Our Adjudicators
Music in Motion Canada Awards 2023
Our Adjudicators will feature these experts in the industry…
Music Producer, Program Director, & Music Publicist.
The Music Adjudication Process
An evaluation of your music creation is a part of the process of going to the next phase with your talent. It is an opportunity to identify areas for improvement and evolve as a musician.
What it means for you…
An opportunity to have your original music adjudicated provides you with comments and guidance from music industry professionals to develop your talent.
How it happens…
Once you have submitted for and paid for your adjudication you will upload your video to our portal where the adjudicators can access it.
The finals…
The adjudicators will adjudicate every entry we receive and as a group will choose the winning finalists.
Our Adjudicators
Genres: Alternative, Afro-Fusion, Blues, Country Rock, Folk, Gospel, Indigenous
Rock, Metal, R&B, Pop, Soul, World
Born in London, his love affair with music began at 8 years old, when he built his first guitar. At 14, he started playing concerts in London clubs. At 21, he was collaborating with well-known Memphis artists Rufus Thomas, Ann Peebles, and King Floyd and at 23, he joined the then-famous pop group Love Affair, whose song “Everlasting Love” ruled the 1968 UK charts for many months.
Then, spotted at an audition by producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie, the Moody Blues, TRex),Chris spent his next creative period being mentored by Visconti and becoming a producer in his own right, working with artists such as Steve Earle, Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, Quincy Jones, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Sinead O’Connor, The Pogues and Alison Moyet. Chris has stayed busy since re-locating to a Toronto studio. He still does plenty of production, recently co-producing Buffy Sainte-Marie’s latest albums – Power In The Blood and Medicine Songs, both of which earned Canadian Juno awards, but one listen to either his 2010 record Freedom or his latest release Be Creative and you’ll figure out pretty quickly this is not just a studio guy making records on the side.
Genres: Dance, Electronica, EDM, Garage, Grunge, Instrumental, Latin, MOR, New Age, Punk, Rap, Techno
Cussy Nicodemo is President and Founder of Dance Plant Records/Les Disque Dance Plant Inc./Cussy Music Publishing, Montreal, Quebec.
Cussy is foremost an artist himself (Fussy Cussy) but he is also an author/composer/arranger and Producer of many songs in the Dance Plant repertoire. He has received accreditation from Dallas Songwriters Association in 1992, Received 2 Gold records with Aquarius & K-Tel for “La Vita” and “Disco Kings” Between 1970-1980 he was televised on “Jeunesse d’Aujoud’hui”, “Feel like Dancing”, “Telethon of Stars”, Much Music, Musique Plus, Dance Party USA, and toured for 3 months at El Festival in Puerto Rico, The Montreal Forum with Santana, El Mocombo and many more.
Cussy (Fussy Cussy) has also opened for “The Village People”, “Santana” and “Mahogany Rush”. He is a member of MCPS, SOCAN and ASCAP.
Cussy has been teaching music for the past 20 years for Commission Scholaire de la Point de I’lle (Adult education).
Genres: Country, Country Blues, Country Folk, Country Alternative, Blues, Soul, Pop, Jazz
Born and raised in Burford, Ontario, with Haggard and Jones in his
blood, Thomas Wade is a true Canadian county original. Chalking up
3 Juno nominations and 7 CCMA awards, he was a fixture on
Canadian radio and CMT throughout the 90s.
As the lead singer of Thomas Wade & Wayward and as a solo artist,
Thomas’ hits included ‘Lyin’ Here With You’, ‘Zero to Sixty’ and
‘Running Away With You’, bringing an early rock and roll edge to the
country scene, long before such a thing became the norm. An
accomplished songwriter and producer, Thomas wrote for many other
artists too, including Bobby Wills, Beverley Mahood, and Celine
Dion.
His journey has not been a straight line, however. Diagnosed in 2006
with an incurable neurological disease, and unable to sing, he began
to draw on another early influence: the music of Kay Starr, Peggy Lee,
and other 50’s Pop/Jazz artists. Writing for Jazz artists such as Tim
Louis, and putting together a touring review of the great female pop
and jazz artists of all time,The Covergirlz, Thomas has constantly
focused on broadening his musical landscape.
