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The Canadian Music Industry
Randy Lennox
Randy Lennox is President and CEO of Universal Music Canada. |
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Description: The Canadian Music Industry is made up somewhere in the 16-18% range of our own local repertoire—why we exist and why we’re not just a branch distribution office of Universal United States. In our case, we are higher than that number, because we’ve made a concerted effort as Universal Music Canada to embrace two things. One is artist directly in disproportionately high signings in Canada, which I’ll talk about in a moment. The second is we have, as Universal, embraced early and consistently the independent sector to do what we call distribution deals or enhanced distribution deals, which offer services from Universal Canada such as promotion, marketing, press, etc. to help our “little brothers,” if you will, the independent sector, along.
We’ve gone so far as to actually invest in four very significant independent labels in Canada, where Universal Canada has a minority but a strong ownership position in those companies. It’s been wonderful given the size of our country that we can actually be an owner of an indie as a multinational major, and the community tends to respect that, because we’re embracing authentically the independent sector and not trying to dominate it. We’re trying to nurture it as a philosophy and as a strategy, rather than sort of “universalize” it, if you will.
So we are, in fact, leaving lots of oxygen in the room with respect to nurturing our independents, some in an ownership position, some just in the straight distribution position. But having said that, it’s one of the reasons our market share is nearing 40% here in Canada. Last week, for example, we were at 40%, and year-to-date we’re approximately 37.5%. Our embracing of the independent sector is certainly a contributor to that, but we don’t live and die by the sword. The reason we do the independent involvement as Universal Canada is very clear. We love music, and we don’t have the disposition personally to think that we can find it all first, that we can find it all the most effectively. We don’t suffer from that delusion of thinking that we’re the first up. We recognize that the independent sector has, personally, some of my favorite bands.
To be able to help them along, it’s not about pride of ownership, because there is ownership in helping independents and independent bands. A great label we have called Last Gang, a local label, has a band called Metric that I’ve fallen in love with. As far as I’m concerned, when I get up in the morning, Metric Mans will be on Universal, because we conduct ourselves as a company. Because we’re enjoined to that band and that label, we do conduct ourselves like they’re with us.
And it’s evident. We’re two gold records, on our way to platinum, and there’s great success. Of course the independent label, the band themselves, are the main contributors to that success. It’s very parenting, it’s very rewarding, for us to be able to be a parent to that process, whether it’s a direct-signed artist, a direct-licensed artist, or an artist through the independent sector. It’s a big part of Universal Music Canada’s thought process and a big part of our culture and a big part of our pride.
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Shoot Date: May-06 |
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Is there a Canadian music sound? I could start with when I name our top artists that are known worldwide—Sarah McLachlan, Shania Twain, Diana Croll, Nickelback, Avril Levine. Off the top, there’s absolutely nothing musically that they have in common with one another. I think there is no particular kanuck sound in the same way that we put hockey players out into the world. However, there are a number of— Within the Canadian sound, there is a number of regional nuance.
For example, Canada’s East Coast very, very clearly is a wonderfully vibrant folk, Celtic, very Irish vibe, a little bit of bluegrass. The whole vibe out there is not country music per se, but its hybrid country, if you will, and Celtic. As you come west, the next stop, of course, is Québec. Québec is probably in the 80% range French-language music, so its transportability is fairly finite across Canada also. You have to really go from Québec to France to really further champion French-language music. But there is a second culture, and we have now only been a 10th of the way across the country.
As you come into Ontario, which Toronto is located in, you’re dealing there with much hipper— Toronto is the New York of Canada. I say that with respect to anyone watching from any of the other cities. It’s a well-known fact. You have a broken social scene, and all the sort of very cool, downtown Queen and King Street and College Street, which are our main hip streets here. There are a lot of bands, whether they are from Toronto or not, they certainly come to Toronto as their conduit. Instead of New York and LA, it’s just Toronto for us in that sense. So the cooler, the alternative, all that scene, the much hipper here, probably a little less country, probably a lot more rock, but mostly alternative as well.
Then you go on your way west to the prairies, to Winnipeg and Calgary and Edmonton. You’re back into very much rock land, very much country land again, more in your Texas level. Now you’re into that whole vibe. A lot of rock, a lot of country, not that much urban.
Then you’re coming through the mountains to Vancouver, and now you’re back into an international city, where you have urban, you have country, you have rock, and you have all the melting pot of music that Toronto has. Vancouver, additionally, given its proximity to both Seattle and LA up the coast, is also a great starting point and gateway to the world, if you will.
So Montréal, Toronto, and Vancouver, all three of them in their own way are all equally legitimate gateways. That’s for those of you watching from Vancouver and Montréal, too. Those three are really the conduits. As you know, Montréal has a major Seattle kind of buzz around it right now with Arcade Fire and all the various bands that are coming from that territory. Toronto has that from time to time, Vancouver, etc.
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Download Transcription:
RL-Canadian Music Sound.doc
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