4 ms·

Anglophone Canadians and Americans come from the same places. So the cultural bridge is easy to cross and the American culture machine is prolific. If we do no

Anglophone Canadians and Americans come from the same places. So the cultural bridge is easy to cross and the American culture machine is prolific. If we do nothing, Canadians will be overwhelmed by the size of the American industry. If we ban it out right, that would be lame. So what's left? They chose the easy one: force some Canadian content.. It works, I guess. But it would be much cooler if there was more money to spend on developing more Canadian culture. We should have nationalised all our resources, but... Here we are. I always think about Avro Arrow, and Blackberry. We can't have anything nice because we are too weak. All that said, several of my favourite childhood bands are Canadian! The Tea Party, Our Lady Peace, Tragically Hip, I Mother Earth. Yay, the 90s.

triceratops 4y ago
> If we do nothing, Canadians will be overwhelmed by the size of the American industry I don't even follow popular music that closely, and yet I've found it astonishing how many popular music artists are Canadian. Drake, The Weeknd, Nickelback, Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Shania Twain are just the ones I can name off the top of my head. Canada's population is smaller than California so it seems like it's punching above its weight.
- 908B64B197 4y ago
  > I don't even follow popular music that closely, and yet I've found it astonishing how many popular music artists are Canadian. Drake, The Weeknd, Nickelback, Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Shania Twain are just the ones I can name off the top of my head. Canada's population is smaller than California so it seems like it's punching above its weight. I don't. They have special laws where broadcasters (radio, tv) have to air a certain amount of government approved programming. So no matter what sells or what people want to hear, the government will revoke their license if they don't promote these whitelisted artists. A show about rap/hip-hop basically has to have Drake or Bieber to be legal.
  - BeefWellington 4y ago
    > a certain amount of government approved programming Here "government approved" means "Canadian Artists" rather than any government person rubber stamping a request to play a particular set list.
  - triceratops 4y ago
    That's my point. They only have guaranteed air time in Canada but they're world-famous artists.
    - 908B64B197 4y ago
      I would honestly support other western countries (especially with free trade agreements in place) if they decided to de-prioritize artist that are getting an "algorithmic boost" abroad, since it gives them an unfair advantage on the domestic market.
- _spduchamp 4y ago
  It might be the case that you can recognise those Canadian artists because of the CanCon system that made them. Yes, Canadians do punch above our weight, by using government policies and resources to do so. Government investment in cultural industries is a pretty big thing in Canada.
  - triceratops 4y ago
    And there's nothing wrong with that.
908B64B197 4y ago
> on developing more Canadian culture. You can't really artificially grow a culture. If people want it, they'll seek it and pay for it. > I always think about Avro Arrow, and Blackberry. We can't have anything nice because we are too weak. The Arrow was a plane without a purpose (chasing after supersonic bombers when everyone had moved to ICBMs?). BlackBerry's failure was internal. They failed to innovate and keep their head start despite years of market dominance. By the time they rollout the Storm at the same time as the iPhone 3G it was clear BlackBerry was at least two years behind Apple, if not more. Despite being hugely profitable they could simply not attract talent in the same way Apple could (and were not competitive with comp at all). Going from BlackBerry to Apple was seen as a great career move, the reverse almost unheard of.
- fartcannon 4y ago
  I'm saying the Canadian artists that could be, are not, because they can't afford to try. No one can seek and pay for that which doesn't exist. Getting worse too with cost of housing going far beyond what an unknown artist might be able to generate. I saw a documentary that suggested the Avro was sold out by Diefenbaker. Funding things that are unprofitable to create sectors that then bare fruit is something other countries do that Canada fails to do quite a lot. Conviently, for Americas aviation and budding space industry, suddenly 1400 top shelf aviation engineers needed jobs. Conspiracy! :) Apples overwhelming cultural influence is precisely why the gov forces Canadian content (although not for business, though maybe they should). Apple releases some hot trash with great marketing and bam, BB is toast. I still want a blackberry bold. The one with the soft leather back.
  - 908B64B197 4y ago
    > Apple releases some hot trash with great marketing and bam, BB is toast. Was it really "just marketing?" Apple had multi-touch and the App Store.
    - fartcannon 4y ago
      No app store at launch! They were gonna use web apps or something vague. Still ate BB's lunch. Nokia, too. Best marketing in the industry, if you ask me.

