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> We want Canadians to find Canadian music. How best to do it? How will you do it? I don’t want to manipulate your algorithm. I want you to manipulate it to pro

> We want Canadians to find Canadian music. How best to do it? How will you do it? I don’t want to manipulate your algorithm. I want you to manipulate it to produce a particular outcome. So basically "I don't want to switch your Spotify playlist to Justin Beiber. I want you to switch your playlist to Justin Beiber." Lol. I think the issue here is that Canadian content creators actually needed the protectionist laws back when a few big media companies controlled everything. Those companies could make better margins by buying cheap US content and re-broadcasting it. There was no incentive to create Canadian content because getting it published / broadcasted would have been extremely difficult even if it was better content than what was being produced in the US. The internet has solved the problem of publication and distribution, so getting locked out of the space by a huge media company just doesn't happen anymore. However, that kind of protectionism has an ongoing, collateral effect. It created an industry that's reliant on participating, and being successful with, a subpar product and the only way they can continue to compete is to have the government force us to buy their stuff. Take YouTube as an example of a more even playing field. Yeah, they surface content, but, for all intents and purposes, they're not discriminating against who can or can't upload a video. They're not preventing you from being successful by promoting someone else's content. They're promoting someone else's content because it's better than yours. In Canada it's laissez faire (hands off) for a lot of critical infrastructure (communications, highways, insurance), but full on subsidies and support for non-essential things like entertainment. When people complain about government waste, stuff like this should be at the top of the list.

908B64B197 4y ago
> Take YouTube as an example of a more even playing field. Yeah, they surface content, but, for all intents and purposes, they're not discriminating against who can or can't upload a video. They're not preventing you from being successful by promoting someone else's content. They're promoting someone else's content because it's better than yours. Ironically, some of the highest paid youtubers and twitch streamers are Canadians (I'm thinking of Linus Tech Tip among other things) and they didn't any help at all from these government subsidies.
jollybean 4y ago
Your argument is missing the 'power' part of the argument. The internet makes it easy to 'put something on youtube' but that's pedantic. The issue is distribution power, which large companies still have via advertising, relationships, placements etc.. Every time you see an actor on TV, like a talk show - it's a form of marketing. They are there at the behest of the studio to 'sell' a film, book or whatever. Those shows are often owned by the same networks. Those are systems of incredible power. Theoretically, someone on YouTube could make something viral that reaches the whole world, that's great, but it's not how the world works, and especially not for anything professionally produced. It's a tricky subject and I'm not sure anyone is talking about it in the right way.
- fragmede 4y ago
  TikTok is the platform to follow these days. Artists who go viral on TikTok get record deals and tours. The old ways are still there, but there are new ways too.
  - jollybean 4y ago
    TikTok is just where some artists will get 'discovered'. Bieber was discovered on YouTube but he was 'made' by the industry. I don't think that YouTube for exmaple needs 'content' rules around local content. That would be nice, but not necessary.
BeefWellington 4y ago
>In Canada it's laissez faire (hands off) for a lot of critical infrastructure (communications, highways, insurance), but full on subsidies and support for non-essential things like entertainment This is incorrect. Canadian telecommunications and insurance industries are very protectionist of the entrenched companies. It's hardly "hands off" -- they're intensely regulated and protected by government. Subsidies can take more forms than just cash. I'm not sure what the comment about highways is referring to but as those are provincially regulated I'm guessing it's specific to wherever your experience is.

908B64B197 4y ago

> Take YouTube as an example of a more even playing field. Yeah, they surface content, but, for all intents and purposes, they're not discriminating against who can or can't upload a video. They're not preventing you from being successful by promoting someone else's content. They're promoting someone else's content because it's better than yours. Ironically, some of the highest paid youtubers and twitch streamers are Canadians (I'm thinking of Linus Tech Tip among other things) and they didn't any help at all from these government subsidies.

jollybean 4y ago

Your argument is missing the 'power' part of the argument. The internet makes it easy to 'put something on youtube' but that's pedantic. The issue is distribution power, which large companies still have via advertising, relationships, placements etc.. Every time you see an actor on TV, like a talk show - it's a form of marketing. They are there at the behest of the studio to 'sell' a film, book or whatever. Those shows are often owned by the same networks. Those are systems of incredible power. Theoretically, someone on YouTube could make something viral that reaches the whole world, that's great, but it's not how the world works, and especially not for anything professionally produced. It's a tricky subject and I'm not sure anyone is talking about it in the right way.

fragmede 4y ago
TikTok is the platform to follow these days. Artists who go viral on TikTok get record deals and tours. The old ways are still there, but there are new ways too.
- jollybean 4y ago
  TikTok is just where some artists will get 'discovered'. Bieber was discovered on YouTube but he was 'made' by the industry. I don't think that YouTube for exmaple needs 'content' rules around local content. That would be nice, but not necessary.

BeefWellington 4y ago

>In Canada it's laissez faire (hands off) for a lot of critical infrastructure (communications, highways, insurance), but full on subsidies and support for non-essential things like entertainment This is incorrect. Canadian telecommunications and insurance industries are very protectionist of the entrenched companies. It's hardly "hands off" -- they're intensely regulated and protected by government. Subsidies can take more forms than just cash. I'm not sure what the comment about highways is referring to but as those are provincially regulated I'm guessing it's specific to wherever your experience is.