TORONTO — A growing number of voices in the music industry are raising concerns about proposed changes to the broadcast licences for Bell Media’s Much and M3 specialty channels as well as Corus Entertainment’s Country Music Television (CMT) channel.
In both cases, Bell Media and Corus seem to be trying to get a jump on the reduced Canadian content requirements that will result from the Let’s Talk TV proceeding, but which were not expected to be fully implemented until the next licence renewal for the services (the CRTC has set a group licence renewal deadline of August 31, 2017). And that has some music industry players very concerned about the implications for Canadian music video artists and producers.
Rather than wait until its specialty channels are up for licence renewal, Bell Media submitted Part 1 applications on July 10 to the CRTC, requesting that its Much and M3 (formerly MuchMoreMusic) channels be converted now from Category A to Category B services, which would have reduced requirements for the amount of airtime devoted to Canadian programming.
As they exist now, the Category A broadcast licences for the two channels require Canadian programming make up 60% of their respective broadcast year or broadcast day, and 50% of the evening broadcast period. Bell Media is now proposing that Much and M3 air Canadian programming for only 35% of the broadcast year and the evening broadcast period, which is the standard condition of licence for Category B services that have been in operation for at least three years.
(In its Let’s Talk TV decision issued in March, Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2015-86, the CRTC said it was taking a standardized approach to Canadian programming exhibition requirements going forward, and set overall daily exhibition requirements for all discretionary services at a standard level of 35%. Also — all specialty channels will eventually be collapsed into a single licence by 2017, except 9(1)(h) must-carries. Finally, with the impending end of genre protection, too, which was also part of the Talk TV decisions, these channels can eventually become, well, anything.)
If the CRTC approves the requested conversion of Much and M3 to Category B services, Bell Media said it would forego its “must-carry” access privileges for the specialty services and maintain their current Canadian programming expenditure (CPE) levels of 26%.
In the case of Corus, the Part 1 application it submitted July 14 to the CRTC asks to have various aspects of CMT’s conditions of licence amended to remove references to specified percentage levels of both airtime and investment for Canadian country music video programming. Currently, CMT’s conditions of licence state that at least 40% of the music videos it airs during the broadcast year must be Canadian music videos and no less than 11% of its gross annual revenues must be allocated to the development and production of Canadian country music videos.
In explaining its rationale for removing these conditions of licence (COLs), CMT wrote in its Part 1 application to the CRTC: “Consistent with paragraphs 254 and 255 of LTT (Let’s Talk TV) content decision (BRP 2015-86) — deleted COLs relating to NOS (nature of service) are replaced with requirements to provide a brief description of the service. The brief description of CMT is as follows: ‘The licensee shall provide a national English-language discretionary service offering comedy, movies, real-life reality series and one of a kind music programming.’”
On the surface, Bell Media seems to be more in line than Corus with the approach the CRTC took to Canadian content requirements in its Let’s Talk TV decision. In BRP CRTC 2015-86, the CRTC wrote: “To support the production of high-quality programming, the Commission is shifting the focus from a regulatory approach based on exhibition quotas (the number of hours of Canadian programming broadcast) to one based on expenditures (the amount of money spent on Canadian programming).”
However, despite Bell Media’s assurance that it would maintain its 26% programming expenditure level for Canadian content on the Much and M3 channels, a group of music industry stakeholders is concerned about the future of MuchFACT (Much’s Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent), which is funded entirely by Much and M3 and commits a percentage of the channels’ gross annual revenues to Canadian music video production.
To voice their concerns about not only MuchFACT’s future but also Bell Media’s attempt to get an early start on reducing Canadian content on the two channels, a number of Canadian music industry organizations jointly submitted an intervention on August 19 to the CRTC. The submission was made by the Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA), and has the backing of 10 other Canadian music industry stakeholders, including the Canadian Council of Music Industry Associations (CCMIA), Music Managers Forum Canada (MMF), the Association des professionels de l’édition musicale (APEM), the Canadian Music Publishers Association (CMPA), the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA), the Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC), the Société du droit de reproduction des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs au Canada (SODRAC), the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), the Société professionnelle des auteurs et des compositeurs du Quebec (SPACQ), and the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC). A separate intervention was also submitted by the Association Québécoise de l’industrie due disque, due spectacle and de la vidéo (ADISQ).
In its intervention, CIMA notes that Bell Media’s Part 1 application “does not include an explicit request to modify any of the mandated contributions that the licensee is currently required to make to MuchFACT. We believe Bell must explicitly confirm its commitment to MuchFACT, and request that the Commission reaffirm this obligation as a Condition of Licence for Bell.”
In a phone interview with Cartt.ca prior to CIMA’s intervention being submitted to the CRTC, CIMA president Stuart Johnston said that he is pleased that Bell Media has pledged to maintain its 26% CPE funding levels for Canadian programming on Much and M3. However, he said he believes that CPE funding will go toward the acquisition and development of Canadian television shows. Bell Media’s application to the CRTC did not include any mention of its current level of funding support for its MuchFACT program, which supports the creation of Canadian music videos specifically, Johnston said. (CIMA represents all of the independent music labels in Canada, who are the prime beneficiaries of MuchFACT funding.)
“MuchFACT is funded by a separate provision in their condition of licence, and 7% of their revenues are dedicated towards MuchFACT,” Johnston said. “So the application isn’t explicit about MuchFACT. We’re hopeful that it will continue, but we’re also very concerned that the end game is to reduce or eliminate funding to MuchFACT altogether.”
