Excerptcize

This is the third in a series of posts highlighting the merits of governement supporting artistic endeavours.  I talked about Canada’s government funded public broadcaster, and more specifically CBC Radio 3 here and about Canadian Content, or CanCon broadcasting rules here.  This post will look at direct subsidies for Canadian art, music in particular.

There are many aspects of the social sphere where it has been decided that to allow ‘pure’ market forces to exert complete control over these areas would lead to undesired consequences. Policing, firefighting, emergency paramedics, K-12 education and health care (as long as you are not in the US) all fall into this category.  Arts and culture do as well.  Canada’s close proximity and interconnectedness to the US, the worlds largest cultural exporter, make this a necessity; if our artists were unsupported by the government, the dynamics of the 300 million strong marketplace to the south would trump our 30 million every time.  Thankfully our government still supports our artists and musicians.  The primary mechanism for directing public funding towards Canadian musicians is the Canadian Music Fund.

The Canadian music industry includes a wide range of creators and entrepreneurs who create, produce and market original and diverse Canadian music. To help the industry meet new challenges, the Government created the Canada Music Fund. The Canada Music Fund (CMF) is the primary tool implementing the three major objectives of the Canadian Sound Recording Policy, which are:

• to enhance Canadians access to a diverse range of Canadian music choices through existing and emerging media;
• to increase the opportunities available for Canadian music artists and entrepreneurs to make a significant and lasting contribution to Canadian cultural expression; and,
• to ensure that Canadian music artists and entrepreneurs have the skills, know-how and tools to succeed in a global and digital environment.

One of the central vehicles for delivering funding is the group FACTOR, a not for profit organization that has “been managing federal funds since the inception of the Sound Recording Development Program in 1986 (now known as the Canada Music Fund Council).”  FACTOR has grown considerably since it’s inception and aides musicians in many facets:

Whether an artist is looking to record a demo, full length sound recording, market and promote an already existing album or showcase and tour domestically and internationally, funding is available. FACTOR supports many facets of the infrastructure which must be in place in order for artists and Canadian labels to progress into the international arena.

FACTOR started out with an annual budget of $200,000 and is currently providing in excess of $14 million annually to support the Canadian music industry.

An anecdote to underline the quality of work that is produced by FACTOR sponsored artists; the Polaris Music Prize is an annual award given to the best full length Canadian album regardless of genre, sales figures or label.  Of the 10 shortlisted nominee’s from this years prize, 8 have received FACTOR funding.  Malajube, a Montreal band that has not received FACTOR funding has received other federal and provincial grants.  The only band I could not find explicit funding information for was this years winners, Fucked Up, for their album The Chemistry of Common Life. Perhaps that’s because Mr. Stephen Harper hates bad words in band names.  Last year when the Harper government announced some cuts to arts funding, a previous Polaris nominee, Holy Fuck, was explicitly named as a group not deserving of federal funding.  Many have speculated that public backlash to the announced funding cuts, especially in Quebec, may have cost the Conservatives a majority in parliament in the most recent election.  These cuts inspired this great piece from Hooded Fang:

• Fucked Up – The Chemistry of Common Life
• Elliot Brood – Mountain Meadows
• Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels
• Hey Rosetta! – Into Your Lungs (and around in your heart and on through your blood)
• K’naan – Troubadour
• Malajube – Labyrinthes
• Metric – Fantasies
• Joel Plaskett – Three
• Chad VanGaalen – Soft Airplane
• Patrick Watson – Wooden Arms

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