Do you know anybody whose CD collection is 50% Canadian? Does anyone really believe that the Americans are “invading” Canadian minds and threatening our culture? Can you really call someone a home invader, when you have invited them in and paid them for their visit?
The rogue’s gallery of groups lining up to line their pockets with your money is diverse. The most shameless are those representing Canadian recording artists, and their fellow travellers, who claim to represent public broadcasting. These groups won’t admit they are trying to enhance their prestige, power and portfolios. Instead, they wrap themselves in the Maple Leaf and portray themselves as fighting for Canadian culture. You are supposed to believe that the Canadian recording industry is Hans Solo, making the Canadian private broadcasting industry Darth Vader.
The Canadian record business wants the private broadcasters to play four Canadian tunes for every 10 tunes you hear. Forty per cent Canadian content is the objective du jour.
When I was spinning ‘em back in the ‘70s, it was 30%. Eight years ago the CRTC, the federal agency which plays the role of national communications referee, boosted the Canadian Content (CanCon) number to 35%. Most observers believe that it is just a matter of time before broadcasters are forced to play 50% Canadian content.
The so-called artists who want to get their work on the radio have zero confidence in the free market. They don’t trust you to make your own buying and downloading decisions. They feel that the only way you will support their music is to be attacked with it over and over and over again for long periods of time by radio stations. They accuse the radio station ownership of putting profits before people. But the people they are talking about are not consumers.
They are the small handful of people who want their records played. Just because the consumer buys all those products advertised on the radio doesn’t mean that they are entitled to have their favourite tunes played. That sense of entitlement belongs exclusively to the phoney flag wavers who call themselves artists.
This isn’t to say that some of the artists aren’t radioworthy. But how much exposure do they need? No matter how much you admire Tom Cochrane or Bryan Adams, Randy Bachman or Teenage Head, at some point your nervous system screams, “Enough already!” You respond in one of several ways. You hit the button and come to my talk show. A wise decision. Thank you very much for that. You can surf to another FM station. Or you download your own music and iPOD your way to Individualist Heaven.
Regardless of which quota the CRTC chooses to impose, its message to the consumer is clear. If you want to listen to your favourite tunes, you’re on your own. We have Canadian culture to look after and these recording artists are the guardians at the gate. If you don’t hear them with great frequency, the American invasion will be complete. Yes, we know you can go to the Internet and your new satellite services. But those didn’t exist in the halcyon days of Pierre Trudeau and his CRTC soulmate, Pierre Juneau. So we would just as soon continue to spin this golden oldie of ideas from Canada’s dinosaur juke box.
Please don’t kid yourself, folks. This isn’t about protecting our country or its art. Find me a real artist who thinks the government ought to force art galleries to ensure that half their collections are Canadian. Know anyone who wants the government to force the symphonies to play 50% Canadian music?
This issue is about one thing only. Money. Canada’s music recording entitlement culture, in the name of Canadian culture, wants a fatter slice of BEAVER PIE.
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- A sour note on CanCon music regs - Wednesday May 17, 2006 at 7:36 am
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