The Record

The Record

The Record. Weekly trade publication, founded in 1981 in Horning's Mills, Ont, (and later moved to Toronto) by David Farrell (editor 1975-7 of Record Week and subsequently of Music Notes) and Patricia Dunn-Farrell, with Richard Flohil and Larry LeBlanc. The first issue, dated 13 Jul 1981, comprised 10 typed, double-sided pages, stapled in one corner. The first bound issue was dated 22 Jan 1990. Farrell held the positions of publisher and 1981-91, managing editor; Martin Melhuish assumed the editorship in 1991. Editorial content includes charts, industry news, columns (Montreal/Vancouver, soul, country music, etc), and extensive record reviews. Contributors, in addition to the previously named, have included Jeff Bateman, Daniel Caudeiron, Larry Delaney, Tom Harrison, Nick Krewen, Gary O'Brien, and Ritchie Yorke. The Record introduced The Record Awards for industry figures in 1985 and published its first Contact: The Essential Canadian Music Business Directory in 1991.

Former Island Records executive Lee Silversides took over as publisher when Farrell went on sabbatical in 1993; former RPM Weekly writer/editor Steve McLean replaced Melhuish as editor. Farrell returned as publisher after a year, and the magazine continued successfully through the mid-1990s until an economic downturn in the music industry caused a severe decline in advertising revenues. To reduce printing costs, The Record evolved into a daily online magazine (www.therecord.ca) in early 2000. Within a year, Farrell sold the rights to musicmusicmusic, an online company headed by Wolfgang Spegg, but remained involved. When the online version of the magazine failed to take off, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) put out tenders to start a new print trade magazine.

Spegg and Farrell were among the four parties to submit a bid, but the CRIA elected a proposal by concert promoter and record company owner Donald Tarlton and Australian music executive and magazine publisher John Woodruff. They hired McLean as managing editor/associate publisher, and he began work on Canadian Music Network in February 2001. Within a week, the online version of The Record was shut down. Canadian Music Network was launched as a weekly tip-sheet trade magazine in May 2001 and continues as of 2004. A spin-off publication in early 2003 was Canadian Entertainment Network, a bi-weekly trade magazine for the Canadian home entertainment industry. Contact: The Essential Canadian Music Business Directory continues to be published by Patricia Dunn.