Organization

Mission and Goals

The Cana­di­an New Music Net­work (CNMN) / Réseau cana­di­en pour les musiques nou­velles (RCMN) con­nects cre­ative music and sound com­mu­ni­ties across Cana­da. We val­ue cre­ativ­i­ty and inno­va­tion, and devel­op our pro­gram­ming through a lens of arts activism. We wel­come cre­ators, per­form­ers, writ­ers, arts pro­duc­ers, arts work­ers, ensem­bles large and small, pro­duc­tion com­pa­nies, pre­sen­ters, record labels, music edu­ca­tors, music media and tech work­ers and cre­ators, musi­col­o­gists, and listeners.

CNMN was found­ed as a non-prof­it orga­ni­za­tion in Novem­ber 2005, after almost three years of nation­al dis­cus­sions. Its broad and inclu­sive man­date focus­es on com­mu­ni­ty build­ing and net­work­ing, and rep­re­sents prac­ti­tion­ers and sup­port­ers of cre­ative sound and music in Canada. 

CNMN offers edu­ca­tion­al and com­mu­ni­ty resources for pro­fes­sion­als and non-pro­fes­sion­als alike. CNMN mem­bers sup­port each oth­er and share oppor­tu­ni­ties and ideas,  includ­ing how artists can col­lab­o­rate and advo­cate for social jus­tice and envi­ron­men­tal resilience. 

CNMN’s spe­cif­ic goals are:

  1. to build con­nec­tions, and fos­ter pro­duc­tive col­lab­o­ra­tions, among all parts of the cre­ative music and sound community
  2. to offer a plat­form for, and build aware­ness of, the diver­si­ty of cre­ative music and sound artists and practices
  3. to sup­port and devel­op social activism through sound arts and cre­ative music

CNMN is com­mit­ted to a diverse and inclu­sive nation­al cre­ative music and sound com­mu­ni­ty. Diver­si­ty in all its forms (race, cul­ture, gen­der iden­ti­ty, sex­u­al ori­en­ta­tion, reli­gion, lan­guage, phys­i­cal abil­i­ty, age, and aes­thet­ic) is a guid­ing fac­tor in achiev­ing its goals.

CNMN offers the fol­low­ing services:

  • a CNMN bilin­gual web­site — with a search­able list­ing of mem­bers, resources and/or resource listings
  • the PCM Hub, a web­site show­cas­ing and devel­op­ing cre­ative com­mu­ni­ty music projects across the country 
  • the Con­neX­ions Men­tor­ship pro­gram, which pairs inter­est­ed artists to share ideas and advise on new cre­ative projects of all kinds
  • a bilin­gual, bien­ni­al con­fer­ence — the CNMN Gathering/ FORUM delves into a dif­fer­ent top­ic with each iter­a­tion, and col­lab­o­rates with cre­ative music and sound events/festivals in chang­ing host cities/regions
  • reg­u­lar events and con­ver­sa­tions, with a focus on arts activism and aware­ness, for knowl­edge shar­ing, com­mu­ni­ty build­ing, and networking

CNMN rep­re­sents its mem­ber­ship and cre­ative music and sound arts on sev­er­al levels:

  • with fed­er­al fund­ing bod­ies such as the Cana­da Coun­cil for the Arts and Her­itage Canada
  • with elect­ed offi­cials to high­light the suc­cess of cre­ative sound and music in the ter­ri­to­ry known as Canada
  • with oth­er arts organ­i­sa­tions in pro­mot­ing art, and in advo­cat­ing for increased resources for the arts 
  • with the media to con­tex­tu­al­ize cre­ative music and sound in Canada