Wednesday, 4 September 2013

Death to the Canadian Music Scene?

      On August 28, the Calgary Harold reported that Canada introduced a new federal fee on July 31 stating that venues, such as bars and cafes, would have to pay a whopping $425 fee in order to  host international bands playing music. This is almost triple the price of what this fee used to be prior to the change ($150).

The breakdown of that cost is that $275 goes towards an application fee per musician and per crew member (such as a manager, sound technician, etc), and $150 for a work permit for each approved musician and crew member.

The full news story could be found HERE.

But, the purpose of this post isn't to report what's already been said; it's for me to express my personal opinion about this new rule the Canadian government has introduced.

So will this new fee obliterate the Canadian music scene?

I feel that the Canadian government is capitalizing on the wrong group of people. Musicians, especially international ones, feed culture in Canada, each bringing something unique and special to the table. When international musicians play at local venues in this county, it gives people a chance to discover new music that they have never heard, nay, experienced before.

 Personally, I believe that arts and culture are (or at least should be) a fundamental part of the fabric of Canadian society. We are legally granted the right to have freedom of speech, and music allows people to have a voice even when silenced. Also, arts and culture make people more worldly. To me, music is not just a sound - it's an experience. It causes people to feel emotion or trigger a memory they might not have felt unless they listened to a certain song.

What's worse is that this fee has exceptions for big festivals and big artists, but not for less prominent musicians. This fee is suffocating these artists who are trying to put their music out as best as they can, before they are even given a chance to make it big. Artists that are lesser-known already have enough financial pressure: fees for recording, fees for advertising, fees for managers, etc. are just a few of the financial hurdles they face.

It doesn't help that when posted on iTunes, a 99 cent song doesn't even make 99 cents, as iTunes takes a small cut of the money. So now, not only could a smaller-scale artist not profit as much due to the lack of exposure (I mean venues can't always afford to pay that much money so not as many people will be able to hear their music and perhaps later purchase it), but they may not be granted the opportunity to even show case their music and expand their audience.

Local artists would also lose the chance to collaborate with international artists if venues aren't willing to pay the federal fee. I mean, when else can a band from Toronto get the chance to collaborate with a band from say, New York or Australia?

But, musicians aren't the only ones to suffer in this fee hike. Smaller local venues suffer too because of a few reasons: they'll have to pay outrageous amounts of money to bring an international act in, meaning they'll likely break even if they're lucky or lose money, customers might not be as drawn to the venue due to a weaker lineup of artists playing, and less customers again, means less money for the business. I see this as totally and utterly unfair to the small business owners running these venues.

So recap: the international artists suffer and the venues suffer, but the fans also suffer too. People who may not have the money or time to travel to places that aren't local will be robbed the chance to see their favourite artist, whether they are rock bands, jazz musicians, rappers, or singer-songwriters.

So I'll ask this again: will this fee obliterate the Canadian music scene? Perhaps not kill it completely, or kill it right away, but I believe it unfortunately will be hindered.
    

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