OTTAWA –
Justin Bieber may be one of the best-selling musicians of all time, with a slew of Grammys and Junos under his belt.
The 28-year-old Ontario-born singer-songwriter has also been named one of the most influential people in the world and in the top 10 most influential celebrities.
But are his songs Canadian enough for the government’s online streaming bill?
Spotify, the world’s biggest streaming platform where Bieber’s hits have been listened to millions of times, has doubts.
It says songs by Bieber and other famous Canadian artists may not be considered officially Canadian under Bill C-11, now moving through Parliament.
Among the songs unlikely to meet Canada’s strict content rules, according to Spotify, are Bieber’s “Ghost,” Tate McRae’s “She’s All I Wanna Be” and Moroccan-Canadian singer Faouzia’s “Anybody Else.”
The bill seeks to update the Broadcasting Act to bring streaming platforms under the same rules as traditional broadcasters, including requiring them to promote Canadian content.
To qualify as Canadian, songs must have a series of boxes checked.
Under current rules, a song must meet two of the following criteria to be considered Canadian: be written entirely by a Canadian; performed primarily by a Canadian; be broadcast or performed live in Canada; or the lyrics are written entirely by a Canadian.
Bieber’s “Ghost,” for example, meets only one of those requirements — meaning traditional broadcasters can no longer count it as Canadian content, and if the bill passes, neither will Spotify and other streaming platforms.
Spotify says that without a more flexible definition of what qualifies as Canadian content, it may end up promoting fewer songs from national artists than it currently does on its Canadian playlists.
“It’s important to understand that today’s music world is international in nature, involving the collaboration of artists from all over the world,” said Nathan Wisniak, head of Canadian artist and label marketing at Spotify.
“Under current Canadian definitions of content, many songs we know and love from Canadian artists will not be classified as Canadian.”
However, these rules are subject to change. Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said he plans to ask the broadcasting regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, to review the definition of Canadian content.
He said he would issue the CRTC’s policy guidelines after the bill passes through Parliament. At this point, the CRTC will be responsible for regulating streaming platforms and ensuring that they promote Canadian content that meets the requirements.
Spotify curates 90 playlists highlighting Canadian artists in a variety of genres, including country, Quebecois rap and francophone classics.
The platform says it currently uses a range of data sources to determine whether a song is Canadian, including self-reporting by the artist.
“That means we have a much broader category of songs that we’ve identified as Canadian compared to what we think would be classified as Canadian under the current definitions,” says Wiszniak.
Playlists are tailored to the listener’s musical tastes, based in part on what they prefer to listen to. They’re also meant to introduce people to Canadian musicians and genres they might not have heard before, he says.
“We are concerned that unless Canadian content requirements are updated, this bill could limit exposure to emerging and beloved Canadian artists and in turn cause overexposure to others, alienating listeners.”
Michael Geist, a Canadian research fellow in internet law at the University of Ottawa, says the current criteria for what counts as a Canadian song can “lead to some weird quirks.” He says the definition of Canadian content needs updating in the bill.
“(This) has resulted in foreign artists covering Canadian songs produced outside of Canada being defined as Canadian because they meet the standards of music and lyrics,” he says, “while Canadian artists cover songs written by non-Canadians and produced outside Canada of Canada are not considered Canadian because only the artist requirement is met.”
Bill C-11 has passed the House of Commons and is being scrutinized in the Senate, where it will be debated when senators return from their summer recess.
Senators have been inundated with phone calls, emails and letters from opponents of the bill who say it could affect amateur videos posted on YouTube.
But supporters of the bill say it updates Canadian broadcasting laws and will help promote Canadian artists.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 8, 2022.
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