As if that wasn’t plenty of experience, as he began to work toward
healing, he wrote the book, Singing In My Sleep to share the
knowledge he gained in regaining his voice.
Thomas released the album Blue Country Soul in 2017 and
continues to write, produce, and perform.
Genres: Rock, Heavy Metal
Dan McConomy is simply a music man. As the story usually goes, with his lifetime love affair with music, magical opportunities have created this global journey
Dan is originally from Montreal, Quebec and is the founder of Bigger Management, located in Paris, France. As a 40+ year music industry veteran, he has garnered experience as a Producer, Manager and Label Owner. His current roster of artists includes Opium Moon, Lili Haydn, Shawn Barry, Laszlo Jones, May Kravitz, Lea Elka, William Close and The Earth Harp Collective, and newcomers Wizard Tree.
McConomy’s first gig was working for his father, Kevin Hunter manager of Natalie Cole, Peter Paul & Mary, Wilson Pickett, Dusty Springfield, The Bells, etc. at New Direction in Los Angeles, California.
Subsequently, he had the golden opportunity to intern at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, where he learned the art of recording under the keen eye of Barry Beckett and The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section in Alabama. This led to working with Jerry Wexler, Barry Beckett, Duck Dunn, Alabama, Frankie Miller, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Bonnie Bramlettt, The Oak Ridge Boys, and others where Dan learned to hone his craft as a Producer.
Returning to Los Angeles, he produced and managed such acts as Agent Steel (Combat/Relativity), Zoom Zoom (EMI), Overdose (Fierce), The Doughboys (A&M), Mother’s Army (JVC), and twenty or so other independent and major label recording artists with Exposure Management.
After this, he built Sonic Underground a very successful independent Label/Promotions and Marketing Company with an impressive client and roster that included Dr. Dre (Concrete Roots), Ice T, 2 Live Crew, Black Sabbath, UFO, LA DREAM TEAM, GODHEAD +60 other artists and labels. INDI distribution filed Bankruptcy after 9/11 which forced many labels to close including his as fate have it in 2001.
In 2002, he was called to fly out from Los Angeles for what was to be a six-week DJ replacement for a friend in Paris, France. Dan made a name for himself as a DJ in the City of Love and Lights, mixing 60 to 70 hours a week, and has now become a mainstay on the Parisian scene. Chances, passion, and hard work have led to appearances at the Cannes Film Festival, Bercy Arena in Paris, Queen Club, NYC, Madrid, Ibiza, and acclaimed as one of the top Parisian DJs today under the moniker of THE STEREO FLOW with his musical partner Michael Buyens.
They released an album called READY FOR LOVE and along with remixes for Village People, KC and The Sunshine Band, Lili Haydn, and various other artists. McConomy opened the TSF label with The Orchard after longtime Friend Scott Cohen signed them at MIDEM which has since been bought by Sony.
Dan’s diversified skills of being a DJ (Trance Electro Vocal), Songwriter, Lyricist, Record Producer, Manager and Label Executive now have him continuing all these talents while running Bigger Management in Paris, France, and his most current acquisition is Bigger Management Pictures LLC, (Montreal, Quebec) with a recent release of a movie in France, and future projects in the planning involving sync developments for soundtracks and artists.
Genres: Hip Hop, R&B
Ashley Andrews has worked alongside some of the top HipHop producers in the Toronto GTA.
With over ten years of direct and indirect interaction with artists in the music world, Ashley knows the potential artists hold and the challenges they face when utilizing their talents and turning them into business ideas. She is determined to guide, advise, and educate them, effectively empowering them to make prudent decisions, expand their financial portfolios and create generational wealth through their talents and gifts. For her, nothing is more gratifying than seeing the smile on their faces after a successful process.
Inspired by her love of business management and family and friends who are gifted musicians, Ashley strives to support the development of long-lasting careers for musicians in the next phase of her career. She is excited and honored to be part of their success story, as she helps them adopt out-of-the-box thinking that will turn their innovative ideas into reality. Those who choose to work with her will find a dependable ally to hold their hands and walk with them to the finish line.
