3rd Party Event Overview

Gift of Music – December 8, 2011 |  The 2nd annual Gift of Music event took place on December 8, 2011 at the Hard Rock Café and hosted by no other than music pioneer, Michie Mee. Organized by Darling Nicky, IV Play and Kid Kut, the night was filled with performances, raffle draws and silent auctions with 100 % of the proceeds going to MusiCounts!

CIBC Miracle Day – December 7, 2011 | CIBC Miracle Day is an employee-driven fundraiser that started at a Wood Gundy branch in 1984. Every year on the first Wednesday in December, CIBC’s wholesale banking employees and participating CIBC Wood Gundy Investment Advisors donate their fees and commissions to help kids in need. With the help of our celebrity friends, Alice Cooper and Jim Cuddy (of Blue Rodeo), MusiCounts received a donation of $40,000! Thank you to everyone at the CIBC Children’s Foundation and within the CIBC Community for making this happen!

2011 Morningstar Canadian Investment Awards – November 30, 2011 | MusiCounts the official charity partner of the Canadian Investment Awards, a partnership started in 2010. These awards honour the companies and individuals who have made a difference in the lives of investors through superior investment products, service, marketing and education. In addition to proceeds generated from the submission fees for the awards, MusiCounts provided a range of silent auction items like a signed Foo Fighters bike to a VIP JUNO Awards Package. The evening raised a total of over $26,000 for MusiCounts!

House of Marley | United by music to create a better world and spread Bob Marley’s vision of One Love One World, The House of Marley have launched their first collection of branded headphones in Canada. A portion of proceeds from the House of Marley sales will benefit 1Love.org. Through 1Love.org, a local contribution of $1 for every Headphone sold at Future Shop in Canada, over the course of the 2011 holiday season, will benefit MusiCounts.

Guataca Music Wear | A Toronto-based company of music lovers who are committed to rock their “black tees” and bring music back to schools! “Guataca”, a word used to described musicians who have the ability to “play by ear” in Venezuelan slang. Guataca Music Wear was created out of firsthand knowledge of how difficult it is for some families to afford musical instruments for their children. When you purchase a Guataca Music Wear tee, a portion of the proceeds is donated directly to MusiCounts. Ensuring kids have musical opportunities has never looked so good.

Polaris Music Prize – September 29, 2011 | The Polaris Music Prize held the second ever Polaris Prize viewing party at the Drake Hotel in Toronto. The event, in support of MusiCounts, provides fans that were unable to obtain a coveted ticked to the Awards Gala, with an opportunity to watch the event and artists performing in a venue with other fellow music enthusiasts. In addition to the viewing party, limited edition Polaris Music Prize posters were signed by the 2011 nominees and auctioned off on eBay with all the proceeds going to MusiCounts. In total, over $3,000 was raised for MusiCounts through the various efforts on that evening.

Canada’s Walk of Fame Golf Tournament | The 2011 Artists Fore Music Golf Challenge was held on June 15, 2011, at Eagle’s Nest Golf and Country Club. The private event paired an Artist golfer with one of the dozens of foursomes involved with the event. Through a live silent auction, and sales of the foursomes, nearly $30,000 was raised and donated to MusiCounts to support the goal of keeping music education programs thriving across the country!

Koba Entertainment – Toopy & Binoo Live Tour | The debut tours for the popular Children’s series, Toopy & Binoo, promises to be a hit with audiences across Canada. Amusing and imaginative, Toopy and Binoo and the Marshmallow Moon is described as a fairy-tale for our times, incorporating music, theatre, dance, puppetry and innovative multimedia technology to share a story that will capture the hearts and imagination of the entire family! Donations collected at each tour stop will be donated to MusiCounts.

Hard Rock Cafe Events | MusiCounts and the Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto are excited to continue a valuable partnership that sees benefit events, including Hard Rock Cafe’s infamous pin trading events as well as other musical celebrations being put on in support of MusiCounts. MusiCounts was also proud to host the 2010 Teacher of the Year Award at the illustrious Yonge St. location.

Corus Entertainment Employee Fundraisers | Employees from the Corus Quay building on Toronto’s Harbourfront took part in lunchtime foosball tournaments, with the tournament entry fees going to support MusiCounts. These efforts were in addition to the “Rockoberfest” benefit concert also organized by employees from the Corus Quay building. Special thanks to all those who helped to make the events possible, specifically to Norm Beaver, for helping to raise nearly $2700 to help keep music accessible for Canadian youth.

