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Public Notice
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Ottawa, 26 May 1988
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Public Notice CRTC 1988-84
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French-language Popular Music
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For related document see: Public Notice CRTC 1986-67 dated 19 March 1986 entitled "French-language Popular Music"
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Since 1973, the Commission has required that at least 65% of the popular music vocal selections broadcast on French-language stations be in French. Over the years, however, it has taken into consideration the availability of French-language titles and, accordingly, has allowed some rock and country-oriented stations to broadcast a lower percentage.
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In 1985, the Commission considered applications to renew the licences of three French-language FM stations, which included requests to reduce the minimum level of French-language music they were required to broadcast. The Commission concluded that it did not have enough information to determine whether these requests were justified. It therefore established a consultative committee on French-language music which identified problems and proposed solutions touching all aspects of French-language music in Canada. The committee also commissioned statistical studies which indicated that there had been a considerable decrease in the availability of new French-language recordings for a number of years.
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In light of this situation, the Commission announced in Public Notice CRTC 1986-67 that it had decided to lower to 55% for a period of two years the minimum percentage of French-language vocal music to be broadcast in order to permit various levels of government and private talent development programs to have an impact on the number of records available.
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While this new level was applicable immediately for French-language AM stations, the Commission emphasized that the 55% level was a minimum to be surpassed and that 65% remained the objective. As French-language FM radio licensees are required by condition of licence to broadcast a minimum of 65% of their vocal selections in French, unless otherwise authorized FM licensees wishing to reduce their French-language music content were required to apply to the Commission to amend their licences before implementing this reduction.
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The Commission stressed that this decision was a temporary measure and that it intended to return to the 65% requirement as soon as a revitalized supply of the product made it feasible to do so. The Commission indicated that it would review the availability of French-language recordings at the end of the two-year trial period to determine if the situation had improved sufficiently to permit it to return to the original requirement.
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In addition to the two French-language FM stations which had initially been authorized by the Commission, in 1983 and 1984 respectively, to lower their levels of French-language vocal music, nine other French-language FM stations have been authorized to implement similar reductions.
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The Current Situation
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The Commission asked the trade magazine, Radio Activité, to do a study of the availability of French-language records from 1982 to 1987, based on the number of titles the magazine had received since that time. The study took into account the number of albums (including mini-albums), singles and 12-inch records, according to musical category and Canadian or foreign origin. Its findings are contained in the appendix to this notice.
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The study indicates that between 1982 and 1984 the number of Canadian and foreign French-language albums available on the Canadian market declined from 152 in 1982 to 119 in 1984. Since then, the number of albums has remained fairly constant with 116 releases in 1985, 114 in 1986 and 115 in 1987. The number of singles released between 1982 and 1987 decreased from 426 to 342.
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According to the study, the number of general popular and soft rock albums (subcategory 51) declined from 82 in 1982 to 56 in 1987. There were 68 such albums released in 1985 and 54 in 1986. New albums in the other music subcategories (country, folk, jazz, etc...) decreased from 40 in 1982 to 13 in 1985, 30 in 1986 and 25 in 1987.
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In contrast, the number of albums in subcategory 52 (Pop and Rock - Harder) increased slightly from 30 in 1982 to 34 in 1987. There were 35 album releases in this subcategory in 1985 and 30 in 1986.
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The Commission notes that 1987 was a record year for hit records, with 12 gold albums (over 50,000 recordings sold) and 5 platinum albums (over 100,000 sold). Nuance, Edith Butler, Daniel Lavoie, Ginette Reno, Céline Dion and André Breton, amongst others, achieved gold album status, while Marjo, Michel Rivard and Patrick Norman were among those who were awarded platinum albums.
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Since the completion of its study, Radio Activité has indicated to the Commission that the number of Canadian and foreign French-language records received between January and March 1988 shows a significant increase over the same period in 1987. The number of singles has almost doubled and the supply of albums has increased by over 25%. While these figures are preliminary and incomplete, they are nonetheless encouraging.
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Musicaction, with the support of the Sound Recording Development Program (SRDP) of the federal Department of Communications and the Assistance Program of the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Quebec, has played a prominent role in the funding of Canadian French-language records and music videos, thereby fostering an improvement in new records and videos in both quantitative and qualitative terms. Still, there are those who feel that it is too early to assess the impact of these programs since they have only been in place for three years.
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The Commission notes that radio and television stations as well have been increasingly active in the area of Canadian French-language music over the past two years. There have been musical talent searches conducted by private radio stations and the CBC, including Québec en chansons on CHOI-FM Quebec City, Studio Rock on CJMF-FM Quebec City, L'Empire des futures stars on CKOI-FM Verdun, the CBC's Rock envol and Ontario Pop and its participation in the Festival de la chanson in Granby. Other initiatives to promote Canadian French-language music include the Raymond-Lévesque award sponsored by CIEL-FM Longueuil, Radiomutuel's TALCAN program, Radio-Nord's La semaine de la chanson québécoise and La Semaine de la chanson de langue française d'ici which is organized by the Association de la radio et de la télévision de langue française and includes participation by public, private and community radio and television.
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The Commission notes further the specific efforts of such stations as CHEF Granby, CHLC Baie Comeau and the réseau des Appalaches; the collaborative efforts of Canadian and European public francophone radio broadcasters; such music programs on television as "Pop Express", "Musicart" and "Ad Lib" on CFTM-TV Montreal, - "Jasmin Centre-ville" on Télévision Quatre-Saisons, "Station Soleil" on Radio-Québec, "L'autobus du show business" and "Star d'un soir" on the CBC's French-language television network, as well as the increased number of music specials that are being televised. Radio and television broadcasters also provide $270,000 annually to Musicaction, in addition to the funds contributed by the SRDP. MusiquePlus has agreed to devote at least $100,000 per year to its own assistance program for French-language music video production and has recently launched Disques Plus, a promotional campaign designed to boost French-language record sales. The Commission is relying on broadcasters to make every effort to revitalize Canadian French-language music.
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The Commission's Decision
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In light of the information on the availability of French-language records since 1982 and particularly in the last two years, and considering the need for more time to assess properly the impact of recent efforts to produce more and better French-language musical recordings and to obtain more conclusive data than that available to date, the Commission announces that it intends to schedule a public hearing to be held in Montreal on 13 June 1989, to discuss the requirements applicable to French-language vocal music. This hearing should enable the Commission to review with the broadcasting and recording industries as well as other interested parties what has been accomplished to date, to discuss appropriate levels for the broadcast of French-language music by AM and FM radio stations and to determine what further measures need to be taken to develop the production of French-language vocal music. In the meantime, the Commission will ask Radio Activité to update its study to in clude the number of records received in 1988. The period leading up to the public hearing in June 1989 will also allow the parties involved to carry out their research so as to be in a position to substantiate their comments and observations at the public hearing.
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Accordingly, the measures announced two years ago in Public Notice CRTC 1986-67 with respect to lowering to 55% the minimum guidelines for the broadcasting of French-language vocal music are extended to 31 August 1989.
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These guidelines apply to all French-language AM stations. The FM stations that were authorized reductions which expire before the end of the period announced in the present notice and that wish to continue with the reduced level will have to apply to amend their Promises of Performance in order to have their authorizations extended to coincide with this period. As Promises of Performance are conditions of licence, any other French-language FM licensee wishing to reduce the percentage of French-language music content below 65% must file an application to do so and, as indicated in Public Notice CRTC 1986-67, offer substantial commitments with regard to French-language music in order to contribute to its revival and to permit the 65% objective to be reinstated.
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Fernand Bélisle Secretary General
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