The CRTC announced today that it is launching a free, downloadable music database so broadcasters, artists and the public can check which songs count as Canadian. The tool is aimed at radio stations that still have to meet Canadian content rules, not at the playlists you open on your iPhone while Ottawa keeps fighting over streamer CanCon rules.
For the first time, the regulator says, the information stations use to identify Canadian music will sit in one place instead of being spread across several industry sources.
Radio stations in Canada have to play a set share of Canadian songs. Until now, figuring out which tracks qualify often meant digging through separate industry records. The new database is meant to make that faster, and the CRTC says it should also help Canadian artists get discovered and played across the country.
Stations can use it to find and promote music that counts toward those Canadian content requirements. The first version already covers a large selection of popular Canadian songs. New releases and older tracks will be added regularly, including more French, Indigenous and third-language music. During this first phase, the CRTC says it wants feedback from people who use the list.
Nothing in the announcement changes what you hear inside Apple Music or Spotify. It does not rewrite the rules for Netflix or other streamers that were hit with a 15 per cent contribution rate this spring, or the later push by the Bloc Québécois to revive streaming levies after Ottawa backed away from some tech taxes.
Aside from the song list, the CRTC is also trimming radio paperwork. It notes it recently dropped the rule that forced radio stations to renew their licences every few years, and it is framing this database as another way to cut admin work while modernizing how Canadian content is identified.
If you mostly stream albums on your phone, you may never open this file. If you still listen to terrestrial radio, or care how Canadian songs get counted on the air, it is the clearest public CanCon music list the regulator has put out. Do we actually need a government list of Canadian songs, or was the old patchwork good enough?
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
