Aboriginal Music Manitoba and Manitoba Music Launch the sākihiwē Export Accelerator

New Program to Explore Virtual Export Opportunities for Indigenous Artists in Canada

Aboriginal Music Manitoba (AMM) is launching the sākihiwē Export Accelerator, a new pilot project in partnership with Manitoba Music to explore virtual solutions for export-ready First Nation, Inuit, and Métis artists who want to build audiences for their music outside of Canada.

Made possible through the Canada Council for the Arts, the accelerator will work with a cohort of 10 Indigenous artists or bands/groups who live in Canada to film performance videos for showcasing and marketing, and develop strategic business relationships with music presenters in the key music markets of Mexico, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The project will go through an extensive evaluation process at the end of its run in 2025 to determine opportunities for virtual expert market development for Indigenous music communities. 

“Performances at music festivals give artists the best chance to develop audiences in cities around the world and showcases at music conferences are the main entry points to the festival circuit,” explains project lead Alan Greyeyes, who is the Festival Director for AMM. “Unfortunately the showcasing model puts all of the financial risk on the artist’s shoulders so we want to see if we can make international festivals more accessible for Indigenous artists by moving the showcasing and relationship building part of music conferences online.”

Applications are now open at www.sakihiwe.ca. First Nation, Inuit, and Métis solo artists and bands/groups who live in Canada are invited to submit an application to participate. The deadline for accelerator applications is Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 11:59 PM PST.

AMM and Manitoba have posted for a part-time contract position to coordinate the accelerator project alongside Greyeyes. Please visit www.manitobamusic.com/careers for the job description. The deadline for job applications is Thursday, November 23, 2023 at 4 PM CT.