Interview with Matt Maw, President and Lead Artist Manager, Red Music Rising
In music, the spotlight draws most of the attention.
It lands on the artist, the single, the moment a song finally breaks through. But the real turning points in the industry rarely happen on stage. They happen in meeting rooms, late-night phone calls, funding applications, and introductions that open doors an artist didn’t even know existed.
For years, Indigenous artists in Canada were expected to navigate that system largely on their own, entering an industry that wasn’t built for them while learning its rules in real time. The issue was never talent. What was missing was infrastructure.
Matt Maw has spent his career building it.
A member of Chippewas of the Thames First Nation and the President and Lead Artist Manager of Red Music Rising, Maw works in the part of the music business most listeners never see: artist development, deal-making, and long-term career strategy. His roster includes artists such as 2025 and 2026 JUNO Nominee Sebastian Gaskin, Nimkish, Wolf Saga and Boogey The Beat, and his work is less about chasing moments of visibility and more about creating careers that can last .
Red Music Rising was created as a bridge between Indigenous music creators and the broader Canadian music industry. The goal wasn’t to shape Indigenous artists into what the industry expected, but to give them access to its resources while protecting creative and cultural integrity. In practical terms, that means that artists can focus on the music instead of constantly navigating a complicated system.
That work is beginning to show. Maw was named to Billboard Canada’s 40 Under 40 in 2025, a recognition that reflects a broader change: Indigenous artists are no longer appearing at the margins of the industry but helping define its future
The business of music isn’t just about songs.
It’s about ownership, access, and who has the ability to build careers not only for themselves, but for the next generations to come.
In this conversation, Maw talks about leadership without the spotlight, why Indigenous ownership matters in creative industries, and what it will take to turn this moment of visibility into a sustainable Indigenous music economy.
You were recently named to Billboard Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, recognition that typically celebrates visibility, even though much of your impact happens behind the scenes. From a leadership perspective, what does this moment represent for Indigenous-owned businesses in the music industry?
Being part of the first cohort of Billboard Canada’s 40 Under 40 is incredibly flattering, especially for someone whose work focuses on creating pathways to exposure and recognition for others. For me, this signals that the work I set out to do is landing. It shows that developing Indigenous talent while maintaining cultural integrity can break through to the mainstream. The industry is paying attention, and the lens through which Indigenous talent is viewed is shifting. Our artists are being taken seriously, rather than tokenized or treated as niche or, shudder, “exotic.”
There is an incredible wealth of Indigenous talent in Canada, both artistic and industry-based. We are taking up more space and showing the wider industry that we are far more than mainstream preconceptions, that we are artists and professionals with global appeal beyond historical stereotypes.
You’ve built your career by facilitating deals, opening doors, and creating pathways for others. How do you define leadership when success is measured by who you elevate rather than personal profile?
Given the role a manager plays in an artist’s career, I believe leadership is reflected in the collective success of the artists and teams a manager is responsible for guiding. My perspective is a bit “rising tides lift all boats,” in that one artist’s elevated profile reflects on the manager or label, which then reflects on the rest of the affiliated roster.
The industry has long been perceived as cutthroat and highly competitive. While that still exists in certain areas, I’ve found that the sentiment has shifted with the current generation of industry professionals. In the Indigenous music community, most people working at a certain level have come up alongside their peers, and the community has shaped that journey from the start. A win for an Indigenous artist or professional is a win for all of us. We are not competing for a sliver of pie; there is actually enough pie for everyone.
As the founder of an independent Indigenous label, what gaps in the music industry did you see that convinced you Indigenous ownership was not only important, but necessary?
When Red Music Rising launched, it was the first company of its kind in Canada that operated as both a label and an artist management company. That alone filled an obvious gap. More importantly, there was no Indigenous music company with the infrastructure to connect our artists to the mainstream Canadian music industry.
Having spent most of my career in non-Indigenous spaces, I was in a unique position to act as a conduit between the Indigenous music community and the capital-M Music Industry. Beyond industry knowledge or network, the deeper motivation was to create a culturally safe environment for Indigenous artists. A home where they could access the “big machine” of the industry without needing to explain their lived experience, educate non-Indigenous industry professionals, or worry about pressure to “perform” Indigeneity.
