Jason Collett plays Wednesday as part of the Festival Music House. Image courtesy Rockit Promo.

Now in its third year, TIFF’s Festival Music House was started by a few members of the Canadian music industry with one fairly simple goal: give Canadian musicians a chance to perform in front of film industry players, thereby improving their chances of having their song featured in a movie.

“With TIFF, this major global powerhouse of a festival, being in Toronto, there’s certainly the opportunity for some of the other artistic disciplines to access the film world,” says Arts and Crafts Records president Jeffrey Remedios. (Arts and Crafts is one of the show’s producers.) “The music industry kind of went ‘How can we showcase our emerging and established artists?’ Festival Music House was kind of the genesis of trying to achieve those goals.”

Remedios explains that acts are selected by a five-person jury out of a field of roughly 300 submissions, with jury members drawn from “various corners of the music industry.” Fifteen artists and bands will play over three nights (Festival Music House began last night and runs through Wednesday) at The Mod Club. The invite-only audience will consist mostly of film industry insiders, who will be on the lookout for potentially licensable material.

“We’re not looking at genres, or what kind of music could fit in the film world, because who’s to say what doesn’t fit,” he says. “I think all different sorts of music could fit in a film. We’re just going ‘Who is the most exciting and engaging that is available?’”

This year’s edition of the Festival Music House features a wide variety of acts, including heavy rockers Monster Truck, pop-rock-rap hybridizers Down with Webster, and self-described “world beat haute rock” band Young Empires. Empires bassist Matthew Vlahovich says that the Music House gives bands like his a crucial business opportunity in an era where licensing songs for TV and film is what he calls a “lifeline” for independent bands.

“We like to try to be involved with as many different artistic communities as possible,” he says. “We’ve been involved with Toronto Fashion Week and various art fairs. Being involved with the film world is just a no-brainer for us. We’ve already had our music in a few TV shows in the US, and every band at our stage hopes to get [a song] in a feature film.”

Singer-songwriter and Broken Social Scenester Jason Collett is also playing this year’s edition of the Festival Music House. As an artist who’s already had songs licensed for several films, and describes licensing arrangements as a “substantial part of my bread and butter,” Collett says that playing the House is partially a way of telling the film industry to “keep up the good work.” More than that, however, it’s also a unique gig and a good time.

“It carries with it all the hoopla of TIFF,” Collett says. “There’s a good energy in town, people are going to parties, people are eating canapes and sipping cocktails. It’s a bit of a funny one, but it’s fun.”

Car Window is one of the pieces featured in the "Down the Rabbit Hole" art show. Photo courtesy of artist Emily Scherzinger.

SPORT/MUSIC: The Move to the Beat double-decker London bus has rolled into Toronto, bringing all sorts of Olympic-inspired fun with it. Play ping-pong, join the dance activities, try out the Olympic gaming stations, and check out sets from Classified, Down With Webster, and Coca Cola COVERS Much Music award winners Tyler Shaw (2012) and Danyka Nadeau (2011). (Yonge-Dundas Square), activities start at 1 p.m., concert at 5:30 p.m., FREE.

FOOD/ART: Slideluck Potshow is bringing their unique mash-up of slideshows and potluck meals to Toronto for the third time. This year’s edition, GRILLED, has photographers challenging the conventional perceptions of summer, from lazy cottage days to tranquil beach scenes, and features emerging artists from Toronto and abroad. Space is limited; reserve a spot here. Cooper Cole (1161 Dundas Street West), 7–10 p.m., $5 or FREE with potluck contribution.

JUST ART: Steam Whistle Brewing’s August Art Show “Down The Rabbit Hole” is just what it sounds like—an exploration of fantasy worlds, the bizarre and ethereal. Artists Claire Scherzinger, Emily Scherzinger, Emily Taylor, Alex Thompson, Michael Rennick, Michelle Rocca, Rachel Duffy, and Kelly Stevenson have all delved into the unknown to create paintings, drawings, and photographs depicting natural elements in different realms. Steam Whistle Brewing (255 Bremner Boulevard), opening party is 7–11 p.m., exhibit runs all month, FREE.

Urban Planner is Torontoist‘s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.

If you had to name an early winner following the announcement of the 2012 JUNO Award nominees, it would have to be William Shatner.

The Montreal native, best known to those under 25 as “the Priceline guy,” received the biggest pop when he was announced as the host for the 43rd edition of the awards. Say what you will about Captain Kirk’s famously wooden acting style, but the man is clearly a Canadian icon.

The reception was considerably less generous for LMFAO. The crowd of journalists, artists, and record industry-types who crowded the trading floor at Bay Street’s Design Exchange were scarcely able to restrain their laughter when the Californian electro-pop duo’s album Sorry for Party Rocking was announced as one of the nominees for International Album of the Year, along with Rihanna, Coldplay, Lady Gaga, and Adele.

For those interested in the local scene, Toronto-based artists did fairly well in terms of nominations.

Drake and Nova Scotian transplant Feist received four nods each, which tied them with Dan Mangan, City and Colour, Hedley, and Nickelback for the most nominated artists. Both Drake and Feist received artist of the year noms, while Drake’s Take Care was nominated for album of the year. Niagara-born, Toronto-based Deadmau5—who showed up in costume to announce a few nominees—was nominated for artist of the year in spite of the fact that he hasn’t actually released an album since late 2010.

Beyond the biggies, artists from the megacity dominated some genres, while being surprisingly underrepresented in others. Three of the five nominations in the hip-hop category went to locals, with Drake, D-Sisive, and Kardinal Offishall all getting recognized; a similar number of area artists—Azari & III, Austra, and Arthur Oskan—received nods in the electronic category. Torontonians completely, and somewhat unsurprisingly, dominated the reggae nominations: all five went to local artists, specifically Dubmatix, Exco Levi, Jay Douglas, Steele, and Tanya Mullings. The city’s strong, but largely ignored, metal scene also did surprisingly well, with two of the five nods going to Torontonians: one to old dogs Anvil and another to relative newcomers, Cauldron. Similarly, the 416 did fairly well when it came to the New Artist category, with Diamond Rings and Lindi Ortega both getting nominated. Fucked Up and Timber Timbre were both nominated for Alternative Album of the Year.

Somewhat surprisingly, Down with Webster was the only local representative in the Group of the Year category, and there were technically no Torontonians nominated into the Single of the Year bracket (although the city could probably claim Brampton’s Johnny Reid if it was so inclined). The Rural Alberta Advantage were the only locals to get nominated for Best New Group.

Beyond the huge pop for Shatner and the incongruous sight of a man in a giant foam head speaking into a microphone at a press conference, there weren’t many surprises at this year’s JUNO announcements. Big sellers topped the marquee categories, while critical darlings received love in the smaller ones, and the devilled eggs were delicious.

CORRECTION: February 7, 3:18 PM This article originally had spelled Nickelback as “Nickleback” and Rihanna as “Rhianna.” The above has been corrected.