In Canada: Power Players Event Finds New Home, Indie Music Association Pulls Out of SXSW

Billboard Canada Power Players is returning in 2025, and it’s moving to Toronto’s NXNE.

The authoritative ranking of the music business’s most powerful executives — an official extension of Billboard’s Power 100 list — expanded to Canada in 2024. The event brought a who’s-who of industry leaders to a packed celebration at Toronto’s tallest building, the CN Tower. This year, the event will grow even bigger at its new home at NXNE, the beloved music festival celebrating its 30th anniversary amidst a new strategic partnership with Billboard Canada.

Nominations officially opened this week and will close on March 7, 2025.

“We’re thrilled to bring Power Players to the country’s most vibrant music conference and festival,” says Mo Ghoneim, president of Billboard Canada. “Power Players is a crucial spotlight of the executives leading the charge in Canada on a global scale, and we can’t wait to bring it to new heights in 2025.”

Canada is home to some of the most impactful people in music, both at home and internationally. In 2024, Billboard Canada celebrated Arthur Fogel, Live Nation’s CEO of global touring, at No. 1. The Canadian industry icon who shaped the modern global touring market attended the event and spoke about the impact Canada’s live music scene had on his career.

As Canada’s market for stadium concerts and festivals continues to expand and Canadian Content regulations continue to be debated, there are many factors and stories that could play a role in this year’s Power Players list.

Billboard Canada Power Players celebrates people across the industry, including record labels, publishing, legal, streaming and radio, creative media, and more. The extremely competitive honour reflects market share, industry impact, achievements and other metrics.

The Power Players list is peer-nominated and selected by the Billboard Canada team. 

Find the submissions form here. It’s also available in French here. – Richard Trapunski

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Canadian Independent Music Association Pulls Out of SXSW Amidst ‘Instability’ In the United States

One of the top showcase opportunities for Canadian musicians at SXSW will not take place this year.

The Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA) has canceled its Canada House event at the upcoming Austin music festival amidst rising political and economic tensions between Canada and the United States.

Andrew Cash, CIMA’s president and CEO, describes the decision as a confluence of various factors, mostly related to the relationship between the two countries since Donald Trump began his second term as U.S. President.

That includes the 25% tariffs placed on goods from Canada set to kick in on March 12, which falls during the dates of this year’s SXSW (which runs from March 7-15), as well as Trump’s repeated threats to annex the country.

“The growing instability of everything in the United States right now, plus the high cost [of putting on events in the United States] and the low [Canadian] dollar — all of these things combined made it so we couldn’t feel confident or good about what we were getting ourselves into at this particular moment,” Cash tells Billboard Canada.

“The timing is not great,” he continues. “We would be going down there just after the 30-day tariff pause has expired. We’re going to have a new Prime Minister [in Canada, following the resignation of Justin Trudeau]. I just didn’t feel comfortable putting CIMA out there in that context of instability.”

For more than a decade, Canada House has been a pivotal exporting opportunity for Canadian bands and artists at the influential American music festival. Taking over the Swan Dive music venue, it offers opportunities for Canadian musicians and entrepreneurs to network and showcase at an event well-attended by members of the local and international music industry. CIMA had planned to host a one-day daytime music showcase on March 12.

CIMA made the decision to pull out of SXSW on Feb. 13, sending emails to partners and invited artists informing them that they would not be producing the event this year.

Applications opened last fall, and four Canadian and Indigenous acts had been sent offers to play CIMA’s Canada House showcase. They learned of the cancellation last week.

“We don’t know what the climate is going to be,” Cash says. “It felt potentially dissonant to be going down to Texas and hosting an event called Canada House while the President of that country is essentially stating his intent to annex our country…We made the decision based on what we could control, because there’s so much about this situation that we can’t.”

CIMA is still offering Canadian bands spots at networking events with other international music offices and export partners from Australia, England, New Zealand and other markets. And though the Canada House showcase is on pause for 2025, they could still bring it back in future years depending on the geopolitical situation.

In the meantime, Cash says CIMA will focus its resources and investments on other international markets and opportunities within Canada. This will not affect the organization’s other Canada House activations at the German festival Reeperbahn, British festival The Great Escape or SXSW Australia.

Cash says he hopes the situation in the U.S. is resolved soon, as the country is Canada’s biggest export market — not just for music but many sectors of the economy.

“I think everyone understands that we’re in unprecedented times,” says Cash. “And I think everyone is unsure exactly how to react.”

For more on the cancellation, and how it affected artists who were invited to play, head here. – Richard Trapunski

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Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ Hits No. 1 In Canada for The First Time After Super Bowl Performance

Kendrick Lamar‘s “Not Like Us” is the No. 1 song in Canada this week — for the first time.

The diss track never managed to claim the top spot on the charts in Drake‘s home country like it did in the U.S. last year during the height of the stars’ heated rap beef. But after a Super Bowl halftime performance that saw record viewership, Canadians have pushed the controversial single to a new peak on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100 for the chart dated Feb. 22, 2025.

Going into the Super Bowl, it wasn’t clear if Lamar was even legally allowed to perform the track, as Drake is suing Universal Music Group, the label that released it. But after teasing it throughout the night, Lamar not only played the song, he included the lines that name-drop Drake and accuse him of predatory behaviour. Serena Williams, Drake’s ex, danced alongside Lamar on the field.

Following the success of “Not Like Us” last year, Lamar dropped a surprise album, GNX, which is at No. 2 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart this week. Lamar is also all over the Canadian Hot 100, with 11 of his tracks charting there.

He performed his SZA collab from that album, “Luther,” at the halftime show as well, with the R&B star joining for the duet. That track also got a post-show boost, rising 18-2 on the Canadian Hot 100, as did SZA’s 2017 album Ctrl, which re-enters the Canadian Albums chart at No. 91. SZA’s SOS, meanwhile, drops from 2-3 behind GNX. 

The two will perform together on the Grand National tour this summer, which stops in Toronto on June 12 and 13. – Rosie Long Decter