Authenticity matters more than ever in the music industry, according to experts who spoke at Oshawa Music Week’s closing summit on April 11.
One of the speakers, Rich Terfry, a musician and CBC Radio host, emphasized today’s students are entering a “borderless” world where traditional gatekeepers have “lost their grip.”
He noted that the industry’s mid-level infrastructure has collapsed, forcing a “DIY-or-die” mentality.
This “missing middle” refers to the vanishing 500-capacity venues and independent labels that once allowed artists to earn a sustainable living without needing to be global superstars.
Terfry advocates a strategy of “ultra-hardcore self-indulgence,” where creators focus on making art so specific and unfiltered that it cannot be replicated by a data-driven algorithm.
By taking these creative risks, he believes artists can build an authentic human connection that modern technology often fails to provide.
“I’ve felt for a long time that there’s sort of no middle class for a musician anymore,” Terfry said. “It’s like cafes and stadiums without a whole lot in between. A lot of those places closed during the pandemic and probably aren’t coming back.”
Terfry encouraged students to embrace and lean into artistic self-indulgence rather than trying to fit into pre-existing commercial boxes.
“They don’t want you to pander or water your stuff down,” Terfry said. “People are interested and even fascinated in people who are creative and like it when the creative mind works at a hundred percent capacity.”
The conversation shifted to the digital structure with another speaker, Anne Stirk, a former Spotify manager and current marketing lead for Republic Live.
Stirk addressed the tension between automated data and human intuition, explaining that while technology has made music more accessible, it has also made the industry more risk averse.
“Streaming data just helps people make more informed decisions. It doesn’t mean it will hold,” Stirk said.
She told students the most successful moments in her career often relied on a human curator who believed in an artist when the numbers suggested otherwise.
“We want to be able to take risks, because if we don’t, you’re never going to land. You’re not going to make that human connection,” she added.
Stirk advised students that familiarity is no longer a guarantee of success.
She promoted the 1,000 “true fans” model, stressing that a sustainable career is built on deep, real-life community engagement rather than fleeting viral moments.
According to the 2025 Luminate Year-End Music Report, more than 100,000 new tracks are uploaded to streaming services daily, creating a saturation point that makes unique human-led curation more vital than ever.