One of Canada’s most influential music trade publishers, journalists and co-founder of the original Canadian Music Week, died on December 19 after a brief illness.
David Farrell was 73.
Born in Ladysmith, B.C. – and a tireless champion of Canadian musicians and the professional industry that was built around them. Farrell got his start in the music business while attending Centennial College between 1967-1969 for journalism.
One of his first regular assignments was covering entertainment for The Toronto Telegram’s “After Four” section, and he also supported himself as a contributor to The Eyeoepener, Beetle Magazine, Maclean’s, TV Guide, The Toronto Sun, Nite Out and others.
In 1975, Farrell was hired by impresario Joey Cee as Editor-in-Chief of Record Week. A year later, he became Canadian editor of U.S. music industry trade mag Cashbox and Texas-based Performance before landing the same position at Billboard, where he reported on the Canadian music scene and its business happenings until 1981.
And then his legacy truly began: on July 13, 1981, David and his wife Patricia-Dunn Farrell published the first issue of The Record, consisting of 10 stapled, typed, double-sided pages. With David at the helm as publisher and managing editor, the weekly trade music publication grew into an industry powerhouse, providing an accurate chart system reflecting a wide variety of formats, with sales and chart positions determined via weekly outreach research to radio and retail outlets.
The Record’s radio and retail charts for singles and albums became the global yardstick and authoritative indicator that most accurately reflected the real time Canadian music market: sourced and quoted by such music trade and news authorities as Billboard, MuchMusic, the CBC, Broadcast News and The Canadian Press. The Record became the go-to chronicler in the new eras of music video and the popular explosion of the digital compact disc format.
But radio and retail weren’t the only areas that The Record covered: music publishing, performing rights, manufacturing, talent, concert promotion, talent agencies, technical innovation, record company hires and all other pertinent topics all found a home under the trade mag’s umbrella. If it was newsworthy, it found home – and The Record unified a disparate industry in the process.
In 1984, the Farrells and their colleagues went a step further, organizing the first Record Conference at Toronto’s Harbour Castle Hilton hotel with the intention of unifying and educating the music industry. It was the forerunner of Canadian Music Week – David gladly handed over the keys to Neill Dixon, who ran the conference until 2023.
Farrell and his team also launched The Record Awards as recognition for deserved industry figures in 1985 – and in 1991, published Contact: The Essential Canadian Music Business Directory.
Some of the contributors to the 20-year tenure of The Record – whether as veterans or as aspiring teeth-cutters – were legendary journalists Ritchie Yorke, Larry Leblanc, Richard Flohil, Tom Harrison and industry experts Daniel Caudeiron, Vince Degiorgio, Steve McLean, and others.
After The Record shuttered in 2001 due to an economic downturn, Farrell spent the next seven years in Nova Scotia before returning in 2008 to launch online trade publication FYIMusicNews, supported by benefactor Gary Slaight.
Published five times weekly until a few years ago and employing such writers as his right-hand man Kerry Doole, as well as columnist Bill King and freelancers Karen Bliss , Dave Charles, Jason Schneider, Doug Thompson, Cameron Carpenter and yours truly, those relationships continued until 2023, when Billboard Canada purchased FYI and Farrell and Doole stayed on as editors and contributors.
Friendly, charming, knowledgeable, helpful and well-liked by the industry, David Farrell has been recognized twice for his accomplishments: once with his 2018 induction into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame and earlier this summer with a Lifetime Achievement Award at CMW’s Radiodays North America Awards luncheon.
His sharp eye and keen observations were dictated by a simple philosophy, as he told writer Perry Stern in a Words & Music profile in 2022.
“News is news,” Farrell told Stern, adding that he selected what he. chose to run on “how it affects people”, the substance of the story.
“Money is always an interest and, in my particular case, it’s a wide gamut in the fact that I’m not only just dealing with the publishing industry, but the live industry, the recording industry, the artists’ side of the business. It’s a big lens.”
Upon learning the news of his passing, tributes poured in from fellow friends and admirers.
As conveyed through Billboard Canada:
Gary Slaight: “David was a good man. Not only did we have a friendship for over 50 years, but our love of music and more importantly, championing Canadian artists and our industry is what bound us together. As a matter of fact, precluding Canadian Music Week there was The Record Conference which germinated over a long extended lunch David and I had at the Spotted Dick!”
“We had some good laughs and occasionally some feisty conversations along the way, but my respect for him never wavered. I will miss him.
Slaight Music President Derrick Ross: “The Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame – this recognition was so deserving for all he has done to promote Canadian music. David was a gentle and kind man who loved what he did and was always true to himself.”
David’s sister, Mary Ann Farrell: “I worked at The Record in the early days in the mid-’80s. It was a heady time. There were new record companies and labels emerging with exciting musical talents. We all had one thing in common – a desire to discover and share new and inventive musical influences, and to stimulate musical beginnings over the airwaves, the record stores, music magazines, clubs & stages across the country.
“David’s door was always open, and there was always a steady stream of promo reps, artists, agents, PR people, writers – all coming up with creative ways to launch an artist, a song, a performance, a new way to listen, to play, to witness – they were all connected.”
Kerry Doole: “His values and approach came from old-school newspaper journalism, sadly rather a dying form these days. He was never afraid to take on the industry establishment, voice unpopular opinions, or champion the underdog, but his passion for an industry he wanted to succeed never waned.”
Richard Flohil: “David Farrell was my friend, my editor, and a touchstone in my life. Much more importantly he was a friend and touchstone to the entire music industry in Canada.
“As a human, he was sometimes silly, even crass, and he wasn’t above occasional verbal indiscretions. As a journalist, however, he was invariably accurate, thoughtful, and kind. He dealt in facts, and never indulged in gossip. His work was trusted by everyone in the industry.”
From Facebook:
Fergus Hambleton : “A wonderful person, wonderful writer and a wonderful friend”
David Farrell is survived by his sons D’Arcy, Brendan and Lewis, his sisters Mary Ann and Siobhan, his brother Dominic and Dominic’s partner Suzanne, David’s former partner Patricia Dunn and his current partner Joan Ralph.
A Celebration of Life event will take place in Toronto in the Spring of 2025, with details to be announced at a later date.
The final words of this article belong to David himself, as forwarded by his family:
“I lied. There is no free buffet at the Zanzibar. So, no free stuff, but my friends, it’s been one helluva ride! Thank you all for the memories. One final request, pay it forward, and do something nice for someone you don’t know!”
“Your best friend. DF
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