French-Language Music Diversity Study (2015)

Prepared by:

Andrew Forsyth, Operations Consultant, Nielsen BDSradio, Canada

Stephanie Friedman, Vice President, Radio, Nielsen Entertainment

June 2015

Download this report in PDF.

Accuracy on the Methodology

I. Executive Summary

In this study the stations provide their audience with a wide repertoire of French-language music.

In 2015 songs shared by 94% of the panel stations are performed by 15 artists indicating a concentration of airplay across more stations.

The data indicates the French-language library at the panel stations is an evolving entity that is expanding immersed with new artists which add to, but not displace older performers.

The format networks deliver a music product that is in most cases very similar to that of the corporate flagship station. Generally, the Brands are consistent market to market.

The amount of airplay and titles from Emerging Artists is consistent with the roster of performers replenishing itself over the six year period.

The Top Ten most played titles are played on a higher percentage of the panel stations in 2015 compared to 2009.

The top French-language hits are played more frequently and across more stations in 2015.

Titles common to 6 - 7 stations receive the most airplay in both years of the study.

Format compatibility drives station airplay choices.

The Morning and Afternoon Drive periods see the lowest share of French-language music play.

II. Objectives

Nielsen BDS Radio, Canada (BDS) has been commissioned by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to complete an exclusive analysis exploring the level of music diversity of French-language artist airplay at commercial radio in selected Quebec Markets. This is accomplished through BDS monitoring of musical selections on commercial radio stations in Montreal, Quebec City, Gatineau and Trois-Rivières.

BDS will demonstrate meaningful French-language music airplay in terms of Diversity of Francophone artists and titles across the four markets. As well the study will examine duplication of French-language artists and titles, review the airplay of Emerging Artists and demonstrate their airplay across typical broadcast dayparts.

III. Methodology

The stations are monitored for French-language airplay over 30-day periods (April 1 – April 30) in two different years (2009 and 2015); 18 hours per day (Sunday – Saturday from 6am – midnight).

The dayparts used for this study are Sunday – Saturday from:

• 6a – 10a
• 10a – 3p
• 3p – 7p
• 7p – 12a

Playlists were drawn from the BDS database for the following stations:

For purposes of this project, a song must play in excess of 72 seconds to be considered a spin and for it to be included in the study.

For the purpose of this project, the definition used to identify the French-language emerging artist is the one set out by the CRTC at paragraph 9 of Broadcasting Regulatory Policy CRTC 2011-316:  A Canadian French-language artist shall be considered an emerging artist until one of the following thresholds has been reached:

• A period of 6 months has elapsed since sales of one of the artist's albums have reached Gold status according to SoundScan, which is currently 40,000 units
• A period of 48 months has elapsed since the release of the artist's first commercially marketed album. I used the release date for the releases that are listed in the SoundScan system.

The definitions of «current», «recurrent» and «gold» songs are the following*:

• Current - A Song which has recently been released or re-released by a label.
• Recurrent - A Song which recently appeared on a Billboard™ Chart then dropped off.
• Gold - A Song which has either been a Recurrent for one year, or if never having been on a Chart, has a Release Date older than two years.

* Note regarding the format specific identification and the release date:  BDS classifies a song as Current, Recurrent, or Gold based on that song's spin activity separately in each format. In this way, a song may be a Current in AC and a Recurrent in Top-40 because the song's movement from Current to Recurrent is based on the date it falls off each individual Chart.  In addition, the release date is the date a Song was officially released by a label. Some songs are re-released years after an original release (e.g., soundtrack songs). These are assigned a new Release Date and proceed through the Current, Recurrent and Gold cycle again.

IV. Analysis

Overview

The objective of this report is to demonstrate music airplay of French-language artists and titles across stations within each of the four markets. We examine the music database drawn from these stations by comparing French-language music play, diversity, duplication, daypart segmentation and era status.

The data captured in the monitored month shows a large number of French-language performers with a sizeable repertoire of songs played across the four markets. Overall in 2015 – over the combined markets: 538 artists play 1,906 titles a total of over 42,800 times. On average French-language music sees four titles and 80 plays per artist over a month.

Overall the stations in this study generate more French-language play in 2015 than in 2009.

On average per station the number of artists increases by 34%, titles by 35% and the amount of airplay by 11%. More artists are seeing more of their catalog airing more frequently.

