The Value of the Manager Polaris x MMF Canada Panel Discussion
In celebration of the 2026 Polaris Festival, presented by SiriusXM Canada, Polaris presents The Value of the Music Manager: Their Role in Supporting Canadian Music as Art, a salon-style conversation exploring the labour, care, strategy, and responsibility of artist management in Canada’s music ecosystem.
The 2026 Polaris Festival is a month-long celebration of Canadian music as art, bringing together concerts, salons, listening sessions, conversations, artist development initiatives, and the Polaris Concert & Award Ceremony at Massey Hall. Through the Festival, Polaris creates space for audiences to listen differently, gather around important Canadian albums, and explore how music shapes culture, identity, memory, and belonging.
Music manager burnout becomes an entry point into a larger discussion about what it takes to support Canadian music as art. Managers are often positioned as the people behind the artist, coordinating opportunities, shaping strategy, managing relationships, solving problems, supporting releases, navigating funding, protecting boundaries, and helping artists build sustainable careers.
Yet this work is often invisible, under-resourced, emotionally demanding, and difficult to measure. As artists are asked to do more with less, managers are often expected to absorb industry pressure while also providing care and long-term vision.
What happens when the people responsible for supporting artists are themselves unsupported? This panel aims to make visible the value of managers as cultural workers, creative partners, advocates, and caretakers of artistic possibility.
PANELISTS
Gabrielle Rubaine
Gabrielle Rubaine Salon Host, MMF Canada Outreach Director, is an agent of change. As an artist who opened for acts like Mos Def & Snoop Dog, she still found support lacking for Black female hip-hop artists. This was a catalyst for embarking on a career path on the business side of the industry. She’s taken on artist development roles, acted as Marketing Director of #BigTicket – a curated monthly showcasing hip-hop acts and worked at FACTOR in a variety of roles all focusing on outreach and diversity – implementing initiatives that continue to this day. She runs Rubaine Consulting, a strategic marketing and event production company, which founded INT’L Women’s Day Music Summit for creators in the hip-hop, R&B, reggae, and Indigenous music genres, providing a safe space, educational programming and showcasing opportunities for marginalized communities. Gab received the 2018 “Women in Media” International Women’s Achiever Award for curating the online radio show, “Queens of the Game” (2014-2017). Currently, she is Outreach Director for MMF Canada and co-founder of Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurial Society Hub.
Gabbie “Gibs” Clarke
Gabbie “Gibs” Clarke is a music manager, producer, and operations strategist who supports emerging artists in building their careers through strategic rollout campaigns rooted in authenticity. After starting in campus radio at TMU, she built her foundation in commercial audio engineering at Vapor Music, then transitioned to radio promotion at Warner Music Canada, promoting releases to Indie88, CBC, and SiriusXM. Today, through her agency Emergency Contact, Gabbie manages Roc Nation Distribution signee Ania Hoo and electro-pop artist Lockimara, whose sophomore album earned features on KEXP, NPR, and Spotify. An MVP Prism Prize-funded producer for Juno winner Ryan Ofei, Gabbie brings a rare mix of technical craft, major-label experience, and independent strategy to the panel.
Jordan Circosta
Jordan Circosta is a Toronto-based artist manager and VP of Enlightened Management. Since joining the company in 2023, he has supported the careers of Celtic icons Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, folk singer-songwriter John Muirhead, and oversees EM’s growing producer division, which includes JUNO-nominated producer Ryan Worsley. Jordan previously toured internationally as a founding member of JUNO-winning band MONOWHALES, co-writing six Top 10 hits and earning millions of streams. He now applies that hands-on industry experience to guide artists through touring, recording, marketing, and career strategy, offering a strategic, artist-first approach to building sustainable, globally minded creative careers.
Alexander Stojanovic
Alexander Stojanovic is a music professional with 7+ years of experience spanning music production, artist management, and A&R. He began his career as a producer under the alias “rare,” earning millions of streams and signing with Intercord Records (formerly Virgin Records).
After a brief hiatus from production, Alex transitioned to the industry side, joining Sony Canada as an A&R intern. He subsequently began working independently with emerging local artists and, in 2022, started managing MICO. He later partnered with Rob Woe at Prototype, bringing in Ethan Low and Lyle Kam, with whom they have worked since 2023.
As a manager, Alex has played a key role in several artist-defining projects. He contributed to MICO’s Internet Hometown Hero EP, featuring “senses” and “HOMESICK,” which has surpassed 50 million streams and supported dozens of sold-out shows worldwide. The project ultimately helped MICO secure a record deal with Columbia Records in 2025.
Alex has also worked on Ethan Low’s sophomore project what’s that supposed to mean, featuring “bkdmv” and “can’t get enough,” as well as Lyle Kam’s breakthrough EPs re:collections and a possible solution, featuring “all we do is talk” and “satellite,” each earning millions of streams.
Sean Thomas
Sean Thomas is an entertainment executive, artist manager, and co-founder of X10 Entertainment Inc., where he works across artist development, management, creative strategy. His work has included guiding the careers and development of Canadian talent, as seen in his work with JUNO nominated group LTL, while building strategies that connect artists and their work to audiences and opportunities both in Canada and internationally.
Sean’s approach to management is rooted in the belief that managers are not simply business intermediaries, but active creative partners and cultural workers who help artists navigate the systems, relationships, opportunities, and challenges that shape sustainable careers.
Beyond his management practice, Sean is developing Creative Alliance Canada (CAC), a national framework set to launch in 2027 focused on strengthening Canada’s Caribbean creative sector.
About Music Managers Forum
Music Managers Forum Canada (MMF Canada) is a non-profit trade association and is one of many such associations around the world. We offer education, networking and advocacy on behalf of our members, their artists, and the wider Canadian music community. We aim to be the go-to source for Canadian artists and managers on issues related to music management in Canada and around the world. As the management sector’s voice in the industry, MMF Canada advocates to various levels of government on behalf of its members on key issues that affect managers and their artists. Our members come from across Canada and work in various genres at a range of levels, including self-managed artists, new managers and highly experienced managers representing some of the largest acts in Canada. We work collaboratively with strategic partners within the larger music community to offer workshops, webinars and other programming that allows our members to connect with each other while developing their management skills and industry knowledge.
About the Polaris Festival
Polaris Music Prize is a Canadian charitable arts organization honouring music as art. Through its Album, Song, and Heritage Prizes, Polaris amplifies Canadian artists based on artistic merit.
The 2026 Polaris Festival is presented by SiriusXM Canada and made possible through the support of Experience Ontario, Ontario Creates, the City of Toronto’s Cultural Festivals Funding Program, FACTOR, the Government of Canada, Canada’s private radio broadcasters, and the Festival’s many community and venue partners.