ECMA board of directors fires its DG Blanche Israel

After less than a year on the job, East Coast Music Association (ECMA) Executive Director Blanche Israel was fired Monday by the board of directors.

The old DG, Andy McCleanreplaces her on an interim basis to support the teamat the dawn of the 37th ECMAwhich will be held in St. John’s, Newfoundland in May.

The Moroccan-Canadian and French-speaking Blanche Israel took charge of the organization on March 1, 2024.

The board of directors announced his dismissal in a press release on January 6.

Consistent with our commitment to excellence and our sense of responsibility, the Board of Directors conducted a rigorous review of our leadership and operations, culminating in the decision to separate from Blanche Israel as CEOwe can read there.

Reached by telephone on Tuesday, Blanche Israel shared that this dismissal was a real surprise. My first thought is towards the teamshe said.

I really like this team, I’m very proud of it and we work very well together. It was a diverse team that represented for the first time in the history of ECMA all of Atlantic Canada.

An online petition since October

The dismissal of Blanche Israel comes a few months after the posting on change.org of a petition addressed to the management and board of directors of the ECMA.

Signed by more than 600 people, the petition called in English a call for transparency and stability was launched on October 15 by the artist’s agent Sheri Jones music label Jones and company.

Founding members of ECMA, Sheri Jones also represents big players in the industry, like David Myles, Maggie Andrews, Port Cities et Joel Plaskett.

The signatories of the petition criticized in particular the changes made by the new management team to the evaluation criteria for the awards ECMA.

There was less emphasis on the commercial side of albums being submitted for awards, and a more ‘artsy’ approach was takencommented on Tuesday Sheri Jones.

For example, the element ofaccomplishmentrepresenting the number of views on YouTube, the number of subscribers on social networks or monthly listens on Spotify fell from 20% to 5% in terms of importance in the selection criteria, while the category has artistic merit and originality increased from 20% to 30%.

In the fall, Blanche Israel explained that this choice was in line with comments received from the community.

In the French-speaking industry, voices have been raised in the past to address the question of the importance of the digital notoriety of artists when obtaining prizes or subsidies.

The French-speaking duo Sirène et Matelot, for example, asked their audience to subscribe to their YouTube channel in 2023, writing on their social media that it’s part of how we measure an artist’s success.

Pour Sheri Jonesthe problem lies rather at the level of the mandate of ECMA. She believes that the devaluation of criteria regarding commercial success in favor of artistic merit is a very significant change, after 35 yearsand that consultations with the region’s music industry are required.

The signatories of the petition are anonymous and it is impossible to know what percentage of the participants are from Atlantic Canada.

A great loss for French speakers

Blanche Israel was one of the first French-speaking directors general of ECMA. One of its objectives was to build a bridge between the association and minority communities.

For the French-speaking community, I can say that New Brunswick has long been under-represented in the ECMA and it’s a bit like the Canadian music world, very distinct between the English-speaking and French-speaking world.comments Blanche Israel, Tuesday.

It’s important to try to represent the Francophonie well, and even more than that, bilingualismshe adds. It’s something important and I paid attention to it when I was in office and I hope that it will continue for the community.

The president of the Acadian Cultural Federation of Nova Scotia (FéCANE), Trevor Murphy, for his part believes that the departure of Blanche Israel is regrettable.

Having a Francophone at the head of an Atlantic organization like that was a big advantage for defending the interests of Francophone and Acadian artists, for promoting business of the Francophonie and to make our current realities known. It denotes a great loss », he shares.

When Blanche Israel was hired, the then president of the board of directors of ECMA, Debbie Mullinshad also praised Blanche Israel’s diverse experience and her innovative approach.

On October 29, Debbie Mullins left the presidency of ECMAafter having been in office for three years.

Tuesday, in an email statement, the new president, Michelle Eagles, says board will not comment further on Blanche Israel’s dismissal given that this is a human resources issue, and out of respect for the people and the process.

With information from Caroline Lévesque