Heather Ostertag Receives the Industry Builder Award at the East Coast Music Awards 2011.

By Sandy Graham

photo by Natasha Slinko

East Coast Music Awards (ECMAs) Awards was founded by Rob Cohn; initially named the Maritime Music Awards. Headquartered in Charlottetown, P.E.I., the Maritime Music Awards were staged for the first time in the Flamingo Café and Lounge in Halifax, N.S.,  April 10, 1989, to focus on the diversity of music and musicians in mainland Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick and to raise the standard of recording. The awards grew from a $1,000 to a $1-million CBC show televised nationally and internationally, winning two Gemini Awards and attracting international buyers. The awards were renamed when the East Coast Music Association was formed in 1991, the year Newfoundland was included. Membership in the association is open to musicians, artists, agents, managers, record companies, studios, the media and related industries. 

On Saturday, April 16th, 2011, East Coast Music Week recognized their own at the Industry Awards Brunch, at the Delta Prince Edward in Charlottetown, PEI. This long standing component of the event has become a favourite amongst members and delegates alike. Highlighting 14 categories and 1 achievement award - the legendary Stompin' Tom Award – this brunch honors the tremendous contribution of the folks who work diligently behind the scenes to help to make the stars shine. 

Heather Ostertag, veteran industry professional, was awarded the prestigious Industry Builder Award and accepted it with a standing ovation of associates applauding her accomplishments to date. 

Ostertag, the former President & C.E.O. of FACTOR, has recently launched her new company, Heather Ostertag and Associates, a unique business plan that creates strategies for businesses to work together with diversified talents. The associates encompass all the contacts she has gathered with her years within the industry, and is sure to be yet another achievement to be copied in other templates within the music business.

“I was thrilled to be given the Industry Builder Award, and was amazed to look around at all the faces I have known over the years. It has been an honor to have been here to watch the industry grow and an even bigger honor to be recognized in this category by my peers. I have had an incredible career so far, and look forward to the years ahead to create new platforms for the artists and their professional teams around them to excel.” 

Created in 1986, the mandate for the recipient for Industry Builder Award is to promote artists on a regional, national and international level. Eligible ECMA members choose the winners of 29 award categories. Public and members' votes decide the entertainer of the year, and up to 16 awards are made at the Industry Awards show. Five honorary awards - the Stompin' Tom Award, Directors' Special Achievement Award, Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award, Industry Builder Award and Musician's Achievement Award - are made at the discretion of the ECMA board of directors. 

Amongst some the many names who have received this award to date are Shari Jones, Lloyd Bartlett, Stephen “Beak” MacDonald, Brookes Diamond, Eric McEwen, Matt Anderson,  Marc Chouinard to name a few.

“I was there when we created the first Industry Builder Award when we gave it to Shari Jones. It was presented by Rita MacNeill. It is the only thing we can hope for in this business; to have made a difference and to somehow be immortal within the history of the music industry, to have left a mark. This award means all that to me and more.”

 www.heatherostertagandassociates.ca

 For further information on the ECMA’s visit www.ecma.org