CanCon regs. came into effect in 1971. 
If he's so against them, he should have said something in the Summer of 69! 

Stingray's Steve Jones has been posting regularly on LinkedIn about CanCon and how the regulations don't square up.

Several Juno award winning songs don't qualify - how does that make sense?

It doesn't and he's right.

OK, I had a look at the page you linked to. Not even once did I think it was overblown or clickbait. Here's the headline:

"Avril Lavigne’s new song with Simple Plan isn’t considered Canadian – here’s why."

I don't see that as being over the top. If the truth is that the tune isn't CanCon, what's wrong with the headline? I really think this is one case where you've gone overboard in your judgment. You have a right to your opinion, of course, I'm just not sure what it's really based on. 

If they'd written something like "Avril Lavigne thought she had a Simple Plan to escape this," I might get your complaint. You'd have to click to find out what "this" is. But there's no such tease in it.

As someone who wrote headlines for a Toronto TV station for a living for over a decade (and got into trouble for some of them that truly were over the top in an effort to be creative) this is as tame as it gets. 

FP, you've just got to calm down. You get overly excited about stuff like this, And it's not even about Trump!

Forward Power wrote:

SOWNY contributor and My Broadcasting Corporation president Jon Pole also chimed in, using one of his stations' websites to share his thoughts on how a new collaboration by Simple Plan and Napanee native Avril Lavigne doesn't qualify as CC. And with this article, MBC News has officially jumped the shark by starting to use clickbait-style forward-referencing headlines - the blithering cancer of today's mainstream media that will not go away. I had no idea that MyFM would stoop so low as to use clickbait headlines... I guess they missed analysts' expectations for clicks in the previous quarter. SHAME! SHAME! SHAME ON EACH AND EVERY MSM ORGANIZATION THAT USES THESE PATHETIC EXCUSES FOR HEADLINES!!!! This is MyFM we're talking about, NOT BUZZFEED OR UPWORTHY OR BLOGTO OR NARCISSISTY - ER, NARCITY!!!!

https://www.napaneetoday.ca/2025/05/09/90601/

A song by Avril who is from Napanee, and a song that includes "Napanee"in the lyrics is a news story in Napanee.   Canadian Content regulations are topic of the day - (this thread as an example).   

I award you no points on your complaint.  I award MBC bonus points for actually having NEWS in Napanee.

I've always disliked the regs., but only because I hate government interference in any programming decisions. But I will concede that CanCon has worked - there is now a fairly robust and thriving music industry in Canada, with stars like Drake and The Weeknd often dominating the charts down south. 

So it's been a success. And I don't believe for a second that if they pulled back or even cancelled the edicts, stations here would suddenly just stop playing the hits from artists from this side of the border. If anything, with the 51st State nonsense going on, they might be tempted to play even more home-grown music.

I think the CanCon rules have served their purpose and now it's time to return those playlist decisions to the people who do this for a living instead of forcing it on them - and us. 

My two cents - and likely all that it's worth!

Stations near the border in Welland and St. Catharines don't really compete that much with US radio, and  have more competition from Toronto/Hamilton radio than Buffalo.  And because commercial radio is all about revenue, dropping cancon on border stations won't make any difference to their bottom line. Canadian advertisers already don't advertise on Buffalo radio other than some tourist operators, and just because the stations north of the border are playing the same music as in Buffalo won't attract any US advertisers to the Canadian stations.   

Cancon should be modified and simplified, even lowered but it is doubtful dropping it altogether would make any difference to the ratings and revenue.  And the CRTC likely would never drop cancon altogether...unless it is somehow tied to any new USMCA negotiations. 

paterson1 wrote:

it is doubtful dropping it altogether would make any difference to the ratings and revenue.  And the CRTC likely would never drop cancon altogether...unless it is somehow tied to any new USMCA negotiations. 

