Richard Flohil Music. Stories. Canada. Straight from the source.

Richard Flohil

Music. Stories. Canada. Straight from the source.

Latest Articles

Old Band, New Reasons: Why Canadian Musicians Are Going Back Instead of Moving Forward
Music Industry

Old Band, New Reasons: Why Canadian Musicians Are Going Back Instead of Moving Forward

Something unexpected is happening across Canada's music landscape: artists who spent years building solo careers or brand-new projects are quietly dusting off old band names and calling up former bandmates. It's not purely nostalgia, and it's not entirely about the money either — though both play a role. The real story is more complicated and, honestly, more interesting.
Nobody's Holding the Door Anymore: What Happens When Canadian Artists Stop Waiting for Permission
Music Industry

Nobody's Holding the Door Anymore: What Happens When Canadian Artists Stop Waiting for Permission

For decades, a handful of executives, programmers, and scouts decided which Canadian musicians got a shot at a real career. That system is crumbling fast — and the artists who thrived inside it aren't the only ones who've noticed. The question now isn't how to get through the door. It's what to do when the building itself is gone.
Who Gets to Decide What Sounds Canadian Anymore?
Music Industry

Who Gets to Decide What Sounds Canadian Anymore?

For decades, a handful of institutions, broadcasters, and critics held the keys to what counted as authentically Canadian music. Now a new generation of fans is blowing the doors off entirely — and the old gatekeepers are scrambling to keep up.
Forget the Farewell Tour: Canadian Artists Are Coming Back on Their Own Terms
Music Industry

Forget the Farewell Tour: Canadian Artists Are Coming Back on Their Own Terms

The classic reunion tour formula — dust off the old setlist, hit the heritage venues, cash the nostalgia cheque — is losing its grip on Canadian artists who've been away from the spotlight. A new wave of returning musicians is writing a different kind of second act, one that has very little to do with reliving 1998. And honestly? It's more interesting that way.
No Press Pass Required: Canadian Artists Are Telling Their Own Stories and the Industry Is Paying Attention
Music Industry

No Press Pass Required: Canadian Artists Are Telling Their Own Stories and the Industry Is Paying Attention

Canadian musicians are ditching the pitch email and building their own media empires, one newsletter and podcast episode at a time. The old gatekeepers — radio programmers, print critics, industry tastemakers — are losing their grip, and artists are filling that vacuum themselves. What does it mean when the story and the storyteller are the same person?
Statuettes and Scrolling: Has the Juno Awards Lost the Plot with a New Generation of Canadian Music Fans?
Opinion

Statuettes and Scrolling: Has the Juno Awards Lost the Plot with a New Generation of Canadian Music Fans?

Every March, the Canadian music industry dresses up, hands out trophies, and congratulates itself. But somewhere between the acceptance speeches and the sponsored after-parties, a growing chunk of the audience has already moved on — to their phones, their feeds, and their own ideas about who actually matters in Canadian music. The question isn't whether the Junos are still fun. It's whether they still mean anything.
Follow the Money, Lose the Trail: The Baffling World of Canadian Music Royalties
Music Industry

Follow the Money, Lose the Trail: The Baffling World of Canadian Music Royalties

Ask a Canadian musician what they earned last quarter and watch the uncertainty wash across their face. Between mechanical royalties, performance payments, and streaming micro-fractions, most artists genuinely have no idea what they're owed — or whether they've already been shortchanged. It's a transparency problem hiding in plain sight.
Maple Leaf, Same Fine Print: Are Canadian Music Platforms Actually Paying Artists Any Better?
Music Industry

Maple Leaf, Same Fine Print: Are Canadian Music Platforms Actually Paying Artists Any Better?

A new wave of Canadian-focused streaming platforms is marketing itself as the homegrown alternative to the global giants — but are the royalty structures actually any different, or is the maple leaf just decorative? We talked to artists who've made the switch and what they found out wasn't always pretty.
No Label, No Problem: How Canadian Artists Are Running Their Own Show
Music Industry

No Label, No Problem: How Canadian Artists Are Running Their Own Show

A new generation of Canadian musicians isn't waiting for a phone call from a label. They're building their own infrastructure, owning their masters, and deciding exactly how their music gets out into the world — on their own terms and their own timeline.
Your Next Favourite Show Might Be in Someone's Backyard: Canada's Live Music Scene Gets Smaller and More Alive
Opinion

