(Montreal) Quebec musicians are pinning their hopes on Bill C-11 so that Francophones listen more to music from here on streaming music services.
About 30% of albums in physical format sold in Quebec in 2022 were recorded by Quebec artists, according to the Institut de la statistique du Québec. However, on online music services, such as Spotify, YouTube or Google Play Music, the proportion of listens associated with Quebec performers drops to around 8%.
Such data worry David Bussières, a musician who sits on the board of directors of the Union des artistes.
Many listeners listen to songs that are recommended to them by algorithms. However, these are aimed at the widest audience globally and tend to recommend artists singing in English, deplores Mr. Bussières.
Quebec’s cultural identity will be weakened if Quebecers ignore local musicians more than in the past, he adds.
“Result: the Quebec public is not exposed enough to his music. As he is not sufficiently exposed, he does not know it well enough”, underlines Mr. Bussières, one of two members of the Alfa Rococo duo.
Bill C-11, currently before the Senate, would help boost the visibility of French-speaking musicians by requiring online music services to promote local artists, he says.
If passed, the law would require foreign online music services to “reflect and support Canada’s linguistic duality by giving prominence to the creation, production and broadcasting of programs in the original French language, including those from French-speaking minorities.
Artists get low royalties every time one of their songs is played on an online music service. For example, a song played a million times on Spotify will generate $5,000 in income for the artist, says Mr. Bussières. However, musicians use online music services to build an audience to watch their concerts, which can help them get engaged at major festivals.
But if they can’t establish an audience, up-and-coming musicians will find it difficult to make a living from their art, says Bussières.
“Eventually, this will diminish the impact that music from here will have on the public. Our cultural identity will be weakened. »
In November, the Statistical Institute of Quebec reported that only four Quebec artists were among the 50 most listened to performers on streaming music services in Quebec from October 15, 2021 to October 13, 2022. Les Cowboys dashing are the most popular at the 16e place, ahead of Charlotte Cardin (17e) – of which several songs are in English –, Enima (19e) and FouKi (39e).
Ève Paré, the general manager of ADISQ, believes that Quebecers want to listen to music produced by local musicians, but it is more difficult for them to find it. Record stores used to play a lot of Quebec songs, she recalls.
When compact discs dominated, Quebec artists accounted for about half of sales, argues Mme Ready.
Listeners cannot search for what they do not yet know. They rely on algorithms and preset song lists. Online music services do not give precedence to Quebec artists, deplores Mme Ready.
The director general of ADISQ supports Bill C-11. She argues that music plays an important role in Quebec culture.
“It’s a social bond. We all have memories associated with certain songs. I think of the songs of my adolescence, for example. People of my generation share one of the memories associated with the same songs. It is part of a collective heritage. »
However, opponents of the bill claim that it will not necessarily help Quebec artists.
In September, Nathan Wisziak, Spotify’s head of label and artist partnerships, told a Senate committee that its online music service allowed listeners to discover artists they’d never heard on the radio.
“Seven of the top ten Franco-Canadian artists broadcast on stream are independent rappers and only two of them are currently on the charts of Canadian French-language radio stations,” he said.
Mr. Wisziak wants rules that “should provide Canadian consumers with options and maintain control over their listening experience.”
The bill has also faced criticism from content creators who fear they won’t be able to meet Canadian content requirements and civil liberties advocates who reject increased state regulation of the internet.
Sara Bannerman, a communications professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, fears a blur in the way the CRTC will use its new powers given to it by law.
She points out that the CRTC may not force music services and other platforms to change their algorithms. It could instead opt for promotional campaigns aimed at encouraging Canadian content or forcing companies to facilitate searches for a type of music.
The PD Bannerman believes that algorithms should be accessible to independent researchers and the CRTC. Recommendations by an algorithm are not neutral, she adds. They can add bias to popular content. They can also generate biases based on race or gender.