The definintion of music CanCon needs an update. You can help.

On Jan. 18, 1971, the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission made one of the biggest moves in the history of mass media in this country. From that day on, radio stations were required to set aside a percentage of the music they played for Canadian artists. The initial Canadian content quota was 30 per cent between 6 a.m. and midnight throughout the week.

The edict was highly controversial and hated by the radio industry. ‘You can’t tell us what to play!’ many argued, to which the government said, ‘Yes, we can. It’s now a non-negotiable part of your broadcast license.’

At issue was Canada’s cultural identity. Following the introduction of our own flag in 1965 and our 100th birthday in 1967 (complete with the massively successful Expo 67 in Montreal), national pride was running hot. One of the fights involved making sure we had a strong and successful domestic music industry.

This was more than a cultural battle designed to help Canadians hear other Canadians and to fend off a complete takeover by American and British content; it was an industrial strategy.

Before CanCon created demand for Canadian music, there wasn’t much of a recorded music industry in this country. All we had were a few struggling record labels and organizations and branch plant offices of international labels. The CanCon rules necessitated the creation of an infrastructure to support all this domestic music now required by radio. Recording studios, producers, engineers, promoters, managers, agents, grant organizations, funding mechanisms and more record labels entered the chat.

Keep reading. It’s important.