Similarly Emerging Artist play increases as a percentage of French-language airplay from 2009 to 2015.

The list of Emerging Artists is provided in Appendices 1 and 2.

While the percentage of artists and titles aired dropped, their contribution to the overall French-language airplay remains in the 20% range. This tells us as artists become Non-Emerging with the passage of time and success, their place is being filled by new Emerging artists. Evidence of Emerging artists being integrated into the station currency is shown in Table 3 demonstrating the airplay and titles garnered by the top five Emerging artists of 2009 in 2015.

In Table 3 Marc Dupré sees an increase in airplay and titles played and along with Alfa Rococo and David Jalbert adding more titles to their active radio catalogue.

V. Stations Profiles

We compare the internal French music usage by each station from the viewpoint of how the music product contributes to brand diversity. The Station Profiles section of the study analyses the key musical attributes of the 13 panel stations. The data on these profiles reflect French Language airplay only.

In Gatineau two stations were examined in 2009 (CKTF-FM and CIMF-FM) with CHLX-FM, which had been operating as "Planet Jazz" a Specialty station in that year, added to the panel for 2015.

CKTF-FM operates as part of the NRJ brand, owned by Astral Media in 2009 and acquired by Bell Media in 2013. The format is Contemporary Hit. The 2009 profile shows a universe of 313 titles generating just over 2,800 spins. Five titles are in a high rotation at more than three plays per day.

In 2009, the Current repertoire produces 60% of the airplay also reflected in the library average age set with titles from 2004. The 2015 profile sees a smaller universe, with more airplay and while 10% less than previously, the bulk of the airplay is coming from Current releases with eight songs receiving more than three plays per day. As in 2009, the Afternoon Drive daypart shows the lowest level of French-language music airplay.

Graphic 1 of the Era maps show the contemporary nature of CKTF-FM in both years.

Graphic 1

The top five spun titles in the 2009 study are all exclusive to CKTF-FM:

The high rotation tracks for CKTF-FM in the 2015 period:

CIMF-FM is branded "Rock Détente" under Astral Media ownership in 2009. This Adult Contemporary format continues under the "Rouge FM" label as a Bell Media station. Typical of the "Rouge FM" brand CIMF-FM focuses most of its airplay on Gold based material. The library has grown over the six year timeframe with less airplay of Current material. The number of top spun songs remains consistent at two songs seeing more than two plays per day.

Graphic 2 of the Era maps from both time periods show CIMF-FM shifting away from airplay from the 70s to the late 80s and early 90s a trend seen across North America for the AC format.

Graphic 2

In 2009 the top played songs are: Annie Villeneuve "Ce soir" and the Andrée Watters & Sylvain Cossette 2008 duet "À distance." Claude Bégin "Avant de disparaître" and Alex Nevsky "Fanny" are played the most in 2015. In all cases these titles were multi-format hits also played at CKTF- FM and CHLX-FM.

CHLX-FM operated by Radio Nord Communications currently operates as "Rythme FM" a Hot AC brand licensed from Cogeco. The station still airs 20% of its music from Category 3 Specialty Music in the evening. This explains the low level of French-language airplay detected during that timeframe.

Graphic 3 of the Era map shows a wide time span for significant gold airplay from the early 70s to date.

Graphic 3

Marie-Pierre Arthur "Rien à faire" and Dominique Hudson "Comme d'habitude" see one play a day the highest rotation for CHLX-FM and are shared with CIMF-FM which did not give these titles the same priority.

Montreal sees a contrast between the founding Contemporary Hit formatted brands CKOI-FM and NRJ and Adult Contemporary formatted Rouge FM and Rythme FM.

CKMF-FM is the premier station in Bell Media's NRJ brand purchased from Astral Media in 2013. The station like its main competitor Cogeco's CKOI-FM is Contemporary and is aggressive in exposing the top hits frequently. The profile sees a small library from the Current repertoire rotated frequently. The 13 top spun titles are aired over three times a day in both years of the study.

Graphic 4 shows the concentration of airplay is contemporary just up to and including the study.

Graphic 4

Notably in 2009 of CKMF-FM's top five spun titles with one exception were aired more frequently than at CKOI-FM.

