Indigenous record label seeks five per cent music mandate at CRTC panel on Canadian content

An Indigenous music label called on the CRTC to mandate five per cent Indigenous music on the airwaves as the first day of proceedings into audio services began Thursday, Sept. 18. The commission is looking at updating the Canadian content (CanCon) regulations for radio and streaming services. Makusham Musique Inc. is a First Nations label operating out of Quebec. President Nelly Jourdain maintained such a large quota is necessary. “Without such a quota, our artists will not be able to occupy the place they deserve in the current Canadian broadcasting system,” Jourdain told the panel. “This is not only a loss for Indigenous communities, but also for Canadian society as a whole, and a missed opportunity for reconciliation.” Another record company was not convinced. Nettwerk Music Group Inc. is a label based in British Columbia. Senior vice president of business and legal affairs Patrick Aldous appeared on behalf of Nettwerk. “Any Canadian regulatory regime should help Canadian and Indigenous artists achieve global success, rather than creating a domestic so-called ‘walled garden’,” he stated. He reminded commissioners that streaming services are a “pull” medium where the listeners determine what they hear as opposed to the “push” medium of radio where programmers make that determination. Music Canada is an umbrella organization representing the large international record companies. In its presentation, it reminded the regulator about the differences between services. “We continue to hear about CanCon on streaming – a regulatory concept designed for radio,” CEO Patrick Rogers said. “And the focus on market share of listening misunderstands the user-driven nature of streaming. These things, if implemented, are tantamount to regulating streaming as though it were radio.” John Murphy, head of the Amazon Music streaming service in Canada, also brought up the dissimilarities between the media. “Streaming is also fundamentally different from radio. Radio spectrum is a scarce public resource, which is the basis for the commission’s traditional regulatory framework,” he reported. “Only a handful of Canadian artists are heard on commercial radio, and listeners can’t choose what they hear on one station. In contrast, Amazon Music seeks to license as much music as possible, creating a vast, on‑demand library where listeners can search for and play virtually any track.” The Community Radio Fund of Canada (CRFC) called upon the commission to keep Canadian content distribution (CCD) levels where they are or even increase them. It lamented that it does not receive as much fiscal support as other granting agencies. “Despite the fact that we support the only stations who are responsible for the vast majority of first spins for emerging Canadian artists, including Indigenous artists, the CRFC receives a half per cent of the allocated funding while FACTOR and Musicaction receive three per cent,” executive director Alex Freedman offered. The president of Stingray Music, a chain of radio stations, said record labels are thriving due to streaming revenues. The same cannot be said for the older medium. “Meanwhile, radio is dealing with an existential crisis,” Steve Jones warned. “Industry revenues have dropped over 30 per cent in the past decade. As our listeners abandon the medium for unregulated platforms, radio stations continue to be required to broadcast levels of Canadian music that far exceed natural demand.” Mark Redmond, president and CEO of satellite broadcaster SiriusXM Canada, said the dichotomy of regulations has had a material impact on business. “Unlicensed competitors are everywhere offering products across every platform that are cheaper, more agile, and free from the license obligations we face,” he told the panel. “Over the last decade, a two-tier system has emerged: one where some companies bear the weight of regulations and others do not.” In its presentation, Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector union which represents broadcasting and telecommunications workers, concentrated on news being presented on local radio stations. It lauded the CRTC for establishing a temporary Commercial Radio News Fund. “Unifor urges the commission to make this fund permanent and should be looking for ways to expand it and enhance it,” Randy Kitt, director of media for the union, stated. “Therefore, foreign digital streamers should contribute, as a CPE , an equitable amount up to 35 per cent minus base contributions, to the Canadian audio broadcasting ecosystem. News was top of mind for Bill Gade, owner of CJ Radio Group, which operates five small stations in rural Manitoba and Saskatchewan. He said his station is using artificial intelligence as a tool to broadcast local news. “We don’t let AI write news itself. I doubt we will ever trust it to do that,” he explained. “We use AI to bring news stories together from staff at different locations or even working at home and present them in a timely manner in format that works for listeners.” The hearings continued Friday, Sept. 19 and are scheduled for Thursday and Friday this week, and Monday, Sept. 29. ppark@thewirereport.ca

Indigenous record label seeks five per cent music mandate at CRTC panel on Canadian content

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By Paul Park
|September 19, 2025

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Indigenous record label seeks five per cent music mandate at CRTC panel on Canadian content

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