The Music Scene/La Scène musicale

The Music Scene/La Scène musicale

The Music Scene/ La Scène musicale. Periodical published six times yearly in Toronto by BMI Canada 1967-77 and by PRO Canada 1977-90. In 1990 it merged with CAPAC's The Canadian Composer to create a new periodical, Canadian Composer. Through articles, interviews, and news reports it promoted and publicized the activities of composers, songwriters, and music publishers affiliated with the performing rights society. The periodical was published in separate English and French editions and distributed free of charge. The international circulation was 14,000. Editors were Anthony Hagerty, Nancy Gyokeres (who later became executive editor), Jeff Bateman, Maureen Littlejohn, and Nancy Lanthier.

The Music Scene succeeded and incorporated the BMI Canada Newsletter (1947-66) and In Tune with the Times (no dates available); this explains why its first issue, Sep-Oct 1967, was numbered 237. Besides articles on PRO Canada affiliates' activities, on music publishers, musical organizations, conferences, and other activities of interest to professional musicians, it featured stories on the BMI Canada (PRO Canada) annual awards presentations, a regular column by the managing director (later president), and a list of new affiliates. Issues 262 (Nov-Dec 1971) to 289 (May-Jun 1976) provided lists of newly acquired scores in the Canadian Music Centre library. Extended analyses and scholarly discussions of Canadian music were beyond the magazine's scope, though sympathetic reactions from critics to new works by affiliate composers were quoted. Spread among issues 251 (Jan-Feb 1970) to 272 (Jul-Aug 1973) was a series of brief articles on Canada's university music departments. The magazine also provided a pictorial record of PRO Canada affiliates. Beginning with the Mar-Apr 1986 issue it featured the newsletter Probe (in French Le Milieu), reporting on PRO Canada activities and the copyright field as a whole. The last issue of the periodical, 371, was dated Jan-Feb 1990.