triceratops 4y ago

> If we do nothing, Canadians will be overwhelmed by the size of the American industry I don't even follow popular music that closely, and yet I've found it astonishing how many popular music artists are Canadian. Drake, The Weeknd, Nickelback, Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Shania Twain are just the ones I can name off the top of my head. Canada's population is smaller than California so it seems like it's punching above its weight.

908B64B197 4y ago
> I don't even follow popular music that closely, and yet I've found it astonishing how many popular music artists are Canadian. Drake, The Weeknd, Nickelback, Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Shania Twain are just the ones I can name off the top of my head. Canada's population is smaller than California so it seems like it's punching above its weight. I don't. They have special laws where broadcasters (radio, tv) have to air a certain amount of government approved programming. So no matter what sells or what people want to hear, the government will revoke their license if they don't promote these whitelisted artists. A show about rap/hip-hop basically has to have Drake or Bieber to be legal.
- BeefWellington 4y ago
  > a certain amount of government approved programming Here "government approved" means "Canadian Artists" rather than any government person rubber stamping a request to play a particular set list.
- triceratops 4y ago
  That's my point. They only have guaranteed air time in Canada but they're world-famous artists.
  - 908B64B197 4y ago
    I would honestly support other western countries (especially with free trade agreements in place) if they decided to de-prioritize artist that are getting an "algorithmic boost" abroad, since it gives them an unfair advantage on the domestic market.
_spduchamp 4y ago
It might be the case that you can recognise those Canadian artists because of the CanCon system that made them. Yes, Canadians do punch above our weight, by using government policies and resources to do so. Government investment in cultural industries is a pretty big thing in Canada.
- triceratops 4y ago
  And there's nothing wrong with that.

908B64B197 4y ago

> on developing more Canadian culture. You can't really artificially grow a culture. If people want it, they'll seek it and pay for it. > I always think about Avro Arrow, and Blackberry. We can't have anything nice because we are too weak. The Arrow was a plane without a purpose (chasing after supersonic bombers when everyone had moved to ICBMs?). BlackBerry's failure was internal. They failed to innovate and keep their head start despite years of market dominance. By the time they rollout the Storm at the same time as the iPhone 3G it was clear BlackBerry was at least two years behind Apple, if not more. Despite being hugely profitable they could simply not attract talent in the same way Apple could (and were not competitive with comp at all). Going from BlackBerry to Apple was seen as a great career move, the reverse almost unheard of.

fartcannon 4y ago
I'm saying the Canadian artists that could be, are not, because they can't afford to try. No one can seek and pay for that which doesn't exist. Getting worse too with cost of housing going far beyond what an unknown artist might be able to generate. I saw a documentary that suggested the Avro was sold out by Diefenbaker. Funding things that are unprofitable to create sectors that then bare fruit is something other countries do that Canada fails to do quite a lot. Conviently, for Americas aviation and budding space industry, suddenly 1400 top shelf aviation engineers needed jobs. Conspiracy! :) Apples overwhelming cultural influence is precisely why the gov forces Canadian content (although not for business, though maybe they should). Apple releases some hot trash with great marketing and bam, BB is toast. I still want a blackberry bold. The one with the soft leather back.
- 908B64B197 4y ago
  > Apple releases some hot trash with great marketing and bam, BB is toast. Was it really "just marketing?" Apple had multi-touch and the App Store.
  - fartcannon 4y ago
    No app store at launch! They were gonna use web apps or something vague. Still ate BB's lunch. Nokia, too. Best marketing in the industry, if you ask me.