Canada’s music industry
p2pnet.net Opinion:- The people who run the Big Five record labels must be absolutely besides themselves with glee.
They were struggling with an embarrassing defeat after a Canadian federal court turned down their demand for an order which would have forced five Canadian ISPs to reveal the identities of 29 people, each alleged to have been “illegally distributing hundreds if not thousands of music copyright files to millions of strangers”.
However, now Canadian prime minister Paul Martin has made the labels family, to all intents and purposes, saying “the Canadian music industry” is “an important part of our sovereignty”.
This came when he unexpectedly dropped in at the corporate music industry’s Juno awards in Edmonton, Alberta.
He also said the “Canadian industry is the second most important” in the world and is “an important part of our economy”.
Martin doesn’t appear to realise the Canadian music industry isn’t second, third or anything else because it doesn’t exist.
We have more than our share of world-famous artists, but no true industry per se because Canada is in effect a marketing division (and a small one at that) run by a multi-national cartel with only one major North American component – Warner Music in the US which, although it was recently acquired by Canada’s Edgar Bronfman jnr, is by no means Canadian.
The Big Five record labels dominate world music events and dictate everything that happens in Canada, as they do everywhere else in the world.
They are: Universal Music (France), Warner Music (US), EMI (UK), Sony Music (Japan) and Bertelsmann’s BMG (Germany).
So to suggest the ‘Canadian music industry’ is an important part of Canadian sovereignty is a faux pas of considerable proportions.
p2pnet is based in Canada.
[Revised 8:24 pm Pacific]
April 4th, 2004 at 7:51 am
Paul smoking something funny smelling when he said that? CRIA make a deposit to his campaign fund?
Since when is Celine Dion considered a “music industry” ? *tongue firmly in cheek*
He worried the americans will hate even more than they already do?
I think it’s bad timing and I think his comments are reactionary and lack any sense of thought … oh wait I’m talking about a politician who’s in a election year … my mistake o_o
April 4th, 2004 at 8:17 am
Be wary of any proposed changes to Canadian copyright law, which in reality will be orchestrated by foreign corporations using CRIA as they’re puppet. Their only concern will be whats best for their oligopoly, not whats best for Canadians. We as Canadians should decide our laws policies and legislation, certainly not multi-national corporations, or American politicians or anyone who isn’t Canadian. And when I say Canadian, I mean as individuals and/or communities, not as corporate interests or entities.
Now is a time we can differentiate ourselves from the rest of the fodder, stand up as a nation against foriegn influence on how we govern ourselves. We pride ourselves in our differences with Americans, let’s not go down the same foolish road named DMCA.
Don’t let this slip by like the US to wake up one morning and finally appreciate the rights we enjoy, only because they’re gone.
April 6th, 2004 at 6:32 pm
maybe he meant his vision of Canadian sovereignty includes the huge multi-nationals.
I mean this guy is big business incarnate….