Whereas in 2015 the reverse happens when CKOI-FM plays CKMF-FM's top five titles more often with the exception of Louis-Jean Cormier "Si tu reviens" which CKMF-FM played virtually as an exclusive in the market.

CKOI-FM is Cogeco's powerhouse Contemporary music station heading the franchise heard across Quebec. The French-language active library increases over the two studies while the gold repertoire sees more airplay. There is a more even distribution of the airplay across the dayparts.

Graphic 5 of the Era maps show little change over the six year period other than the retention of material from 2004 to 2012 that would now be considered Gold.

Graphic 5

In 2009 CKOI-FM's top five spun titles sees Les Cowboy Fringant 's multi-format hit played twice as much as at CKMF-FM also Ariane Moffatt's track sees more commitment at CKOI-FM.

The 2015 list of top spun titles indicates CKOI-FM plays these songs more frequently than CKMF-FM. All but the Simon Boudreau entry are cross-format hits played at other stations in the market. This could reflect a broadening of target for the brand.

CFGL-FM is Cogeco's market leading music station branded Rythme FM implementing an Adult Contemporary format. The bulk of the library and airplay comes from the Gold repertoire with Current material receiving less frequent exposure. As with CKOI-FM its Contemporary stable-mate, the library has grown over the two study periods.

Graphic 6 of the Era map shows a move away from late 70s – early 80s Gold replaced with titles from the 90s and early millennium.

Graphic 6

The top five spun titles from 2009 at CFGL-FM demonstrate the station's tactic of playing the French-language hits more frequently than its chief competitor:

The same results can be seen in 2015.

CITE-FM is the flagship of Bell Media's Rouge FM network in Quebec. In 2009 CITE-FM is owned by Astral Media is branded as "Rock Detente". The station has been operating in the Adult Contemporary format since the early 90s. True to the format, the Current repertoire has less importance and is rotated at fewer than one spin per day.

As is the case for most stations in this format the reliance on Gold from the 70s has moved to the early 90s.

Graphic 7

As seen with the Contemporary Hit Montreal French-language stations the format competitors vary on the top ranked titles. In 2009 CFGL–FM gives more play to three titles and only one play to Dany Bédar's song.

In 2015, CITE-FM shows more ownership of its top played titles including exclusive exposure for Les Handclaps.

The three stations studied in Quebec City reflect the impact of ownership changes and resultant brand re-alignment between 2009 and 2015.

CFEL-FM is a Contemporary Hit station owned by Corus in 2009 continuing with the Émotion Rock brand. After being acquired by Cogeco, in the Fall of 2009 CFEL-FM was sold to Leclerc Communications who operates the station under the CKOI-FM brand. In 2009 as Émotion Rock the Current rotation was more frequent with a dozen titles airing more than four times per day.

CFEL-FM today does not mirror the CKOI-FM brand seen in Montreal. The playlist is smaller and more exposure is given to the Current titles, but the frequency of play is less with no tracks registering more than two spins per day.

Graphic 8 of the Era map shows the consolidation of recent titles gaining more inventory and airplay.

Graphic 8

Three of CFEL-FM's top five spun titles, "Celle qu'il te faut," "Quoi que tu dises" and "L'amour est un tricheur," in 2009 are exclusive to the station and the frequency of airplay is higher than seen in 2015.

The 2015 top spun titles show half the turnover compared to 2009 and two titles by Andie Duquette and Marie-Mai are exclusive to CFEL-FM.

CFOM-FM is a Classic AC Hits station formerly owned by Corus. In 2009, the station is branded "Souvenirs Garantis". Acquired in 2011 by Cogeco the format and branding are revised to "M FM".

As under the previous Gold-based incarnation CFOM-FM plays few Current songs. In 2015 CFOM-FM rotates the increased inventory at less than one play per day. The impact of a more music less talk tactic is obvious with an increase in airplay cross the day particularly in the Morning and Afternoon Drive dayparts.

Graphic 9

Graphic 9 maps shows less 50s and 60s airplay and movement from a peak play in the 70s to mid-80s in 2015 driving the library average year to 1998.

The top spun titles from 2009 demonstrate the depth of the format sonically and era-wise.

In 2015 the top played titles show a slower rotation and more contemporary stance.

