Three separate television shows will be filmed at this week's massive Canadian Music Week festivities in Toronto to air locally on SUN TV at a later date and hopefully for national broadcast. CMW 2007 features 300 panelists/speakers, 600 bands/artists in 37 venues, and four awards shows March 7 to 10.

Production company Freedom TV is shooting tonight's Indie Music Awards, which kicks off the four-day conference and festival, along with Saturday's 10th annual Canadian Radio Music Awards, and a documentary tracing the event's beginnings 25 years ago when it was called The Record Music Industry Conference.

CMW president Neill Dixon says he's not involved in the direction or outcome of any of the TV shows, but will be an interviewee for the documentary.

"I know they don't have a really big budget, so it's wishful thinking, but I would rather see it more of a music retrospective, 25 years of Canadian music and the business interwoven through it. I'm sure the viewers are a lot more interested in the artists and the music history, than they are about the industry.

"It came together rather quickly," he says of the documentary. "I don't know how much post-production they're going to do. I think they're going to try and capture as much stuff around town as possible, interview people while everybody's here."

Producer Evelyn Cream, whose company Athena Music International was hired by Freedom TV, says she has put requests in to interview Nettwerk Music Group CEO Terry McBride, producer/songwriter David Foster, and outspoken industry critic Bob Lefsetz. She and Freedom TV principle/director Aaron Goldman (The Rez Bluez series) will be out in full force the next four days, interviewing and shooting Canadian and international artists and interviewing industry veterans and newcomers.

"We'll look at the history of how it started, why it started and how it's developed over the years, and how the development of CMW mirrors the rise of the Canadian Music scene worldwide," says Cream, adding that it will cover the music and the business equally.

"In terms of the industry people, I wanted to talk with people who have been involved with CMW in the past and can comment on how they saw the organization grow and the importance it's become to the industry.

"I also plan to talk to a big American producer [Steve Thomson] who has actually won three Grammys he said, who came to CMW a couple of years ago. It was his first time here and he's now become a regular visitor to Toronto and is currently producing an independent band [Reno] that could be the next big thing out of this country."

The Indie Awards have been broadcast twice before, but Dixon says now that Freedom has taken the reigns this year's televised show should be "a step up." It will include interviews with performers Priestess, Neverending White Lights, Cadence Weapon, DJ Champion, Hellogoodbye, The Stills, Indies Hall of Fame inductees Rough Trade, hopefully Wolfmother, as well as the winners and some nominees.

"This is our first year doing it," says Cream, "and the goal is to make a high quality TV show that will demonstrate the excitement of the Indie Awards show. Thirty-five hundred people pay to go to this show [at the Docks] and we want to spread the word about these bands and how good the independent music scene is in Canada."

The Canadian Radio Music Awards, presented by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) down at the Fairmont Royal York hotel where the conference is being held, is a last-minute addition to Freedom TV's agenda, and will cover the gala luncheon and awards presentation hosted by R&B singer Jully Black.

CMW really is the pinnacle of music conferences in Canada. It is a one-stop for anyone interested in the future of the music business or wanting a future in the music business. There is an intensive industry component called the Executive Conference ($695), a comprehensive introductory Tune-Up Conference for those new to the music business ($250), and four awards shows. Go to www.cmw.net for more information.

"Doesn't matter if you're going to be a doctor or a lawyer or a dentist, you've got to go to school," says Dixon. "You've got to learn. You can't get 100 percent of this information in a college or in a classroom. You've got to be able to get out there and network and there's 300 executives speaking over the 4 days and you get to rub shoulders and meet with these people and you also get contact information on these people once you become a delegate.

"The Tune Up gets you into a lot of the same sessions [as the Executive] so really, unless they have a real interest in some of the higher-end business to business conference, I think if you're a small label or a new manager or an artist, you'd be smart to just go to the Tune Up session because you're going to meet a lot of the same players.

"You're certainly going to go to a lot of the bigger keynotes and you're going to have a chance to rub shoulders with the right people," add Dixon. "That's what you can't do at a school. That's what you can't do with a book. That's what you can't do with any other training device. It's all about who you know and meeting the right people."