"Back in the 70s, living next to the USA, Canada has long-suffered an inferiority complex. So Canadians for some reason always seem the need to be validated. We can have tremendously successful people in Canada but it doesn’t matter unless they make it in the USA. We have tremendous talent in the cities of Canada, but they have to make it in LA, NY, Nashville, be big around the world; and then they come home to become successful. Back in the 70s, we could not hear Canadian music on the radio. There were a handful of great music industry professionals in the independent sector in Canada and they decided that they needed to take matters in their own hands. And there is strength in numbers, thats why associations, that's why industries can become very powerful - they can literally move mountains.
So they were up against broadcasters, music producers, record companies that were controlling the product, controlling what was being played and of course, if it was a successful American or British act, thats what was being played on the radio. Sure, great music but we liked to hear some of our own stuff. So they formed an association to primarily become advocates for that sector. So the association went to the government and lobbied quite hard for regulations that resulted in that Canadian content rules. It started off at 20% (and its now mandated that broadcaster must play 35% Canadian music). Once approved, this wasn’t an overnight success. The association members then looked at each other and noticed that there wasn’t enough catalogue of decent quality. So the rules came in first and then the association suggested funding support and raise the music industry to provide the level of financial resources and tax structure to support Artists, managers and labels. So there were funding opportunities that came up such as broadcasters were mandated to put a percentage of their gross revenues and 6% of license fees into a fund that then got pumped back into Canadian-owned, Canadian Artists. The funding support for the association went across all areas such as production, videos, marketing, promotion, touring, showcases, etc.
And this is why we saw such as explosion of great acts in the 70s and 80s because there was this foundation of support that would not have happened if the industry didn’t take it upon themselves to speak with one voice and say this is what we need to be successful. Thats the legacy."
Hence why SGMUSO was born.
During the last interview with Graham Perkins, the brainchild behind the Singapore Music Society gave his advice to local musicians: The world is your "Chilli Crab". Come 8 Sept, he is organizing a free dialogue session for everyone to come together to discuss how the Society should improve the local music scene. Some of the issues on the agenda include:
Skills - Education programs in the areas of Artistry, Business and Production
Advocacy - Digital, Media and Live Performance Related Programs
Opportunities - Overseas events
For details of the event, click here.
Looking forward to it. See you there.
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