The East Coast Music Association board is addressing recent controversy and says they “want to be real with you.”

CEO Blanche Israël was fired in January.

The move came after concerns about other sweeping changes prompted calls for more transparency last fall. Some musicians now even plan to boycott this year’s event.

In a statement on Wednesday, the board says, “We’re not going to sugarcoat it—this has been a really difficult time for ECMA. There’s been frustration, division, and a lot of unanswered questions. You’ve asked us to be transparent and to listen, and we know we haven’t done enough of either.”

They continue that they “made the decision to part ways with our former CEO because by December 2024, we saw serious risks to the ECMA event. There was lost institutional knowledge, decisions being made without Board approval, and legal risks we couldn’t ignore. At that point, we had to act to get things back on track. And, as unfortunate as it is, we had to accept a difficult choice. We recognize and regret that the way we handled it left members feeling blindsided. That’s on us.”

The board says that they recognize “how important it is to rebuild that trust.”

Adding that they are prepared for the upcoming event, they say, “Our team, volunteers, and partners have been working around the clock to make sure this is a moment to celebrate East Coast music—and we need to come together to make that happen.”

The ECMAs will be held in St. John’s, NL from May 7th to 11th.