The problems within the Canadian music production industry do not let the Canadian musicians enter the international music market to affect the international audience. The social differentiation is caused by the force of the music market. Canadian music is a part of the enormous industry which is the means to develop taste, differentiate between social classes, and judge upon the people’s taste, behavior, social status, income rate, and other aspects of our life that state our position within the society.
Canadian music is believed to have fallen into decay; it does not seem to be as profitable as expected, because it is involved in the production of music products (products having little relation to the quality music) instead of producing music. As it is said in the article In and around Canadian Music written by Will Straw: “Radio signals, cassettes carried in the suitcases of immigrants or backpackers, rituals of night-life transported or reinvented with the passage of people from one country to another – all of these make music a powerful force in the differentiation of space and population” (Straw, 174). The music as a branch of the industry representing any country and culture of the world has its specific features. It is known that “there are several industries involved in music – live concert promotion, music publishing, composing for film or television” (Sutherland, 141). Thus, these specific industries, taking into consideration Canadian music, experience decline. From the point of view of this aspect Canadian music has the status of the depressive one. All the phases have to be involved in the music production process to reach success, to get profit, to provide the principle of the efforts should be repaid as well as investments. The product cannot become profitable due to the preservation of one aspect. One aspect is good for the local level, whereas, all the record companies are aimed at the national and local levels.
The record companies’ attempts are directed onto the production of the material things, such as cassettes and compact disks; meanwhile, it is necessary to utilize all the phases: concert promotion, composing for different cultural spheres, publishing of the musical issues. International music production experiences various changes, whereas, Canadian music production remains stable, even latent.
Recently the Canadian music industry became something that has relation neither to music nor its production and promotion; it became “a commodity-based industry like those for eggs or sugar, making small profit margins on large numbers of almost indistinguishable products” (Sutherland, 141). It became a burning issue for all the Canadian record companies to react properly to the changes in world music and international innovations in the sphere of music production. Borders between the music industry and other different industries disappear as a result of the global changes in the production of music. There are great numbers of different innovations which can be introduced into music production in Canada as well as in other world countries. The influence of the world economy and the world innovations on Canadian music is enormous. “The Internet has made access to the innovative and obscure easier for music fans than at any time in history” (Sutherland, 280). Thus, international innovations such as downloading music via Internet connections or cell phone ringtones must be reflected in the Canadian music record production industry.
Canada is a multinational country with its customs and traditions; it also possesses a wide range of music diversities as well as ethics. So, ethnic music is of great importance for the Canadian music production industry, as it can describe the history of the country and give a notion of Canada from the point of view of ethnicity and music. Some critics claim that Canada has no ethical music, whereas, the Canadian ethnicity can be observed in folk songs. The representative of ethnic minorities can find their place in the Canadian music industry as well as native Canadians. According to the theory presented in the article Ethno-Racial Minorities and the Juno Awards by David Young, there are different problems within the aspect of the ethnic minorities’ actions within the sphere of Canadian music promoted in the media. One of the problems is discussed from the point of view of the frequency of the on-air presentations. This problem focuses on the rights of the ethnic minorities, the equality of the promotion (Young, 184). Though we talk about oppression and discrimination, a black woman’s “success in the United States might be understood about some important tensions concerning Caribbean/black popular culture in Canada and the question of belonging to the nation” (Walcott, 123). The talented musician acts beyond the principles of ethnic oppression.
The Canadian musicians who have already achieved success do not need media promotion as much as young musicians. But the long-standing popularity of mature musicians is the result of media promotion as well. As it is said in the article The Canadian Music Industry at a Crossroads represented by two great authors Richard Sutherland and Will Straw, the country needs heroes to believe in, to support, and to follow. Media promotion is extremely important from the point of view of information. Thus, people should know about the local musicians as well as about the international super-stars. The TV shows and awards help to inform the population of the country. At the same moment such events are a great opportunity for young talented musicians to show themselves:
“While the concept on which it[status of popular music] is based is imported, Canadian Idol forcefully showed us that the success of local music is tightly bound to the media infrastructure through which it is made popular – and this infrastructure has been carefully built and controlled by Canadian companies and governments” (Sutherland, 295).
Also, the popularity can be achieved by featuring the works of the Canadian musicians on the national TV channels, suchlike MuchMusic, which “has become a part of many basic cable packages in English Canada” (Wagman, 47-48).
Taking into consideration the development of the Canadian music production industry the conclusion can be made to support its further development and to analyze some mistakes of the previous experience. Thus one of the major reasons for the Canadian music decline is the lack of promotion of the Canadian musician irrespective of origin, ethnic minority, or native Canadian. The promotion and the frequency of the on-air representations in the media are basic factors for a successful career. The long-standing popularity in the market of the local music production industry is an additional principle for becoming an international star. Canadian music is unique in its way, but it lacks efficient leaders to promote it in the international music market, to make it recognizable and competitive. This sphere of the Canadian culture needs some further development and investments.
Works Cited
Straw, Will. “In and Around Canadian Music”. Journal of Canadian Studies 35 (2000): 173-183.
Sutherland, Richard, and Will Straw. “The Canadian Music Industry at a Crossroads”. How Canadians Communicate II: Media, Globalization, and Identity. Ed. David Taras, Maria Bakardjieva, Frits Pannekoek. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2007. 141-165.
Wagman, Ira. “Rock the nation: MuchMusic, Cultural Policy, and the Development of English Canadian Music Video Programming, 1979-1984”. Canadian Journal of Communication 26 (2001): 47-518.
Walcott, Rinaldo. “Caribbean Pop Culture in Canada; Or, the Impossibility of Belonging to the Nation”. Small Axe 9 (2001): 123-139.
Young, David. “Ethno-Racial Minorities and the Juno Awards”. The Canadian Journal of Sociology 31 (2006): 183-210.