East Coast music promoters say federal funding cuts to arts and cultural programs could be the death knell to the local music industry.

The federal government is eliminating two programs worth nearly $14 million. The PromArt program subsidizes international promotional tours for Canadian artists, while the Trade Routes program helps promote cultural exports abroad.

Shelley Nordstrom, international program manager for the East Coast Music Association, said the cuts will have a wider effect since the money was a springboard to further grants.

"I don't know what the future holds," she told CBC News Wednesday.

"The way our other funding partners work is they also look for matched contributions, so that's why it was a key component in the infrastructure of our export strategy and our international programs."

Nordstrom said The Barra MacNeils, The Cottars and J.P. Cormier are some of the artists who have benefited from the funding programs.

Andre Bourgeois, an artist manager in Nova Scotia, said the programs help bring international music scouts to the East Coast, resulting in many local performers travelling overseas.

'Positive results'

"It's really the one aspect and one element of the entire ECMA weekend and conference from year to year that keeps me coming back. I always make it a priority. I always have as many meetings as I can, and they almost always bring positive results for the people I work with," he said.

The PromArt program is scheduled to end at the end of March.

A spokesman for the Conservative government has suggested the groups getting the money were not ones the government believes should be representing Canada.

One example cited was the Toronto indie band Holy F---, which received funding last year to help with a tour of the U.K.

Nordstrom said she plans to work with the Canada Council of the Arts to lobby the federal government to keep the funding programs alive.