CanCon Confidential: The History, The Haters, and The Hits
Many successful Canadian artists have sprung up since the inception of CanCon, but in recent years it seems that far and few artists are catching their big break in the great white north — why?
Let’s take a deep dive into the history of CanCon, what it is, and how it came to be in the first place.
This article is part of The G Spot, a weekly segment where criticista Gordistotle gives insight into the pop culture happenings of now through opinions or anecdotes on his life living in Toronto.
Graphics designed by Sam Dias
Without getting too heated about specifics (because it will genuinely upset me), let’s just say it’s more important than ever to support any and everything Canadian. Amongst the ongoing trade–and culture–war with our southern neighbour (spearheaded by a former reality show host turned fuhrer), there have been a lot of changes. For example, grocery stores have begun adding labels to signify items that are made in Canada (to varying degrees of accuracy). However, pushing for “Made in Canada” labels on grocery store aisles is just one of many examples of the Canadian government stepping in to promote Canadian products.
This isn’t the first time Canada’s had to protect its culture nor, will it be the last.
What Is CanCon?
On a lighter note, Canadian content laws, colloquially known as CanCon, are Canada’s content laws for radio and television, which have been around for over half a century. CanCon was enacted in 1971 in retaliation to the oversaturation of American and British music overshadowing Canadian music on radio stations. Canada had some solid musical exports at the time, but they paled in comparison to the inescapable success of American soul music and British bands like the Beatles. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) decided to take matters into its own hands and mandate that 25% of the music played on Canadian radio be Canadian-made.
Canada’s seen a plethora of mainstream artists come and go (with varying degrees of success) since the advent of CanCon, some stayed national icons albeit were Z-List across the border while others transcended to global superstardom. CanCon successfully served its purpose: it gave burgeoning Canadian artists a fighting chance against the United States’ iron grip on pop culture.
I mean, they’re right underneath us–most of Canada’s population is within 100km of the US border, but they have like, 6x the population. And that doesn’t even take into account their budget for music and film, it’s David and Goliath. CanCon was our sling.
Take a listen to some of our fav CanCon hits:
CanCon’s Effect on Radio
Radio later saw Canadian content get updated to 30% and then 35% share of airplay. Radio truly was king before streaming and digital downloads, the only way people would hear your record was on the radio or TV (the dinosaur age). Radio lost a smidge of its strength during the music video era since music fans could suddenly catch their favourite songs on MTV. Of course, Canada had to have their equivalent, and thus MuchMusic launched in 1984. Much featured all the same hits as MTV while also dedicating segments to Canadian artists.
It was a lot easier to manage CanCon laws before the Internet. You watched what you watched because that was what was on. Back when it was all so simple…
Besides, are the rules really even that strict? I’ll let you be the judge.
Breaking Down CanCon Regulations
CanCon uses the “MAPL System” to define what is and isn’t Canadian enough to be considered Canadian content.
To be considered Canadian content, the music must contain two of the following:
Music - Must be composed entirely by a Canadian
Artist - Must be performed mostly by a Canadian
Performance - Must be performed wholly in Canada/Recorded in Canada
Lyrics - Must be written entirely by a Canadian
Now, songs are normally written and composed by a lot of people, which is where it can get a little muddy. There have been instances of Canadian artists’ releases not being considered CanCon due to writers not being Canadian. Which is obviously ridiculous. There’s since been demand to lax the rules on the CanCon guidelines.
My stance? If the performer is Canadian, it’s CanCon, full stop. If there’s a Canadian feature? CanCon.
Additionally, there have been motions to remove “Performance” as part of MAPL’s guidelines, but I feel like it didn’t move forward because then they’d lose the cute acronym!
CanCon and The Internet
Half a century later and a lot has changed, it’s the age of the internet baby. Gone are the days of radio-defining pop.
The CRTC has since enacted CanCon laws on popular streaming services, and the pushback was intense. (In retrospect, Bill C-10 really wasn’t that big of a deal, fuck those American companies!) Have you noticed a difference? I certainly haven’t… But that’s the nature of the internet, no matter how much you try to spoon-feed people, they will rear the reins of their algorithms to show them what they want. Anything and everything is available with a few movements of our thumbs, the CRTC can try all they want but it’s not as easy to push Canadian content as it used to be.
Unrelated to music, but it seems like there’s always a McCanadian thing popping off on the internet with the du jour being SlushyNoobz. If you’re like me, you have no idea what that means, yet my friend from the Netherlands wants to come to Toronto solely to have the chance to run into them, or Drake.
