In a column on the Commercial Radio Review by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Michael Geist asks:

Why is French music from Quebec almost entirely absent from most Canadian online music services?

It’d be interesting to determine the effects of Canadian Content rules (“CanCon”) on the state of Quebec’s musics. It’s quite possible that CanCon has been one of the reasons behind the vitality of Francophone music in Quebec, especially when considering airplay on Anglophone radio stations. Yet, it seems to me that the current state of the “music industry” in Quebec is much less dependent on CanCon than it might have been in the past. This is not a full-fledged analysis on my part and I might be completely off-base. But this preliminary hypothesis is based on a few observations as a French-speaking Quebecker, a «Canadien errant» (an itinerant French-Canadian), and a fan of Francophone musics. My emphasis here is on «chanson», the type of music done by «auteurs compositeurs interprètes» (“singers-songwriters”). In terms of sales, it’s a relatively important market but it’s mostly significant as part of Québécois identity.
Through a significant period of Quebec’s recent history, there was a perception that musicians, especially singers, had to succeed in Paris to be recognized in Quebec. France was, and still remains to some extent, the main reference for Quebec’s “cultural institutions” and there was a sense that Quebec culture was dependent on French recognition. Many actors in Quebec’s music scenes looked up to France as a significant source of prestige. Obviously, Quebec artists were also influenced by British and American cultures. But pride in “our artists” was most often triggered by the accolades they would receive in France.
Quebec’s singers are now much less dependent on France. For instance, Daniel Bélanger, Ariane Moffatt, and other musicians on the Audiogram independent label have achieved significant success in Quebec before ever performing in France. In fact, a few French artists even achieve recognition in Quebec before they do so in France, partly because of large musicals like Plamondon and Cocciante’s adaptation of Notre-Dame de Paris. Some could say that Quebec culture is now much more inward-looking and insular than it ever was. The effect is a relative autonomy in the world of “cultural industries” (arts and entertainment, media, etc.).
Which brings another point, often bemoaned by many Quebeckers but clearly central to Quebec’s current situation: media convergence. In Quebec, “convergence” is often used as a buzzword to designate (and often decry) the practises of large corporations like Quebecor which own several media outlets and use this type of integration to cross-promote the people with whom they sign contract (or, as some put it, “to plug the artists they own”). Quebecor itself, seen as a giant, argues that it is in fact much smaller and more benevolent than the real threat of international media conglomerates (typically coming from the United States). Whatever the case may be, this discourse plays on cultural identity. No matter how evil or monopolistic it may be, Quebecor is still a Quebec institution (it says so in its name). And the contents they push are identified as part of Quebec culture, whether they’re original Quebec content or are adaptated from content which has worked in France and the United States.
By to the CRTC and content rules. Quebec content (QueCon) is covered in part by CanCon, at least through language-specific rules (Acadian and Franco-Ontarian musics are different though connected stories). Cultural protectionism does titillate cultural identity. Québécois don’t typically think of Canada’s federal agencies like the CRTC as defenders of Quebec’s distinct culture. In fact, some Québécois critics see the CRTC almost as a threat to Quebec culture, perhaps even more so than anything coming from the United States. This perception might be completely inaccurate but it does inform the attitudes of many Québécois on culture and media.
In such a context, how important is it for the CRTC to “protect” Quebec content?<—0e1e868329cb81e3a22a710f726d685e—>