As part of its music advocacy, TD Canada is kicking off a new summer series today, TD Music Cafe, offering pop-up concerts across the country.
The first event is running today at Toronto’s Roy Thompson Hall with Canadian duo Tegan and Sara, and includes an interactive Q&A, complimentary drinks and concert-style seating.
The concert, which kicks off around 11 a.m. and will run until 3 p.m., will also benefit MusiCounts, a non-profit organization that gives grants to musicians across Canada.
The Cafe was designed to create an intimate experience, says Chris Stamper, SVP of corporate marketing, TD. “It’s one thing to go to a great concert and see a great show, but it’s something unique to be right there with the artist and see them up close and personal,” he says. “The Music Cafe is another example of comfort.”
This program, created by Diamond Integrated Marketing, is designed to complement TD’s corporate music sponsorships, which consists of many summer music festivals, including multiple jazz fests across Canada, and various Live Nations acts.
Because of the pop-up nature of the concert, Stamper can’t speak to how many attendees the show will draw, saying the crowd could be anywhere from 250 to 1,000 listeners.
The entire content will be filmed and repurposed online at TDlivemusic.com and for TD’s internal program for customers called TD Music Access. The event will be live tweeted and streamed, Stamper adds, with much of the promotion for the actual concert occurring over social and through PR, which is being handled by NKPR.
The new Cafe series will target a wide range of people, as music straddles all demographics, though Tegan and Sara skew towards a younger audience, he says. He remained mum on future pop-up concert venues or artists, saying he didn’t want to ruin the future surprise.
“We’re passionate about music for music’s sake,” Stamper says. “Are we making a direct connection at Music Cafe to selling chequing accounts? No. That’s not what this is about – this is about giving people a unique way to see and experience live music.”
Photo credit: Chris Buck