I’ve always viewed my role as an artist manager as a first line of defense between the artist and the wider industry; my focus on cultural safety is a natural extension of that ethos.
There’s a surge of Indigenous talent gaining national and international attention. What investments (financial, structural, or policy-related )are most critical to turning this momentum into sustainable economic growth?
Artistic authenticity is paramount. Music is an industry of perception, and success is rooted in growing an audience, which depends on real connection. Active music fans value authenticity and vulnerability and they can smell insincerity from a mile away. For Indigenous artists in particular, this presents a unique tension: how to create work that reflects their lived experience without being pigeonholed as an “Indigenous Artist.”
My approach has been to partner with “artists who happen to be Indigenous”, rather than those expected to fit a fixed idea of what an “Indigenous Artist” is supposed to be. The label of “Indigenous Artist” holds little meaning today. What does an Indigenous artist look like? Sound like? “Indigenous” is not a genre.
Every artist’s lived experience will shape their work, but for artists to build sustainable mainstream careers, the song itself needs to lead. My role is to create an environment where artists can incorporate their identity as much or as little as they want, without pressure to perform Indigeneity or fear that they will be perceived as “not Indigenous enough” by non-Indigenous industry and audiences.
You often describe your role as throwing the ladder down. How do mentorship and knowledge-sharing strengthen the long-term viability of Indigenous-led businesses in creative industries?
Mentorship has been instrumental in my own career development. The music industry runs on relationships. As much as success depends on talent and work ethic, it simultaneously depends on timing and access. The system has historically left the Indigenous music community isolated, with artists forced to figure out everything on their own, without networks to help them understand how the industry functions.
Knowledge sharing and mentorship are crucial, especially now, because there is a clear imbalance between the amount of world-class talent in the community and the number of Indigenous industry professionals who can support that talent; the ratio is off.
My job is not only to create opportunities for artists. It is also to ensure that space is made for emerging Indigenous professionals. If I can throw the ladder down while also helping scout ahead, facilitating education, networking and stability, then I’ve contributed in some small way to ensuring the growth of the Indigenous music industry for future generations. There is immense power in owning our stories and controlling our narratives, and the world is paying attention and hungry for more.
A song may introduce an artist to the world, but a career requires much more: it requires the people, knowledge, and systems that make the industry navigable.
That ecosystem is now taking shape. Alongside managers and labels like Red Music Rising, organizations such as the Indigenous Music Office are helping connect artists to networks and professional support that didn’t exist for earlier generations of music creators. Indigenous artists in Canada are no longer entering the industry alone.
For Matt Maw, the goal has never been the spotlight. It’s making sure the next artist starts further ahead than the last one did. Because what’s forming behind the music isn’t just momentum; it’s infrastructure. And once infrastructure exists, success stops being an exception.
About Matt…
Matt Maw (Chippewas of the Thames First Nation) is the President & Lead Artist Manager at Red Music Rising. Matt brings well over a decade of multi-faceted music industry experience to RMR, along with a passion for artist development and a mission to amplify Canada’s Indigenous artists on the global stage. Throughout his career, Matt has worked with some of Canada’s most celebrated artists, Indigenous and otherwise, and now oversees an award-winning label and management roster including Sebastian Gaskin, Boogey The Beat, Nimkish, Wolf Saga, Drives The Common Man, Miesha & The Spanks, and LOR.
In 2025, Matt was named to Billboard Canada’s 40 Under 40, recognizing his leadership in defining the future of Indigenous representation in Canada’s music industry. Under his guidance, Sebastian Gaskin celebrated his first JUNO Award win for Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year (2025) and became the first artist in residence at Massey Hall.
A graduate of the Harris Institute for the Arts, Matt currently sits on the board of Music Managers Forum Canada and the BreakOut West Indigenous Advisory Committee. Matt has worked alongside organizations including MusiCounts, Canada’s Music Incubator, Warner Music Group Canada, Universal Music Canada, Arts & Crafts Productions, Six Shooter Records, Collective Concerts, Kamamooshkaming Sagiiwehwining Fest, and Minoshkite.