 CJEC-FM is operated in 2009 by Corus Entertainment as Rythme FM. The station was subsequently reacquired by Cogeco and sold in 2012 to Leclerc Communications. CJEC-FM is branded as WKND FM as a Triple A, it is the only French-language station using this format.

The transformation is evident with a smaller universe scheduled more evenly across the dayparts. As is the case with the format CJEC-FM exposes titles less than twice per day.

Graphic 10

The change to a concentration of titles from 1991 onwards shown in Graphic 10 is in keeping with the Triple A format.

The top spun songs of 2009 are exclusive to the station excepting the multi-format hit "Ce soir" by Annie Villeneuve:

CJEC-FM's 2015 most played titles are all shared with AC CFEL-FM.

Trois-Rivières sees local variants of flagship formats at Bell Media's CIGB-FM and CHEY-FM with

Rouge-FM and NRJ respectively and Cogeco's Rythme FM at CJEB-FM.

CJEB-FM was launched by Cogeco in 2003 and continues to operate as in the Adult Contemporary format. There is slight change in terms of increased library and Gold airplay, but overall the profile reflects its common musical lineage with CFGL-FM.

The evolution of the Rythme brand is consistent in terms of the Gold era shift from the 70s to the mid 80s and an overall library age of 2002 at CJEB-FM.

Graphic 11

In 2009, the top five titles for the month of April on CJED-FM are identical to Rythme FM Montreal.

The same is true of the top five spun titles in 2015 as they mirror CFGL-FM's list.

CIGB-FM owes its Contemporary Hit heritage in part to ownership by Radiomutuel Inc. prior to Astral Media's 2000 acquisition and branding as Energie-FM. In 2013 Bell Media acquired the station and re-branded as NRJ.

The transition to NRJ and the alignment with flagship CKMF-FM Montreal is apparent in both the profile and Era maps in 2009 and 2015 of Graphic 12.

Graphic 12

The top played titles in 2009 shows "Dangereuse," "Les malheureux" and "Little Dolls" played exclusively in the market by Energie with the top three echoing CKMF-FM's top titles.

Of the top five most played titles at CIGB-FM in 2015 the first four songs also appear in the top positions at CKMF-FM, but with varying levels of airplay. Les BB and Jean-Marc Couture enjoy exclusive play in Trois-Rivières at NRJ.

Bell Media's CHEY-FM is branded Rouge-FM and like the Montreal flagship CITE-FM draws its Adult Contemporary formatting from Rock-Détente introduced by Telemedia in the 90s.

As is the case with its format competitor, CJEB-FM, Rouge-FM borrows heavily from the Montreal operation. Both of the 2009 and 2015 profiles show the branding of the day Rock-Détente and Rouge-FM. Similarly Graphic 13 of the era maps demonstrate the change in the AC format with regard to contemporizing the Gold repertoire.

Graphic 13

Of the top five titles in 2009, all are shared with CJEB-FM. Notably Marc-Andre Fortin's "Rosie" did not receive top five play at Montreal's Rouge-FM and airplay for Dany Bedar's song was significantly owned by CHEY-FM.

In 2015 CHEY-FM shares all of its top five titles with CJEB-FM and four of the set with Rouge-FM in Montreal. Marie-Pierre Arthur's "Rien à faire," number nine at CITE-FM, cracks the top five at Rouge-FM Trois-Rivières.

VI. Duplication

Combined station airplay and duplication for each year is shown for 2009 and 2015 on the following graphs. The number of titles played across the entire panel in either year is limited. The nature of the primary formats, while Pop-based, places limitations on songs even within the genre.

Graphic 14

Graphic 14 shows the concentration of airplay in 2009 around titles played at 6 to 7 stations. The volume of exclusive titles, songs played at only one station: 29% of all songs make up 5% of all airplay. Conversely, consensus airplay at all stations generates less than 1% of overall airplay from 0.2% of the active library.

The top ten spun titles deliver a big share of French-language airplay in 2009. The top ten most played titles did not play across all 12 stations, but played on an average of 7.6 stations each or 63% of the panel contributing to 10% of the total airplay.

Three titles played at all stations in the 2009 study delivering 244 spins or 0.7% of the combined airplay: Dany Bédar "Faire La paix avec l'amour," La Chicane "Tu m'manques" and Mylène Farmer "Désenchantée". Adding titles that played on eleven stations, their combined airplay is at 4% of the total airplay, significantly lower that the top ten spun songs noted above. It is notable that Les Colocs have four titles on this list underscoring their broad appeal. The band is shut out at Quebec's CJEC-FM.

