WINCON 2026 will bring independent music businesses and trade associations to Toronto from November 9 to 11 as WIN marks its 20th anniversary. Its seven sessions will address streaming, artificial intelligence (AI), rights income and the ways independent companies work together.
The conference is organized by WIN with CIMA. Delegates will join CIMA’s Label Summit at Society Clubhouse on November 9, before WINCON sessions move to The Great Hall as part of CIMA’s Make It Music program on November 10 and 11.
Program and speakers
The program covers music discovery, streaming fraud, generative AI content, neighboring rights income and Merlin membership. It will also examine how trade associations respond to industry consolidation and changing sources of investment.
Speakers include Tony Kiewel of Sub Pop, Jason Peterson of GoDigital, Justin West of Secret City Records, Felippe Llerena of Nikita Music/ABMI, Mark Meyer of Random Sounds/AMI-PY, Gord Dimitrieff of Aporia Records and Pierre Gourde of MétaMusique.
Trade association speakers include Helen Smith of IMPALA; Ian Harrison and Lisa Hresko of A2IM; Ruth Koleva of ANMIP; Céline Lepage of FÉLIN; Gee Davy of AIM; Sonia Durán of UFi; Jakob Sørensen of DUP; Jörg Heidemann of VUT; and Alexander Hirschenhauser of VIMÖ. Dan Nevin of Merlin, Hubert Léveillé Gauvin of Canadian collective management organization Panorama, and researcher Brodie Conley are also on the lineup.
Annual meeting and anniversary
WIN’s Annual General Meeting will include presentations on the organization’s projects and activities from its secretariat, Chair Mark Kitcatt, Vice-chair Marty Ro, Treasurer Maria Amato and CIMA President and CEO Andrew Cash. WIN CEO Noemí Planas and WIN staff Nerea Serrano and Paul Mornon are listed among the meeting’s speakers.
WIN network members Josh Madell of Secretly Distribution, Zena White of Partisan Records and David Barnes of Rhymesayers Entertainment will take part in other Make It Music sessions. Those sessions also include journalist Liz Pelly. A dedicated celebration will mark WIN’s 20th anniversary during the conference.
WINCON is supported by CanExport and Merlin, and co-funded by the European Union through IMPALA’s network programme.
