Super Ordinary Laboratory

Pathwaves Digital Music Incubator Horizon Scan

Digital Literacy and Futures Thinking Initiative

June 2022

Horizon scan by OCADU’s Super Ordinary Lab,
exploring drivers and trends in Canada’s digital music industry
to guide innovation in the Pathwaves Digital Music Incubator.

An initiative aimed at empowering artists to make lifelong careers more possible and equitable through digital literacy and futures thinking.

Full Summary 

Context & Goal 
The project supported the Pathwaves Digital Music Incubator, funded by Canada Council for the Arts. Its goal was to map drivers and trends impacting digital music in Canada with the intent to empower musicians toward meaningful innovation.  

Approach & Methods 
Compiled by Suzanne Stein, Rebecca Black, Fran Quintero Rawlings, and Ziyan Hossain in collaboration with music industry participants, the team conducted horizon scanning, identifying signals, trends, and higher-level drivers. The work included a national survey component. openresearch.ocadu.ca+1openresearch.ocadu.ca+1 

Findings & Outcomes 
The report maps seven major drivers—Social Justice, Rolling Pandemics, Algorithmic ‘Balkanization’, Blockchain + Cryptocurrency, the Metaverse, AI/ML, and NFTs—and organizes over 60 related trends across social, technological, economic, environmental, political, value, and legal domains. openresearch.ocadu.ca 

Team Members Involved 

Collaborators / Partners 

Timeline 

Outputs 

Tags 

digital music, horizon scan, strategic foresight, music innovation, Pathwaves Incubator, Canada Council for the Arts 

Read the full report