Emerging Artist Program | Canadian Musicians Co-operative

Who can apply?

To be considered for a funded position in the Emerging Artist program, you must:

be between 16 and 30 years of age at the beginning of the program

be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person to whom refugee protection has been conferred under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the duration of the employment

have a valid Social Insurance Number at the start of employment and be legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with relevant provincial or territorial legislation and regulations.

What's the audition process?

Step 1:

Submit an application online that includes a 2-3 minute audition video and all required supporting materials (see "What should I have ready?"), or attend a Live Round 1 Audition Date.

Step 2:

Attend a virtual callback audition that will include a live audition in front of a jury, a short media interview, and a formal job interview. You will be required to learn a piece from a pre-selected list that will be made available 48-72 hours before your audition.

Step 3:

Wait for the call to hear if you've been selected for the Summer Emerging Artist Program!

What do I need to have ready?

Artist website
EPK
Biography (200 words minimum)
Discography
Social media/streaming/download statistics
Short summary of your career goals for the summer, one year from now, and five years from now
List of music- and/or business-specific grant funding received to date
2-3 minute audition video of a live, unedited performance (original songs preferred)

The Emerging Artist program is a summer intensive employment opportunity for youth Canadian musicians. Program participants engage in daily interdisciplinary music business and performance training from world-class industry leaders, and perform multiple times per week in their program location.

Important Information

Time Commitment

Individual funding ranges from 8-16 weeks within the program, and usually has a 30 -35 hour/week commitment. Artists are expected to be available in the afternoon throughout the week for training, and evening/weekends as scheduled for performance.

Monday is the common day off for all Emerging Artists.

There is some scheduling flexibility most evenings and weekends to accommodate existing performance bookings. If you have a questions regarding evening/weekend availability, email jobs@canadianmusicians.coop.

Application Deadlines

Applications submitted by 11:59 PM EST on March 16, 2025 will be guaranteed consideration for the 2025 Emerging Artist Program.

Applications received after this date will still be accepted, and will be considered if additional space is still available in the program.

Important Dates

Online Application Submission deadlines:

March 16, 2025 (guaranteed consideration)

Callbacks/Interviews:

March 29, 30, 2025

Have Questions?

Drop us an email at jobs@canadianmusicians.coop, and we'll get back to you as quickly as possible!

FAQ

The biggest difference between the two programs is the high level of independent work completion of Emerging Artists (EA), and the complexity of content being discussed and applied during training and collaborations (e.g. EA's are preparing for international export and writing a strategic release plan vs. Pre-Professional Artists (3P) writing a bio and learning how to book a gig). Emerging Artists are held to a professional standard for completing materials identified throughout the program for their own artistry (e.g., a strategic plan).

Emerging Artists typically have a lot of choice about which trainings are most relevant to their needs., whereas 3Ps have their entire training schedule prescribed.

Emerging Artists spend "training time" working within collaboratively (online and in-person) in their cohort to achieve program outcomes together as a group. It is understood that you already possess sufficient music business/industry knowledge to function effectively and contribute in these groups, and that you will attend any 3P workshops to fill in any minor gaps you might have in your current knowledge.

Emerging Artists also typically coach/mentor (not supervise) one or two Pre-Professionals that have something in common with your artistic practice. This is informal and is approximately two hours per week, and is done during "Office Hours" which is typically in the evening, Tuesday - Friday.

Emerging Artists also have the opportunity to participate in the Showcase Tour, if cast.
All applicants are streamed in a single application this season. There is a field within the application where you can identify you would like to be considered for the Emerging Artist program placement.

To be successful you must
a) submit all supplementary application requirements for the Emerging Artist application

b) ensure your EA submissions are professional quality

c) have completed this work yourself - therefore representing your Artist Entrepreneur abilities , or identified that you hired specific tasks out and your rationale for having done so.
A C.E.P. is a Community Engaged Performance. These are performances which are delivered during your summer program hours, at no charge, to support and engage within the community you serve. All C.E.P.'s are scheduled by you, during your first week, and swiftly approved by the C.E.P. Coordinators so you know when and where you are performing, and can work within any travel or existing tour plans. "Self-Directed C.E.P's" provide a great way to engage in many ways that are typically "gate-kept" as you are already paid for your time, fully insured, and simply looking to give back to the community by providing a performance. This allows you to demonstrate your abilities, your professionalism and generate 'goodwill'. Emerging Artists typically travel regionally to achieve the goal of "building their audience", and performance hours can be exchanged within other communities. Approximately 50% of your contract time is spent engaging in C.E.P. activities and about half of that is self-directed C.E.P. vs choosing from existing scheduled locations and event bookings.

