MONTREAL – An informal group of radio broadcasters are banding together in the hopes of pulling the plug on CBC’s nascent digital music service CBC Music.
The coalition, which includes Quebecor Media, Cogeco Inc., Newcap Radio, Golden West Radio, RNC Media and Stingray Digital, objects to the ad-supported service which it says contributes to the inaccurate perception that music is free, plus competes with their own radio stations and subscription-based websites, counter to the CBC’s mandate.
In a letter to Heritage Minister James Moore on Friday, the broadcasters questioned whether the CBC is using “the preferential royalty rates it receives from the various collective societies because of its status as a non-profit public broadcaster to make the service viable in the long term”, therefore subjecting them to an undue disadvantage. Online music services are charged royalty fees every time a song is streamed, which the broadcasters claim makes it difficult to generate profits from ad-based business models for standalone music services.
“As such, it certainly appears that the CBC is using funds from its Government appropriations to sustain a service that directly competes with private broadcasters, at the expense of other core services that the CBC is supposed to be offering as part of its mandate”, reads the letter.
The group asked Minister Moore to shut down the site until the national broadcaster can confirm that the service is currently self-funded and if not, justify how it can be supported in light of CBC’s recent budget cuts; explain how it is not competitive with existing services and damaging to the music industry; or at a minimum, demonstrate how it is “predominantly and distinctly Canadian” as per its mandate.
The broadcasters also plan to file a formal complaint with the CRTC.
CBC Music launched in February with 40 different web radio stations, 14 genre-based communities, live concerts, and direct access to the music of nearly 1,000 major and independent music companies. As of last week, listeners had streamed 4.2 million hours of music from the site.
– Lesley Hunter
