Inside the Surge: How OMIC Is Rebuilding Ottawa’s Music Scene From the Ground Up

By Melanie Brulée

The Ottawa Music Industry Coalition has become the hub for Ottawa’s music community. Today, we represent more than 500 members across the sector, from artists and managers to venue operators, promoters, technicians, educators, and festival producers. It’s a broad cross-section of the people who make music happen in this city, both onstage and behind the scenes.

In May 2022, when I stepped into the role of Executive Director, OMIC had 226 members. In less than four years, that number has grown by 120 percent. We’ve more than doubled in size, which speaks to a real appetite for connection and coordination within Ottawa’s music industry.

That growth has come at a complicated time. Venues, music stores, and music programs are closing or at risk of closing. The landscape is shifting quickly. But what we’re seeing is that when the sector feels pressure, people lean in. They recognize that we’re stronger together. OMIC exists to help members collaborate, share resources, and mobilize around protecting and growing the future of music in the city. For newcomers to the industry, we aim to be the first point of contact. For those scaling their careers, we help connect the dots between government, business, and other supports they may need.

Our membership ranges from emerging independent artists to some of the city’s most established promoters, venues, and production companies. We’re bilingual, and our network reflects Ottawa’s diversity, including strong francophone participation and representation from Indigenous, Black, and racialized communities. Music here is not one genre or one scene. It’s layered, multicultural, and evolving.

What’s especially encouraging is the rise in cross-sector engagement. Music isn’t just about the artist on stage. It’s about promoters, technicians, boutique labels, venue staff, festival organizers, and small businesses that make the scene possible. Our focus is on helping people build sustainable careers and on connecting and coordinating where there’s a need.

Ottawa’s creative sector can sometimes feel fragmented. Artists, venues, festivals, and technicians all operate, but not always in alignment. OMIC acts as the connective tissue. We advocate for the sector, create paid opportunities, align partners, and push for music to be recognized as economic infrastructure. If Ottawa wants vibrant nightlife, tourism growth, and talent retention, someone has to represent the ecosystem and help the City build policies to allow it to thrive. That’s our role.

We’re not here to be competitors. We uplift. If someone is already doing strong work in the sector, we amplify it. Our job is to fill gaps, open doors, and strengthen what already exists.

Ottawa’s biggest barriers are both bureaucratic and geographical. We sit between Toronto and Montréal, two established music markets. Talent and touring dollars often flow past us. At the same time, venue instability, workforce shortages, and limited mid-sized infrastructure create challenges. Retaining and attracting talent has historically been difficult, but proximity to those major markets is also an opportunity for scene builders. The goal is for Ottawa to become a destination in its own right, not just a stopover.

Making this happen will require sustained, multi-year investment in the culture of entertainment here. Not short-term funding tied to instant outcomes, but a long-term vision that supports creators and music businesses in building something durable. Noise and zoning policies also play a role. If we want live music to thrive, the regulatory environment has to support it. Seeing culture, nightlife, and entertainment as valuable needs to be built into the culture of the city, from bylaws to leadership, at all levels.

What makes Ottawa unique is its bilingualism and cultural diversity. We’re home to the largest Inuit population outside Nunavut, as well as vibrant francophone and African diasporic communities. OMIC has the privilege of showcasing this mosaic through partnerships and programming. We produce hundreds of free, family-friendly shows each year in collaboration with Business Improvement Areas and community partners across the city — events that anyone can attend without needing a ticket.

A major priority right now is Capital Music Week, a city-wide initiative now in its second year, running October 2 to 10, 2026. The project builds around the Capital Music Awards and expands into a multi-day, city-wide activation designed to animate the city and position Ottawa as a destination for music.

We are also working on a new economic impact study of the local music industry. A 2020 report showed that music activity contributed approximately $60 million annually to Ottawa’s GDP. With downtown revitalization efforts underway, this is an important moment to benchmark growth and better understand the sector’s contribution.

Success for OMIC isn’t just about our own revenue or membership numbers, though those have grown. The real measure is how our members and the sector are doing. It’s a mixed moment for the industry right now. We’ve seen established venues and music stores close, including Brass Monkey and Steve’s Music. At the same time, five new independent venues have opened in the past year: GRIDWRKS, ANNX, Robo Lounge, Cassette, and soon Fono, alongside larger developments like Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and History (coming in 2026).

The most powerful stories are workforce stories — artists who got their first paid opportunity through an OMIC program and are now touring nationally, or technicians who trained locally and now run production for major events. Or the collective mobilization to protect the Music Industry Arts program, where thousands of letters and signatures demonstrated how deeply the community values this ecosystem (#MIAmatters!). These stories make one thing clear: music in Ottawa isn’t niche. It’s infrastructure.

Whether you’re a fan, amateur, or music professional, connect with us at ottawamic.com.

Melanie Brulée is the Executive Director of the Ottawa Music Industry Coalition (OMIC)

Photo of Melanie Brulée by Jen Squires