A long -awaited length CRTC Examination of Canadian content rules began. The result will affect music, radio and audio and video streaming.
Radio, for example, works in many regulations that have been in place since 1971. There have been some adjustments along the way, but no Cancon’s review was made in the streaming era. It is time for a serious update.
Cancon has been both useful and controversial, and it is instructive to know a little of its history.
Before 1970, there was not many music industry in Canada compared to many other countries. We had almost zero music infrastructure. Most record companies were branch plant operations for foreign labels, while national companies were small and in difficulty. We didn’t have much to record studios, producers, promoters or managers.
Globally, we were a musical turmoil. Any Canadian artist who wanted to do the big one knew he had to leave. Neil Young,, Joni MitchellPaul Anka, Leonard Cohen and other promising stars bolted for the United States.
But things had started to change in culture. In 1965, we obtained our own flag, raising the shoulders of an important part of British colonialism. Then came Expo 67 in Montreal, which had the interesting effect of increasing our pride with regard to our culture. There were more discussions on what it meant to be Canadian. One point of agreement was that for a separate Canadian identity, Canadians had to be able to tell their stories.
One way to do it is music. And if Canada were to produce its own BeatlesLots of work had to be done.
After a lot of lobbying, the Canadian content rules for radio entered into force on January 18, 1971. Original requests were that 30% of all the music on the radio must have been of Canadian origin (more about it in an instant).
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First of all, it was a cultural strategy that gave a compulsory exhibition to Canadian artists who made the note. Second, it was an industrial strategy designed to create a national infrastructure of disk labels, recording studios, promoters, places, managers, national reservation agencies – all these things you need to support music on a national scale. The needs of the radio have created a request. A new market was born.
The radio hated the new rules, because at the start, a large part of the music it was forced to play was objectively lower than that of the international versions. But during the next decade, we have caught up. As the 90s arrived, Canada had a robust domestic music scene and exported much more material to the rest of the world than a country of our population had the right to do so. Things were so good that radio levels for radio were increased to 35%. Some new radio stations have promised 40%.
Then the internet arrived. Traditional terrestrial radio stations were now in competition with the whole world, especially after streaming in the higher ends. (TV, which also has its own Cancon rules, was also faced with increasing competition from wired channels and American streamers.) However, the 1971 rules remained unchanged.
There was great pressure for the reform in 2005, but all the suggestions presented by the radio industry were watered down or completely rejected. Meanwhile, the landscape of entertainment and the media continued to evolve quickly.
There have been attempts to modify the status quo, especially with the Online streaming actotherwise known as Bill C-11Who wants streamers to behave five percent investments in Canadian culture once they have made $ 25 million in the country. Streamrs and major labels are vehemently against this. Meanwhile, Canadian radio continues to pump millions in the development and promotion of Canadian talents.
A starting point for these new audiences is to modify the bureaucratic definition of Cancon. As it stands, we use the MAPP system, which attributes a point to a song if (a) music was written by a Canadian, (b) the artist is Canadian and (c) the lyrics are written by a Canadian.
The “P” in this system is problematic. It does not represent the “producer” as you expect. Instead, implies a convoluted problem involving live recording made in Canada, then broadcast worldwide.
There are many of us in the industry (including me) who want “P” to be converted into a producer. Given the role that a producer plays in the manufacture of music, they deserve credit. Canada has also produced many superstar producers, including Bob Ezerin (Pink Floyd, Kiss, Alice Cooper), Bob Rock (Metallica, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi), Garth Richardson (Rage Against The Machine, Chevelle against) and Gavin Brown (Three Days Grace, Billy Talent, Mother Mother). Shouldn’t their contributions be recognized as part of the Canadian of a song? I think yes.
What could be changed elsewhere? What about giving additional credit to radio stations that come out on a member by playing new unknown artists? Another option is to give classic rock and classic stations a break on their Cancon load. After all, they no longer make music from old music, so to hit this 35%quota, their reading lists are filled with songs burned by The Guess Who, Bto, Rush, Neil Young and so on. Bill C-11 must be examined carefully so that terrestrial radio is not alone with regard to the financial support of Canadian music.
The result of this new series of two -week audiences experienced a difficult start last Tuesday when NetflixParamount and Apple All decided not to appear at the last minute. Music Canada, the lobbies group for the main labels, is also recorded to oppose a large part of what is in Bill C-11.
If you want to see the hearings, which will continue for the rest of the month, you can Watch them online.
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