Quotas for French-language music will be maintained at 65%, ruled the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which released a revised policy on commercial radio on Wednesday.
“There is no evidence that quotas have a detrimental effect on French-language radio stations by harming their business model or their competitiveness and which would therefore require a reduction in quotas,” writes the federal agency in its decision.
The Quebec Association of the Record, Entertainment and Video Industry (ADISQ) and the Union of Artists (UDA) feared a drop in quotas from 65% to 35% during the week, a recrimination of the main station owners formulated in 2015. During prime time, 55% of the musical content must be French, that is to say that “more than 50% of the duration of the vocal portion of the piece is in French. »
According to the CRTC, which conducted a public opinion poll, “the vast majority of Francophones support the current requirements”. For their part, broadcasters argued that the quotas were “out of step with the interests and listening habits of listeners” and that “it [avait] impact on their income.
Not only does the federal body maintain the ratios in effect since 2006, but it also intends to obstruct English-language musical montages, a ploy used by stations to “bypass regulatory requirements” for French-language content.
Until now, a compilation of several pieces of one minute or more was considered a single piece of music. Each excerpt will now be categorized “on an individual basis”, regardless of length.
“The widespread distribution of montages containing excerpts from English-language (and mostly non-Canadian) musical pieces has the effect of creating a gap between the place actually occupied by French-language music and the levels required by the regulations,” writes the CRTC.
ADISQ “welcomes the new radio policy,” said its president, Eve Paré, but her team was still analyzing the voluminous revision late Wednesday.
Funding Review
The updated commercial radio policy echoes another demand of the industry group: increased and fairer participation by broadcasters in the development of Canadian content.
The CRTC now wants to establish the amount of contributions based on the annual revenues of the ownership groups rather than the profitability of the stations themselves.
According to “preliminary” guidelines, owners who post revenues of less than 10 million would be exempt from the contribution system, while those who earn more than 50 million per year should pay 1% of their income. Between these two scenarios, the rate would be set at 0.5%.
The old policy targeted broadcasters with annual revenues over $1.25 million; they paid 0.5% of the part exceeding this sum as well as $1,000 per year for the development of Canadian content.
“A reduction in the total value of contributions would have serious consequences for Canadian and Quebec musical productions, which have experienced difficulties in recent years,” warned the Ministry of Culture and Communications.
More flexibility
While creators come out ahead in the review, broadcasters also have cause to rejoice as the CRTC relaxes its common ownership policy.
In a market of eight or more commercial radio stations operating in a given language, an owner will be able to control up to four stations – compared to three previously – with a maximum of three stations – formerly two – in the same frequency band. In a market of less than eight stations, a company will be able to own up to three stations, and not just two as was the case until today.
The CRTC recalls that its review was launched in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, shortly after the Government of Canada announced its intention to review the Broadcasting Act. “Elements of this regulatory policy are intended to work under both current law and new law,” he said.
Other changes at a glance
Introduction of a new quota for emerging artists. The CRTC expects commercial radio stations to devote at least 5% of their musical selections to emerging Canadian artists. A musician “is considered an emerging artist until a period of 48 months has elapsed since the release of his first commercial song”, specifies the Council.
Elimination of the policy on hits in bilingual markets. English-language commercial FM radio stations in Montreal and Ottawa/Gatineau were required to limit the number of hits they broadcast to less than 50% of all musical selections broadcast each week.
Integration of Indigenous music into broadcaster playlists and producing an annual report on the amount of Indigenous content broadcast during the year.
Modification of the definition of Canadian musical selections. They must meet two of these three conditions: the music or lyrics are performed primarily by a Canadian; the music was composed primarily (at least 50%) by a Canadian; the lyrics were written primarily (at least 50%) by a Canadian.