Music Nova Scotia’s Export Missions support developing and export-ready Nova Scotian artists and music companies to reach international markets and increase music exports. Over the last five years, through a global pandemic and the ongoing instability of the economy, Music Nova Scotia has continued to build meaningful export relationships for its membership across a variety of markets. This includes thoughtful trade missions and a deeper focus on 1:1 networking opportunities for participating artists and industry.
Funding for these missions are provided by the Province of Nova Scotia, ACOA, FACTOR, the Government of Canada, and Canada’s Private Radio Broadcasters. Funding allows Music Nova Scotia to increase domestic and inbound export, grow the number of exporting artists in underrepresented communities and genres, and continue to support artists’ desires to solidify alternative sources of revenue.
For more information and to apply to upcoming export opportunities, please read below.
2025 export missions:
Folk Alliance (Montreal, QC)
MORE COMING SOON
Breakout West (Saskatoon, SK)
BreakOut West is an annual music event that includes an immersive, music development conference, music festival hosted by the Western Canadian Music Alliance. The 2024 BreakOut West Festival will be hosted, September 25-29 in Saskatoon, SK.
Come Together (Toronto, ON)
Come Together is an opportunity for export-ready artists from across Canada to meet with, build business relationships, and showcase for key music industry professionals from Toronto and surrounding areas including labels, agents, managers, publishers, music supervisors, publicists, and more. Participants will work directly with their music industry association to identify key music business contacts to invite and meet with. This event has goals beyond showcasing with a push towards industry connections, team building and business strategies for both artists and businesses.
Focus Wales (Wrexham, Wales, UK)
FOCUS Wales is an international multi-venue showcase festival taking place in Wrexham, North Wales, which places the music industry spotlight firmly on the emerging talent that Wales has to offer the world, alongside a selection of the best new acts from across the globe. FOCUS Wales 2023 will mark the festival’s 12th edition, and will welcome over 20,000 people to the town, building upon 2022′s record attendance across a jam-packed weekend of events. There’s no place like Wrexham during FOCUS Wales, as we showcase 250+ artists, fill out a variety of spaces and music venues, using 20 stages, and hosting a full schedule of interactive industry sessions, arts events, and film screenings, throughout the festival..
Folk Alliance International (Montreal, QC)
Folk Alliance International (FAI) is an international arts nonprofit and NEA-designated National Arts Service Organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Founded in 1989, we’re a community of passionate and driven artists, managers, agents, DJs, festivals, record labels, fans, and more. We exist to keep the tradition of folk music thriving through preservation, presentation, and promotion.
Folk Music Ontario (Mississagua, ON)
Folk Music Ontario (FMO) is Canada’s largest provincial organization devoted to the folk, roots, and traditional music community. For over 37 years, FMO and its membership have supported the growth and development of the folk music community and industry across Ontario and Canada through the annual Folk Music Ontario Conference, Developing Artist Program, Festivals’ Retreat, Export Development Program, Peer Sessions, Ontario Folk Music Awards, Folk in Film Festival, Year-round Professional Development Seminars, FMO Community Folk Fest, and more!
Pitch Scotland (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Pitch is Scotland’s conference of hip hop and underground culture which takes place in the east end of Glasgow.
export history by region
BreakOut West
Come Together
East Coast Music Awards
Folk Music Canada
JUNOfest
℅ Pop (Cologne, Germany)
Future Echoes (Norrkoping, Sweden)
New Skool Rules (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
Reeperbahn (Hamburg, Germany)
Tallinn Music Week (Tallinn, Estonia)
Viva Sounds (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Americana UK (Hackney, London)
Focus Wales (Wrexham, Wales, UK)
Pitch Scotland (Edinburgh, Scotland)
The Great Escape (Brighton, UK)
A3C (Atlanta, US)
Folk Alliance (Kansas, USA)
Milwaukee Irish Festival (Milwaukee, USA)
New Colossus Festival (New York, USA)
SXSW (Austin, USA)
questions?
reach out!
Dana Beeler
Events & Strategic Development Manager
dana@musicnovascotia.ca