Johnston said since MuchFACT was created more than 30 years ago, through an agreement hammered out between broadcasting icon Moses Znaimer and one of CIMA’s co-founders, MuchFACT has “helped launch the career of many of our great independent artists — Metric, Feist, Matt Mays, so many more — because of both the airtime, the marketing that they did on TV as well as now their online products, as well as the funding through MuchFACT.”
Johnston added that he is concerned that Canadian content will be eroded bit by bit, and that the smaller players in the music industry are the ones who may be hurt the most by the proposed broadcast licensing changes to Much and M3.
“Any reduction in airtime and any potential subsequent reduction in MuchFACT funding really hits Canadian small businesses and emerging Canadian artists the most. They are indeed going to be hurt by this,” he said. “MuchFACT’s contributions to these artists and companies — $5,000, $10,000, whatever it is — dramatically assists the Canadian small business community in the music world to compete on the domestic and global stage. So it’s going to impact these independent artists and the independent companies that support them.”
In response to Cartt.ca’s emailed request for comment regarding any potential impact on MuchFACT as a result of the proposed broadcast licence changes to Much and M3, a Bell Media spokesperson said the company would not comment on the matter.
Bell Media’s submissions regarding Much and M3 are actually part of a larger move to have several of its specialty channels converted to Category B services. In addition to Much and M3, Bell Media has also requested that Bravo!, The Comedy Network, Discovery Channel, E!, MTV (Canada) and Space be converted to Category B, too, again with Bell Media agreeing to forego access privileges for these services and maintaining its current (and varying) levels of Canadian programming expenditures for each of the channels.
In response to Bell Media’s proposed move to Category B services ahead of the specialty services’ scheduled licence renewals, additional interventions were submitted to the CRTC by the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA), the Quebec English-language Production Council (QEPC), Blue Ant Media, the Writers Guild of Canada, and On Screen Manitoba. The general concern of these various interventions seems to be that Bell Media would get a jump on reducing its Cancon programming exhibition quotas compared to other Category A specialty services.
With regard to Corus and its proposed amendments to CMT’s broadcast licence, emailed requests for comment from Cartt.ca did not receive any replies this week. CMT also has a Canadian music video funding program — its Video Advantage Program — which was created 15 years ago and “supports the development and production of original Canadian music videos for emerging artists”, according to Corus’s Original Programming website.
However, indications from various industry sources are that CMT is not currently accepting applications for VAP funding, and is possibly rethinking how the fund will be implemented as CMT awaits the CRTC’s decision regarding its proposed broadcast licence amendments.
In a phone interview with Cartt.ca, Warner Music Canada president Steve Kane said that CMT’s VAP program has been “a huge benefit” to several of Warner’s artists, including country music star Brett Kissel.
“That funding allows you to broaden your marketing reach, extend your marketing campaign, and gives you more opportunities to get that individual on TV on a regular basis. One of the concerns, if they completely do away with VAP, and are no longer funding Canadian content videos, is then what happens to those emerging artists? This gave Brett and other emerging country artists a real leg up, and allowed them to be in a regular rotation,” Kane said.
Furthermore, based on the wording of Corus’s application, Kane said he believes that CMT wants to move more towards one-off special music programming, a move that will benefit established artists more than emerging artists.
“The one-off special is great for a marquee artist where you’ve built some awareness with an audience, you’ve got a couple of hits under your belt. By funding videos, and putting them into a real rotation, it allowed us to start to build that star system, particularly in the country music world,” Kane added. “I’d hate to see those advantages leave, because I know the one-off special programming they’re talking about is not likely to go to emerging artists, no matter what label they’re signed to.”
As for MuchFACT, Kane said that it has helped to support the careers of some of Warner Music’s emerging pop and rock artists, including Victoria Duffield and Courage My Love.
“And importantly, when I talk about developing Canadian talent, it hasn’t just been on the music end. It (MuchFACT) has been instrumental in the development of directors’ careers, producers’ careers, directors of photography. There’s a whole infrastructure that’s really been given a boost by this program,” he continued.
Kane added that he recognizes that viewers’ habits have changed and that they don’t turn to television to watch videos in the way they used to. But, similar to how the music industry needed to change its business model, music video-oriented TV channels must take a look at how they can adapt to their audience.
“Perhaps you should be looking at how you program these videos, this content. What context are you wrapping around it? How are you presenting it? What differentiates you? What value-add can you bring that they’re not going to get just by clicking on a video on YouTube, etc.?” Kane asked.
If there’s a decision to end funding programs such as MuchFACT and CMT’s VAP, the Commission needs to give the music industry, and particularly people in the indie sector, time to adjust, Kane said.
“You can’t just cut it off and say, ‘Well you know, so long and thanks for all the fish.’ That to me, if they abandon these programs in that kind of wholesale manner and they’re allowed to change that relationship with no transition period, then the Commission is doing Canadian artists a huge disservice,” Kane said.
CIMA’s Johnston said that in his view, any broadcaster that includes music videos and music as part of its regular programming should be helping to fund the creators of that content.
“Our opinion is that the Commission should look at all TV broadcasters and say, if you're using music and music videos as part of your programming then you should be contributing to a fund like MuchFACT, because they are using the content that we create. It very much is a circular symbiotic relationship. They contribute, we create more, they have more variety in content that they then broadcast, which goes to their viewers and for their advertising, and then it comes back full circle to creating more content, and the cycle continues,” he said.
The deadline for comments on both the Bell Media and Corus applications has now passed.
