The fact that the Canadian music industry has assistance and programs—governmental programs—from Heritage Canada, such as Factor and Starmaker, which is a fund that is generated by radio stations as they open new stations across the country, is really the ultimate startup help, not only to get a label to buy the computers and start the office and build the staff. Knowing that that subsidy is going to be there for their artists allows them to build infrastructure. Very important.
Also, I see these as greatly beneficial, because they’re discovering artists that maybe otherwise wouldn’t get found. The fact that Factor gave Nickel Back their first dollar, which is a true story, and Broken Social Scene, and I believe, I could be incorrect, but I actually think Sarah McLachlan also. Factor will tell you that there is a myriad of success stories that they touched along the way.
Were those artists destined to be big artists anyway? Maybe. But when you’re in a 10/90-ratio business, every little bit helps. I’m very pro of the fact that our government is engaged enough and invested enough in Canada to be nurturing our cultural industries. The fact that we’re a company that operates around the world, and we’re not subsidized, that’s fair. That’s fair. It’s a fair process. I think it’s great that the indies are being nurtured.
With respect to Starmaker, which is the radio-based fund, it’s also very good, because Starmaker, actually, we can participate in as major companies. The independent sector receives about 71% of the money and us 29%. Starmaker is just what it says. Starmaker is a fund designed to make stars. They do what they call a matching fund, for example. Let’s say we signed Molly Johnson, and we’re going out to market him. We have a $100,000 marketing plan, so it gives Starmaker a marketing plan as a subsidy—the same way Factor would receive a marketing plan, by the way. In the case of Factor, the independent would get the $100,000, and they’d help build that story for that artist.
In the case of Starmaker, it’s a matching fund. We would put up $100,000, and they would match that with another $100,000. Or, if you’re an independent in Starmaker, it’s a two-for-one match. Let’s say an independent comes up with $50,000 for a marketing plan. On a 2:1 ratio basis, Starmaker would give them an additional $100,000. Suddenly, your $50,000 to do a really great marketing plan for your new artist is now $150,000. Now that’s a real proposition.
These are positive funds. We’re very much in support of them. Because when you have a Canadian-content regulation at your radio stations that’s in the area of 35-40% of all airplay in this country, we’d better have a system to support it. If you’re going to have that— You can appreciate that majors can’t sign every artist that walks the earth. The independent sector is also very, very active. That’s a very big mandate to fill.
Between the government subsidies and the fact—subsidy is the wrong word—government assistance and the fact that radio is having Canadian content regulations, this builds a star system. This gives us an opportunity to find, nurture, and develop stars. We all know—Bedouin Sound Clash is a great example— is a fantastic reggae band on Stomp, which is an independent label here. No one was playing the record, no one was touching it. It’s just an incredible album. That album is now becoming platinum.
Factor helped them out. The song finally got a toehold on some commercial for some department store chain, and it was extrapolated, and then a success happened. There’s a hundred stories in the naked city. There’s always an interesting, one event that’s the catalyst to flip it up into the positive.
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