Agreed, they will not drop it outright, however I somewhat disagree about ratings & revenue. Any programmer will be able to tell you that, on average, Cancon songs test far worse than non-qualifying songs.... there's certainly a sweet spot that could've worked, however we're about 3x higher than it should be. Better playlist = better perception of the product..... more time people spend with it, the higher the ratings & revenue. If they made these changes 10 years ago, the industry would be in far better shape and they'd have a far greater impact than the same change now.

paterson1 wrote:

Ten percent cancon would be too low.  Around 25% would be perfect.  Guess I am stubborn but I don't buy the testing of songs equals more revenue and better ratings.  If this were true, why has US radio been in decline much longer than here in Canada? 

Ten, fifteen, even twenty-five years ago US radio conglomerates were declaring bankruptcy, cutting staff, going all automation etc.  They don't have any cancon quota and pioneered the music testing and other research long before Canada.  And yet we see groups like Audacy, Beasley, iheart etc. still not performing well years later, and still cutting back. Last year Cumulus Radio lost over $283 million.  The biggest radio stateside in terms of growth has been religion, country, talk, and inspirational music formats.     

I've always thought 25 per cent would be a reasonable compromise. One song out of every four would ensure that Canadian artists would get a decent amount of airplay but also cut down somewhat on the repeat factor of the burn-outs. Programmers: there's lots of great Canadian music besides the hits - dig deeper!
 

Dale Patterson wrote:

Programmers: there's lots of great Canadian music besides the hits - dig deeper!
 

There really isn't. You don't think they've tried? Radio is a mass medium where most stations must play the best of the best of familiar music to survive... playing a deep cut Cancon is a sure way to get people to tune out

Last edited by torontostan (May 13, 2025 12:42 pm)

paterson1 wrote:

Radio and the music industry are two different animals.  What Canadians listening to on radio and what they buy or download on Spotify are two different things.  Saying that because 10% of the music people buy is Canadian is the correct amount that stations should play is pretty simplistic and comical. People listen to radio, even music oriented stations for more than just music.  25% cancon for most stations would be ideal and still give new local bands a chance of airplay in their own country, rather than just playing the "international" cancon that 10% would allow.

Paterson1 translation: "Canadians love listening to x% of Cancon when they're in charge of what's playing, but when I'm in charge they like x plus 15%" get a grip, it's completely rationale to suggest the broadcasters should be playing what most people would select when they pick their own music. It's a mass medium. Nobody listens to radio for the Cancon..... they listen because it's free entertainment. Mandating a minimum above what people enjoy is admitting that it's a liability to air too much of it..... let the market decide and get the governments paws off of the content decisions

paterson1 wrote:

Why would you not compare our situation to US radio?    The path that you are proposing musically would make Canadian radio a carbon copy of the US.  That seems to be what some in the industry are looking for thinking that this will allow somehow increase ratings or revenue, or compete better with US radio.  We aren't competing right now with them, and in terms of ratings and revenue growth, very doubtful.  People want more than just music from radio.  

One regulation change isn't going to make us a carbon copy of an industry in a different country.... try again. Radio in the US is in the state it's in because there were no limits on common ownership, there was no adoption of 21st century technology like DAB, and station ownership groups got into a pricing war in the 2000s that drove commercial prices to 10% their previous worth, all while commercial breaks exceeded a quarter of all airtime. You have no concept of what's best to run a business if you think the government imposing an arbitrary amount of crap content on a station is somehow going to help the situation. If you're joking about all of this... very good, you fooled me

Example #1.  CKLW 800.

Example #2.  Every station currently broadcasting.

Radio revenue and audience are down.  Why?  Competition from streaming. There are many reasons - but one of the main reasons is CanCon.  Specifically - the need to play non hits to meet requirements followed closely by the over playing of actual hits to reduce the number of non hits. 

There are genuinely awesome Canadian artists and songs. They will always find a home.   Your 10% example is 100% accurate for US airplay of CC.  Around the world Canadian music is punching above its weight class.

That said - we don't have to tie broadcasters hands...  it's time to make it make sense.  25% and 2 parts MAPL is logical all day long.  Good for everyone.

Keep in mind... radio contributes millions of dollars back into the development of Canadian music... don't kill the goose.