and companies to:

• build strategic alliances in major markets and establish new contacts and networks;
• strengthen relations with existing contacts;
• access new sales territories and new distribution networks;
• license music product;
• export/import finished goods;
• explore opportunities in the digital and mobile markets; and
• gain a better understanding of international markets

"In today's competitive world music scene, Canadian music creators rely on the support of organizations like SOCAN and CIMA to promote Canadian talent," said Eric Baptiste, CEO of SOCAN. "SOCAN is proud to partner with CIMA to further their efforts to raise the profile of Canadian music creators, including SOCAN's 100,000+ members."

The benefit of playing outside of the country where few Canadians can see/hear the acts is quite simple and very important. Canada’s domestic music market is relatively small and inundated with foreign product. In order to succeed commercially, Canadian companies must have a larger marketplace and more opportunities to place their material and acts. Once having done so, the financial benefits are accrued in Canada, and are used to develop material for Canadian broadcast and retail markets. Canadian acts that “break big” in foreign markets and reside in Canada are a substantial source of revenue for the entire music industry, seeding new act development.

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SOCAN is a not-for-profit organization that represents the Canadian performing rights of over three million Canadian and international music creators and publishers. SOCAN is proud to play a leading role in supporting the long-term success of its more than 100,000 Canadian members, as well as the Canadian music industry. SOCAN collects licence fees from over 42,000 businesses coast to coast and distributes royalties to its members and peer organizations around the world. SOCAN also distributes royalties to its members for the use of Canadian music around the world in collaboration with its peer societies. www.socan.ca

The AVLA Audio-Video Licensing Agency (AVLA) represents nearly 1,000 major and independent record companies and other copyright owners, including many independent artists. Our members own or control the copyright in the vast majority of all sound recordings produced and distributed in Canada. We license the broadcasting and reproduction of our members’ audio and video recordings in Canada. www.avla.ca 

CIMA is the collective voice of the English language, Canadian-owned independent sector of the Canadian sound recording industry, with a mandate to secure and develop a strong and economically stable domestic music industry. CIMA has a membership of approximately 180 companies from coast to coast in Canada, representing nearly every facet of the music business. www.cimamusic.ca    www.canadianblast.com 

For more information, contact:
Stuart Johnston, President
Tel. (416) 485-3152, ext. 232
stuart@cimamusic.ca