General Motors Cancels Montreal Jazz Fest Sponsorship

Date: December 22, 2008
Written By: Jeff Tamarkin
According to several news reports today, General Motors, one of the three major U.S. automakers currently experiencing financial difficulties, has decided not to renew its sponsorship of the Montreal Jazz Festival (Festival international de jazz de Montréal), one of the world’s largest and most prestigious. Although the actual sponsor was the Canadian division of the corporation, GM brass pulled the plug on the five-year agreement it signed in 2005.
GM had contributed roughly 10 to 12 percent of the festival’s $25-million budget, said various news reports. The 2008 festival attracted more than two million visitors. Festival producers said they do not expect GM’s withdrawal to affect the festival, whose 2009 schedule, according to the New York Times, is set to include appearances by Buddy Guy, Chucho Valdés, Madeleine Peyroux, Patricia Barber, Dave Holland and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, among many others.
http://www.jazztimes.com/columns_and_features/news/detail.cfm?article=11650