Forward Power wrote:

They had better not force anything, let alone Canadian content, onto my Spotify or any online platform where I am a paying user... I pay damn good money for Spotify Premium Duo and Netflix, and as soon as the CRTC forces such platforms to force Canadian content onto us, I won't be getting my money's worth. Thanks to their dumb-as-a-stick algorithm(s), Spotify (and probably all other music streamers, e.g. Apple Music and Amazon Music) already rams no-name no-talent crap that doesn't interest me down my throat as "suggested for you" or "what's new" items, and they already voluntarily push Canadian material, mostly established artists and hit songs, to the top of the "recommended" lists below each of my existing playlists. Sure, there may be some excellent up-and-coming Canadian and Indigenous (and French-language) talent out there, but with all due respect, I want to hear what I want to hear and not what the platforms and their algorithms (and, by extension, the CRTC) want me to hear.

^^ Absolutely agree.

I have always argued the CRTC should keep their noses out of content and let broadcasters and their audiences decide what people want to hear.

The idiotic idea of forcing CanCon on any foreign country's services, especially when they're not even based here, is insane. 

And as I have long maintained, the Internet is NOT the same as broadcasting. It does not use the scarce "public airwaves" and thus should not be regulated in the same way. This is a simple cultural cash grab that can't be justified, but that won't stop them from trying. 

My fear is if they push this too far, the out-of-country services so many here really enjoy will simply decide it's no longer worth the money trying to please irrational regulators, pick up their toys and go home, leaving Canadians with a lot fewer choices. 

And no one wants to see that happen.

paterson1 wrote:

Should be no free lunch for the streamers.  One way or another if they are doing business here and making money here they should be paying taxes and supporting Canadian artists or producers. 

It's not a "free lunch." They pay taxes here like everyone else. But forcing content on them? No way.

Where does it end? Spotify is NOT a Canadian company nor is it a Canadian radio station. They need to pay in the same way other foreign companies do. But no government agency gets to tell U.S.-based Home Depot what products they can sell here or where they must be made. If you don't agree, don't shop there.

Why is broadcasting the only one that gets this ridiculous stipulation attached to it?

paterson1 wrote:

 Besides in many ways it is already happening with Netflix and a few others that are invested here with productions and spending a good amount of cash. 

So why isn't that enough? It can be argued they're already supporting the Canadian industry by spending big bucks here to produce their content. I don't need to see the red and white Maple Leaf flag in everything. Can you imagine the outrage if there was a "U.S. content" regulation for Canadian broadcasters who want to do business down south? The screams would be heard from one border to the other. 

Canada has a great culture. It's fine to argue it should be reflected here and that's one of the missions of the taxpayer supported CBC and it's the mandate of the CRTC. But we shouldn't force anyone else to do it in other countries. And they shouldn't have to do it here. Imagine if American or European producers demanded a certain quota that reflected their culture on our TV or radio stations. It's insane to suggest we do the same with their output.

Let the marketplace decide. Viewers and listeners will tell you what they want to see and hear. Not the government. 

RadioAaron wrote:

The end result of this will be a surtax, 100% of which will be paid by consumers, who will receive nothing in return.

While I fail to dispute your point, I argue that once applied, we'll most likely see a lot more involvement through points programs, no doubt.
Perhaps meaning that Loblaws owned properties eats the difference for us, knowing that you have to shop at only their stores to get these points... (something like that)

Loblaws is already pushing Apple heavily as is... 

Stingray was the first up at the hearings and guess what they asked for? A reduction in the amount of CanCon they have to play and a change to what constitutes a "Canadian" song under the existing definition.

From Broadcast Dialogue:

"The company asserted that the current framework is pushing listeners away from traditional radio and into the arms of unregulated foreign streaming giants..." 

“We can no longer pretend that airing three and a half times the amount of Canadian music that listeners want helps the Canadian music industry grow,” [Stingray Radio president Steve] Jones contended. “All this does is force radio to overplay Canadian songs and push people away from the media.”

My prediction: the CRTC panel has already made up its minds and this is all for show to provide an illusion of "fairness." There's no way Stingray will get their request for less CanCon, although it's possible the Commission could rearrange what constitutes a Canadian song, since the current rules don't make much sense.

Stingray kicks off CRTC hearings calling for overhaul of CanCon rules

Stingray, Rogers, Bell, Vista, Durham, SiriusXM Canada, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, and others are all asking for a reduction of Cancon to about 25%.... Stingray was first to speak, but all of these groups had to submit their interventions here before their respective hearings, which you can read now. 

Even Music Canada (which represents the big three music labels) supports the other half of the request, which is to count every song by a Canadian artist as Canadian.. however, they want the 35% standard to stick around, despite all kinds of research to show it's 3.5x too high....