Not a day goes by where she doesn’t send me a Toronto-centered meme, like, ok if this is CanCon’s impact then it’s working! Worldwide baby!
Views from the General pu6lic
There are polarizing views on CanCon, with one of its main critiques being that it rewards mediocrity and breeds complacency in Canadian artists. Naysayers' running theory is that “if the music gets played regardless, these people must not be putting much effort in?” This isn’t a niche opinion, it’s sadly a common misconception that Canadian music is subpar simply because it’s receiving a push from the government. Baby, it doesn’t suck because it’s Canadian. It sucks because it’s designed to be an earworm. It’s not Jessie Reyez’s fault “Figures” hit as big as it did, she wrote a tune and the radios picked it up.
I’ll admit, I did unknowingly resent whatever powers at be while working at a convenience store as a teenager, when the only thing helping the time pass by was a barely functioning FM radio, hearing Jessie Reyez’s voice with several layers of distortion 10 times a shift could drive anyone mad.
Another easily disputed concern is how much the CRTC actually spends on CanCon.Critics have pointed to the fact that cost exceeds revenue. Well, the CRTC is a government program, and government programs typically lose money. Welcome to Civics 101, this is why we have taxes.
CanCon’s Goals
Their goal isn’t to generate revenue, it’s to provide a service. CanCon’s main purpose is to foster talent in our home and native land, and then give them ample opportunity to grow and succeed. Artists leaving Canada to further pursue greater heights isn’t a failing of CanCon, it’s kind of the whole point. Go on and spread that culture!
Our taxes go to a lot of very wasteful things, like ripping up freshly implemented bike lanes– if a percent of a percent is going towards funding the next generation of Joni Mitchells’, Nelly Furtados’, and Bryan Adams’, I’m all for it.
Funding for the arts is becoming increasingly important in a world where it seems like every service is demanded for a couple dollars per month, if not free. Which in turn, pays the artists’ themselves pennies at most, and nothing at worst. So who’s really making any money off anything? In reality, we’re borrowing from the future. what once seemed like an unlimited well of artists has all but dried up.
So yes, free music is awesome, but try and go see a local show every once in a while to keep these acts alive. If you don’t, who will?
The Drake of it All
A valid critique of CanCon is how it’s disproportionately geared toward already successful artists’ catalogues and current hits. Catalogue music has introduced a whole new problem for burgeoning Canadian artists–you’re not just competing with American artists, you’re also competing with Canadian/global superstars’ entire discographies in what was supposed to be your time to shine.
CanCon gets 35% of the peak hours pie, but when a new artist is up against The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Drake, and many other artists, what’s the point of CanCon anymore? These are established global hits, Celine doesn’t need CanCon! CanCon may have worked a little too well, those who once benefited from it are hindering it and squashing the chance for the next generation.
Where was the CanCon push for Carly Rae’s new music? Because this was a TikTok moment, CRTC should’ve stepped in and handled it. CanCon payola cheques needed to be cleared stat, but no, The Weeknd’s ‘After Hours’ needed just that much more of a push.
A Change To The Rules
It’s not like the CRTC isn’t trying when it comes to online music services, there’s a plethora of Canadian-oriented playlists all over the home page. I’m all for playlists like “Hot Girl Snowshoe Walk” that feature the latest Anjulie song–but gone are the days of disc jockeys playing that for the entire nation to hear. It’s an active choice to click now.
Now you have the option of millions of user-made, Spotify-generated, or your own playlists. While I’m certainly curious as to what’s popping off on the Canadian Top 40, I’m going to gravitate toward my own playlists first.
Can the CRTC really do anything anymore? Gone are the days of radio pushed to soft launch an artist. There are diminishing returns for CanCon in the streaming era, like did Tate McRae get the last chopper out? Hopefully not.
I love that there are efforts to push smaller Canadian artists on streaming services through highlight playlists, but is that enough? What more can the CRTC really do, forcefully make you stream Tegan and Sara’s new song?
The Future of CanCon
It’s time for radio to catch up, perhaps globally successful artists’ catalogues should no longer be counted as CanCon? What would the defining metrics of global success even be? Don’t know, that’s for the CRTC to figure out, but the radio can’t keep getting away with playing hit songs that just so happen to coincidentally be sung by Canadians.
It’s time to shine a light on some new artists, but keep playing those Canadian-only-hit™ songs. I will never complain about “Ghost” by Fefe Dobson coming on, ever.