Musicians across Atlantic Canada have been calling out the East Coast Music Association for late payments stemming from showcases during the East Coast Music Awards in Sydney this May.
Jake Ballard, a roots rock and blues musician based in Dartmouth, was one of several artists left unpaid until recently. He performed with his band at the Steel City Steakhouse in Sydney as part of an ECMA showcase on Saturday, May 23.
On June 19, he was notified that payments from the association were delayed as they awaited grant funding to be released by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). Ballard was owed $575 for his band’s performance
“We all had contracts that said we would be paid our flat rates within two weeks of the event,” says Ballard. “They said, you know, that they were two weeks over the deadline, and said that a payment would take place in the next ten to fifteen business days.”
This was Ballard’s first showcase with the organization—a performance he was uncertain about for several reasons.
Firstly, it was a costly endeavour to get his five-piece band from the city to Sydney for the weekend, costing them over $1,200 in total.
Secondly, Ballard was well aware of the drama that surfaced last year between the organization and its former CEO Blanche Israël, who was abruptly fired from her position on Jan 6, 2025, for what the music association called “serious risks” to their ECMA event that year. Artists quickly fought back against the ECMA for their lack of transparency in the situation, amongst other institutional issues. Israël spoke to us about the ECMA debacle in this article.
Israël was also one of the first to publicly acknowledge this current situation via an article on her Breakwater Substack, which contains a screenshot of the email received by showcasing artists who hadn’t been paid as of June 19. The email states ACOA funding was earmarked but not yet deposited—with no date confirmed for a deposit—and that artists would be paid when they received this funding.
“I figured they’d be extra careful this year,” says Ballard about taking the opportunity to showcase—an opportunity that cost him a $90 membership fee to the organization and $20 to submit an application to perform. For Ballard, this was worth it to make connections in the industry.
He didn’t expect to have to make a video on his Instagram detailing why, as of July 22, he had still not been paid for his work.
“It was like, almost two months at that point,” says Ballard. “I was getting frustrated… the whole thing was kind of frustrating. I made that post out of frustration. I thought maybe it had been a clerical error, just for me, but then I realized, no. It’s like, most artists haven’t been paid yet.
“For a government-sponsored event, that seems kind of, I don’t know, unprofessional, if you ask me.”
The 2026 East Coast Music Awards were sponsored by the federal government (both Factor and ACOA), the Nova Scotia government, and the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, among many other organizations and businesses.
Earlier this week, Ballard received his payment.
“It seemed like after I made a post about it, they were pretty quick to pay me, which is almost just as unethical,” he says.
“I’m like, well maybe, you know, give them the benefit of the doubt. But I think the musician in me, you know, it’s like when you play a crappy dive bar somewhere and then they don’t pay you at the end of the day. It’s not cool for a small, local venue to do that. I don’t see why it’s OK for a big event like that to do it, right?”
When asked whether he’d showcase at the ECMAs again, Ballard says he doesn’t feel comfortable with the idea.
“I don’t think I’ll be taking part until they can prove to the music community that they’re doing something valuable for the artists, and not just, you know, having a party and spending tax money.”
ECMA response
The Coast reached out to Bob Hallett, the East Coast Music Association’s executive director, for comment. Hallett sent us the following:
“We just wanted to let our members and showcasing artists know that all artists have now been paid for Sydney 2026, with the exception of a handful from whom we are still seeking payment information. This process began in early July, and is now complete.”
“In the non-profit sector, expenses are often predictable,” wrote Hallet, “but the timing of revenue is not always within our control. This in turn can sometimes create challenges with the timing of payments. We have and will take some action to avoid this particular delay in the future, and we thank all the artists for their patience in this journey. Payments for other contractors are on-going, and we expect all other production and other invoices to be resolved by the end of the summer.”
According to Hallett in a recent Global News interview, a quarter of the East Coast Music Association’s $1.5 million budget was outstanding, and they knew it would be a challenge to pay artists immediately after the event.
