Can-Con laws vs demand?

[tall_guy1]

Listening to Canadian stations, I notice them spinning a lot of songs which got no spins in the US, and are gold tracks like Felix Cartel-You Get What You Give (a cover of the 90s song in a more EDM way) and These Days by Mackenzie Porter. I don't notice much "American " Canadian artists (ie Avril Lavigne) except Alessia Cara and Shania Twain, but usually otherwise hear the top songs from the US. I am guessing they must test as well as they can to be selected. However, I am really unsure whether or not they really get the attention of Canadian listeners or if they are not songs they want to hear.

 

[fordranger797]

I’m not Canadian. I’m American, but live in Canada. I’ll share my thoughts on can-con. I think can-con can be great, depending on the radio station and their approach to airing Canadian content. I discovered one of the best radio stations I’ve ever heard after I moved here (CHBM in Toronto). I don’t live in Toronto, so I usually stream it while I’m at work. I really appreciate their approach to the classic hits radio format. I’ve discovered a ton of songs that I’ve never heard before that I really like. At the same time, there are some songs that don’t quite do it for me, but that’s true for any radio format.

At the same time, my local classic hits radio station takes a different approach. They air can-con (obviously), but seem to have a different approach. They seem to load up their playlist with music that is more common to an American audience. Barenaked Ladies, Rush, Nickelback, Finger 11, Alanis Morisette, etc. That approach doesn’t really do much for me. I prefer the variety of music that I’ve discovered over relying only on the songs that hit internationally and riding them too hard.

 

[Andy Travis]

Also, alternative rock stations seem to be performing better in Canada.

And most of them actively embrace CanCon as music discovery & championing of artists. Also, if you're in areas where you can hear CKKQ out of Victoria, their playlist of classic rock with Canadian acts included is refreshing vs the other regional powerhouse classic rocker KISM - which is very predictable.

 

[TheBigA]

I am guessing they must test as well as they can to be selected.

You assume that Canadian stations use research the way American stations do. I'm not sure you can make that assumption.

The have to follow CanCon laws regardless of how popular the songs are. The music that is promoted by record labels in Canada is quite often only marketed in Canada. Paul Brandt is a popular Canadian singer who doesn't have a US distribution deal.

 

[tall_guy1]

You assume that Canadian stations use research the way American stations do. I'm not sure you can make that assumption.

The have to follow CanCon laws regardless of how popular the songs are. The music that is promoted by record labels in Canada is quite often only marketed in Canada. Paul Brandt is a popular Canadian singer who doesn't have a US distribution deal.

Isn't that how the individual songs are chosen though? Cancon just states they must be from Canadian artists I think.

 

[TheBigA]

Isn't that how the individual songs are chosen though? Cancon just states they must be from Canadian artists I think.

Like everything, it depends. Canada has government owned radio, which is the CBC. There is also privately owned radio. Both run commercials (although the CBC runs fewer commercials than private radio), so music decisions are made differently.

 

[fybush]

There are no commercials on CBC radio.

 

[tall_guy1]

Like everything, it depends. Canada has government owned radio, which is the CBC. There is also privately owned radio. Both run commercials (although the CBC runs fewer commercials than private radio), so music decisions are made differently.

There definitely are some different gold selections. I heard one from Natalie Imbruglia (not Canadian) that never gets any kind of US airplay, so there might be a different selecting process, perhaps.

 

[TheBigA]

There are no commercials on CBC radio.

I was led to believe they added a few as a result of the budget cuts. That may have changed. This story is from 2013:

Canada’s Embattled CBC to Run Ads on Radio

The broadcast regulator CRTC approved plans to put national commercials on the channel's stations.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[PTBoardOp94]

There might be a different selecting process, perhaps.

Or just different consumer preferences.

I'll use an analogy to cuisine. A middle-class restaurant in Paris, France will serve different things than one in Festus, Missouri. Both of them are serving what sells in their neighborhood.

