Katrina Lopes is tired of waiting. The veteran music executive is addressing the long standing lack of infrastructure for Black Nova Scotian artists with the launch of her latest brain child, Maidie Music House. The first full-service artist development agency of its kind in the Atlantic region, the initiative is meant to fill the gap and help create a sustainable music eco-system on the east coast.

Maidie Music House aims to help steward career longevity for artists and hopes to create a flourishing environment not only for musicians, but producers, managers, and other music industry roles.

“I was getting a lot of resistance through the music industry and constantly having to explain the value of this work, the value of the artists and the talent.” Growing tired of the pushback, she decided to build it on her own.

Named after her grandmother, Maidie Upshaw, the development company offers management, development, publishing, and label services, with cultural fluency as the cornerstone.

“I’m really proud of my heritage,” notes Lopes on growing up on the east coast, “Nova Scotia is the birthplace of Black culture in Canada.”

It’s rich history can be traced back to 1783-1785 when the Black Loyalists arrived in Nova Scotia. One of the communities being Africville, a Black run and self-reliant community with roots to Black settlers from the 1800s. Africville was razed in the 1960s under the guise of ‘urban renewal’.

In Africville, like many other Black communities across Canada, music played an important role for families, with church as a nurturing ground for budding musicians. Lopes remembers her grandmothers unspoken rule of learning how to play an instrument (or two, or three, according to her father).

“There is a lineage of music in our heritage and yet there is no infrastructure.” Lopes sees no shortage of talent in Nova Scotia, yet developing these artists is noticeably more difficult compared to those in the folk or rock genres.

Through her company, she started the KL Management Black Mentorship Program to help support those artists and which ultimately inspired Maidie Music House.

After spearheading a song camp with creatives from L.A. and Toronto, she realized for some of the participants, it was their first time being in a session with all Black people, and for everyone it was their first all-Black camp.

“In the music industry, or the traditional music industry, there’s not a lot of Black people in those roles in the country, but particularly in Nova Scotia.” Lopes hopes that Maidie Music House will change that dynamic.

Her robust background makes her well-equipped in the charge to help reform the industry. She has acted as a mentor for several initiatives including Femme it Forward, Diverse Voices, and created her very own mentorship program via KL Management. Her agency has represented high caliber artists including Shawn Desman, and has earned her several accolades in her wake.

Lopes’ decades long career however, was not all rose coloured. She entered the music world at a time when women were often excluded from decision-making and leadership roles. After speaking with other women in the industry, she noticed that resistance to their ideas and contributions was commonplace. Navigating the ups and downs of the trade inspired her to help others following in her footsteps.

“It’s a lonely road” says Lopes, “I’m passionate about other people coming behind me not feeling so daunted. That was another reason why I wanted to start Maidie Music House.”

Maidie Music House launched on August 1st at the Crescendo Music Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Emancipation Day. Performers included Reeny, Zamani, Haliey Smith, and Jody Upshaw, who are all female Nova Scotian based artists working with Lopes. The launch marks a significant cultural moment in Canadian music history.

“I hope Maidie Music House will light a fire and other people feel encouraged to do their own thing and help build a stronger eco-system.”