The Review of the Canadian Music Industry: Recommendations Issued

The Review of the Canadian Music Industry report offers 10 recommendations to the Government of Canada.

parliament

 

The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage just released its recommendations following the conclusion of the Review of the Canadian Music Industry. As you already know if you’ve been following along with us, the Standing Committee had the mandate to:

  • inform Committee members of the details and impacts of the government support on Canadian music, as well as the creators and entrepreneurs who create and distribute music in Canada
  • determine how funding is allocated
  • and finally, establish whether the government support is meeting objectives laid out for it, and to make recommendations to the government on how it might strengthen support for Canadian music, and report its findings to the House.

Over the course of the review, the Committee held 14 meetings where it heard from 82 witnesses and received 15 briefs. Resulting from this, the Committee members built the report around 5 key themes:

  • Digital distribution and streaming
  • Music education
  • Music tourism
  • Current funding – future investment
  • FACTOR/Musicaction

 

The recommendations were:

1. The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada examine the time that it takes for decisions to be rendered by the Copyright Board of Canada ahead of the upcoming review of the
Copyright Act so that any changes could be considered by the Copyright Board of Canada as soon as possible.

2. The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada work with provincial authorities and other stakeholders to improve the musical knowledge and skills of Canadians.

3. The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada work with stakeholders in order to launch an information campaign on the actual cost of creating music, the negative impacts of illegal downloading and the importance of respecting the intellectual property of music creators, with an outcome of assisting the music industry in terms of improved measures and initiatives related to these issues, including preventing piracy.

4. The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada work with stakeholders from the Canadian music industry and the Canadian tourism industry to make music tourism in Canada a focus of marketing campaigns.

5. The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada study the economic impact of introducing a tax credit to support the Canadian music industry, taking inspiration, if needed, from those granted to the film and television industries.

6. The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada undertake a study of the impact of digital technology on the Canadian music industry and on government funding programs.

7. The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage ensure that the various components of the Canada Music Fund reflect the changes in Canada’s music industry, including potential new sources of funding from the private sector, with special attention given to creators, entrepreneurs and independent producers.

8. The Committee recommends that the administration of the Music Entrepreneur Component of the Canada Music Fund be transferred from the Department of Canadian Heritage to a new third-party organization(s) based on the model of FACTOR and Musicaction.

9. The Committee recommends that the Department of Canadian Heritage ensure that the general public and recipients are aware that FACTOR and Musicaction funding is made on behalf of the Government of Canada.

10. The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada give the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission the capacity to enforce the requirement for the private broadcasters to pay, in a timely manner, the required annual contribution for Canadian content development.

Several of these recommendations are consistent with CIMA’s advocacy positions on the need to modernize the Copyright Board and the importance of ensuring that the CRTC is adequately equipped to deal with issues surrounding CCD compliance. In addition, the report makes mention (on several occasions) to one of the central points of CIMA’s testimony: the need for continued government support for production, marketing and touring.