Happy Canada Day

1 year ago by Alan Cross | June 26, 2009 3:45 pm

Happy Canada Day! And with that in mind, here’s a quick history of CanCon.

On January 18, 1971, it became law for all Canadian radio stations to devote at least 30% of their playlists to Canadian music. What qualified as "Canadian" can be complicated, so we’ll leave that for another time.

Why put in this quota? Because before 1971, there really wasn’t much of a Canadian music industry: few record labels, few studios, few managers and few promoters. The Canadian Content rules were more than just a way to give Canadian music a chance to develop against all the material that was coming in from the US and the UK. It was also an industrial strategy that forced the creation of an infrastructure which would give Canadian artists the tools they needed to succeed and for a Canadian music fans to hear Canadian music.

It was a struggle, but now our music and our music industry has developed to the point where it can stand next to the best in the world.

Send to a friend Filed Under: Ongoing History of New Music
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  • Douglas Miske
    July 1, 2009 at 9:48 am

    Over the years, there have been many, many times when the CanCon regulations drove me nuts as a music fan listening to the radio. I have to admit, though, that the goal of a world-competitive music industry has been achieved.

    I won’t say all, but probably nearly all, of the Canadian artists who get airplay on radio now are there on their own merit.

    One of my favourite memories of the positive results of CanCon was walking into record stores in Australia in the late 1980s and finding the first Tragically Hip album prominently displayed as you walked in the door.

    Great Canadian artists and music are no longer an exception – they rule.

    (Reply)
  • Ariel Peters
    July 1, 2009 at 11:25 am

    Holy crap. The best music now a days comes from Canada!

    (Reply)
  • Jacob Rens
    July 7, 2009 at 12:15 pm

    CanCon isn’t a bad thing, but radio stations are lazy with it and tend to play the same Canadian artists over and over. What use is 30% of your playlist being Canadian when it simply becomes 30% Nickelback?

    (Reply)
  • Amy
    July 11, 2009 at 1:51 pm

    How can I get a listing of Canadian bands? I want to download some Canadian rock music for an American friend but can’t remember all the Cannucks off the top of my head…

    (Reply)

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