Interview with Darryl Hurs of Indie Week & CD Baby
Darryl Hurs has a 25+ year history in the music business including launching and running one of Canada’s largest indie music festivals and conference, Indie Week. Recently hired as the director of market development for CD Baby in Canada. Past positions include design and branding/marketing for Live Nation as a freelancer (projects included a corporate rebrand and logo design, launching VIPNATION.com, work for U2, Nickelback, Madonna, Beyonce, Jay-Z and Dave Matthews) retail buyer at HMV, and booker for one of Toronto’s top live music venues (The Rivoli). Indie Week Online will be taking place from Nov 8-12 and will feature 5 days, 100+ speakers, 50+ sessions covering artist development, sync licensing, live streaming songwriting, production, royalties, publishing and more. If you work in the music industry, you definitely won’t want to miss it! Tickets are available at https://www.indieweek.com/
Interview with Darryl Hurs
1.Indie Week is just around the corner! Can you tell us about the inception of Indie Week and who it was created for?
INDIE WEEK was created to have a platform for emerging artists to have a stage in front of members of the music industry. Due to COVID we have gone from the in-person festival and conference format to an online conference format which we are finding is even better for making meaningful connections internationally within the industry.
2.What is the best way for attendees to maximize their experience at this year’s conference?
Participate! We do see a large number of people log on but are hesitant to comment, share links, etc… it really is about making connections and the platform has many ways to message, create meetings etc.
3. Indie Week has impacted and brought together both artists and industry professionals not only in Canada but around the world. How has it felt to watch this community grow and can you share any stories of how it has brought people together?
I’m usually the last one to hear about the stories so when I do hear them it’s always a nice reward for all of the hard work that goes into producing these events. We’ve seen artists tour as a result, get signed, get management, etc…. It really is amazing to see the wide impact we’ve had in the music community.
4. How has having the conference online changed the game?
Immensely! We are able to host a higher level of industry speakers from a larger international base in a meaningful way – it truly is better than ever and I feel we are just getting started in the online game. We really can pursue almost every idea now – there are no boundaries online.
5. What is one of your favourite Indie Week memories so far?
When the George Floyd verdict was announced we were online in a session called “Be Present Everywhere”. We get a large number of music industry reps giving their elevator pitch and sharing contact information. Ebonnie Row from Honey Jam was speaking and addressed the verdict and the current climate. It was so powerful – there were tears. It was such a moving experience that proved that while we are remote and online there still is an important human connection.
Do you have anything else you’d like to tell our readers?
The programming for all of our online conferences is top notch and the sessions are all recorded which means anyone can view on the platform for up to 3 months at their own leisure. Also we host a FREE LIVE webinar called INDIE WEEKLY every Tues at 4opm est. Information can be found at http://www.indieweek.com .
If you haven’t already, click the link below for tickets to this year’s Indie Week, hope to see you there!
Here’s are a list of some of the amazing speakers lined up for this year’s event!
Todd Kerns (SLASH / Age of Electric) • Jane Siberry (songwriter / artist) • Simon Tam ( author/artist )
Karen Kosowski (Producer/Songwriter/Musician) • Martin Atkins (Invisible Records)
Darryl Hurs (Indie Week / Downtown Global) • Robert Singerman (LyricFind) • Andrew Cash (CIMA) • Andrea England (CMRRA) • Jeffrey Crossman (Global Affairs Canada) • Aerin Fogel (Venus Fest)
Rachel Rubin (Bandsintown) • Sat Bisla (A&R Worldwide) • Sandra Sutter (Artist) • Jaclyn Tam (City of Toronto) • Darcy Ataman (Make Music Matter) • Boyan Pinter (SPIKE Bulgaria) • Kevin Breuner (CD Baby) • Chris Robley (CD Baby) • Karen Allen (Twitch for Musicians) • Peter Astedt (Future Echoes)
Andre Noblat (COMA Fest) • Micaela Neiva (COMA Fest) • Pepe Velasquez (Veltrac Music Festival)
Cory Crossman (London Music Office) • Marni Wandner (Sona) • Cori Ferguson (Awesome Music Project) • John Switzer (Seneca College) • Murray Foster (Toronto Songwriting School)
