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Posts Tagged ‘Polaris Prize’

"I love this man!" ~Damian Abrahams. We all do Pink Eyes..

Who are these two beautiful men celebrating with a kiss and just what are they celebrating? On the right is CBC Radio3 host and Canadian music maven Grant Lawrence. On the left, Damian ‘Pink Eyes’ Abraham, lead singer of the Toronto based punk band Fucked Up. Damian (with Grant along for the ride whether he likes it or not) is reacting to the just announced news moments before that his band’s album The Chemistry of Common Life had won the 2009 Polaris Music Prize. The Polaris Prize is an annual prize awarded to an album of Canadian content based solely on the artistic merit of the work; sales figures or mass appeal do not hold sway over the prize. Aside from being one of the most prestigious musical prizes in Canada, the Polaris Prize also comes with $20,000.

Those with an eye and ear on the Canadian music scene may be questioning why I am writing about Fucked Up’s win now; they won the award back on September 21st. If you had the pleasure of watching the Polaris Prize Awards Gala (still available for viewing here) you know that after Fucked Up was named as the winner, Damian (post smooch with Mr. Lawrence) announced that his band would be using the prize money to produce a single in time for Christmas with all proceeds going to some very deserving charities. Just over two months later and Fucked Up have shown to be true to their word; the band, along with some friends have released their version of “Do They Know It’s Chirstmas?” which is available through iTunes here. Proceeds from the sales will be spread across three charities. From Fucked Up’s blog:

Justice for Missing and Murdered Ingigenous Women
Missing Justice is a grassroots solidarity collective based in Montreal that works to eliminate violence and discrimination against Indigenous women living in Quebec. The collective seeks to consult and collaborate with Indigenous communities and organizations to foster understanding and dispel harmful stereotypes commonly held in regards to Indigenous women who are targets of violence. As a collective, our overall strategy for achieving these goals includes popular education initiatives, media outreach, coalition-building, case work, poster awareness campaigns, research projects, information sharing, publishing and broadcasting, political demonstrations, and direct action.

DTES Power of Women Group
A grassroots group of DTES women who work to empower, educate and
mobilize around issues affecting their neighbourhood such as poverty,
housing, and violence against women.

Sisters in Spirit
The main objective of the Native Women’s Association of Canada – Sisters In Spirit initiative is to address violence against Aboriginal (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) women, particularly racialized and/or sexualized violence, that is, violence perpetrated against Aboriginal women because of their gender and Aboriginal identity. Specifically, to increase public understanding and knowledge at a national level of the impact of racialized, sexualized violence against Aboriginal women often leading to their disappearance and death.

In February the band will release their latest 7″ single with this Christmas track serving as the B-Side. All proceeds from the sale of this record will also go to the above charities.

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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.

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