Your Next Favourite Show Might Be in Someone's Backyard: Canada's Live Music Scene Gets Smaller and More Alive

Forget the sticky floors and the $14 beer. Canada's live music scene is quietly reinventing itself in coffee shops, craft breweries, and converted living rooms — and some artists are finding it's the most connected they've ever felt to an actual audience.
When Saying Yes Costs You Everything: The Hidden Dangers of Music Collaborations for Canadian Artists
Music Industry

When Saying Yes Costs You Everything: The Hidden Dangers of Music Collaborations for Canadian Artists

Co-writes, features, and producer deals can launch a career — or quietly hollow one out. Canadian musicians are increasingly learning the hard way that not every 'big opportunity' sliding into their DMs is worth the creative and financial price tag attached.
So You Want to Go Global: The Uneven Road Canadian Artists Travel to International Stardom
Opinion

So You Want to Go Global: The Uneven Road Canadian Artists Travel to International Stardom

Canada has produced more than its fair share of international music superstars, but the infrastructure behind those success stories is messier, more exclusive, and more politically complicated than the highlight reel suggests. Who's actually getting access to the resources that make global careers possible — and who's being left to figure it out alone?
Plug In, Press Record, Go Broke: The Hidden Math Behind Canada's Home Studio Boom
Music Industry

Plug In, Press Record, Go Broke: The Hidden Math Behind Canada's Home Studio Boom

Affordable gear has handed Canadian musicians the keys to the recording booth — but owning the keys doesn't mean you own the house. The bedroom producer revolution is real, but so are the financial and creative walls that keep most artists from turning four-track demos into actual livelihoods.
Going Viral Doesn't Pay Rent: The Truth About Algorithm Fame for Canadian Artists
Opinion

Going Viral Doesn't Pay Rent: The Truth About Algorithm Fame for Canadian Artists

TikTok handed Canadian musicians a direct line to millions of listeners and effectively kneecapped the old gatekeepers in the process. That should be a straightforward win — and sometimes it is. But the gap between a viral moment and an actual career is wider and stranger than most people want to admit.
Empty Stages: The Quiet Death of Canada's Mid-Sized Venues and What Artists Are Doing to Survive It
Music Industry

Empty Stages: The Quiet Death of Canada's Mid-Sized Venues and What Artists Are Doing to Survive It

Across Canada, the venues that once served as the backbone of a touring musician's career are shutting their doors at an alarming rate. From Halifax to Vancouver, the mid-sized room — that sweet spot between a bar gig and an arena — is becoming an endangered species. Here's what's driving the collapse, and why some artists aren't waiting around for someone else to fix it.
Reel Canadians: What Our Music Documentaries Say About Who We Think We Are
Opinion

Reel Canadians: What Our Music Documentaries Say About Who We Think We Are

Canadian music documentaries have never been more plentiful — or more revealing. From Hot Docs to the CBC to streaming platforms, the films we're making about our own musicians paint a surprisingly complicated portrait of a country still figuring out what it sounds like. Some of what they show us is genuinely inspiring. Some of it is a blind spot we really need to talk about.
Playlist Politics: How the New Streaming Economy Is Leaving Independent Canadian Artists Behind
Music Industry

Playlist Politics: How the New Streaming Economy Is Leaving Independent Canadian Artists Behind

The streaming revolution promised a level playing field for independent artists. Instead, it quietly built a new hierarchy — one where playlist placement is the currency and the house always wins. Here's what Canadian musicians need to know about the game being played around them.
The Moose in the Room: Why Telling Unmistakably Canadian Stories Is Actually a Superpower Right Now
Opinion

The Moose in the Room: Why Telling Unmistakably Canadian Stories Is Actually a Superpower Right Now

In an entertainment landscape drowning in content designed to appeal to everyone, the artists and creators who are finding the most devoted audiences are the ones telling stories that couldn't have come from anywhere else. For Canadian creators, that specificity isn't a liability — it might be the whole point.
Homegrown and Global: How Canadian Musicians Are Conquering the World Without Leaving the Country
Music Industry

Homegrown and Global: How Canadian Musicians Are Conquering the World Without Leaving the Country

A new generation of Canadian artists is proving you don't need a Los Angeles address or a major label deal to build an international following. From Spotify playlist strategies to cross-border co-writes done entirely over Zoom, the playbook has changed — and Canadian musicians are writing some of its best chapters.