METZ have spent the last decade relentlessly touring the world and releasing critically acclaimed albums, two of which have been nominated for a Polaris Music Prize. This has earned them a reputation as one of the hardest working bands in Canada. They’ve won praise for their live show, and their critically acclaimed recordings have helped METZ become one of Canada’s top exports and a recognized leader and trailblazer in the punk / noise genre.

METZ released their third, JUNO-nominated album Strange Peace on September 22, 2017. The release of Strange Peace marked the first time that METZ was able to access the Radio Starmaker Fund. They were fortunate enough to be funded for marketing and touring, both internationally and domestically. Though the band has toured the world throughout their career, the fund allowed the band to take calculated risks on opening slots for heavy weight international artists such as IDLES and Refused, seeing them play to audiences of over 2,500 nightly. It allowed them to tour the United Kingdom and Europe multiple times over the album cycle and helped them to increase their ticket value and capacity potential in a number of markets. They now can regularly sell 300-500 tickets in most European markets and throughout the UK. The ability to constantly tour overseas has also allowed them to secure high-profile festival opportunities such as Lars Rock Festival (Italy), Pointu Festival (France), Rock Herk Festival (Belgium) and Loose End Festival (Netherlands).

All the touring and increase in profile in the United Kingdom and Europe would not have been possible without increased marketing spending. Thanks to the Radio Starmaker Fund the band was able to spend additional money on traditional publicity and street level marketing in the United Kingdom, Germany, United States, and France. This allowed the band to be covered by a variety of high-profile media which helped to secure these festival and touring opportunities.

Dina Young
Royal Mountain Records