Bid to promote local artists kicks off today
A new campaign aims to raise the profile of the Ottawa music scene with a podcast, website and a series of Spotify playlists.
Love Local Music will be launched Saturday afternoon during a 1:30 p.m. concert by Ottawa harmonica mistress Catriona Sturton at the Record Centre, 1099 Wellington St. W.
“It’s about getting the general public and the business community to be more aware of the great local music that’s coming out of Ottawa, whether it’s the acts lighting up stages internationally or playing in the bar around the corner,” said Nik Ives-Allison, general manager of the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition, the organization spearheading the initiative.
“There seems to be a gap between what the public thinks of in terms of local music, and what’s the reality,” she added. “It’s not just part-timers playing in bar bands for the love of it. We’ve got hundreds of professional bands that are doing this, and this is how they make a living. They’re world class.”
The campaign kicks off with six Spotify playlists featuring 20 songs each by Ottawa-area artists.
A new playlist will be added each month for the next six months.
The first six genre-specific playlists are Capital Beats (hip-hop), Federal Headbang (metal, punk and noise rock), Ottawa Divebar (rock), Capital Coffeehouse (singer-songwriter), Capital Country (country roots) and Breaking Boundaries (ambient and experimental music). The playlists are compiled by Ives-Allison and Ottawa musician Joel Elliott.
Acts don’t have to be OMIC members to have their music featured.
Love Local Music will also copresent concerts with local promoters, and introduce a podcast in January featuring music and interviews with artists and other industry folk.
Merchandise featuring the LLM logo, which incorporates a map of the region, is available at the website, ilovelocalmusic.ca or mamusiquemaville.ca
OMIC president Mark Monahan, who is head of RBC Ottawa Bluesfest, CityFolk and the Festival of Small Halls, will also speak at the Record Centre event on Saturday. lsaxberg@postmedia.com Twitter @lynnsaxberg