Star Portraits | A chance for Bravo! viewers and fans alike to bid on a one-of-kind piece of celebrity art, the proceeds generated from every portrait auctioned off were donated to 13 charities nominated by each celebrity guest. Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, one of this season’s celebrity guests, thoughtfully and generously chose to have the proceeds generated by the sale of his portraits donated to MusiCounts.

Wells Fargo | MusiCounts was grateful to receive support form a new partner south of the border in Wells Fargo. Through a customer appreciation campaign launched over the holiday season, Wells Fargo customers picked from a list of suggested charities and based on the amount of times voted for, Wells Fargo agreed to make a contribution to MusiCounts. Through these efforts, and additional $1,000 was donated.

Canadian Smoothies – April 29, 2011 | The Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards (CSJA), held on April 23, 2011 at the Mississauga Living Arts Centre was a three hour musical extravaganza presenting some of the best and funkiest artists in North America

Gift of Music – December 2, 2010 | We would like to express our gratitude Kevin “Kid Kut” Keith and everyone else who worked so hard to make this event such a triumph. Held at the Hard Rock Café in Toronto, the event featured some Canada’s best urban artists. The show was hosted by Kardinal Offishall, with sets by Aion Clarke, Kim Davis, Daniel Daley, Choclair, Saukrates, Trish, Melanie Durrant, Ray Robinson, Pianist Khandi and Agile Feat. Liya. All proceeds from ticket sales and silent auction benefited MusiCounts. It was truly a memorable night for all who were able to attend and participate.

Canadian Investment Awards– December 1, 2010 | MusiCounts was very proud to be announced by Morningstar as the official charity partner of the Canadian Investment Awards. In addition to proceeds generated from the submission fees for the awards, MusiCounts provided a signed guitar by Canadian Pop megastar, Justin Bieber for sale through silent auction. The evening saw a totally of over $15,000 raised in order to keep music programs from going silent.

The Stanfields – November 1, 2010 | Due to a tour bus (van) breakdown, a situation that far too many bands are familiar with, but thanks to their highly supportive fans, The Stanfields were able to raise more than enough funds to get them home from British Columbia to Nova Scotia. The excess funds generated by fundraising efforts were kindly and thoughtfully donated to MusiCounts on behalf of their fans and supporters.

Acres of Lions Shows & Single – September – December 2010 | MusiCounts would like to express our gratitude to all of the member of Acres of Lions. In addition to a benefit show in the Victoria area, the indie group recorded a cover of Corey Hart’s Never Surrender. The song was made available for download on iTunes with all proceeds generated going to MusiCounts.

Said the Whale Fundraising Shows – September – October 2010 | The fall of 2010 saw Vancouver indie-rockers, Said the Whale took part in a High School Busking Tour, at 7 local schools spread across Vancouver, all benefiting MusiCounts. All of the shows combined, raised close to $3,500 for MusiCounts. Kudos goes out to all members of Said the Whale for their inspiriting effort and the substantial donation generated through this.

Canadian Walk of Fame (CWOF) Golf Tournament – September 21, 2010 | 2010 was the inaugural year for the Canadian Walk of Fame Golf Tournament. Proceeds generated from a silent auction conducted at a post-tournament dinner went to MusiCounts. MusiCounts would like to thank everyone involved for getting behind this event and making it such a success.

Polaris Viewing Party and Poster Auction – September 21, 2010 | The Polaris Viewing Party was held at the Drake Hotel. All money was generated from a 50/50 draw was donated to MusiCounts. In keeping with a tradition started at the 2009 Polaris Music Prize, the limited edition, signed prints of the Polaris Prize nominee posters were auctioned off on eBay with all proceeds going to MusiCounts. MusiCounts is truly grateful for this wonderful, ongoing support.

Yellow Bird Project – December 2009 – August 2010 | Designer t-shirts for several Canadian indie bands were sold with all proceeds going to various charities. All of the proceeds from the sale of the Metric t-shirts went to benefit MusiCounts. A great thanks goes to everyone at the Yellow Bird Project and to each of the members of Metric for their thoughtful support.

Next Star Season 3 | MusiCounts is truly thankful for the support that comes from many people involved with YTV’s Next Star. Young piano phenomenon and Next Star special guest, Alex Lacasse, was featured in a PSA on the official website and the official MusiCounts PSA was also aired during the season finale.