In 2015 the same concentration of shared airplay around 6 to 7 stations is shown on Graphic 15. Titles played on 6 to 7 stations generated 29% of all airplay from 20% of all titles played. As in 2009 exclusive titles, songs played at only one station make up 29% all titles, but only 5% of airplay. Consensus airplay at all 13 stations generates 2.3% of airplay, double 2009, from 0.3% of the active library.

Graphic 15

In 2015 the top ten spun titles deliver 12% of the total airplay and appear on an average of 86% or eleven of the 13 of the stations. Gold-based CFOM-FM played only Patrice Michaud's 2013 release from among the top ten titles.

In 2015, six titles from Alex Nevsky "On leur a fait croire" and "Les coloriés," Karim Ouellet "L'amour," Marc Dupré "Nous sommes les mêmes," Ariane Moffatt "Montréal" and Kain "Mexico" were played at all panel stations. Adding the titles played at 12 of the 13 stations provides a list of 25 titles generating over 6,600 spins for 16% of all airplay. This shows more concentration of airplay across more stations. Additionally, the number of artists with several titles in this list played on 94% of the stations narrows diversity from that perspective. The following artists have more than one title comprising this list: Ariane Moffat - four titles; Alex Nevsky and Karim Ouellet - three titles; and two titles each for Coeur De Pirate, Marc Dupré, Kain (both Gold).

A comparison of the top 20 artist airplay ranking and title depth is an indicator of diversity and a progressive direction for French-language music on these stations. Of 2009's top 20 artists, 25% remain in the top 20 in 2015: Ariane Moffatt, Kain, Les Cowboys Fringants, Celine Dion and Eric Lapointe. With exception of Ariane Moffatt, the ranking may be lower for the returning artists. In all cases these artists have more catalogue songs playing in 2015 than in 2009. Similarly, 25% of the artists on the 2015 top 20 are new and do not receive airplay in 2009. This indicates equilibrium.

VII. Conclusion

The study data indicates the French-language library at the panel stations is an evolving entity that is expanding immersed with new artists adding to, but not displacing older performers.

It is difficult to make a determination as many factors vary from market to market and format to format however, consolidation of airplay does impact diversity. Data demonstrates this concentration is trending upwards.   

The format networks deliver a music product that is in most cases very similar to that of the corporate flagship station. The Brands are consistent market to market.

There are two exceptions particularly where the brand is licensed to a secondary party as is the case in Gatineau and Quebec City.

There are three primary formats in this study; Contemporary Hit, Adult Contemporary and Hot Adult Contemporary. The Branding we see is NRJ-FM, Rouge-FM and Rythme FM respectively.

Within the core formats such as Adult Contemporary as an example, there are variations in frequency of play before selection of titles that differentiates stations.

Overall, the French-language inventory of songs and their airplay is higher in 2015 than 2009 with these exceptions:

• The inventory of titles dropped at NRJ-FM in Gatineau, Trois-Rivières and Montreal.
• WKND–FM in Quebec City drops inventory and airplay with a format change to Triple A.
• Rythme FM Trois-Rivières CJEB-FM airs marginally less music than in 2009.

