Bernard Finkelstein (born August 12, 1944 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

music executive and talent manager.McPherson, David, "Bernie Finkelstein's Golden Mountain", ''Words and Music'', Fall 2012 Finkelstein began his career in music as the manager of

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from 1966 to 1967 and

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from 1967 to 1969. In 1969, Finkelstein founded

True North Records True North Records is a Canadian independent record label. History True North Records was founded in Mississauga, Ontario in 1969 by Bernie Finkelstein. By 1971, True North was producing albums for various Canadian musicians, including Bruce C ...

. The first artist signed to the label in 1969 was

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, p ...

. Through 1972–1981, in partnership with Bernie Fiedler, he managed the careers of

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and

Dan Hill Daniel Grafton Hill IV (born 3 June 1954) is a Canadian pop singer and songwriter. He had two major international hits with his songs " Sometimes When We Touch" and " Can't We Try", a duet with Vonda Shepard, as well as a number of other chart ...

. In 1970, he and Cockburn became partners in the music publishing firm Golden Mountain Music. By the time Finkelstein sold True North, the label had released over 550 albums, including records from such Canadian notables as

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, Tom Wilson,

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, and Lighthouse, among others. True North continued to also release records for acts that Finkelstein managed including

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and

. During the period from 1969 to 2007 True North received over 40 Gold and Platinum records and over 40

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. In December 2007, True North was acquired by an investment group led by

Linus Entertainment Linus Entertainment is a music company operating as an independent record label, distributor and music publisher. While founded in Mississauga, Ontario, Linus spent many years in Burlington, Ontario before recently moving operations to Waterdown, ...

. Finkelstein remained as chairman and long-term consultant. He continued as Cockburn's manager and also managed

The Golden Dogs The Golden Dogs are a Canadian pop-rock band based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Mark Daniell.T.O.'s Golden Dogs have 'Eye' on road. JAM! Music. Canadian Online Explorer. Quebecor Media. 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2010-12-16. Formed in 2001, the band is ...

. Until 2011, Finkelstein was the Chairman of MUCHFACT for 26 years, an organization he co-founded with

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in 1984 when it was known as VideoFACT. Finkelstein was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2006, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (CARAS) awarded Finkelstein the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award, which is only given to "individuals who have contributed to the growth of the Canadian music industry". Finkelstein received the Order of Canada in 2007. On April 16, 2012, Finkelstein's autobiography, "True North: A Life Inside The Music Business" was published. On October 10, 2012, he received an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from York University in Toronto. In 2012, Finkelstein co-produced the Bruce Cockburn documentary Pacing The Cage with director Joel Goldberg. The doc was well received and later was released as a DVD and has been a best seller on the DVD charts. On June 22, 2015, Finkelstein was honoured by

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...

at the 2015 SOCAN Awards in Toronto, where he received the prestigious Special Achievement Award.

References

External links

Finkelstein ManagementTrue North Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finkelstein, Bryan Members of the Order of Canada 1944 births Living people Canadian record producers Canadian music industry executives People from Toronto True North Records