In the last year, Ashley has been in high demand as a panelist and a speaker on the international scene and was invited to come participate at SPIKE The Bulgarian Festival (Plovdiv, Bulgaria), Norrkoping Music Days (Norrkoping, Sweden) Kristianstad Music Days (Kristianstad, Sweden) and Future Echoes (Norkkoping, Sweden) and as well was part of the EMG Collectives Team who produced the Canadian/Swedish networking event at the Canadian Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. Plans to be part of major events both in Europe and Canada in 2024 are already in the pre-production phases.
Eric Alper combines traditional PR expertise with 21st-century digital know-how for a diverse roster of musicians and events in every genre, venues, charities, and lifestyle brands. For more than 25 years, Eric has been redefining publicity in Canada. His persistence and dedication that he puts into every one of its endeavors shows, as media outlets trust him to provide them with newsworthy content. Eric’s list of clients read like a Who’s Who in the music industry, and he also spends time promoting and nurturing Indie artists.
With over 1 million Twitter followers and accolades in both Billboard, Cashbox and Rolling Stone magazines, there is a reason they call this PR Guru That Eric Alper.
Sandy Graham has had perhaps one of the most diverse and interesting careers in the Canadian Music Industry.
As the founder, owner, and Editor-In-Chief of Cashbox Canada as well as the founder of Record World International, Sandy has added to her media CV by becoming the founder and owner of Cashbox Radio. Cashbox Radio is a popular online radio station that prides itself in playing the legendary artists right alongside the new indie artists releasing today that features a host of senior dj’s from the Canadian market.
With over close to 40 years in the industry, Sandy Graham has been involved in many various aspects of the music business, and is a true trailblazer as well as a supporter of music and artists.
She began in record retail, followed by holding the position of the 3rd female Music Director in Canada, and was known to break artists such as Shawn Phillips, Murray McLauchlan, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Ian Matthews, Jesse Colin Young amongst others.
She was also one of the first women to be hired by a major label, holding the position of Eastern Promotions Manager for RCA Records in Montreal, Quebec which resulted in working and touring with the aforementioned Daryl Hall & John Oates, KC & the Sunshine Band, Natalie Cole, and Tower of Power.
Sandy Graham has owned various music venues in her career, including the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, Route 66 and produced shows for The Tall Ships, Starlight Foundation, Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club, Variety Village, Earth Day 2021 with Tom Jackson.
Aside from currently being a music journalist, musicologist and on air host, Sandy Graham is also a choreographer, having choreographed the first ever halftime show at the SkyDome (Rogers Centre) Toronto’s 60,000 seat domed stadium. She also worked with Atlantis Films as a dance instructor and choreographer (Robocop, Almost Grown, Maniac Mansions-SCTV, David Chase/Sopranos, Joe Flaherty) and continues to teach dance to this day. She was featured in the best-selling book “Still Dancing!” by Canadian author, Pat Beaven, featuring dancers over 60 who currently continue to teach and dance.
Sandy’s current mission is to take up the torch to fight ageism and the long-running gender equality of women in the workforce, and does so now by travelling globally to promote featured artists and music industry icons over the age of 60, who still have much to offer and deliver in expertise and knowledge, as well as creating performance opportunities for older Canadian artists.
Sandy is also currently writing her memoirs about being a woman in the music industry at a very young age, and the experiences, downfalls and opportunities that have helped her to continue to present herself to be relevant in today’s market. Appropriately named, ‘Sky is the Limit’, is due out in 2024.
Our Adjudicators are experienced professionals in the Music industry with the expertise to provide feedback and guidance to inspire and educate.
Integrity, being honest and impartial is a key characteristic of an effective Adjudicator.
The Criteria
The adjudicators will critique, providing an evaluation for each submission based on the following criteria:
Unique Style, Creativity & Originality
Melody & Lyrics (if your song does not have lyrics, only the melody will receive feedback)
Arrangement
Overall likeability
Potential to be a hit!
Industry Ready
Media Ready
Radio Friendly
The work of an adjudicator will inspire and educate singers/songwriters and performers.
Adjudicators will provide written comments with
compliments on your strengths,
constructive criticism of your weaknesses
and recommendations toward correction or action.
The constructive criticism given by adjudicators is valuable feedback that will help you improve your music and be the catalyst for progress and success.