Appendix 1 – Emerging Artists 2009

• Alfa Rococo
• Dupré, Marc
• Marc-André Fortin
• Béland, Marie-Luce
• Jalbert, David
• Arthur, Marie-Pierre
• Étienne Drapeau
• Jean, Anik
• Caracol
• Fiona, Mélanie
• Landry, Maxime
• The New Cities
• SENS
• Coeur De Pirate
• Amylie
• Blanchard, Annie
• Burke, Alexandra
• BETA
• Chinatown
• Boisjoli, Brigitte
• Dupuis
• Numéro
• Poulin, Alexandre
• 72 Rivière Rouge
• Jaune
• Samian
• Lapointe, Stéphanie
• Mad'MoiZèle Giraf
• Xavier Caféine
• Gage
• André
• Kamakazi
• Thalie, Lynda
• L'assemblée
• Janvier, Marie-Ève
• Martin Giroux
• Montigny, Audrey De
• Belyzel, Najoua
• Theory Of A Deadman
• D'Astous-Paquet, Carolanne
• Lindsay, Andréa
• Crash Parallel
• Emi Bond
• Picard, Pascale
• Marie-Ève Côté
• Chenail, Flavie
• La Brassée
• Les Dales Hawerchuk Marabu
• Bernadette
• Deesses, Les
• Gagnon, Audrey
• Lost Fingers
• Lacombe, Sébastien
• Brown, Divine
• Champion, DJ
• Gosselin, Nancy
• Villeneuve, Suzie
• Peya
• Lacroix, Stage
• L'assemblée Feat. Dupuis
• Misstress Barbara
• Samian & Loco Locass
• Jonas
• Avila, Eva
• Lajoie, Pamela
• Desrosiers, Tiffany
• Frazer, Pat
• Dalpe, Jipe
• Angers, Marc
• Beast
• Bonjour Brumaire
• Polo Et Les Méchants Moinos
• Thibert, Marie Élaine Feat. Boom Desjardins
• 3 Gars Su'l Sofa
• Accrophone
• Qbanito
• Pépé
• El Motor
• Les 500 Choristes W/Daniel Lavoie
• Les Frères Cheminaud
• Umany
• Cea
• Meggie
• Trini-T
• Jervais
• Fiori, Serge
• Francois, Alain
• Jason Lang
• Jérôme-Philippe
• Hello Operator
• Les Porn Flakes
• Robitaille, Damien

Appendix 2 – Emerging Artists 2015

• Isabelle Boulay, Marc Dupré, Éric Lapointe, Pierre Lapointe
• Ble & Les BB
• Bégin, Claude
• Arthur, Marie-Pierre
• Couture, Jérôme
• Dion, Olivier
• Boudreau, Simon
• Duquette, Andie
• Tremblay
• McNicoll, Stéphane
• Lachance, Francois
• M.T.L.
• King Melrose
• Jonas & The Massive Attraction
• Caravane
• Pelletier, Sophie
• Wilkin, Renée
• Couturier
• Bloom, Fanny
• Lacas, Simon
• SoShy
• Gazoline
• Gasse, David
• Andée
• Beauregard, Guillaume
• 2Freres
• Dargenti, Lola
• May, Julien
• McGraw, Maxime
• Couture, Jean-Marc
• Mordicus
• Bleu Jeans Bleu
• Bazinet, Kevin
• Brach, Philippe
• Cardin-Goyer, Charlotte
• Yoan avec Isabelle Boulay
• Hotel Morphée
• Rémi Chasse
• Robichaud, Michel
• Alter Ego
• Roy, Jonathan
• Automat
• Bellwoods
• Yates, Francesco
• Sabrina Et Stéphanie Barabé
• Borduas, Vanessa Lessard, Pierre-Luc
• Sea, Michael
• Malette, Andréanne A.
• Ble
• Maia-Leia
• Estelle, Camille Feat. M.T.L. Band
• Cloutier, William
• Kiesza
• Gallant, Francis
• iSH Feat. Daniel Richter
• Machines Géantes
• Les Appendices
• Doloréanne
• Proulx, Maxime
• Mercury City
• Arioli, Susie Feat. Jordan Officer
• Barr Brothers
• Les Académiciens De Star Académie 2012
• Les Fous De La Reine
• Manx. Harry
• Franklin Electric
• Gilbert, Francis
• Seasons
• LeBlanc, Lisa
• Mae, Christophe
• Avener Feat. Adam Cohen
• Marie-Pier Perreault Avec William Deslauriers
• Milman, Sophie
• Bédard, Melissa
• Gaudreault, Alexe
• Hell, Coleman
• Picard, Pascale
• Barber, Jill
• Crochetière, Julie
• Egan, Coral
• Elsiane
• Helman, Scott
• Janie
• Paquin, Laurent
• Roxanne Potvin
• Susie Arioli Band
• Uke, Lucky
• Leclerc, Salome
• M.A.P. Feat. Jonas
• Marième
• Talevski, Dan BET.E & Stef
• La Bronze
• Marc Mysterio & Teo Moss Feat. Yardi Don
• Midaz & Ellie
• Pépé Goes Francais
• Pessoa, Julia

Date modified:

2015-08-27