TORONTO (CelebrityAccess)—“A Death in the Family” best describes the Canadian music industry’s reaction to the Dec. 19 passing of David Farrell in the Nova Scotia home of his partner, Joan Ralph, after a prolonged fight with cancer.
He was 73.
As one of Canada’s preeminent music trade journalists with a distinguished journalistic legacy, Farrell was renowned for being tenacious, focused, and instinctively provocative over his five-decade career.
Farrell published the Canadian music industry publication The Record from 1981 to 2001, a span of 20 years, which begat Canadian Music Week before he co-founded FYI Music News. FYI was acquired by Artshouse Media Group (AMG) in 2023 and rebranded as Billboard Canada on Jan. 1, 2024.
His decades as editor and publisher of The Record and FYI gave him a towering presence in Canadian music journalism, as did his many years as the Canadian editor of Billboard and as a co-founder of Canadian Music Week.
In a final message released on the day of his passing, Farrell wrote:
“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.”
As a journalist, Farrell had a boundless passion for music and its creators, always championing artistic merit. He often wrote about unsung artists with unbridled enthusiasm, giving them equal footing with industry giants.
“I have always viewed myself as an outsider—my problem, I guess—but my job is not to insert myself into situations, but to recount them for others to interpret,” Farrell told Jim “JJ” Johnston, CEO, President, and Chief Talent/Content Coach for JJIMS INC, in a 2018 FYI profile.
For his contributions to Canadian music, Farrell was inducted into the Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame in 2018.
This year, he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Gary Slaight, President and CEO of Slaight Communications, at the Radiodays North America Awards Luncheon as part of Canadian Music Week.
“David and I had a friendship going back 50-plus years, and we had many great times together as the Canadian music industry was building,” recalls Slaight. “My best recollection was David and I, over a long lunch at The Spotted Dick, formulating the beginnings of The Record Conference, which then germinated into Canadian Music Week.
“David and I bonded over our love of Canadian artists, and he spent his career championing them and telling our industry’s stories. We had some feisty conversations over those years, but my respect for him never wavered. David made a difference, and I—and the Canadian music industry—will miss him greatly.”
Adds LOFT Entertainment CEO Randy Lennox, “David Farrell was a visionary and a community builder. He was tenacious with a story and always balanced in his reporting, dealing with the many different individuals in the music community. I enjoyed every minute with David and will miss him immensely.”
Canada’s small market size, and its sizable support infrastructure has long enabled its domestic music industry to develop distinct acts and music journalists for audiences home and abroad.
Says former Billboard international editor-in-chief Adam White, a former boss: “David Farrell was among the most diligent, perceptive correspondents for Billboard internationally. He knew the Canadian music industry inside out but recognized what was relevant to our readers in the U.S. and elsewhere. I could always depend on him—no higher praise for a journalist working in ‘the industry of human happiness,’ as it was once called. He was a star.”
Born in Ladysmith, British Columbia, on the east coast of Vancouver Island to British-born journalists Ann and Ted Farrell, David’s family returned to the UK when he was three. His father worked on the foreign desk of The Observer. The family lived in Leigh-on-Sea, a small fishing village at the mouth of the Thames Estuary, until moving to Toronto in 1967 when his father became a senior editor at The Globe and Mail.
Farrell’s professional journalism career got off to a slow start. It included writing a weekly faxed package of Canadian music news for the Selkirk, Moffat, and CHUM broadcasting chains across Canada, freelancing for the Toronto Telegram, Cashbox, and Broadcast News, as well as a short stint on the copy desk of The Globe and Mail.
In the mid-’70s, he landed at the newly launched Canadian music trade Record Week, owned by Joey Cee, along with its editors Martin Melhuish and this author. Also onboard were top regional music scribes Jeani Reid in Vancouver, Juan Rodriguez in Montreal, and Jim Millican in Calgary. In time, Farrell became desk editor of the publication, in charge of writing and editing copy by contributors.
Farrell, however, wanting to own his own destiny, went on to co-found the weekly Toronto-based music industry trade The Record along with Richard Flohil, this author, and his then-wife, Patricia Dunn.
The first issue, dated July 13, 1981, comprised 10 typed, double-sided pages stapled in one corner.
As Farrell held the position of publisher, his friend Martin Melhuish assumed editorship in 1991. Noted contributors included Daniel Caudeiron, Anya Wilson, Jackie Valasek, Larry Delaney, Jeff Bateman, Tom Harrison, Nick Krewen, Gary O’Brien, Karen Bliss, Steve McLean, Vince DeGiorgio, and Ritchie Yorke.
The Record introduced The Record Awards in 1985 and published its first Contact: The Essential Canadian Music Business Directory in 1991.
