Bryan Adams and Spotify team up to protest impending changes to CanCon regulations

Spotify has teamed up with Canadian rock star Bryan Adams to protest changes coming to the Canadian online streaming act. This act was slated to be passed by the end of 2023 but has suffered many delays and now, the CRTC has pushed back the release date of its next prospective framework to late 2025. Consultations of the act will also proceed into 2026.

This stratagem would make streaming platforms like Spotify, Netflix and Prime Video promote Canadian content (‘CanCon’) like regular broadcasters need to do. This bill may also make large media houses like those mentioned above pay more taxes in Canada to contribute to Canadian media financially. While this is, in theory, a good thing, as Spotify and Adams are pointing out, the laws behind what’s Canadian and what’s not don’t always lean in the artist or broadcaster’s favour.

 

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Anyone alive who’s spent a good amount of time listening to Canadian radio knows that laziness can lead to Canadian hits getting massively overplayed, meaning CanCon doesn’t do a great job of highlighting the smaller Canadian acts it should be helping.

That said, Adams and Spotify don’t seem to be outright protesting the idea of the bill or even CanCon in general. Instead, the aging rocker is once again picking up the fight to redefine what CanCon is. For a song to be considered ‘Canadian Content’ right now, it needs to hit two of the following four criteria;

1. The music is composed entirely by a Canadian
2. The music is, or the lyrics are, performed principally by a Canadian
3. The musical selection consists of a live performance that is recorded wholly in Canada, or performed wholly in Canada and broadcast live in Canada
4. The lyrics are written entirely by a Canadian

Adams has protested this before when his smash hit power ballad “(Everything I Do) I do It For You” from the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves soundtrack didn’t qualify as Canadian content, even though Adams both co-wrote and performed the song. It was blocked since he recorded his album in Britain and it was co-written by a non-Canadian producer.

Neither Adams nor Spotify have revealed how they want to redefine the definition of Canadian content, but knowing Spotify, I expect more to come from them as the bill gets closer to being passed.

Via: CBC, Globe and Mail