The Canadian consumer is not the same as the US consumer. Including demographically: the largest racial minorities in Canada are east Asian (China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan etc.), then first nations, then black (who are predominantly recent immigrants from Haiti, Jamaica, Cameroon and DRC).

 

[fybush]

I was led to believe they added a few as a result of the budget cuts. That may have changed. This story is from 2013:

Canada’s Embattled CBC to Run Ads on Radio

The broadcast regulator CRTC approved plans to put national commercials on the channel's stations.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

They did a short-term experiment with limited national advertising on Radio 2 (now CBC Music) and its French equivalent, but it ended after a couple of years.

There has been no advertising on the flagship Radio 1 and ICI Premiere networks since the 1970s.

 

[TheBigA]

They did a short-term experiment with limited national advertising on Radio 2 (now CBC Music)

Thanks for the info. This discussion is specifically about music policies in Canadian radio.

If they have no commercials, then the appeal to advertisers doesn't exist as it does with US commercial radio.

Music policy at non-com music stations in the US is very different from commercial stations for that reason.

 

[DavidEduardo]

You assume that Canadian stations use research the way American stations do. I'm not sure you can make that assumption.

Actually, I have chatted with people from several of the largest research companies in the US and they all do projects in Canada. Both perceptual projects like focus groups and format searches as well as quantitative projects like music tests and subject tests (for talk) are done the same way as in the US.

Obviously, music tests have some sort options that highlight CanCon material, and that may be as simple as color coding the data. There may be some more sophisticated procedures such as cluster/factor analysis, too... but since most testing is done online now with each person doing fewer song, you can no longer do cluster analysis if the entire sample has not heard the entire library.

The have to follow CanCon laws regardless of how popular the songs are. The music that is promoted by record labels in Canada is quite often only marketed in Canada. Paul Brandt is a popular Canadian singer who doesn't have a US distribution deal.

Each station has its own test list for its own format. While some of the groups may test only one market if they are in, let's say, three or four markets in the Prairie Provinces, they would still rotate between Winnipeg, Calgary, Lethbridge, and Regina or split online tests between two or more markets to get a good sample.

It's up to the station that buys the research to figure out the rotations and other codings and classifications to comply with CanCon.

 

[DavidEduardo]

I'll use an analogy to cuisine. A middle-class restaurant in Paris, France will serve different things than one in Festus, Missouri. Both of them are serving what sells in their neighborhood.

That is a perfect analogy. Just as tastes in Meridian, MS are different than those in Bozeman, MT. Two small markets, but vastly different attitudes (cue Jimmy Buffett immediately!) and cultural values.

The Canadian consumer is not the same as the US consumer. Including demographically: the largest racial minorities in Canada are east Asian (China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan etc.), then first nations, then black (who are predominantly recent immigrants from Haiti, Jamaica, Cameroon and DRC).

And the songs that are tested in Halifax are not going to rank identically to Vancouver's list and may even have some differences in the songs that "just don't test well".

The real difference in Canada is that the government for decades restricted the number of stations in each market area so that all could make enough revenue to do adequate programming. And, for the same decades long period, Top 40 could not be done on FM to increase "variety", so there are songs, artists and formats that behave a bit differently than in over-crowded US markets.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Music policy at non-com music stations in the US is very different from commercial stations for that reason.

And when you go to nations with multiple government music formats, such as done by the BBC in England, there is an even greater influence from stations without commercials that goes beyond the songs.

Interestingly, the only nations in The Americas that have restrictions on the origin of music are Canada and Venezuela. And in Venezuela, the collapse of the economy has destroyed the music industry and there is vastly less product available; the number of stations on the air has declined by about 60% in the last 10 years.

I've always wondered about the government regulation of taste, and content control like this is part of that issue.

 

[TheBigA]

I've always wondered about the government regulation of taste, and content control like this is part of that issue.

Some think the first amendment is supposed to keep gov't out of such things. Except in certain states.