The publication’s airplay charts were based on reports from radio stations across the country from 1983 to 1997, when data from Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems was first employed. From 1995 to 1997, the airplay charts were compiled from computer-generated playlists submitted to The Record. The sales charts (Retail Singles and Top Albums) were based on manual reports from retailers and distributors across the country. In 1996, point-of-sales data from Nielsen SoundScan was first used to compile the Top Albums chart.
The magazine also published the rotational playlist from MuchMusic and the chart from the CBC television show Video Hits.
“I owe everything to David,” says veteran Canadian music trade journalist Karen Bliss. “I’m just thankful I got to talk to him yesterday, thank him for everything, and tell him how important he was to the music industry, for businesses and bands, and to me in my career. He took a chance on me right out of university, noting my passion for music journalism, which I had started in school. Through The Record, I learned about the industry, met all the players, and continued when he launched FYI Music News.”
Former Island Records executive Lee Silversides took over at The Record as publisher when Farrell went on a brief sabbatical in 1993. Former RPM Weekly writer/editor Steve McLean replaced Martin Melhuish as editor.
“David Farrell hired me away from rival Canadian music industry trade magazine RPM in 1993 to become editor of The Record, a position I held through both its remaining print incarnation and its transition to the Internet before I left in 2001,” recalls McLean. “David and I worked more closely together in the later years when he returned to being more hands-on again, and his role as a mentor was appreciated. He gave me lots of freedom to do what I wanted and treated me generously and with respect.”
Farrell returned as publisher after a year, and the trade publication continued successfully through the mid-1990s until an economic downturn in the international music industry caused a severe decline in advertising revenues. Rising printing costs further made publishing a print magazine less viable.
The Record evolved from print to a subscription-based online portal (www.therecord.ca) in early 2000. When the online version of the magazine failed to take off, Farrell closed The Record in March 2001.
Canadian Music Week was launched in 1983 by David Farrell and his wife Patricia Dunn. It began as The Record Music Industry Conference and was modeled on competitor RPM Weekly’s “Three Days in March” conferences in the late ’60s and ’70s.
Dixon’s marketing company, Chart Toppers, was initially hired in 1983 to book speakers and organize panels for the annual event. Over the next few years, the convention morphed into Canadian Music Week, and Dixon became a co-partner a couple of years after it began.
Farrell sold the rights to Canadian Music Week to Neil Dixon in 2001. Toronto-based entertainment company Loft Entertainment Media and Los Angeles-based Oak View Group acquired Canadian Music Week this year. In November, they unveiled Departure Festival + Conference, a reimagined and expanded vision of Canadian Music Week, set to take place May 6–11, 2025, at Hotel X in Toronto, with programming streams that include music, art, comedy, and technology.
At the start of the millennium, Farrell was persuaded by indie music promoter Joe Wood to launch a new industry source for the Canadian music industry. Cliff Hunt, then COO of music tech company Yangaroo, offered seed money to help Farrell launch FYI (Farrell Yangaroo Inc.), a music industry news website, and a subscriber-based newsletter. Gary Slaight eventually became FYI’s principal backer until it was purchased by Artshouse Media Group.
Richard Trapunski, Billboard Canada’s National Editor, hails Farrell as a music industry pathfinder. “I first met David Farrell in 2023 after Billboard Canada acquired FYI, and we became quick friends,” he says. “It could not have been easy sharing the publication he established, but you would not have known it from talking to David. He was a generous collaborator and a dedicated journalist. He was unwaveringly principled and authentic, he hated empty hyperbole, and he was never afraid to share his opinions on the Canadian music industry or its sacred cow institutions.
“Over long phone conversations, David would share his wisdom and humor, offering advice along the way. He had an unending wealth of juicy and hilarious music industry stories, but he just as often took an interest in my life. When we finally got to meet in person shortly after last year’s Billboard Canada Power Players this summer, it felt like a reunion of old pals. I’ll miss him a lot, and will work to keep his spirit alive within Billboard Canada.”
Notes Toronto-based journalist/broadcaster and FYI contributor Bill King: “As the driving force behind FYI Music News, [David] chronicled the triumphs, struggles, and evolution of the music industry with clarity and depth that few could match. His commitment to shining a light on Canadian talent was both relentless and heartfelt, showcasing the stories that needed to be told, always with an eye for nuance and respect for the artist’s voice.”
David Farrell was the father of D’Arcy, Brendan, and Lewis with his former partner Patricia Dunn. He is survived by his siblings: sisters Mary Ann and Siobhan, and his brother Dominic, as well as his partner Suzanne.
A celebration of life event for David Farrell is planned in Toronto in the spring of 2025.
