The Walleye Magazine

All Bands on Deck

By Samrul Aahad, Economist, Northern Policy Institute

This September, at the Thunder Bay waterfront, the stage was set for the return of the Wake The Giant music festival. It was certainly a welcome sight given the pause on in-person events during COVID-19. Indeed, music is a huge part of Canadian culture, and Canada has produced many big-name artists. As well, Canadians have supported the performing arts industry passionately. According to the 2016 General Social Survey, seven out of ten Canadians went to a performing arts, artistic, or cultural event in 2016.

Over the last two years, the number of performing arts companies has remained roughly the same across the communities of North Bay, Greater Sudbury, Elliot Lake, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, and Kenora: there were 74 companies in 2019, and there are 73 companies in 2021. In June of 2021, there were 26 companies in Thunder Bay, the highest compared to the other six communities.

On the other hand, the number of people working independently in the performing arts sector is a different story. With many of us spending more time at home during the pandemic, it seems more people were able to explore their passion for music. Thus, it seems that this part of the sector has seen a bit of a boom in some communities. Three of the seven communities experienced an increase in the number of people working independently as artists, writers, and performers. More specifically, Greater Sudbury saw the biggest increase, from 21 to 31, followed closely by Sault

Ste. Marie, from 5 to 14. However, Thunder Bay, Timmins, and Elliot Lake, all saw a decrease of one independently working artist between 2019 and 2021.

Now this isn’t to say that artists from Thunder Bay aren’t making an impact. Using artist stats from Spotify, total monthly listeners for a sampling of musicians ranged from the tens to the hundreds and even the thousands. Coleman Hell has 685,030 monthly listeners alone, followed by The Honest Heart Collective at 44,541. Stats also showed that listeners came from around the world including Los Angeles, Mexico City, Sydney, New York City, and Amsterdam. In order to maintain that impact and aid in the recovery of the arts and entertainment industry in Canada, investments have been made. In addition to $50 million in funding by the federal government, the Ontario government has committed to an investment of $2.5 million through the Unison Benevolent Fund’s COVID-19 Relief Program. More resources can also be found through Cultural Industries Ontario North, an organization dedicated to supporting film and music in Northern Ontario.

As we continue to recover and reopen, make sure to grab your ticket and hop in line. And, of course, give a shout out to your favourite local bands and independent artists!

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