People in Quebec are increasingly streaming music online, but they’re listening less to French-speaking artists. Members of the state’s music industry hope this trend will be reversed with new federal legislation.
Nearly 30% of physical albums sold in Quebec in 2022 were by Quebec artists, the province’s statistics agency announced in mid-December 2022. cent of play.
Such statistics worry David Boussiere, a musician who serves on the board of the Union des Artists, a labor organization representing musicians and other performers.
Much of the music people listen to online is recommended by algorithms, he said in an interview, which serves audiences around the world and recommends popular artists who perform in English rather than French. He added that there is a tendency to
If Quebecers become less conscious about Quebec musicians than they have been in years past, Quebec’s cultural identity will be undermined, he said.
“As a result, Quebec audiences are not getting enough exposure to the music. They don’t know enough about it,” said Bouchiere, one half of electropop duo Alpha Rococo.
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Bill C-11, now before the Senate, seeks to increase Quebec citizens’ exposure to local French-speaking artists by requiring streaming platforms to promote local musicians, including French-speaking artists. he said it would help.
Under the bill, foreign online streaming services would be forced to “reflect and support Canada’s linguistic duality by emphasizing the creation, production and broadcasting of original French programming.” increase.
Artists make money every time their songs are streamed online, but not by much. However, the artist has used her streaming platform to build audiences that buy tickets for her concerts, leading to bookings for large festivals.
If new artists can’t find an audience, they will struggle to make a living as musicians, Bussières said.
“Eventually, the music from here will have less influence on the masses and our cultural identity will be undermined.”
In November, the Quebec Bureau of Statistics announced that only four of Quebec’s 50 most-heard artists on streaming services are from Quebec. Quebec’s number one artist was folk-rock group Les Her Cowboys Fringants, which was number 16.
Yves Palais, executive director of Quebec’s music industry association, said Quebecers want to hear local music, but are just having trouble finding it. Record stores prominently displayed local music, Pare said in an interview.
When CDs dominated Quebec people’s music consumption, local artists accounted for about half of sales, she says.
Music consumers rely on algorithms and curated playlists because they can’t search for what they don’t know, she said. She added that Quebec artists never get enough attention on her streaming platform.
Pare, who is also a proponent of Bill C-11, says music plays an important role in Quebec culture.
“It’s a social connection. We all have memories associated with certain songs. It is part of our collective heritage.”
But critics of the bill, which would put streaming services under the jurisdiction of the Radio, Television and Telecommunications Commission of Canada, say it won’t necessarily help Quebec artists.
Spotify’s head of artist and label partnerships, Nathan Wiszniak, told a Senate committee in September that Spotify’s platform will let users discover artists they’d never hear on the radio.
“For example, seven of the top 10 most-streamed French-Canadian artists are independent rappers, and only two of them are currently on the French-Canadian radio charts. ‘, he told the commission. Users should remain in “control of their listening experience,” he said.
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The bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives, has also faced criticism from content creators who fear it will not meet Canada’s content requirements, and liberals who refuse to allow the government to tighten internet controls.
Sarah Bannerman, a professor of communications at McMaster University, said it was unclear how government regulators would use the new powers granted under the bill.
A member of Quebec’s music industry wants legislation to force platforms to change their algorithms, but she said that may not be the approach taken by the CRTC. Regulators may rely on promotional her campaigns to support Canadian content or force streaming companies to make certain types of content easier to find.
Bannerman said the streaming service’s algorithms should be accessible to independent researchers and the CRTC. Recommendations Algorithms are not neutral, they tend to be biased towards popular content, she added, and may also be racially and gender biased.
Bussières said increasing the visibility of Quebec artists on streaming sites is important for a healthy Quebec music industry and a strong culture.
“When we celebrate Fet National, when we celebrate something, when we celebrate our culture, it’s mostly through music.”