I actually think these requests have a 50/50 chance of being included in the revised regulations

torontostan wrote:

paterson1 wrote:

France requires Amazon and Netflix to reinvest 20-25% of their French revenues into local film and TV production. Since 2021 over $1 billion has been invested in French content. 

Spain requires that 5% of a services revenues be reinvested in local content.

Canada is primarily English speaking, whereas France and Spain are not. The U.S. is primarily English speaking. Netflix knows that in order to compete in Spain and France, they'd have to produce Spanish and French content anyways. It's completely different in Canada

It is different in Canada as you say, since we are mostly English speaking, but so is Australia...And this should not give streamers a free pass...https://www.screendaily.com/news/australia-puts-streamer-content-quotas-back-on-the-agenda/5204023.article

paterson1 wrote:

torontostan wrote:

paterson1 wrote:

France requires Amazon and Netflix to reinvest 20-25% of their French revenues into local film and TV production. Since 2021 over $1 billion has been invested in French content. 

Spain requires that 5% of a services revenues be reinvested in local content.

Canada is primarily English speaking, whereas France and Spain are not. The U.S. is primarily English speaking. Netflix knows that in order to compete in Spain and France, they'd have to produce Spanish and French content anyways. It's completely different in Canada

It is different in Canada as you say, since we are mostly English speaking, but so is Australia...And this should not give streamers a free pass...https://www.screendaily.com/news/australia-puts-streamer-content-quotas-back-on-the-agenda/5204023.article

Can you tell an English American actor apart from an English Australia actor?
I agree that they should be contributing financially, but Canada is unique due to it's proximity and strikingly similar culture to America, hence Netflix's hesitancy here 

torontostan wrote:

Stingray, Rogers, Bell, Vista, Durham, SiriusXM Canada, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, and others are all asking for a reduction of Cancon to about 25%.... Stingray was first to speak, but all of these groups had to submit their interventions here before their respective hearings, which you can read now. 

Even Music Canada (which represents the big three music labels) supports the other half of the request, which is to count every song by a Canadian artist as Canadian.. however, they want the 35% standard to stick around, despite all kinds of research to show it's 3.5x too high....

I actually think these requests have a 50/50 chance of being included in the revised regulations

The CAB made it clear on Thursday that only a reduction in CanCon requirements will keep our stations competitive with other unregulated services vying for listener attention. 

“If there was an economic argument for 35% CanCon, then the streamers would be doing it already,” added Rod Schween , President of Pattison Media and Chair of the CAB’s CEO Radio Council. “When that option is there for that audience to move to a global player rather than to another Canadian radio station…the CRTC’s own data shows the evidence of that and the impact that’s had on our industry as a whole.”

"...“Anything that detracts from listeners choosing our medium over another one, contributes to those decreases,” he maintained."

‘Status quo will not do,’ CAB warns CRTC hearing

paterson1 wrote:

Less cancon the only thing that would make radio competitive?  I have doubts about that.. 

Nobody is saying that.... they're saying regarding CanCon, the only option is to lower it, not keep it where it is or raise it. They're not suggesting that lowering it is the only aspect that impacts competitiveness. I can look up a reading comprehension class for you, if you're interested in improving your skills later in life?

paterson1 wrote:

torontostan wrote:

paterson1 wrote:

Less cancon the only thing that would make radio competitive?  I have doubts about that.. 

Nobody is saying that.... they're saying regarding CanCon, the only option is to lower it, not keep it where it is or raise it. They're not suggesting that lowering it is the only aspect that impacts competitiveness. I can look up a reading comprehension class for you, if you're interested in improving your skills later in life?

I guess the class would be for RA and myself, since I just repeated what he said in his first line above.  Also I mentioned that I am fine with lowering or updating the cancon regulations.  Never said anything about  keeping everything the same or increasing cancon.  Maybe you should join RA and myself in reading comprehension torontostan??   

Perhaps if you didn't insult others' work in fields you know close to nothing about, and maybe actually read the articles, people would be a little less testy. 

 

You absolutely don't know more than I think, unless you're holding back on some knowledge for some reason.

I never said Bobby Bones saved CIMX money. I said that the arrangement worked well enough as Bell/iHeart got Detroit clearance for the show.

You have no idea what you're talking about when it comes to programming. None. You've clearly never done it. You don't even understand the very basics.

Stay in your lane, whatever that is.

Indigenous groups want 5% of all music played on commercial radio to be by their artists. That would be in addition to existing CanCon quotas.

You can only imagine what broadcasters would do if the CRTC ever tried to officially implement that. 

Indigenous broadcasters advocate for five per cent music quota