At most C.E.P.'s you can collect tips and sell merch from your case to increase your remuneration. C.E.P.'s are also licensed with SOCAN (Tarriff 4 - Popular Music Concerts) so you can collect public performance royalties for your own compositions.
C.E.P. is approximately 50% of your summer employment time and is not optional. That said, done right, C.E.P. can be a valuable tool for Emerging Artists.

If your interest is to participate only in the workshops, you can simply become a member and attend any workshops. To be clear, this would be outside of the scope of the Emerging Artist Program, and you would not be compensated.

C.E.P is also a great foundation upon which you can try new things out and expand your performance chops. It gives you lots time in front of different audiences to make new relationships and try out new material or strategies. You should also try to leverage your C.E.P. hours to create small opportunities for festivals, events and other talent buyers to get to know you this year, so you might be considered for their events in the future.
There are a few different types of performance delivery. The Co-op pays to licence these performances via SOCAN for (C) copyright use. Most times, you can also collect tips and sell your artist-branded merch.

For standard C.E.P.'s (scheduled or self-directed) participants animate public spaces such as town squares, the beach, dock or marina, public parks, community centers, small business openings, charitable events, summer festivals, community celebrations, and other local events.

There are also "request C.E.P's", which come in via the bookings section of our website. Historically, many of these performances have been "can you donate your time/it's great exposure" type community events. By utilizing C.E.P. to deliver them, we have an opportunity to educate charities and others on the true value of their performance donation requests so they budget properly in the future and many now offer proper rates when booking. The C.E.P. coordinators work diligently to ensure artists have equitable access to these requested performances.
Mobile Device: For payroll purposes, you require a working mobile device with data to punch in and out at locations without WIFI service. It's a requirement you must maintain throughout your employment. Payworks uses only 5 -  10 seconds of data per punch.

Computer: You will need daily access to a computer and the internet, during your scheduled work hours. Laptops are typically preferred due to your mobility.  Donated (recycled) laptops may be available for participants who do not have reliable access to a computer, and we can usually get public access on a computer for you at one of our partner locations, (e.g. public library, Contact North Centres, etc.)

Equipment/Gear:
Artists are also responsible for ensuring they have all the equipment necessary for performances in the community. No electrical power is provided to us.  Small battery-powered amplification for guitars and voice is optional, but highly recommended to avoid a tendency to over-play/sing. (You do not need and should not plan to bring a P.A. system to any C.E.P. performances)
Many post-secondary programs require completion of a work term or field placement to graduate.

We are pleased to support you in completing this experience if you are accepted into the Emerging Artists program and your school approves the placement.

If there is a difference between the hours your program requires you to complete, and the hours available in your EA Contract, you can complete any additional hours as a volunteer. On an individual basis, occasionally additional hours can be approved by the funder, mid season, but we can only request this, and we typically do not receive a timely response.
For those that have successfully completed the 3P and E.A. program requirements, you can now access a more personalized experience and can request activities be approved on a more individual needs basis, as long as they meet the basic criteria for program approval.

For example, you can request to be programmed as a Music Industry Coach (MIC) and provide extensive waterfall mentorship to others who have not learned or achieved as much as you have, to date. You could also request job shadowing or mentorship time with a music industry professional. Some choose to take on admin tasks or leadership roles.
There is a lot of flexibility here to meet your individual needs and artistic goals as you move as an individual Artist-Entrepreneur, beyond the scope of the summer programs.
Each funded position is tied to a federal geo-political jurisdiction called a "constituency", also known as a "riding". Your postal code and this web site will tell you what constituency you presently live in. Alternatively, you can look up other locations to explore this information. We are funded for specific locations, not for all locations.

Your constituency is where your work is funded to take place, and where your contract is situated. This is primary location you will physically perform in. However we may also scheduled you to perform in any locations you indicated as preferred primary/secondary locations on your application, as we must ensure to fulfil our commitments to each community.
No preference is given to:

current or previous members

previously participants of the Emerging Artist, Pre-Professional Program or other programs

clients of the Co-op Studios

anyone who's parent is a volunteer here

anyone who volunteers here themselves.

Typically, people who have participated in our programs often do score better if they learned, retained and applied the knowledge from their previous program, and this can mean that their application is more robust. But conversely, if previous participants are unable to demonstrate what they learned, and use industry terms correctly etc, this can negatively impact their assessment.

Returning applicants will be expected to detail their growth following previous completion of the program/previous application cycle.

For youth in need, there is a Financial Hardship application which may cover some, or all of your membership fee for your development year.
Digital Livestream Studio/Rehearsal space, and collaborative learn/work at the facility in Barrie, ON is now open to members and the general public. It provides an opportunity for participants to deliver high quality, professional livestream performances, and collaborate with each other easily. You can record BTS footage easily with our four ceiling-mounted Sony PTZ cameras. For audio studio info click here.

Click to apply for Summer 2025